There are many songs out there that have a powerful message. I have several favorites and one of them is called ‘Casas de Carton’ meaning Cardboard Houses. This song was very popular during the civil war of El Salvador. It was one of those songs that if the military soldiers caught you listening to it, would kill you… simple as that. So you had to be careful if you actually played it on your radio. A radio station called “Radio Venceremos” (We Shall Overcome Radio) would play it. It was an underground radio station that would broadcasts songs like these that made the people have a little hope as well as warnings to the people about possible military government attacks (It was a crazy time).
Below is the song and lyrics translated into English.
http://www.geocities.com/yhosef_es/guaragoao_casas_de_carton.wma“Cardboard Houses”
How sad the rain sounds in the cardboard rooftops
How sad my people live, in the cardboard houses
Down comes the worker from the village, almost dragging his feet
From the burden of suffering
Look at all the suffering, the burden of suffering
Above in the village, he leaves his pregnant wife
Below is the city and he gets caught in its web
Today is the same as yesterday; it’s a world with no tomorrow
How sad the rain sounds in the cardboard rooftops
How sad my people live, in the cardboard houses
Children color of my land, with their same scars
Bellies bloated with worms and that’s why
How sad the children live, in the cardboard houses
How happy, the dogs live, in the rich exploiter’s home
You won’t believe this, but there are schools for dogs
And they educate them, so they don’t tear the newspapers
But his owner, since many years ago,
Has been tearing up the honest worker
How sad the rain sounds in the cardboard rooftops
How far away is our hope, in the cardboard houses
This is a clip of a guy singing the song in a movie about the war:
Casas De Carton Clip 
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