COVID-19 kills singer Trini Lopez

This music video from the USA is called Trini Lopez – If I Had A Hammer (1963) – HD.

The lyrics are:

If I had a hammer
I’d hammer in the morning
I’d hammer in the evening
All over this land

I’d hammer out danger
I’d hammer out a warning
I’d hammer about the love between my brothers and my sisters
All over this land

Ooh, ooh ooh
Ooh, ooh ooh
Ooh, ooh

If I had a bell
I’d ring it in the morning
I’d ring it in the evening
All over this land

I’d ring out danger
I’d ring out a warning
I’d ring about the love between my brothers and my sisters
All, all over this land

Ooh, ooh ooh
Ooh, ooh ooh
Ooh, ooh

If I had a song
I’d sing it in the morning
I’d sing it in the evening
All over this land

I’d sing out danger
I’d sing out a warning, yeah
I’d sing out about the love between my brothers and my sisters
All, all over this land

Ooh, ooh ooh
Ooh, ooh

Now, I’ve got a hammer
And I’ve got a bell
And I’ve got a song to sing
All over this land

It’s the hammer of justice
It’s the bell of freedom, yeah
It’s the song about the love between my brothers and my sisters
All, all over this land

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah

All over this land
Ooh, all over this land
Hee, all over this land, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah

All over this land
Hee, all over this land

The song was written in 1949 by Pete Seeger and Lee Hays to support progressive movements in the USA.

It was sung a lot during 1960s demonstrations for civil rights and against the Vietnam war.

Today, Dutch NOS TV reports (translated):

In a hospital in California, the US American singer and guitarist Trini Lopez (83) has died. Lopez, the son of Mexican migrants, had his greatest successes in the 1960s with If I Had a Hammer, Lemon Tree and La Bamba.

According to his business partner, musician Joe Chavira, Lopez died of Covid-19 in a hospital in Palm Springs, California. Chavira says he had just recorded a song with Lopez intended to raise money for food banks, where people affected by the corona crisis can go to.

Lopez, the son of Mexican migrants, grew up in Dallas, Texas. His family was short on money, so Lopez was unable to finish high school. His life changed when his father gave him a second-hand guitar and taught him to play it.