The Internationale
Encyclopedia
The Internationale is a famous socialist
Socialism
Socialism is an economic system characterized by social ownership of the means of production and cooperative management of the economy; or a political philosophy advocating such a system. "Social ownership" may refer to any one of, or a combination of, the following: cooperative enterprises,...

, communist
Communism
Communism is a social, political and economic ideology that aims at the establishment of a classless, moneyless, revolutionary and stateless socialist society structured upon common ownership of the means of production...

, social-democratic
Social democracy
Social democracy is a political ideology of the center-left on the political spectrum. Social democracy is officially a form of evolutionary reformist socialism. It supports class collaboration as the course to achieve socialism...

 and anarchist
Anarchism
Anarchism is generally defined as the political philosophy which holds the state to be undesirable, unnecessary, and harmful, or alternatively as opposing authority in the conduct of human relations...

 anthem
Anthem
The term anthem means either a specific form of Anglican church music , or more generally, a song of celebration, usually acting as a symbol for a distinct group of people, as in the term "national anthem" or "sports anthem".-Etymology:The word is derived from the Greek via Old English , a word...

.

The Internationale became the anthem of international socialism, and gained particular fame under the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....

 from 1922 to 1944, when it was that communist state's de facto central anthem. Its original French refrain is C'est la lutte finale / Groupons-nous et demain / L'Internationale / Sera le genre humain. (Freely translated: "This is the final struggle / Let us group together and tomorrow / The Internationale / Will be the human race.")

The Internationale has been translated into many languages. It is sung traditionally with the hand raised in a clenched fist salute
Raised fist
The raised fist is a symbol of solidarity and support. It is also used as a salute to express unity, strength, defiance, or resistance. The salute dates back to ancient Assyria as a symbol of resistance in the face of violence.-History:Assyrian depictions of the goddess Ishtar show her raising a...

. The Internationale has been celebrated not only by socialists but also by communists and social democrats, as well as anarchists.

Original lyrics and copyright

The original French words were written in June 1871 by Eugène Pottier (1816–1887, previously a member of the Paris Commune
Paris Commune
The Paris Commune was a government that briefly ruled Paris from March 18 to May 28, 1871. It existed before the split between anarchists and Marxists had taken place, and it is hailed by both groups as the first assumption of power by the working class during the Industrial Revolution...

) and were originally intended to be sung to the tune of La Marseillaise
La Marseillaise
"La Marseillaise" is the national anthem of France. The song, originally titled "Chant de guerre pour l'Armée du Rhin" was written and composed by Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle in 1792. The French National Convention adopted it as the Republic's anthem in 1795...

. Pierre De Geyter (1848–1932) set the poem to music in 1888. His melody was first publicly performed in July 1888 and became widely used soon after.

In an unsuccessful attempt to save Pierre De Geyter's job as a woodcarver, the 6,000 leaflets printed by Lille printer Bolboduc only mentioned the French version of his family name (Degeyter). In 1904, Pierre's brother Adolphe was induced by the Lille
Lille
Lille is a city in northern France . It is the principal city of the Lille Métropole, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the country behind those of Paris, Lyon and Marseille. Lille is situated on the Deûle River, near France's border with Belgium...

 mayor Gustave Delory to claim copyright, so that the income of the song would continue to go to Delory's French Socialist Party
French Socialist Party (1902)
The French Socialist Party was founded in 1902. It came from the merger of the "possibilist" Federation of the Socialist Workers of France , Jean Allemane's Revolutionary Socialist Workers' Party and some independent socialist politicians like Jean Jaurès...

. Pierre De Geyter lost the first copyright case in 1914, but after his brother committed suicide
Suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...

 and left a note explaining the fraud, Pierre was declared the copyright owner by a court of appeal in 1922.

Pierre De Geyter died in 1932. His music of the Internationale is copyrighted in France until October 2017. The duration of copyright in France is 70 years following the end of the year when the author died, plus (for musical works) 6 years and 152 days to compensate for World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

, and 8 years and 120 days to compensate for World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

 respectively. In 2005, Le Chant du Monde, the corporation administering the authors' rights, asked Pierre Merejkowsky, the film director
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...

 and an actor of Insurrection / résurrection, to pay €1,000 for whistling the song for seven seconds.

