Lyr/Tune Req: Songs by Hans Eisler

Subject: Songs by Hans Eisler
From: Karen J
Date: 09 Jul 03 - 05:14 PM

I am trying to locate lyrics and music for The Ballad of Bourgeois Welfare, music by Hans Eisler. It is on an LP by Dagmar Krauze but the words aren't distinct enough to get them down accurately. It is not in the Brecht/Eisler songbook. Does anyone have this item or can point me in the direction of the sheet music?

Subject: RE: Songs by Hans Eisler
From: GUEST,Q
Date: 09 Jul 03 - 06:08 PM

English lyrics at: http://eislermusic.com/reviews/wohl.htm
Also a sound clip of Ernst Busch.
Eisler's first name is Hanns. "In the 1950s, Eisler completed a cycle of (Kurt) Tucholsky Songs at Busch's request. This is one of them.
The title given is "Ballad of the Welfare System."

36 songs there with music.

Subject: RE: Songs by Hans Eisler
From: JennyO
Date: 10 Jul 03 - 01:43 AM

Our choir sings one of the Eisler/Brecht songs - Keiner Oder Alle, in German and English (All Or Nothing) - very rousing and dramatic.

Jenny

Subject: RE: Songs by Hans Eisler
From: Wilfried Schaum
Date: 10 Jul 03 - 03:27 AM

Good chance for you, Karen - I've ordered the poems by Tucholsky from our shelves and will receive them this afternoon. If I don't find the Ballad there, I have to order the Collected Works (3 vols.) So don't despair if you dont hear from me soon; I intend to find it.

Wilfried

Subject: RE: Songs by Hans Eisler
From: Wilfried Schaum
Date: 10 Jul 03 - 03:53 AM

Report of a websearch:
The translation of the title is misleading; instead of Welfare (Wohlfahrt) it is Charity (Wohltätigkeit). No text available in the web, so I still have to scrutinize the antique browsers of the University Library.
Do you need other texts by Tucholsky? If yes, mail soon.

Wilfried

Subject: Lyr Add: BÜRGERLICHE WOHLTÄTIGKEIT (Hanns Eisler)
From: Wilfried Schaum
Date: 10 Jul 03 - 08:45 AM

BÜRGERLICHE WOHLTÄTIGKEIT

Sieh! Da steht das Erholungsheim
einer Aktiengesellschaftsgruppe;
morgens gibt es Haferschleim
und abends Gerstensuppe.
   Und die Arbeiter dürfen auch in den Park ...
   Gut. Das ist der Pfennig.
   Aber wo ist die Mark - ?

Sie reichen euch manche Almosen hin
unter christlich frommen Gebeten;
sie pflegen die leidende Wöchnerin,
denn sie brauchen jeden Proleten.
   Sie liefern auch einen Armensarg ...
   Gut. Das ist der Pfennig.
   Aber wo ist die Mark - ?

Die Mark ist tausend- und tausendfach
in fremde Taschen geflossen;
die Dividende hat mit viel Krach
der Aufsichtsrat beschlossen
   Für euch die Brühe. Für sie das Mark.
   Für euch der Pfennig. Für sie die Mark.

Proleten!
   Fallt nicht auf den Schwindel rein!
Sie schulden euch mehr als sie geben.
Sie schulden euch alles! Die Länderein,
   die Bergwerke und die Wollfärberein ...
sie schulden euch Glück und Leben.
Nimm, was du kriegst. Aber pfeif auf den Quark.
Denk an deine Klasse! Und die mach stark!
Für dich der Pfennig! Für dich die Mark!
   Kämpfe!

The translation given in http://eislermusic.com/reviews/wohl.htm
is not correct, due to rhyme and metre. If you want a translation word by word, feel free to ask.

Wilfried

Subject: Lyr Add: BALLAD OF THE WELFARE SYSTEM
From: GUEST,Q
Date: 10 Jul 03 - 11:58 AM

Lyr Add: BALLAD OF THE WELFARE SYSTEM
Kurt Tucholsky, set to music by Hanns Eisler

Look! There stands the welfare home
of an industrial company group;
In the morning there is oatmeal
In the evening leftover soup.
And the workers are also allowed in the park....

Refrain:
Good, that is the penny,
But where is the mark?
Good, that is the penny.
But where is the mark?

They give you their charity
with pious Christian prayers.
They look after the unwed young mother,
for they need every prole they can get.
They'll also provide the coffin.... (when he dies).

Refrain;

The mark has thousands and thousands of times
filled up foreign pockets;
The dividends after much debate
are allocated by the board of directors.
For you the broth, for them the mark.
For you the penny, for them the mark.

Proletarians!
Don't fall for this swindle!
They owe you more than you give.
They owe you everything: The land,
the mountains and the factories .....
They owe you happiness and life.
Take what you fight for. Don't take their lies.
Think about your class! And be tough!

