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Translation
Born in '17 in Leidenstadt
What if I were born in '17 in Leidenstadt*,
Upon the ruins of a battlefield,
Would I have been any better, or worse than those people,
Had I been a German?
Raised in humiliation, hatred and ignorance,
Fed on dreams of revenge,
Would I have been one of those unpromising minds,
A tear carried away by the flood?
Had I grown up in the docklands in Belfast**,
Soldier for a faith, for a class,
Would I have had the strength to betray those of my kind,
By holding out a hand?
Were I born white and wealthy in Johannesburg***,
Between power and fear,
Would I have heard those calls carried by the wind?
Nothing will be like it was before...
We will never know what we're truly made of,
Hidden behind appearences, is there
The soul of a brave, an accomplice or an executioner?
Either the worst or the best?
Would we be resisting, or just be another sheep in the herd,
Judging on more than mere words?
What if I were born in '17 in Leidenstadt,
Upon the ruins of a battlefield,
Would I have been any better, or worse than those people,
Had I been a German?
And may we be saved, you and I,
The choice of a side, for as long as possible.
Hmseek✕
Fredericks Goldman Jones: Top 3
| 1. | Né en 17 à Leidenstadt |
| 2. | À nos actes manqués |
| 3. | Nuit |
Comments
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About translator
*Leidenstadt is the name of a fictitious German city, translating as "City of Misery".
In this part, French singer and composer Jean-Jacques Goldman, who has Jewish-Polish origins, wonders how he would have behaved, had he been a German after WWI, the signature of the unfair Treaty of Versailles and the subsequent rise of Nazism.
**This part is sung by Welsh singer Michael Jones, who imagines being a Northern Irish during the Troubles (Northern Ireland conflict).
***This part is sung by African American singer Carole Fredericks, who has known segregation in the US, and imagines being a wealthy White during the Apartheid in South Africa.