However, as the Internationale music was published before 1 July 1909 outside the United States of America, it is in the public domain in the USA. Pierre De Geyter's music is also in the public domain in countries and areas whose copyright durations are authors' lifetime plus 75 years or less. As Eugène Pottier died in 1887, his original French lyrics are in the public domain. Gustave Delory once acquired the copyright of his lyrics through the songwriter G B Clement having bought it from Pottier's widow.

French lyrics Literal English translation
First stanza
Debout, les damnés de la terre

Debout, les forçats de la faim

La raison tonne en son cratère

C'est l'éruption de la fin

Du passé faisons table rase

Foule esclave, debout, debout

Le monde va changer de base

Nous ne sommes rien, soyons tout

 >: C'est la lutte finale

  Groupons-nous, et demain

  L'Internationale

  Sera le genre humain :|
Stand up, damned of the Earth

Stand up, prisoners of starvation

Reason thunders in its volcano

This is the eruption of the end

Of the past let us make a clean slate

Enslaved masses, stand up, stand up

The world is about to change its foundation

We are nothing, let us be all

 >: This is the final struggle

  Let us group together, and tomorrow

  The Internationale

  Will be the human race :|
Second stanza
Il n'est pas de sauveurs suprêmes

Ni Dieu, ni César, ni tribun

Producteurs, sauvons-nous nous-mêmes

Décrétons le salut commun

Pour que le voleur rende gorge

Pour tirer l'esprit du cachot

Soufflons nous-mêmes notre forge

Battons le fer quand il est chaud

 >: C'est la lutte finale

  Groupons-nous, et demain

  L'Internationale

  Sera le genre humain :|
There are no supreme saviours

Neither God
God
God is the English name given to a singular being in theistic and deistic religions who is either the sole deity in monotheism, or a single deity in polytheism....

, nor Caesar
Caesar (title)
Caesar is a title of imperial character. It derives from the cognomen of Julius Caesar, the Roman dictator...

, nor tribune
Tribune
Tribune was a title shared by elected officials in the Roman Republic. Tribunes had the power to convene the Plebeian Council and to act as its president, which also gave them the right to propose legislation before it. They were sacrosanct, in the sense that any assault on their person was...

.

Producers, let us save ourselves

Decree the common salvation

So that the thief expires,

So that the spirit be pulled from its prison,

Let us fan the forge ourselves

Strike the iron while it is hot

 >: This is the final struggle

  Let us group together, and tomorrow

  The Internationale

  Will be the human race :|
Third stanza
L'État comprime et la loi triche

L'impôt saigne le malheureux

Nul devoir ne s'impose au riche

Le droit du pauvre est un mot creux

C'est assez, languir en tutelle

L'égalité veut d'autres lois

Pas de droits sans devoirs dit-elle

Égaux, pas de devoirs sans droits

 >: C'est la lutte finale

  Groupons-nous, et demain

  L'Internationale

  Sera le genre humain :|
The State oppresses and the law cheats

Tax bleeds the unfortunate

No duty is imposed on the rich

The rights of the poor is an empty phrase

Enough languishing in custody

Equality wants other laws:

No rights without duties, she says,

Equally, no duties without rights

 >: This is the final struggle

  Let us group together, and tomorrow

  The Internationale

  Will be the human race :|
Fourth stanza
Hideux dans leur apothéose

Les rois de la mine et du rail

Ont-ils jamais fait autre chose

Que dévaliser le travail ?

Dans les coffres-forts de la bande

Ce qu'il a créé s'est fondu

En décrétant qu'on le lui rende

Le peuple ne veut que son dû.

 >: C'est la lutte finale

  Groupons-nous, et demain

  L'Internationale

  Sera le genre humain :|
Hideous in their apotheosis

The kings of the mine and of the rail

Have they ever done anything other

Than steal work?

Inside the safeboxes of the gang,

What work had created melted.

By ordering that they give it back

The people want only their due.

 >: This is the final struggle

  Let us group together, and tomorrow

  The Internationale

  Will be the human race :|
Fifth stanza
Les rois nous saoulaient de fumées

Paix entre nous, guerre aux tyrans

Appliquons la grève aux armées

Crosse en l'air, et rompons les rangs

S'ils s'obstinent, ces cannibales

À faire de nous des héros

Ils sauront bientôt que nos balles

Sont pour nos propres généraux

 >: C'est la lutte finale

  Groupons-nous, et demain

  L'Internationale

  Sera le genre humain :|
The kings made us drunk with fumes,

Peace among us, war to the tyrants!