For you the Penny! For you the Mark!
For you the Penny! For you the Mark!
Fight!

Many thanks to Wilfried Schaum for the poem, which I presume is the original by Kurt Tucholsky. Eisler wrote the music in 1930 according to the Eisler Music website. Did he keep to the poem or make some revisions to fit the music he wrote?

The English version above is copied from the Eisler website.

The main difference seems to be in the last line of the verses, where the German is better at expressing the meaning. The lines of the German poem end with a pause (dots), as I have tried to indicate, allowing the reader or the singer to form a mental image. I have indicated the difference in the second verse- They also provide a coffin.... The rest of the line, when he dies, is unnecessary and also bad English. In the third verse, "For you the gruel" is more expressive in English than "for you the broth."

Wilfried, I look forward to your answer to the question about the Eisler version- is it the same or different from the Tuckolsky poem? Is it the same as the song sung by Ernst Busch? I will have to listen to the recording at the Eisler website again.

Subject: RE: Songs by Hans Eisler
From: Susanne (skw)
Date: 10 Jul 03 - 07:40 PM

What Wilfried posted is what Ernst Busch sings. IIRR, Tucholsky and Eisler collaborated on this and many other songs. They were meant to be sung, not written as poems and only later set to music. Tucholsky wrote much of his stuff for cabaret. There is a collection of his cabaret songs (with dots and some interesting anecdotes) published by Rowohlt-Verlag , 1983 (ISBN 3 498 06476 2), edited by Mary Gerold-Tucholsky (T.'s former wife and holder of his copyrights) and Hans-Georg Heepe.

Subject: Lyr Add: BALLAD OF THE WELFARE SYSTEM
From: Wilfried Schaum
Date: 11 Jul 03 - 03:03 AM

Thanks, Susanne, that's my source I forgot to mention in a haste. But I can't find Hans-Georg Heepe as a co-editor. My source has ISBN 3-498-09417-3.
The most grievous faults in the translation I correct below in italics.

BALLAD OF THE WELFARE SYSTEM
BOURGEOIS CHARITY

[1]
Look! There stands the welfare home
welfare home = rest home
In the morning there is oatmeal
oatmeal = porridge
In the evening leftover soup.
leftover soup = barley soup

[2]
They look after the unwed young mother,
unwed young mother = suffering woman in childbed
They'll also provide the coffin.... (when he dies).
coffin = free coffin for the poor
[Armensarg is the simplest coffin provided by the community]

[3]
For you the broth, for them the mark.
mark = marrow
For you the penny, for them the mark.
[A fine pun with homophones: die Mark is the money, das Mark is the marrow]

[4]
They owe you more than you give.
you give = they give
the mountains and the factories .....
mountains = mines
Think about your class! And be tough!
and be tough = strengthen it [your class]

Wilfried

Subject: RE: Songs by Hans Eisler
From: Wilfried Schaum
Date: 11 Jul 03 - 03:09 AM

Rereading Susannes post I think I used another book published in the same year: Gedichte (=poems), a collection not only of his caberet songs, but of all verse he wrote, in chronological order.

Tucholsky, Kurt:
Gedichte / Kurt Tucholsky. Hrsg. von Mary Gerold-Tucholsky
   Reinbek : Rowohlt, 1983
ISBN 3-498-09417-3

Hrsg. von = ed. by

Wilfried

Subject: RE: Songs by Hans Eisler
From: Peter T.
Date: 11 Jul 03 - 09:54 AM

There is a long article on Eisler in the New York Times today. yours, Peter T.

Subject: RE: Songs by Hans Eisler
From: M.Ted
Date: 11 Jul 03 - 12:09 PM

Good article, too--A Welcome Tribute to a Lost Composer not sure if the link will work, NYT now requires registration--Reminds me that I recently saw "Hangmen Also Die", Peter--Brecht's only American movie, with a song by Eisler--interesting--

Subject: RE: Songs by Hans Eisler
From: Wolfgang
Date: 13 Jul 03 - 05:50 AM

A sinagble closer translation than the one posted by Q would be extremely difficult. For instance, Tucholsky uses the double meaning of 'Mark': das Mark: the marrow of the bone, die Mark: unit of money.

For you the broth, for them the (Mark)marrow.
For you the penny, for them the mark.

Wolfgang

Subject: Lyr Add: THE TRENCHES (Hanns Eisler)
From: GUEST
Date: 01 May 09 - 04:32 PM

Here is an anti-war song by Kurt Tucholsky/Hanns Eisler that is also on the Dagmar Krause LP and deserves to be known more widely. The melody is lovely, though I have never been too sure about the chords. If anybody had this knowledge and could post them it would be appreciated. Lyrics below, from memory:


THE TRENCHES

Mother, for what did you raise your son?
Why did you struggle with him twenty years?
Why was it to you he would always run
And quietly he'd whisper in your ear?
Till the day they came and took him away...
For the trenches, mother, for the trenches.
For the trenches, mother, for the trenches.

