In honor of May Day

Happy May Day to all the workers out there

🙂

The sun is beating down, everything’s just glowing,
everyone’s out wandering to celebrate May Day,
the whole city's colorful and covered in flowers,
flags waving everywhere as the parades move along.

(stuff I learned when I was a kid)

goldenorca14 said:The sun is beating down, everything’s just glowing,
everyone’s out wandering to celebrate May Day,
the whole city's colorful and covered in flowers,
flags waving everywhere as the parades move along.

(stuff I learned when I was a kid)

thanks for the lovely poem 🙂

Happy May Day to everyone—especially all the hard-working folks out there.

Kyle Wilson7 said:Happy May Day to everyone—especially all the hard-working folks out there.

Yeah, you've got a point there...

It’s not just about the workers, though. It's for everyone...

Rise up, you despised ones of the world,
All you wretched souls driven by hunger!
The injustice of the unknown will be avenged,
The unknown echoes through village and city!
Let our strength tear down tyranny,
Countless slaves, rise up now!
Let there be no trace of the old world,
Tomorrow marks the end of our misery!

The day of victory approaches
As we march forward, united!
The International
For all of humanity...
There are no gifts from the powerful
To them, the executioner is both king and God!
Those who build everything in this world through toil
Shall crush their own enemy themselves!
So that the villain can no longer suffocate us,
And the darkness won't choke our thoughts,
Let's kindle the fire at the perfect moment,
And let our hammer strike true!

Our laws protect the owners now,
With a bloody sword in the hands of the mighty,
While the poor suffer beneath it,
Creating nothing but misery and tears.
Until now, we have all been without rights,

But let labor be our equality,
Let us become equals in justice,
And take power only for ourselves!
In all his fury, how ugly he is...
That loathsome shadow of the moneyed elite,
Who owes everyone everything, yet somehow,
Steals our hard work and sweat!
What our labor produces and strengthens,
He steals as his own meal...
But the people are demanding it now,
To reclaim that bloody debt!

The powerful deceived us with lies,
Let there be peace for us, and war for them!
And the military, a massive ally,
Will stand with us, alongside our own.
Whoever calls for war to conquer,
Seeking to make a nation a slave,
Should know: our rifles are ready
And a dark grave is waiting for him!

Every worker and farmer, wake up,
Holding the red banner high,
And across the land, working people
Will drive the unknown into flight.
Those black birds that have sipped our blood for ages,
We'll scatter them from the sky!
Once they are wiped from the face of the earth,
Let the world shine under the sun!

The day of victory approaches
As we march forward, united!
The International
For all of humanity...
Long live our labor.

I don't really get why they're using the Internationale or those communist slogans—it feels more like a provocation than anything else. Most workers don't have much to do with communism anyway, especially workers in the US, Germany, France, Japan, or Australia, and even less so in Russia, Ukraine, or any other place. They celebrate May Day because it's about labor, not some ideology or politics—especially since politicians are pretty much the last people I'd call "workers." If you just wanted to wish everyone a good day, you could've gone with something neutral about working, like:

Mixing up mortar
twisting wire
long live
the work we do.

Kyle Wilson7 said:I don't really get why they're using the Internationale or those communist slogans—it feels more like a provocation than anything else. Most workers don't have much to do with communism anyway, especially workers in the US, Germany, France, Japan, or Australia, and even less so in Russia, Ukraine, or any other place. They celebrate May Day because it's about labor, not some ideology or politics—especially since politicians are pretty much the last people I'd call "workers." If you just wanted to wish everyone a good day, you could've gone with something neutral about working, like:

Mixing up mortar
twisting wire
long live
the work we do.

It isn't a provocation. Those two songs are primarily about celebrating labor... the fact that they were sung back during the old regime doesn't change that.

p.s.

and why would communism even be considered a provocation?...

Quincy

briskcrane said:It isn't a provocation. Those two songs are primarily about celebrating labor... the fact that they were sung back during the old regime doesn't change that.

p.s.

and why would communism even be considered a provocation?...

It’s not about trying to stir up trouble or bring up communism—it’s just that when you take a holiday celebrating labor, which is one of the most basic things we do, people immediately link it to political movements. Since the Internationale is basically the anthem for that whole era, and those specific songs about the dignity of work were mostly pushed back during the old socialist days, I was just saying it would've been better to pick songs focused on actual hard work rather than all the heavy politics.

Happy May Day to everyone

briskcrane said:LONG LIVE LABOR

The anthem of friendship rings out,
A song honoring the grind!
Let our hearts speak loud and clear
That long live, long live labor!

Hold your heads high
You heroes of the working class
That’s how the whole country will be
That long live, long live labor!

To the savages' bow and arrow!
Railroads, small towns, and big cities
All built by our own hands
That long live, long live labor!

I always get a kick out of these lyrics🤣 🤣 🤣 Pure genius.🤣