Let the armies go on strike,

Stocks in the air, and break ranks

If they insist, these cannibals

On making heroes of us,

They will know soon that our bullets

Are for our own generals

 >: This is the final struggle

  Let us group together, and tomorrow

  The Internationale

  Will be the human race :|
Sixth stanza
Ouvriers, paysans, nous sommes

Le grand parti des travailleurs

La terre n'appartient qu'aux hommes

L'oisif ira loger ailleurs

Combien de nos chairs se repaissent

Mais si les corbeaux, les vautours

Un de ces matins disparaissent

Le soleil brillera toujours.

 >: C'est la lutte finale

  Groupons-nous, et demain

  L'Internationale

  Sera le genre humain :|
Workers, peasants, we are

The great party of labourers

The earth belongs only to men

The idle will go to reside elsewhere

How much of our flesh have they consumed,

But if these ravens, these vultures

Disappeared one of these days

The sun will shine forever

 >: This is the final struggle

  Let us group together, and tomorrow

  The International

  Will be the human race :|

Translations into other languages

The German version, Die Internationale (translation by Emil Luckhardt 1910) was adopted by the protesters on the streets of East Berlin in 1953 and again in October 1989, when East Germans taken prisoner by their own police following demonstrations in the wake of Mikhail Gorbachev
Mikhail Gorbachev
Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev is a former Soviet statesman, having served as General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1985 until 1991, and as the last head of state of the USSR, having served from 1988 until its dissolution in 1991...

's visit sang the hymn to embarrass their captors by suggesting they had abandoned the socialist cause they were supposed to serve. Luckhardt's version of the final line of the chorus tellingly reads: "Die Internationale erkämpft das Menschenrecht". (The Internationale will win our human rights.) It was coupled with the chant: "Volkspolizei, steh dem Volke bei" (People's police, stand with the people!).
The Internationale in Chinese
The Internationale in Chinese
The Internationale in Chinese is literally the International Song. It has several different sets of lyrics.-Qu Qiubai's version:The most common and official Chinese version is the de facto anthem of the Communist Party of China. It was translated on 15 June 1923 from the Russian version by Qu...

 , literally the International Song, has several different sets of lyrics. One such version served as the de facto anthem of the Communist Party of China
Communist Party of China
The Communist Party of China , also known as the Chinese Communist Party , is the founding and ruling political party of the People's Republic of China...

, the national anthem of the Chinese Soviet Republic, as well as a rallying song of the students and workers at the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989
Tiananmen Square protests of 1989
The Tiananmen Square protests of 1989, also known as the June Fourth Incident in Chinese , were a series of demonstrations in and near Tiananmen Square in Beijing in the People's Republic of China beginning on 15 April 1989...

. Versions of the song in Indian languages, particularly Bengali and Malayalam, have existed since the 1950s since the translation of the song for the people of the Indian state of Kerala
Kerala
or Keralam is an Indian state located on the Malabar coast of south-west India. It was created on 1 November 1956 by the States Reorganisation Act by combining various Malayalam speaking regions....

 by actor and social activist Premji for the united Communist Party of India
Communist Party of India
The Communist Party of India is a national political party in India. In the Indian communist movement, there are different views on exactly when the Indian communist party was founded. The date maintained as the foundation day by CPI is 26 December 1925...

 (CPI). In the 1980s, more translations appeared. Translations by Sachidanandan and Mokeri Ramachandran were sung by the activists of Janakeeya Samskarikavedi, an organisation connected with CPI(Marxist-Leninist)
Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist)
The Communist Party of India was formed by the All India Coordination Committee of Communist Revolutionaries at a congress in Calcutta in 1969. The foundation of the party was declared by Kanu Sanyal at a mass-meeting in Calcutta on the 22nd of April .-History:CPI advocated armed revolution and...

 (CPI(ML). Translation by N. P. Chandrasekharan was for Students Federation of India
Students Federation of India
Students Federation of India is one of the major student organisations in India. SFI is politically linked to the Communist Party of India . Founded in 1970, it claimed a membership strength of nearly 4.2 million school and university students as of 2010.SFI is currently led at the All India level...

