“Breaking Chains” Sheet Music (pdf).
“Breaking Chains” Karaoke (midi with lyrics).
Lyrics: Charles H. Kerr.
Tune: “A Life on the Ocean Wave.”
We, the workers of the world,
Now are throwing off our chains.
See our banner red unfurled
Over seas and over plains.
From the cities of the Rhine,
From the hoary hills of Rome,
From the Belgian shop and mine
Words of cheer and greeting come.
We, the workers of the world
Now are throwing off our chains.
See our banner red unfurled
Over seas and over plains.
There’s a happy time to come
(We can see it drawing near)
For the dwellers of the slum
Now oppressed by pain and fear
For at last they hear the call
Of the comrades on the way,
And, like men no more in thrall,
They will help to bring the day
When the workers of the world
Shall have thrown off every chain,
And their flag shall float unfurled
Over every height and plain.
We, the workers, shall not wait
For a leader from above.
We shall grasp the pow’rs of State;
Like an avalanche we’ll move
Till the walls of pride and greed
Have been leveled to the ground.
And the lab’rer’s steadfast deed
Shall with peace and joy be crowned,
For the workers of the world
Will have cast aside their chains,
And their flag will float unfurled
Over earth’s remotest plains.