The chant of the partisans
Words by Maurice Druon and Joseph Kessel, music by Anna MARLY, May 30, 1943
Missak MANOUCHIAN In London, where many leaders of the Resistance meet, such as Fernand GRENIER, Emmanuel d'ASTIER de la VIGERIE, we are looking for a musical code for the program "Honneur et Patrie", broadcast by the BBC... But these resistants have another wish, more, an imperative:to create a song of the Resistance. "We only win the war with songs... you need a song that seems to come from the maquis", says Emmanuel d'ASTIER de la VIGERIE. (Source:F.N.D.I.R.P.).
Anna MARLY's music served as the theme song for the program "Honneur et patrie" broadcast from May 17, 1943 to March 2, 1944 on the BBC.
The chant of the partisans
I
Friend do you hear
The black flight of crows
On our plains.
Friend do you hear
The deaf cries of the country
Let's go on...
Hey supporters
Workers and peasants
It's the alarm!
Tonight the enemy
Will know the price of blood
And tears...
II
Come up from the mine,
Come down from the hills,
Comrades.
Get out of the straw
Rifles, grapeshot,
Pomegranates.
Oh! the killers
Bullet and Knife
Kill fast!
Oh! saboteurs
Mind your burden...
Dynamite...
III
We are the ones breaking
Prison bars
For our brothers.
Hate on our heels
And the hunger that drives us,
Misery.
There are countries
Where the people in the hollow of the beds
Make dreams come true.
Here, do you see us
We march and we kill
We are dying...
IV
Everyone here knows
What he wants, what he does
When he passes
Friend, if you fall,
A friend comes out of the shadows
In your place.
Black Blood Tomorrow
Will dry in the sun
On the roads.
Sing companions,
In the night, freedom
Listening to us...
V
Friend, do you hear
The muffled cries of the country we
Go on!
Friend, do you hear
The black flight of crows on our plains...