Christmas Truce – English Lyrics

• By: Sabaton
• Album: The War To End All Wars

Lyrics & Translation

Embark on a linguistic and historical journey with Sabaton's 'Christmas Truce.' This song is a powerful narrative, set to rousing power metal, that brings to life one of the most remarkable moments of humanity during wartime. By exploring its evocative lyrics and historical context, you can learn English vocabulary related to conflict, peace, and human connection, while gaining insight into a poignant chapter of World War I history. Its blend of emotional storytelling and strong musicality makes it a truly special piece for language learners and history enthusiasts alike.

[English]

Silence, oh, I remember the silence.

On a cold winter day.

After many months on the battlefield.

And we were used to the violence.

Then all the cannons went silent

and the snow fell.

Voices sang to me from no man’s land.

We are all, we are all, we are all, we are all friends.

And today we’re all brothers, tonight we’re all friends.

A moment of peace in a war that never ends.

Today we’re all brothers, we drink and unite.

Now Christmas has arrived and the snow turns the ground white.

Hear carols from the trenches, we sing O holy night.

Our guns laid to rest among snowflakes.

A Christmas in the trenches, a Christmas on the front far from home.

Madness.

Oh I remember the sadness.

We were hiding our tears.

In a foreign land where we faced our fears.

We were soldiers.

Carried the war on our shoulders.

For our nations.

Is that why we bury our friends?

We were all, we were all, we were all, we were all friends.

And today we’re all brothers, tonight we’re all friends.

A moment of peace in a war that never ends.

Today we’re all brothers we drink and unite.

Now Christmas has arrived and the snow turns the ground white.

Hear carols from the trenches, we sing O holy night.

Our guns laid to rest among snowflakes.

A Christmas in the trenches, a Christmas on the front far from home.

We were all, we were all, we were all, we were all friends.

And today we’re all brothers tonight we’re all friends.

A moment of peace in a war that never ends.

Today we’re all brothers we drink and unite.

Now Christmas has arrived and the snow turns the ground white.

A Christmas on the frontline, we walk among our friends.

We don’t think about tomorrow, the battle will commence.

When we celebrated Christmas, we thought about our friends.

Those who never made it home, when the battle had commenced.

Key Vocabulary

Vocabulary	Meanings
silence /ˈsaɪləns/ B1	noun - the absence of sound
battlefield /ˈbætəˌfiːld/ B2	noun - a place where a battle is fought
violence /ˈvaɪələns/ B2	noun - behavior involving physical force intended to hurt, damage, or kill someone or something
cannon /ˈkænən/ B1	noun - a large, heavy piece of artillery, typically mounted on wheels
snow /snoʊ/ A1	noun - frozen precipitation in the form of white flakes
friend /frɛnd/ A1	noun - a person whom one knows and has a bond of mutual affection
brother /ˈbrʌðər/ A2	noun - a male sibling
peace /piːs/ A2	noun - freedom from disturbance; tranquility
madness /ˈmædnəs/ B2	noun - the state of being mentally ill; severe mental illness
sadness /ˈsædnəs/ B1	noun - the condition of being sad
soldier /ˈsoʊldʒər/ A2	noun - a person who serves in an army
fear /fɪr/ B1	noun - an unpleasant emotion caused by the belief that someone or something is dangerous
ground /ɡraʊnd/ A1	noun - the solid surface of the earth
carol /ˈkɛrəl/ B1	noun - a song sung in celebration, especially at Christmas
unite /juˈnaɪt/ B1	verb - to come or bring together for a common purpose
arrive /əˈraɪv/ A2	verb - to reach a place at the end of a journey
commence /kəˈmɛns/ B2	verb - to begin or start

Key Grammar Structures

• Then all the cannons went silent and the snow fell.

  ➔ Simple Past Tense

  ➔ Used to describe actions that happened and completed at a specific time in the past.

• Voices sang to me from no man's land.

  ➔ Verb: Past Simple

  ➔ The verb 'sang' is the past tense form of 'sing,' used to indicate completed actions in the past.

• A moment of peace in a war that never ends.

  ➔ Relative Clause (that never ends)

  ➔ A relative clause provides additional information about the noun 'war' and is introduced by 'that'.

• We don’t think about tomorrow, the battle will commence.

  ➔ Future Simple Tense (will + base verb)

  ➔ Expresses an action that will happen in the future, indicating intention or prediction.

• Those who never made it home, when the battle had commenced.

  ➔ Relative Clause with Past Perfect (had commenced)

  ➔ Uses the past perfect tense to indicate an action completed before another past action or point in time.