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poor man's unfair exit aka: »Stempellied«
singer: Ernst Busch first performance: 1929
poet: Robert Gilbert composer: Hanns Eisler
Not a sixpence in the pocket only a welfare coupon,
through the holes of the clothing the sun looks in.
Man so you stand confronting the people thoroughly without a thing,
when your corpse suddenly falls over no one's eye gets moist.
The old one treats you to no beer when he sees you so. Yea, the situation looks very flat,
at best in the morgue your credit is good.
Queuing you up for welfare is no remedy for the misery,
who has taken you down, o poor man, who so high up there?
And so your bones peep out gently from under your skin,
and in a few weeks you are taken down thoroughly.
And you buy a few slats with your last penny,
because for a thin shadow a thin coffin will be enough.
Just don't shove to the angels you come in time: «FAIR RATIONALIZATION»,
the union leadership sings for farewell showing you sensibly out.
Queue you up as a precaution thereupon promptly for welfare also there high up,
because as a poor man you will stay likewise taken down high up there.
English translation on 20th Jan 2009 by © Karl-Ludwig Poggemann