Young man, can you still remember Dad?
How he'd take you on his shoulder for a ride?
How he'd always have a penny for his lad
And count to ninety-nine while you would hide?
Till the day they came and took him away...
For the trenches, young man, for the trenches.
For the trenches, young man, for the trenches.

See those French and English workers yonder?
Side by side they sacrificed their lives.
Shot to pieces, every life was squandered,
For a place a metre deep in mud.
All the young men, even boys, who gave,
Their lives for a lonely mass grave,
Their lives for a lonely mass grave.

Don't be so proud of your scars and medals,
Don't be proud about glory days gone by.
You were sent to the trenches by the ogres,
The envy of industry, the madness of the state.
You were good enough as carrion for the crows,
For the trenches, comrades, for the trenches.
For the trenches, comrades, for the trenches.

Think of the moans and the rattle of the guns,
Yonder are fathers', mothers' sons.
Making ends meet with the daily grind,
Don't you want to shake hands with your own kind?
Reach out your hands and greet your fellow men,
Across the trenches, people, across the trenches.
Across the trenches, people, across the trenches.

Subject: RE: Songs by Hans Eisler
From: Susanne (skw)
Date: 02 May 09 - 05:42 PM

German original (from the 'Kurt Tucholsky Chanson Buch' already mentioned above):

DER GRABEN
(Words Kurt Tucholsky - tune Hanns Eisler)

Mutter, wozu hast du deinen aufgezogen?
Hast dich zwanzig Jahr' mit ihm gequält?
Wozu ist er dir in deinen Arm geflogen,
und du hast ihm leise was erzählt?
Bis sie ihn dir weggenommen haben,
für den Graben, Mutter, für den Graben.

Junge, kannst du noch an Vater denken?
Vater nahm dich oft auf seinen Arm.
Und er wollt' dir einen Groschen schenken,
und er spielte mit dir Räuber und Gendarm.
Bis sie ihn dir weggenommen haben,
für den Graben, Junge, für den Graben.

Drüben die französischen Genossen
lagen dicht bei Englands Arbeitsmann.
Alle haben sie ihr Blut vergossen,
und zerschossen ruht heut' Mann bei Mann.
Alte Leute, Männer, mancher Knabe
in dem einen großen Massengrabe.

Seid nicht stolz auf Orden und Geklunker!
Seid nicht stolz auf Narben und die Zeit!
In die Gräben schickten euch die Junker,
Staatswahn und der Fabrikantenneid.
Ihr wart gut genug zum Fraß für Raben,
für das Grab, Kam'raden, für den Graben!

Werft die Fahnen fort! Die Militärkapellen
spielen auf zu eurem Todestanz.
Seid ihr hin: ein Kranz von Immortellen -
das ist dann der Dank des Vaterlands.

Denkt an Todesröcheln und Gestöhne.
Drüben stehen Väter, Mütter, Söhne,
schuften schwer, wie ihr, ums bißchen Leben.
Wollt ihr denen nicht die Hände geben?
Reicht die Bruderhand als schönste aller Gaben
übern Graben, Leute, übern Graben - !

Subject: RE: Songs by Hans Eisler
From: Uke
Date: 03 May 09 - 03:29 AM

Thanks Susanne for posting the original German lyrics for 'Der Graben' - I feel this song is still very relevant.

Subject: RE: Songs by Hans Eisler
From: Susanne (skw)
Date: 03 May 09 - 06:11 PM

It is, isn't it? I'm frequently surprised how many of Tucholsky's texts (not just song lyrics) are still relevant and indeed avant garde today. Maybe we haven't come as far as we'd like to think in the last 80 years!

Subject: RE: Songs by Hans Eisler
From: Uke
Date: 04 May 09 - 05:46 AM

I would agree - or perhaps we've gone forward, then backward; or just round and round in circles. What I find so compelling about these songs (also some of Brecht's and Maccoll's), is the absolute clarity of the poetry and the political analysis communicated in dramatic, emotive form. They did not mince words.

Subject: RE: Songs by Hans Eisler
From: M.Ted
Date: 04 May 09 - 04:18 PM

Too few of us remember these songs and these writers. It is unfortunate, because the German Cabaret is the real root of our "protest" music, and also the birthplace of our contemporary
musical theatre.

Subject: RE: Songs by Hans Eisler
From: Susanne (skw)
Date: 05 May 09 - 06:11 PM

One of the roots, at any rate. And far from 'not mincing words', Tucholsky could be very deceptive before moving in on his real target! Songs like "Anna Luise" or "Radieschen" are a joy to me precisely because they're not simply obvious and clumsy propaganda (as others often are), but works of art. Like Brecht, Mehring, Kästner and others, he is a master of both approaches. (Yes, even Brecht had his tender side ...)