Hey heraus und vor die Tür
---I don't really understand what this line means literally but it seems to have the general meaning of "Hey everyone!"
I guess literally-ish it would be something like "hey, everybody (both) inside and outside/behind the door!"
Re the song and the translation, I think it's awesome. We need way more culture-specific-practices/pieces-of-tradition-that-enable-intense-community-binding.
This is a translation of Kommt herbei und feiert mit by Corvus Corax. It came up on my YouTube recommendations a while ago, and I found it really fun and catchy even before I had any idea what it was about, but when I ran it through Google Translate I realized it was accidentally on-topic for the solstice. Suggestions for improving the translation are welcome (especially from German speakers)!
The song is musically very simple and easy to play; the only tricky part is making sure everyone comes in at the right time. We shortened it up a bit by reducing some of the repetitive instrumental phrases and deleting the whole penultimate verse. I thought it would make a good singalong, but others said I was biased towards thinking it's easy because I was already familiar with it. Listen as you follow along and see what you think.
Die Not hat jetzt ein Ende
Kommt herbei und feiert mit
Der Schmied brachte die Wende
Da liegt der Drache, kalt und tot
Und kann uns nichts mehr tun
Da liegt der Drache, kalt und tot
Und muss für immer ruh'n (x2)
Our suffering has ended
Come along and celebrate
The world[1] the smith[2] has mended
Here lies the dragon cold and dead
To trouble us no more
Here lies the dragon cold and dead
To rest forevermore (x2)
[Chorus]
So vielen er den Tod gebracht
Wenn er sein Feuer hat entfacht
Da liegt der Drache ohne Herz[3]
Vorbei ist endlich unser Schmerz (x2)
[Chorus][4]
So many friends have met their death
Beneath the fiery monster's breath
But heartless worm there lies at last
And now our pain is past (x2)
Wir können wieder lachen
Hey heraus und vor die Tür
Vorbei der Fluch des Drachen
Hoch die Krüge mit dem Wein
Wir haben was zu feiern
Hoch die Krüge mit dem Bier
Wir werden lange feiern (x2)
Our joy has reawoken
Hear ye! Hear all high and low
The dragon's curse is broken
Pour some wine and raise your glass
This calls for celebration
Pour some beer and raise your glass
Forever jubilation (x2)
Vergnügen ohne Ende
Uns geht's gut, so soll es sein
Klatscht alle in die Hände
Wir ham mit Sorgen nichts am Hut
Für uns scheint immer Sonne
Das laute singen steht uns gut
Und bringt uns große Wonne
And welcome endless pleasure
As it should be, all is well
So clap your hands together
There's nothing now to make us sad
The sun is ever glowing
We sing aloud so bold and glad
With mirth aplenty flowing
Genießen unser Leben
Sind gleich alle Flaschen leer
Was wird es Morgen geben?[6]
Bevor der Trott kommt gehen wir
Wir woll'n heut nicht verzagen
Ich geb' den Besten Wein uns aus
Wir woll'n uns tüchtig laben
And savor life with singing
Every flask runs dry at once
What gift's tomorrow bringing?
Old sorrow let us leave behind[7]
No more be heavy-hearted
I bring for us the best of wines
The feast has hardly started
Für uns scheint immer Sonne
Ich geb' den Besten Wein uns aus
Der Trunk bringt große Wonne
Sind gleich alle Flaschen leer
Was wird es Morgen geben?
Tag und Nacht so tanzen wir
Genießen unser Leben
Die Not hat jetzt ein Ende
Kommt herbei und feiert mit
Der Schmied brachte die Wende
Da liegt der Drache, kalt und tot
Und kann uns nichts mehr tun
Da liegt der Drache, kalt und tot
Und muss für immer ruh'n
Our suffering has ended
Come along and celebrate
The world the smith has mended
Here lies the dragon cold and dead
To trouble us no more
Here lies the dragon cold and dead
To rest forevermore
"World" isn't in the original and is inserted only to fit the meter; it distorts the meaning somewhat so maybe there's a better phrasing.
This song is the last in an album telling the story of a blacksmith who slays a dragon. This reference is a bit confusing without that context, but it probably doesn't matter much.
I can't tell whether "ohne Herz" is meant to be figurative ("unfeeling") or literal (that the dragon's heart has been cut out). I went with the figurative translation "heartless" mainly because it fits the meter better.
The translation of the chorus went through several iterations as we realized that the original German version is actually quite irregular and hard to sing. This version (which is slightly different from what was actually sung last week) regularizes the rhythm by keeping one syllable per beat throughout the whole chorus.
I don't really understand what this line means literally but it seems to have the general meaning of "Hey everyone!"
I suspect this line has a subtext of "How hung-over are we going to be tomorrow?"
This translation is maybe pushing it a little bit in order to fit the solstice theme. The original is more like "Before the daily grind resumes, let's go [party]", whereas the translation implies that the celebration is perpetual.
We omitted this verse because it's mostly just repetition of earlier lines, it disrupts the meter, and the song is already on the long side even without it.