Es ist an der Zeit English translation
von Reinhard Mey

Far in Champagne in the midsummer green
Where poppies bloom between grave crosses
There the grasses whisper and sway gently in the wind
That gently sweeps over the burial ground

On your cross I find "dead soldier"
Not your name, only numbers
And someone has painted the number 1916
And you weren't even nineteen years old

They've lied to you too
Just like they still do to us today
And you gave them everything
Your strength, your youth, your life

Did you, dead soldier, ever love a girl?
Certainly not, because only where there is peace
Can tenderness and trust thrive
You were a soldier to die, not to be young


Maybe you thought to yourself: "I'll fall soon"
Take my pleasure as it comes, by force
You were determined to do so, but then you were ashamed
Ashamed of yourself and yet never did it

Yes, they've already lied to you too
Just like they still do with us today
And you gave them everything
Your strength, your youth, your life

Soldier, did you go to your death believing and gladly?
Or did you, desperate, embittered, brutalised
Did you not recognise your real enemy until the end?
I hope you were hit by a clean shot

Or did a bullet tear your limbs apart?
Did you scream for your mother to the last?
Did you run on the stumps of your legs
And your grave holds more than a leg, a hand?

They have lied to you too
Just like they still do to us today
And you gave them everything
Your strength, your youth, your life


The cross was the only trace left
Of your life, but hear my oath
To fight for peace and to be vigilant
If mankind falls for lies one more time

Then it may happen that soon there will be no one left alive
No one to bury the billions of dead
But more and more people are ready
To prevent this war, the time has come

Yes, they have already lied to you too
Just like they still do to us today
And you gave them everything
Your strength, your youth, your life