Desolate was the land - the land of rocks
The land of pine - of reindeer moss and slab
And the earth nourished worms and eagles
Lemmings and wolves amongst snowdressed mountains
But so one morning rose your feet
Big and heavy on untrampled ground
And the land took you with hungry arms
And fought against you for life or death
But the strength of humanity would be victorious
Though the mountain slabs were colored red

But the freedom was drenched by the empire of whips
Private property took you as slave
And the earth drank blood and the earth drank tears
And the thistles grew on the slaves graves
But so one morning a battle cry rose
The class struggle was born with axe and spear
And the chiefs fighters swung their sowrds
And fought against you for life or death
But the strength of humanity would be victorious
Though the settlement was colored red

In plagued land you ditched the marshes
and the earth gave you growth as thank for your sweat
But the earth was seized and soon you were to plough
only to feed a rich mans lineage
But then one morning you stood outside the cabins
Ready to fight for farm land and bread
And the landowners knights raised their rivles
And fought against you for life or death
But the strength of humanity would be victorious
Though the village trail was colored red

One day the baron said: Leave my farmlands
Your work does not make me rich enough
And hungry and cold you came to the city
Where you got work at nearest factory
But so one morning the fires died out
Fists were risen and you went to strike
And the knights of the bourgeois with their whips and sabers
They fought against you for life or death
But the strength of humanity would be victorious
And the flag was colored red

And you, that has carried my seed through the night
Was it all to see me give up
I swear by your name that it was not all for nothing
You carried this pain and carried this hope
For maybe tomorrow we stand as brothers
When the working class starts revolution
May the hoards of the bourgeois march towards us
And fight against us for life or death
For the strength of humanity shall yet again be victorious
Even though the paving shall be colored red