 (SFI), the student organisation associated with CPI(Marxist)
Communist Party of India (Marxist)
The Communist Party of India is a political party in India. It has a strong presence in the states of Kerala, West Bengal and Tripura. As of 2011, CPI is leading the state government in Tripura. It leads the Left Front coalition of leftist parties in various states and the national parliament of...

 (CPI(M) and published in the Student Monthly, the organ of SFI.

Russian lyrics

The Russian version was initially translated by Aron Kots (Arkady Yakovlevich Kots) in 1902 and printed in London in Zhizn
Zhizn
Zhizn was a Russian magazine published first in Saint Petersburg , then in London and Geneva .Zhizn began its existence as a general purpose magazine in January 1897. For the first two years it was edited, at various times, by S. V. Voejkov, D. M. Ostafyev, M. V. Kalitin, and M. S. Ermolaev and...

, a Russian émigré magazine. The first Russian version consisted of three stanza
Stanza
In poetry, a stanza is a unit within a larger poem. In modern poetry, the term is often equivalent with strophe; in popular vocal music, a stanza is typically referred to as a "verse"...

s (as opposed to six stanzas in the original French lyrics, and based on stanzas 1, 2 and 6) and the refrain. After the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia, the text was slightly re-worded to get rid of "now useless" future tenses - particularly the refrain was reworded (the future tense was replaced by the present, and the first person plural possessive pronoun was introduced). In 1918, the chief-editor of Izvestia
Izvestia
Izvestia is a long-running high-circulation daily newspaper in Russia. The word "izvestiya" in Russian means "delivered messages", derived from the verb izveshchat . In the context of newspapers it is usually translated as "news" or "reports".-Origin:The newspaper began as the News of the...

, Yuri Steklov, appealed to Russian writers to translate the other three stanzas and in the end, the song was expanded into six stanzas. In 1944, the Soviet Union adopted the Hymn of the Soviet Union as its national anthem
National anthem
A national anthem is a generally patriotic musical composition that evokes and eulogizes the history, traditions and struggles of its people, recognized either by a nation's government as the official national song, or by convention through use by the people.- History :Anthems rose to prominence...

. Prior to that time, the Internationale served as the principal musical expression of allegiance to the ideals of the October Revolution
October Revolution
The October Revolution , also known as the Great October Socialist Revolution , Red October, the October Uprising or the Bolshevik Revolution, was a political revolution and a part of the Russian Revolution of 1917...

 and the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....

. (The Internationale continued to be recognized as the official song of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union
Communist Party of the Soviet Union
The Communist Party of the Soviet Union was the only legal, ruling political party in the Soviet Union and one of the largest communist organizations in the world...

, and the post-1919 Soviet version is still used by the Communist Party of the Russian Federation
Communist Party of the Russian Federation
The Communist Party of the Russian Federation is a Russian political party. It is the second major political party in the Russian Federation.-History:...

.) The three stanzas by Kots were as follows:
Russian translationLatin alphabet transliterationLiteral English translation
First stanza
Вставай, проклятьем заклеймённый,

Весь мир голодных и рабов!

Кипит наш разум возмущённый

И в смертный бой вести готов.

Весь мир насилья мы разрушим

До основанья, а затем

Мы наш, мы новый мир построим, —

Кто был ничем, тот станет всем.

Припев:

 >: Это есть наш последний

  И решительный бой.

  С Интернационалом

  Воспрянет род людской! :|


Vstavay, proklyat'yem zakleym'onny,

ves' mir golodnykh i rabov!

Kipit nash razum vozmushchoinny

I v smertiny boy vesti gotov.

Ves' mir nasilya my razrushim

do oslovanya, a zatem

my nash, my novy mir postroim, —

kto byl nichem, tot stanet vsem.



Pripev:




 >: Eto yest nash poslednij

  I reshitelniy boy.

  S Internacionalom

  vospryanet rod lyudskoy. :|
Get up, you who are branded by a curse,

You, the world's starving and enslaved!

Our outraged minds are boiling,

Ready to lead us into a deadly fight.

We will destroy this world of violence

Down to the foundations, and then

We will build our new world.

He who was nothing will become everything!



