Bibel [English translation]
Bibel [English translation]
And the earth spun uninhabited and empty1
And all was quiet over the seas
Then a voice was heard from above
And there was light on the first day
And the voice said "bring forth fruit
and may they have their seed on the earth"
And no crimes were yet committed
The second day came to the north2
And in its image, the voice made a man
And a woman, to love each other
And they became kings on the surface3 of the globe
It was the third day's end4
So who will pray for Babylon?
Sing a hymn for Babylon
Fall on your knees for Babylon
Beat the drum for Babylon
Falling
Man and woman learned about fire
And built realms and walls
The fourth day the walls were so long5
That no one knew where they ended
And no one heard any voice anymore
Here cities grew towards the sky
The fifth day, when the Spring became Fall,
A rain fell over the Man-Villages6
And no walls can stop a rain
That falls year by year
The sixth day, a voice has told me,
The earth was like an open wound
So who will pray for Babylon?
Sing a hymn for Babylon
Fall on your knees for Babylon
Beat the drum for Babylon
Falling
And the earth spun uninhabited and empty
And all was quiet over the seas
Then a voice was heard from above
And there was light on the seventh day
So who will pray for Babylon?
Sing a hymn for Babylon
Fall on your knees for Babylon
Beat the drum for Babylon
Falling
1. This line feels very clunky, but I wanted to avoid translations of "öde" that would imply that it had been inhabited and then deserted.2. I don't know if "norden" is supposed to refer to the Nordic countries (it is possible, but in that case it should have been capitalized).3. Lit. "the round".4. Lit. "rim", "edge".5. That is, they were wide, stretched far.6. Or "the human villages", "the human settlements". The only other time I've seen or heard anything close to "mänskobyarna" is "Människobyn" (the Man-Village) in Disney's 1967 version of The Jungle Book, so that's the translation I chose to go with. I don't know if Imperiet intended that connotation.
- Artist:Imperiet
- Album:Synd (1986)