“Comrades” Sheet Music (pdf).
“Comrades” Karaoke (midi with lyrics).
Lyrics: Lawrence Tully.
Tune: “Engine One-Four-Three.”
I went into the Reichstag,
My comrades there to see.
They sat in all their pomp and pow’r
And broad humanity.
It was Comrade this and Comrade that
And “Comrade, you are first”
And “Comrade, let me help you,
Ere with eloquence you burst.”
And then a man rose up in front,
And “Comrades,” says, says he,
“We’ve gathered here this blessed day
To consider our army.”
“Our Comrades, ’cross the Channel,
They’re arming to the teeth.
We must grab them by their hairy throats;
We must shake them off their feet.”
It was Comrade this and Comrade that
And “Comrade, let me shake”
And “Comrade, you’re a poltroon
When the Fatherland’s at stake.”
I walked the streets of Paris,
And I hadn’t walked so far
Ere the thought was born within me:
The nation’s going to war.
Beneath a spluttering torchlight,
For the day was turning dark,
A Red was loudly shouting,
And I stopped to hear him bark.
It was Comrade this and Comrade that.
“But our German comrades! God!
We must bayonet and burn them.
We must plant them ’neath the sod.”
For, Comrades, you’re my brothers,
No matter what your ’ality.
But you’re a hissing, crawling serpent
When it comes to boundary.
I stood upon the battle field
And watched the spitting flow
Of life-blood from the Saxon
And his stalwart Teuton foe.
And Comrade this and Comrade that
Had drenched themselves again.
They had done their masters’ bidding
And were numbered ’mongst the slain.
Now many words could type this sheet
Of what I saw ’cross the sea.
But what’s the use of wording
When it comes to you and me?
For Comrade this and Comrade that,
It sounded very fine.
The bomb has burst beneath you;
You are swallowed in a mine.
And the cant that turned to cannon
And the landscape that was mailed
Will record unto ages
The philosophy that failed.