A Century of May Days

The Internationale

(Billy Bragg's Lyrics)

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!

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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.

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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!

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And so begins the final drama

In the streets and in the fields.

We stand unbowed before their armor

We defy their guns and shields.

When we fight provoked by their aggression

Let us be inspired by like and love;

For though they offer us concessions

Change will not come from above!

Songwriters: Stephen William Bragg / Petrus Christianus De Geyter / Eugene Edme Pottier

The Internationale lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC

(I find it ironic that The Internationale is protected by intellectual property laws, and that the rights are not owned by Billy Bragg, but by Sony.  It's a brave new world.)

Previously on NecessaryFacts

Happy May Day, Comrades (2015)

Capitalist Culture

Karl Marx and the Dustbin of History

Labor Day Celebrates Productivity

Success of the WEIRD People

Workers' Paradise Promised an End to Money

The Syrian Quagmire