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Translation
The Cutline
Among the bushes and trees
Between borders we all wait for tomorrow.
But at eighteen we were all just beginning to live
How could we understand?
By whose measure will our lives be weighed?
Only God knows the fear we felt.
At eighteen we all just wanted to live.
In a flash your life could be gone.
Are you calling me?
Calling me back to the Cutline, my friend?
How much the world has changed since then.
We were young, how could we have foreseen?
Are you searching for me,
Searching for me in the dust and your blood?
You said you heard God call out your name,
and then you were gone.
After so many years
Our thoughts and deeds are still with us.
Only soldiers live with damaged borders;
How can you understand?
Even though the bush has covered our tracks
In those dark bushes brothers were born.
In the dark, we prayed together for the morning.
But with one stroke your life was over.
Are you calling me?
Calling me back to the Cutline, my friend?
How much the world has changed since then.
We were young, how could we have foreseen?
Where are you now?
Will we remember your name when we stand at the wall
You were never honored and no one will write your story
And how it helped our nation to grow
And at that wall
I will stand for hours
But where’s your name now, my friend?
Don't they understand
Young soldiers sacrificed their lives
And now are supposed to carry the blame?
Are you calling me?
Calling me back to the Cutline, my friend?
How much the world has changed since then.
We were young, how could we have foreseen?
And at that wall
I will stand for hours
And at that wall
I will stand for hours
JTX✕
Bok Van Blerk: Top 3
| 1. | De la Rey |
| 2. | Afrikanerhart |
| 3. | Die Kaplyn |
Comments
The translation needs to carry the emotion of the song -- it is not one of apology at all, but of pride and remembrance. It is a brothers-in-arms song, celebrating those SADF troops who valiantly stood for their country. They must never be forgotten\, no matter how much current politicians seek to wipe out their memory.