This song, along with the instrumental version, sheet music, and extension activities, is available on Barbara Speicher's ""Learning American History by Song"
Oh mission life (2 x’s) three hundred years the missions reigned
Oh mission life (2 x’s) along a Spanish border chain
On mission life (2 x’s) the padres taught the Indians
About religion and how to work hard and to be Spanish citizens
Chorus
Mission life (3 x’s) the missionaries came
Mission life (2 x’s) and nothing stayed the same
Verse #2
Oh mission life (2 x’s) under Franciscan Fathers thrived
Oh mission life (2 x’s) with farms and ranches it survived
Oh mission life (2 x’s) Father Serra’s claim to fame
Were missions he built in California despite the fact he used a cane
Chorus
Verse #3
Oh mission life (2 x’s) brought good and bad we must concede
Oh mission life (2 x’s) helped many live and learn to read
Oh mission life (2 x’s) so greatly changed the Indian way
With all the routines and loss of freedom
The culture they once knew did fade
Chorus
And nothing stayed the same…
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Many thanks to Barbara Speicher for permission to display these lyric excerpts.
© Barbara Speicher. All rights reserved. Used with permission.