CHORUS:




 >: This will be the final

   and decisive battle.

   With the International

   the mankind will get up. :|
Second stanza
Никто не даст нам избавленья:

Ни бог, ни царь и не герой!

Добьёмся мы освобожденья

Своею собственной рукой.

Чтоб свергнуть гнёт рукой умелой,

Отвоевать своё добро, —

Вздувайте горн и куйте смело,

Пока железо горячо!

 >:Это есть наш последний

  И решительный бой.

  С Интернационалом

  Воспрянет род людской!:|
Nikto ne dast nam izbavlenya:

Ni bog, ni tsar i ne geroy!

Dobyomsa my osvobozhdenya

svoyeyu sobstvennoy rukoy.

Chtob svergnut' gn'ot rukoy umeloy,

otvoyevat' svoyo dobro, –

Vzduvajte gorn i kuyte smelo,

poka zhelezo goryacho!

 >: Eto yest nash posledniy

  I reshitel'niy boy.

  S Internacionalom

  vospryanet rod lyudskoy. :|
No one will grant us deliverance,

Not god, nor tsar, nor hero.

We will win our liberation,

With our very own hands.

To throw down oppression with a skilled hand,

To take back what is ours –

Fire up the furnace and hammer boldly,

while the iron is still hot!

 >: This will be the final

   and decisive battle.

   With the International

   the mankind will get up. :|
Third stanza
Довольно кровь сосать, вампиры,

Тюрьмой, налогом, нищетой!

У вас — вся власть, все блага мира,

А наше право — звук пустой !

Мы жизнь построим по-иному —

И вот наш лозунг боевой:

Вся власть народу трудовому!

А дармоедов всех долой!

 >:Это есть наш последний

 И решительный бой;

 С Интернационалом

 Воспрянет род людской!:|
Dovoľno krov sosať, vampiry,

ťuřmoj, nalogom, niščetoj!

U vas — vśa vlasť, vse blaga mira,

a naše pravo — zvuk pustoj!

My žizň postroim po-inomu —

i vot naš lozung bojevoj:

Vśa vlasť narodu trudovomu!

A darmojedov vseh doloj!

 >: Eto jesť naš poslednij

  i rešiteľnyj boj.

  S Internacionalom

  vospřanet rod ľudskoj. :|
You've sucked enough of our blood, you vampires,

With prison, taxes and poverty!

You have all the power, all the blessings of the world,

And our rights are but an empty sound!

We'll make our own lives in a different way -

And here is our battle cry:

All the power to the people of labor!

And away with all the parasites!

 >:This is our last

 And decisive battle;

 With the Internationale

 rise up the human race!:|
Fourth stanza
Презренны вы в своём богатстве,

Угля и стали короли!

Вы ваши троны, тунеядцы,

На наших спинах возвели.

Заводы, фабрики, палаты —

Всё нашим создано трудом.

Пора! Мы требуем возврата

Того, что взято грабежом.

 >:Это есть наш последний

 И решительный бой;

 С Интернационалом

 Воспрянет род людской! :|
Prezrenny vy v svojom bogatstve,

ugl'a i stali koroli!

Vy vaši trony, tunejadcy,

na naših spinah vozveli.

Zavody, fabriki, palaty —

vs'o našim sozdano trudom.

Pora! My trebujem vozvrata

Togo, čto vz'ato grabežom.

 >: Eto jest' naš poslednij

  i rešitel'nij boj.

  S Internacionalom

  vospr'anet rod l'udskoj. :|
Contemptible you are in your wealth,

You kings of coal and steel!

You had your thrones, parasites,

At our backs erected.

All the factories, all the chambers -

All were made by our hands.

It's time! We demand the return

Of that which was stolen from us.

 >:This is our last

 And decisive battle;

 With the Internationale

 rise up the human race!:|
Fifth stanza
Довольно королям в угоду

Дурманить нас в чаду войны!

Война тиранам! Мир Народу!

Бастуйте, армии сыны!

Когда ж тираны нас заставят

В бою геройски пасть за них —

Убийцы, в вас тогда направим

Мы жерла пушек боевых!

 >: Это есть наш последний

 И решительный бой;

 С Интернационалом

 Воспрянет род людской! :|
Dovol'no korol'am v ugodu

durmanit' nas v čadu vojny!

