The history and politics of the English protest song

1888

The Internationale

Tune: Original
Lyrics: Eugène Pottier
Composer: Pierre De Geyter

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.

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, &c.

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, &c.

Lyrics

Eugène Pottier’s anthem was originally an 1871 reworking of the ‘Marseillaise’, before Pierre De Geyter’s melody gave it a separate identity, to be circulated and translated around the world. The English lyrics sought to balance literal sense with poetic sensibility – and though a century later Billy Bragg dubbed them ‘archaic’, the chorus remains strong: simpler than the verses, carried by a melody that, when sung by many voices, has an emphatic payoff.

Cause: Socialist | Communist | Anti-militarist
Theme: Political Process | Rights
Addressed to: Universal | Workers
Target of Protest: The Ruler | Armed Forces
Proposal/Solution: Republicanism | Pacifism