More seriously in the spirit of the day...

[pyat]

Folk singer Billy Bragg's modernized and santized verison of The Internationale bothers me. Whereas the orginal is all blood and thunder, his version is all about extending-a-hand and isn't-freedom-nice-when-we-all-share. Those are legitimate feelings, of course, but it is important to remember the time and the spirit that inspired the orginal.

Shall we compare?

The Orignal (Lit. English)
Stand up, wretched of the earth
Stand up, galley slaves of hunger
Reason thunders in its volcano
This is the eruption of the end
Of the past let us wipe the slate clean
Masses, slaves, arise, arise
The world is about to change its foundation
We are nothing, let us be all


Billy Bragg Version
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.

I don't know. To me, "Reason thunders in its volcano" is a lot more exciting than "Don't cling so hard to your possessions." And then in the second verse, he's replaced "There are no supreme saviours / Neither God, nor Caesar, nor tribune" with "Let no one build walls to divide us / Walls of hatred nor walls of stone."

I realize the new version is rather more inclusive and less violent, but... hey, I like my anthems full of old-school blood and guts. Except the Canadian one, which is required by law and tradition to be as bland as possible.

Comments

Re: ohgodpleaseno

[hannahmorgan.livejournal.com]

I've been there. Although it was Christian Reformed youth group, and I was the only one who could play it on the piano. My parents made me go, because I wasn't going to Christian school anymore. I rationalized that playing it at least got me out of singing it. That song can still raise my hackles.

No wonder I skipped youth group so much.