President Barack Obama, we urge you to FREE Oscar López NOW, and we thank you in advance!

Here's a song I wrote with the hope that Oscar Lopéz Rivera will be set free, to be among his family and friends, and to see the ocean again. 

It features an array of amazing Puerto Rican artists; Truco y Zaperoko on percussion, spoken word by Sandra García Rivera, sóneos by Jerry Medina of Batacumbele, and myself, Rico Pabón. Enjoy and PLEASE, spread it far and wide so that we may see our brother Oscar López FREE!

Lyrics

Been Too Long (for Oscar López Rivera)
-Rico Pabón

Whoa, man, hold up a minute!
It’s been so long I can’t remember the beginning.
35 years and counting in prison,
already lived a lifetime in the worst of conditions.
12 of those years solitarily confined,
hoping that the silence would chip away at his mind.
The lack of human contact, the sunshine denied,
so the belly of the beast can do exactly as designed.
Spiritcide, it’s spiritcide,
that’s when your body’s still alive but your spirit has died, DEAD!
Killed slowly over time
in a cold concrete box 6’ by 9’,
and as far away from family and the friends he left behind,
so it’s hard to see the light or find peace of any kind.
Strip searched whenever the guards are inclined
and to think he was convicted of a non violent crime…

Let him go!
Just let him be!
It’s been too long,
so set him free!
It’s been too long
since he’s seen the sea.
It’s been too long
since he’s heard coqui’s.
It’s been too long
without huggin family.
It’s been too long
so right now can we
show it’s never too late
to simply set it straight,
open up the gates
the people await!

Cuando salga Oscar
nos vamos pa’l mar,
con güiros y panderos
para celebrar.
Cuando salga Oscar
nos vamos pa’l mar,
y ya llego la hora
de su libertad.

And he’s the last one locked
from his generation what’s the reason for the freedom block?
When he never hurt another soul
to be living in a hole at over 70 years old?
I gotta let the truth be told
if any crime was committed, admit it, he’s paid tenfold.
With pain we can’t understand,
treated like an animal in a cage and not a man.
Handcuffed, shackled, moved around like cattle,
all of his basic human rights have been trampled.
The lists so long, too many examples.
More cruel punishment than any human can handle.
A lifetime behind bars is extreme
for a crime that left no blood upon the scene.
No bodies, no injuries to anyone,
this man deserves his freedom,
so let him go!

Let him go!
Just let him be!
It’s been too long,
so set him free!
It’s been too long
since he’s seen the sea.
It’s been too long
since he’s heard coqui’s.
It’s been too long
without huggin family.
It’s been too long
so right now can we
show it’s never too late
to simply set it straight,
open up the gates
the people await!

Cuando salga Oscar
nos vamos pa’l mar,
con güiros y panderos
para celebrar.
Cuando salga Oscar
nos vamos pa’l mar,
y ya llego la hora
de su libertad.

Clinton offered him clemency in ’99,
it’s almost 20 years later so now you know it’s time
to send him home, and just let him be,
to let him live his golden years with his family.
I ask the president to show some humanity,
pull out your pen and end this insanity!
It’s been more than 35 years of brutality,
longer than most POW’s internationally.
And actually, why’s he’s sentenced
more years than a murderers? it makes no sense!
Is it because he believes in independence,
human rights and dignity for all the worlds residents?
Or for standing against what he could foresee
what’s happening now in Puerto Rico economically?
He knew what we all know, it’s no anomaly,
call it what you want but they still run it like a colony…

Let him go!
Just let him be!
It’s been too long,
so set him free!
It’s been too long
since he’s seen the sea.
It’s been too long
since he’s heard coqui’s.
It’s been too long
without huggin family.
It’s been too long
so right now can we
show it’s never too late
to simply set it straight,
open up the gates
the people await!

Cuando salga Oscar
nos vamos pa’l mar,
con güiros y panderos
para celebrar.
Cuando salga Oscar
nos vamos pa’l mar,
y ya llego la hora
de su libertad.

Anoche soñe
con Oscar López otra vez.
Lo vi en la playa
mojando sus pies,
bajo el sol y sonriente,
y ya yo se porque.
Anoche soñe…

Anoche Soñé
by Sandra García Rivera
 
Libre libre libre lo ví
humilde y auténtico
como el moriviví.
De aguacero y humedad
a darse una limpieza,
irreprimible manglar
a semillas sembrar
cacique resistente,
libre como la corriente
del Río grande de Loiza,
libre como el grito
desde el Cerro Maravilla,
desde Fajardo hasta Boquerón
rodeado por niños, el cimarrón.
 
Libre libre libre lo ví
él de la mata, la raíz,
chupando quenepas
en la plaza de Ponce,
bañandose bajo
las cascadas del Yunque,
como el cielo azul
y la rica brisa del mar
dando una vuelta
lo ví con Tito Kayak,
desde la Cueva de Camuy
hasta la del Indio Arecibeño
se gritan su nombre
¡Oscar! con mucho cariño.
 
Libre libre libre lo ví
hijo querido en su país,
en San Sebastian
una noche de reyes, nació
y en su pecho la libertad la llamó,
para un soldado de coraje y valor
una parranda con panderos y amor,
lo ví en las cimas de Jayuya
lo ví en Mayaguez cantando truyas
lo ví en Lares de rodillas
y con los brujos de Guayama
encendiendo velas,
y como mí bandera
de una sola estrella
sonriente en el viento yo lo ví,

libre libre libre lo ví.