From the depths of the mysterious world
God sends up a tiny fountain
Through the rocks of countless centuries
To spring to light high up on the mountain
And the spring becomes a rivulet
And the rivulet becomes a stream
And the stream runs down to the river
And river runs by the village

That's the way the river runs
That's the way the river runs
That's the way the river runs
That's the way the river runs

And every morning at the crack of dawn
Someone has to fetch the water
From the river that runs down through El Salvador
To cook the bread that feeds the campesinos

That's the way the river runs
That's the way the river runs
That's the way the river runs
That's the way the river runs

Dolores, which is sorrows,
Cienfuegos, which is a hundred fires
Dolores Cienfuegos which means
The sorrows of a hundred fires

Somewhere on a mountain in a village
by the river In El Salvador
Cienfuegos is the family in the village
by the river In El Salvador

A hundred fires are the fires we light
When first we learn to stand and fight
A hundred fires to set us free
A hundred fires for liberty

Guerrita, which is warrior,
Cienfuegos, which is a hundred fires
Guerrita Cienfuegos which means
The warrior of a hundred fires

Fire in the people's blood
Fire in the people's heart

And the river joins the people in the village
to their neighbours In El Salvador
And the river brings the news of every fireside
by the river In El Salvador

When I go to fetch the water
I see reflected in the river
All the faces of the people of El Salvador
The river takes my tears down to the sea

From the top of the mountain
From those who fled oppression
The river runs down to the city
To where the poor have fled starvation

That's the way the river runs
That's the way the river runs
That's the way my children have gone
The way the river runs

And the river brings the bodies of the people
who've been murdered in El Salvador
By the army in their anger and their hatred
of the people of El Salvador

Guerrita, which means warrior,
Cienfuegos, which is a hundred fires
Guerrita Cienfuegos which means
The warrior of a hundred fires

Fire in the people's blood
Fire in the people's heart

From the top of the mountain
The stream runs down to the river
Nothing on earth can stop the river
Running down into the sea

And the sea becomes an ocean
Joins the oceans over all the world
Joins the rivers over all the world
Joins the countries and the peoples

That's the way the river runs
That's the way the river runs
That's how surely the people will be free
The way the river runs

That's the way the river runs
That's the way the river runs
That's the way the river runs
That's the way the river runs

Fire in the people's blood
Fire in the people's heart