Robert Wyatt’s interpretatie van de oude socialistische hymne. De tekst is enigszins aangepast. In Engeland wordt de Red Flag vooral geassocieerd met de Labour Party, wat onder Tony Blair tot de nodige hilariteit en een groot aantal parodieën leidde: The Labour government is here/We’ll change the country bit by bit/So nobody will notice it/And just to show that we’re sincere/We’ll sing The Red Flag once a year.
It waved above our infant might
When all ahead seemed dark as night;
It witnessed many a deed and vow
We must not change its colour now
Then raise the scarlet standard high
Within its shade we’ll live and die
Though cowards flinch and traitors sneer
We’ll keep the red flag flying here
It well recalls the triumphs past
It gives the hope of peace at last;
The banner bright, the symbol plain
Of human right and human gain
Then raise the scarlet standard high
Within its shade we’ll live and die
Though cowards flinch and traitors sneer
We’ll keep the red flag flying here
With heads uncovered swear we all
To bear it onward till we fall;
Come dungeons dark or gallows grim
This song shall be our parting hymn
Then raise the scarlet standard high
Within its shade we’ll live and die
Though cowards flinch and traitors sneer
We’ll keep the red flag flying here
Uitgelichte afbeelding: A demonstration in Moscow during the unsuccessful Russian Revolution of 1905. By Ilya Repin – [1], Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=3664150
