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LT → German, Spanish, German (Berlinerisch dialect) → Ernst Busch → Einheitsfrontlied → English
  • Ernst Busch
    Ernst Busch – Einheitsfrontlied

    English translation

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German
Original lyrics

Einheitsfrontlied

Und weil der Mensch ein Mensch ist,
drum braucht er was zum Essen, bitte sehr!
Es macht ihn ein Geschwätz nicht satt,
das schafft kein Essen her.
 
Drum links, zwei, drei!
Drum links, zwei, drei!
Wo dein Platz, Genosse, ist!
Reih dich ein in die Arbeitereinheitsfront
Weil du auch ein Arbeiter bist.
 
Und weil der Mensch ein Mensch ist,
drum braucht er auch noch Kleider und Schuh'.
Es macht ihn ein Geschwätz nicht warm
und auch kein Trommeln dazu.
 
Drum links, zwei, drei!
Drum links, zwei, drei!
Wo dein Platz, Genosse, ist!
Reih dich ein in die Arbeitereinheitsfront
Weil du auch ein Arbeiter bist.
 
Und weil der Mensch ein Mensch ist,
drum hat er Stiefel im Gesicht nicht gern.
Er will unter sich keinen Sklaven sehn
und über sich keinen Herrn.
 
Drum links, zwei, drei!
Drum links, zwei, drei!
Wo dein Platz, Genosse, ist!
Reih dich ein in die Arbeitereinheitsfront
Weil du auch ein Arbeiter bist.
 
Und weil der Prolet ein Prolet ist,
drum wird ihn kein anderer befrein,
es kann die Befreiung der Arbeiter
nur das Werk der Arbeiter sein.
 
Drum links, zwei, drei!
Drum links, zwei, drei!
Wo dein Platz, Genosse, ist!
Reih dich ein in die Arbeitereinheitsfront
Weil du auch ein Arbeiter bist.
 
English
Translation

Workers' United Front

And since a man is a man
He needs something to eat, if you don't mind
His belly won't be filled by prattle
That doesn't bring him food
 
Then left, right, left!
Then left, right, left!
To where your place is, comrade!
Join right into the Workers' United Front
Because you are a worker, too.
 
And since a man is a man
He needs clothes and shoes as well.
Prattle does not make him warm
And nor does beating the drums 1
 
Then left, right, left!
Then left, right, left!
To where your place is, comrade!
Join right into the Workers' United Front
Because you are a worker, too.
 
And since a man is a man
He doesn't like to be kicked in the face
He doesn't want to own a slave
Nor to be bullied by a boss
 
Then left, right, left!
Then left, right, left!
To where your place is, comrade!
Join right into the Workers' United Front
Because you are a worker, too.
 
And since a proletarian is a proletarian
He'll not be liberated by someone else
The liberation of the working class
Can only be done by the working class
 
Then left, right, left!
Then left, right, left!
To where your place is, comrade!
Join right into the Workers' United Front
Because you are a worker, too.
 
  • 1. meant are the "drums of war"
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Translations of "Einheitsfrontlied"

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Comments
michealtmichealt    Mon, 31/08/2015 - 22:35

Title: It seems odd to translate "Einheitsfrontlied" as if it were "Arbeitereinheitsfront".

first stanza, line 1: English uses "a" in this context although german uses "the".
Also, using "human" for this statement sounds strange, an English speaker would probably say "a man is a man".
(these 1st line comments also apply to stanzas 2 and 3, and the first one also to stanza 4).
line 2: I think being more literal here would be good: "he needs something to eat". Also "if you please" is very old fashioned, use it to translate "wenn's gefällt" but not "bitte sehr" which is just "please" or "you're welcome" depending on context.
line 3: the word "a" would be omitted here in normal English; but I think "chitchat" is not sufficiently pejorative (abwertend) for "Geschwätz", "prattle" might be better. "get full" is technically correct but no-one would say it like that when talking about food (and in some parts of Britain "get full" = "voll wie ein Haubitze werden"), "his belly won't be filled by prattle" would be much more like ordinary English.
line 4: I would usually translate herschaffen as "bring" but "provide" is OK if you want to sound a little formal.

