Knights of the Air · Track 5
The Red Baron
English · German version
The story
Manfred von Richthofen began the war as a cavalry officer in a regiment of uhlans. When the front settled into trenches there was little work left for horsemen, and he moved to the air service, first as an observer and then as a pilot. He learned air fighting under Oswald Boelcke, the leading German tactician of the time.
In January 1917 he took command of Jasta 11 and had his aircraft painted red, so that friend and enemy could see him coming. In April 1917 alone he scored 21 victories. That summer he was given command of Jagdgeschwader 1, a group of four squadrons that moved from sector to sector and became known as the "Flying Circus" for its brightly painted aircraft. He ended with 80 official victories, the highest of any pilot in the war.
On April 21, 1918, aged 25, he chased a Sopwith Camel at low altitude over enemy territory, above the Somme valley, and was hit by a single bullet. He managed to land in a field before he died. Who fired the fatal shot, an airman or a gunner on the ground, is disputed to this day. No. 3 Squadron of the Australian Flying Corps buried him with full military honours, and a British aircraft dropped a message over his unit to tell them.
The song is a march in a minor key. It does not hide the cost of those eighty victories ("what each of those mornings cost"), and it ends where his enemies ended: by burying him with honour.
Lyrics · English
The Red Baron
Verse 1Before the engines, he rode the plain,
A cavalry soldier in mud and rain.
But the war went under, the sky went wide,
And he left the horses and took the ride.
Crimson on canvas, a flame in the air,
Wherever he flew, the whole sky would stare.
Pre-ChorusRed against grey, red against blue,
Painted to be seen in all he'd do.
ChorusRed Baron, fire in the sky,
One red wing rising, born to fly high,
Fire in the grey, a flame in the air,
Burning so bright that the whole world could stare.
Verse 2Jasta Eleven rode at his side,
A Flying Circus of colour and pride.
Eighty times the thunder fell,
And only the sky could ever tell
What each of those mornings cost,
And what in the clouds was lost.
Pre-ChorusRed against grey, red against blue,
Painted to be seen in all he'd do.
ChorusRed Baron, fire in the sky,
One red wing rising, born to fly high,
Fire in the grey, a flame in the air,
Burning so bright that the whole world could stare.
Verse 3April, eighteen, the Somme below,
He chased a Camel too far, too low.
One single bullet, no one can say
From whose hand it came on that fatal day.
He brought her down in a quiet field,
And the red wing finally learned to yield.
BridgeThe ones he fought laid him in the earth,
With full honours, giving a soldier his worth.
A note fell down on his squadron's ground:
The red wing's gone. No other sound.
Final ChorusRed Baron, Red Baron, fire in the sky,
One red wing rising, born to fly high,
Fire in the grey, a flame in the air,
Burned out so young, but the sky's still there.
OutroTwenty-five years old, and we remember him.
Lyrics · German
The Red Baron (German version)
Strophe 1Vor den Motoren ritt er durchs Land,
Ein Reitersoldat, den Säbel in der Hand.
Der Krieg grub sich ein, der Himmel wurde weit,
Er ließ die Pferde stehn, es war an der Zeit.
Rot auf Leinwand, eine Flamme im Wind,
Wohin er auch flog, folgte jeder Blick geschwind.
Vor-RefrainRot gegen Grau, rot im Licht,
Damit man ihn sieht, verfehlt man ihn nicht.
RefrainRoter Baron, Feuer am Firmament,
Ein roter Flügel, der keine Grenzen kennt,
Feuer im Grau, ein Leuchten so nah,
Es brannte so hell, dass die Welt nur ihn sah.
Strophe 2Jasta Elf flog an seiner Seite,
Ein fliegender Zirkus im bunten Geleite,
Achtzig Mal brach der Donner los,
Und nur der Himmel weiß, wie groß
Der Preis war, den jeder Morgen nahm,
Und was in den Wolken nie mehr kam.
Vor-RefrainRot gegen Grau, rot im Licht,
Damit man ihn sieht, verfehlt man ihn nicht.
RefrainRoter Baron, Feuer am Firmament,
Ein roter Flügel, der keine Grenzen kennt,
Feuer im Grau, ein Leuchten so nah,
Es brannte so hell, dass die Welt nur ihn sah.
Strophe 3April achtzehn, es war soweit,
Er jagte ein Camel, zu tief, zu weit.
Ein Schuss, und keiner kann sagen,
Aus wessen Hand, an jenem Tage.
Er landete sanft auf fremdem Feld,
Der rote Flügel verließ die Welt.
BrückeDie Feinde haben ihn zur Ruhe geführt,
Mit allen Ehren, wie es Soldaten gebührt.
Ein Zettel fiel auf seine Staffel hinab:
Der rote Flügel schweigt im Grab.
Schluss-RefrainRoter Baron, roter Baron, Feuer am Firmament,
Ein roter Flügel, der keine Grenzen kennt,
Feuer im Grau, ein Leuchten so nah,
Verglüht so jung, doch der Himmel bleibt da.
OutroFünfundzwanzig Jahre, wir vergessen ihn nicht...