Vojna tiranam! Mir Narodu!

Bastujte, armii syny!

Kogda ž tirany nas zastav'at

v boju gerojski past' za nih —

ubijcy, v vas togda napravim

my žerla pušek bojevyh!

 >: Eto jest' naš poslednij

  i rešitel'nij boj.

  S Internacionalom

  vospr'anet rod l'udskoj. :|
Enough of clouding our minds in the haze of war

On the behalf of kings!

War to the tyrants! Peace to the people!

Go on strike, sons of the army!

And if the tyrants tell us

To fall heroically in battle for them -

Then, murderers, we will point

The muzzles of our cannons at you!

 >: This is our last

 And decisive battle;

 With the Internationale

 rise up the human race! : |
Sixth stanza
Лишь мы, работники всемирной

Великой армии труда,

Владеть землёй имеем право,

Но паразиты никогда!

И если гром великий грянет

Над сворой псов и палачей, —

Для нас всё так же солнце станет

Сиять огнём своих лучей.

 >: Это есть наш последний

  И решительный бой.

  С Интернационалом

  Воспрянет род людской! :|
Liš' my, rabotniki vsemirnoj

velikoj armii truda,

vladet' zeml'oj imejem pravo,

no parazity – nikogda!

I jesli grom velikij gr'anet

nad svoroj psov i palačej, –

dl'a nas vs'o tak že solnce stanet

sijat' ogn'om svoih lučej.

 >: Eto jest' naš poslednij

  i rešitel'nij boj.

  S Internacionalom

  vospr'anet rod l'udskoj. :|
Only we, the workers of the worldwide

Great army of labour,

Have the right to own the land,

But the parasites - never!

And if the great thunder rolls

Over the pack of dogs and executioners,

For us, the sun will forever

Shine on with its fiery rays.

 >: This will be the final

   and decisive battle.

   With the Internationale

   the mankind will get up. :|

English lyrics

The traditional British version of The Internationale is usually sung in three verses, while the American version, authored by Charles Hope Kerr
Charles Hope Kerr
Charles Hope Kerr , a son of abolitionists, was a vegetarian and Unitarian in 1886 when he established Charles H Kerr Company Publishers in Chicago right before the Haymarket Riot. Over the years, his company became a leading publisher of socialist, anarchist, and Wobbly works...

 with five verses, is usually sung in two. The American version is sometimes sung with the phrase "the internationale", "the international soviet", or "the international union" in place of "the international working class". In English renditions, "Internationale" is sometimes sung as ɪntərnæʃəˈnæli (rhyming with "valley") rather than the French pronunciation of lɛ̃tɛʁnasjɔnal(ə).

The English versions are known to be notoriously difficult to sing, as the lyrics may appear sometimes forced and unnatural. British musician Billy Bragg
Billy Bragg
Stephen William Bragg , better known as Billy Bragg, is an English alternative rock musician and left-wing activist. His music blends elements of folk music, punk rock and protest songs, and his lyrics mostly deal with political or romantic themes...

, after talking to the American folk singer
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....

 and activist Pete Seeger
Pete Seeger
Peter "Pete" Seeger is an American folk singer and was an iconic figure in the mid-twentieth century American folk music revival. A fixture on nationwide radio in the 1940s, he also had a string of hit records during the early 1950s as a member of The Weavers, most notably their recording of Lead...

, agreed that the old lyrics were "archaic and unsingable". Bragg composed revised verses for the song, based on the British version. The recording was released on his album The Internationale
The Internationale (album)
The Internationale is a 1990 album by Billy Bragg. Originally released on Bragg's short-lived record label, Utility Records, it is a deliberately political album, consisting mainly of cover versions and rewrites of left-wing protest songs...

along with reworkings of other socialist songs. A full, six-stanza translation can be found on the Wikisource page on The Internationale.
British Translation Billy Bragg's Revision American version
First stanza

Arise, ye workers from your slumber,

Arise, ye prisoners of want.

For reason in revolt now thunders,

and at last ends the age of cant!

Away with all your superstitions,

Servile masses, arise, arise!

We'll change henceforth the old tradition,

And spurn the dust to win the prize!

  So comrades, come rally,

  And the last fight let us face.

  The Internationale,

  Unites the human race.

  So comrades, come rally,

  And the last fight let us face.

