Billy Bragg - The Internationale (with lyrics) [1990]

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• published: 05 Jul 2014
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Original anthem of the Soviet Union. "The Internationale" (French: "L'Internationale") is a widely sung left-wing anthem. It has been one of the most recognizable and popular songs of the socialist movement since the late 19th century, when the Second International (now the Socialist International) adopted it as its official anthem. The title arises from the "First International", an alliance of socialist parties formed by Marx and Engels which held a congress in 1864. The author of the anthem's lyrics, Eugène Pottier, attended this congress. The original French refrain of the song is C'est la lutte finale / Groupons-nous et demain / L'Internationale / Sera le genre humain. (English: "This is the final struggle / Let us group together and tomorrow / The Internationale / Will be the human race.") "The Internationale" has been translated into many languages. It is often sung with the left hand raised in a clenched fist salute and is sometimes followed (in English-speaking places) with a chant of "The workers united will never be defeated." "The Internationale" has been celebrated by socialists, communists, anarchists, democratic socialists, and some social democrats. The original French words were written in June 1871 by Eugène Pottier (1816--1887, previously a member of the Paris Commune) and were originally intended to be sung to the tune of "La Marseillaise". Pierre De Geyter (1848--1932) set the poem to music in 1888. His melody was first publicly performed in July 1888 and became widely used soon after. In an unsuccessful attempt to save Pierre De Geyter's job as a woodcarver, the 6,000 leaflets printed by Lille printer Bolboduc only mentioned the French version of his family name (Degeyter). In 1904, Pierre's brother Adolphe was induced by the Lille mayor Gustave Delory to claim copyright, so that the income of the song would continue to go to Delory's French Socialist Party. Pierre De Geyter lost the first copyright case in 1914, but after his brother committed suicide and left a note explaining the fraud, Pierre was declared the copyright owner by a court of appeal in 1922. Pierre De Geyter died in 1932. The duration of copyright in France is 70 years following the end of the year when the author died. Previously, for musical works, additional protection for 6 years and 152 days to compensate for World War I, and 8 years and 120 days to compensate for World War II, was allowed, so his music of the "Internationale" would have been expected to remain copyrighted in France until October 2017. However, the 1995 harmonization of copyright term across the European Union at 70 years without extension means that the musical composition fell into the public domain in France at the end of 2002. Nonetheless, in 2005, Le Chant du Monde, the corporation administering the authors' rights, asked Pierre Merejkowsky, the film director and an actor of Insurrection / résurrection, to pay €1,000 for whistling the song for seven seconds. This position is inconsistent with a 2007 decision of the Cour de Cassation clarifying the matter. As the "Internationale" music was published before 1 July 1909 outside the United States of America, it is in the public domain in the United States. As of 2013, Pierre De Geyter's music is also in the public domain in countries and areas whose copyright durations are authors' lifetime plus 80 years or less. As Eugène Pottier died in 1887, his original French lyrics are in the public domain. Gustave Delory once acquired the copyright of his lyrics through the songwriter G B Clement having bought it from Pottier's widow. The traditional British version of The Internationale is usually sung in three verses, while the American version, written by Charles Hope Kerr with five verses, is usually sung in two. The American version is sometimes sung with the phrase "the internationale", "the international soviet", or "the international union" in place of "the international working class". The English versions are known to be notoriously difficult to sing, as the lyrics may appear sometimes forced and unnatural. British musician Billy Bragg, after talking to the American folk singer and activist Pete Seeger, agreed that the old lyrics were "archaic and unsingable". Bragg composed revised verses for the song, based on the British version. The recording was released on his 1990 album The Internationale.