Brown-Eyed Children of the Sun Song Page

Joaquin Murguía: The first time that I heard this song sung was in a rally in Salinas , in Alisal Park . I think that the contracts had expired, and the workers were getting ready to go out on strike: there was a big march, and then a rally in the park. Thousands of people were there.

I also recall a UFW-produced film that featured a farm worker child, with these huge, big brown eyes, looking up at you: Brown-Eyed Children of the Sun was playing on the soundtrack. Listening to that song and seeing that picture struck a chord in me.

The first time that I played this song was at a mass, in La Paz. Father Ken Irrgang was conducting the mass, and he had selected the passage from the scriptures that says, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” (Matthew 19:14). To accompany that scripture reading, he asked me to play this song.

It’s remained a favorite of mine, because it’s such a haunting melody. I think that it speaks about my own dad’s experience, of coming here, in 1953, as a very young man, to help provide for his family back in Mexico . My dad always sent money back home to his family---to his mom, to his brothers and sisters. Even though my dad’s mother has passed away, he still sends money to his relatives, to this day.

I’m the first Murguía to be born in the United States . My father was a farm worker, and my life was directly impacted by his life, and his experiences. I have taken my own children to the fields, so that they can see how it is that the vegetables and the fruits that they eat come to their table. I have sung this song to both of my own mixed-race brown-eyed children.

It’s easy to get jaded; it feels, sometimes, as if nothing has changed, or that it has even gone backwards. Singing this song, re-connecting with people that I haven’t seen for 25 years, helps me to realize how far we’ve come. I am the son of a farm worker, who ended up working as a controller for one the biggest agricultural firms in the Coachella Valley , helping to improve so many company policies towards the workers.