  The Internationale,

  Unites the human race.

Stand up, all victims of oppression,

For the tyrants fear your might!

Don't cling so hard to your possessions,

For you have nothing if you have no rights!

Let racist ignorance be ended,

For respect makes the empires fall!

Freedom is merely privilege extended,

Unless enjoyed by one and all.

  So come brothers and sisters,

  For the struggle carries on.

  The Internationale,

  Unites the world in song.

  So comrades, come rally,

  For this is the time and place!

  The international ideal,

  Unites the human race.

Arise, you prisoners of starvation!

Arise, you wretched of the earth!

For justice thunders condemnation:

A better world's in birth!

No more tradition's chains shall bind us,

Arise you slaves, no more in thrall!

The earth shall rise on new foundations:

We have been nought, we shall be all!

  'Tis the final conflict,

  Let each stand in his place.

  The international soviet

  Shall be the human race

  'Tis the final conflict,

  Let each stand in his place.

  The international working class

  Shall be the human race
Second stanza

No more deluded by reaction,

On tyrants only we'll make war!

The soldiers too will take strike action,

They'll break ranks and fight no more!

And if those cannibals keep trying,

To sacrifice us to their pride,

They soon shall hear the bullets flying,

We'll shoot the generals on our own side.

  So comrades, come rally,

  And the last fight let us face.

  The Internationale,

  Unites the human race.

  So comrades, come rally,

  And the last fight let us face.

  The Internationale,

  Unites the human race.

Let no one build walls to divide us,

Walls of hatred nor walls of stone.

Come greet the dawn and stand beside us,

We'll live together or we'll die alone.

In our world poisoned by exploitation,

Those who have taken, now they must give!

And end the vanity of nations,

We've but one Earth on which to live.

  So come brothers and sisters,

  For the struggle carries on.

  The Internationale,

  Unites the world in song.

  So comrades, come rally,

  For this is the time and place!

  The international ideal,

  Unites the human race.

We want no condescending saviors

To rule us from their judgment hall,

We workers ask not for their favors

Let us consult for all:

To make the thief disgorge his booty

To free the spirit from its cell,

We must ourselves decide our duty,

We must decide, and do it well.

  'Tis the final conflict,

  Let each stand in his place.

  The international soviet

  Shall be the human race

  'Tis the final conflict,

  Let each stand in his place.

  The international working class

  Shall be the human race
Third stanza

No saviour from on high delivers,

No faith have we in prince or peer.

Our own right hand the chains must shiver,

Chains of hatred, greed and fear.

E'er the thieves will out with their booty,

And to all give a happier lot.

Each at his forge must do their duty,

And we'll strike the iron while it's hot.

  So comrades, come rally,

  And the last fight let us face.

  The Internationale,

  Unites the human race.

  So comrades, come rally,

  And the last fight let us face.

  The Internationale,

  Unites the human race.

And so begins the final drama,

In the streets and in the fields.

We stand unbowed before their armour,

We defy their guns and shields!

When we fight, provoked by their aggression,

Let us be inspired by life and love.

For though they offer us concessions,

Change will not come from above!

  So come brothers and sisters,

  For the struggle carries on.

  The Internationale,

  Unites the world in song.

  So comrades, come rally,

  For this is the time and place!

  The Internationale,

  Unites the human race.

Instrumental recordings

See also

  • Anarchism and the arts
    Anarchism and the arts
    Anarchism has long had an association with the arts, particularly in music and literature. It shares this trait with other political movements, such as socialism, communism, liberalism, conservatism, libertarianism and even fascism....

  • Eugene Pottier
  • Pierre De Geyter
  • The Internationale
    The Internationale (album)
    The Internationale is a 1990 album by Billy Bragg. Originally released on Bragg's short-lived record label, Utility Records, it is a deliberately political album, consisting mainly of cover versions and rewrites of left-wing protest songs...

    , an album by Billy Bragg featuring Bragg's rewritten lyrics to the song.
  • The Internationale in Chinese
    The Internationale in Chinese
    The Internationale in Chinese is literally the International Song. It has several different sets of lyrics.-Qu Qiubai's version:The most common and official Chinese version is the de facto anthem of the Communist Party of China. It was translated on 15 June 1923 from the Russian version by Qu...


External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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