Chorus: 4th line: needs "the" before "Workers'"
(The German looks a little odd - wouldn't "ein" be at the end of the line instead of in the middle in normal speech?)

2nd stanza: 2nd line: space missing in "as well"
3rd line: "by" here would mean "neben", it can't mean "von" because the verb is active and already has a subject. Also as before "chitchat" is not strong enough. So maybe make the line "Prattle does not make him warm" because the next line clearly needs something for "does" to refer to and you certainly don't want it to mean "neither does beating of drums get warm".
4th line: is OK provided the 3rd line changes, but even then I would say "and nor" rather than "neither" here (there's a strong tendency to use "neither" only when it's going to be followed by a phrase introduced by "nor")

3rd stanza: apart from the same problem in the first line, the only thing which is grammatically incorrect is a missing "to " in line 4 (before "be "); but I would use "Nor" instead of "Neither" here.

4th stanza: line 3 needs "The" before "liberation".

FreigeistFreigeist
   Tue, 01/09/2015 - 04:57

Thank you very much for your corrections and suggestions, dear Tom!

I have put the title "Workers' United Front" because "Arbeitereinheitsfront" is the term, the title is referring to. I could have named it "Song of the Workers' United Front" though. But I don't see it to be that important.

The term "Mensch" includes explicitly women, too. I was reluctant to use the term "man". Are you sure in a native speaker's ears in this context women are included, using the term "man"?

I still tend to stick to "if you please", because in this context "bitte sehr!" is not used as a plea or appeal, but rather more as a rebuke and a corroboration. In the sense of: "How could you dare to think he could do (the work) without food (without being payed for)". But you are welcome to explain.

>"The German looks a little odd - "
'Reih' dich ein in die Arbeitereinheitsfront'
Yeah, in a factual way of saying it you would put the word "ein" to the end.
The way it is put here manifests an accentuated pathetic way of speech.

2nd stanza - Do you mean like this:
"Prattle does not make him warm
And nor does beating the drums (of war)" ?

I think I comprehended everything else.

michealtmichealt    Tue, 01/09/2015 - 07:17

Hi Hansi,
I'll cover "Mensch" (and "Er/ihn) here, the other things in another reply.

In theory "man" is generic and includes "woman"; in practise some people will not accept is as meaning that (the lunatic fringe of the women's lib movement and the lunatic fringe of the male chauvinists) and some will not use it like that (people who know it means that but won't use it for fear of offending people on the lunatic fringe of women's lib). This is despite the OED giving the definition "A human being (irrespective of sex or age)".

This makes "Mensch" difficult to translate, with dictionaries generally offering the three possibilities "person, man, woman".

If you want a genuinely inclusive word, you can use "person". But then you have a problem with the pronouns, because the people who think "man" can never include women think the same about "he" (and "him" and "his").

"They" (and "them" and "their") can be used to refer to a single person without implying any gender but you will find that some people think "they" is always plural (because a present tense verb with "they" doesn't use the third person singular form even when "they" is singular). The nearest thing we have to a definitive definition of English words is the OED, which describes this use of "they" (" [use] in anaphoric reference to a singular noun or pronoun of undetermined gender: he or she") and quotes examples dating from Middle English (1375, when it still used the now archaic spelling "þei") to very modern times but also states "This use has sometimes been considered erroneous."

The only way to avoid all problems is to go to the plural: sayng "All people are human beings" and then using the pronoun "they" (as plural, so no-one can object) and it's accusative and possessive variants works for everybody.

Your current version "a human is a human" doesn't work in English, it's not something anyone would say; the nearest would be "a human being is a human being", but that sounds a bit long and clumsy, and you would still have the pronoun problem.

michealtmichealt    Tue, 01/09/2015 - 07:29

"if you please" won't come over as a rebuke, the way to do that is "if you don't mind" (falls es Sie nicht stört / wenn es Ihnen nichts ausmacht).

2nd stanza: yes, I do mean like that

Title: you're right, it isn't important.

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