Melody:  Anonymous European
Arranged:  J.S. Bach
Words:  Tom Glazer and an unknown Tagalog translator.

A popular song of struggle from the Phillippines, this was one of the very first pieces learned by the Solidarity Choir in 1987. For nine years we sang only the first verse because it was too difficult to fit the words and tune together for the rest. Thanks to a recording called Ibong Malaya: Songs Of Freedom And Struggle From Philippine Prisons, we were finally able to work out the scansion. Although we knew the music to be one of J.S. Bach's arrangements of an old European hymn tune, the origin of the words remained a mystery until we discovered a song by Tom Glazer called The Whole Wide World Around which uses the same tune, and whose text is almost certainly the original from which a Tagalog translation was later made (by whom we don't know).

Pagka't dapat magkapatiran
Ang lahat sa'an mang bayan
Sa isang bigkis magkaisa
Habang buhay na malaya.
Walang tiranong gagapi sa atin!
Walang bansang sa atin ay dadagan!
Palalayain tayo ng manggagawa
Ng buong daigdigan!
. . . . . .
Ang lahat ay aking kapatid
Habang buhay kakapit-bisig
Batingáw ng kalayaan
Sa bayan ko'y laging naririnig
Ang kasiyaha't kalungkutan
Ng itim, dilaw, puti kong kapatid.
Ay kasiyaha't kalungkutan
Ng buong daigdigan!
. . . . . .
Padagundungín lahat ng tinig,
Bawat puso'y lakasan ang pintig.
Hangga't may tiranong hindí pa nalulupig
Di pa tapos ang ating tungkulin.
Wala tayong kalilimutan,
Panahong nawala'y babawiin
Kadenang pang-alipin ay lalagutin
Sa buong daigdigan!

Because our lives are interrelated,
all of us regardless of country
To one purpose we must unite
To be free all our lives.
No tyranny can defeat us!
No other country will oppress us!
We shall liberate the workers
Of the entire world!
. . . . . .
All of my sisters and brothers
Throughout our lives our arms are linked
The bell of freedom
Will always be heard in my land.
The joys and sorrows
Of my black, yellow & white sisters & brothers
Are the joys and sorrows
Of the entire world!
. . . . . .
Let all voices be heard,
Let each heart say loudly what it must say.
While any form of tyranny remains undissolved
Our duty is unfinished.
There is nothing we will forget,
The time we have lost we will recall.
The chains that enslave must be broken
Throughout the entire world!