The French National Anthem sung by Mireille Mathieu in 1988
God of mercy and justice
See our tyrants, judge our hearts
Your goodness be with us
Defend us from these oppressors (repeat)
You reign in heaven and on earth
And before you all must bend
In your arms, come support us
You, great God, lord of thunder.
To arms, citizens...
French people know thy glory
Crowned by equality,
What a triumph, what a victory,
To have won Liberty! (repeat)
The God who throws thunder
And who commands the elements,
To exterminate the tyrants
Uses your arm on Earth.
To arms, citizens...
Of tyranny, we have
Rebuffed its last efforts;
It is banished from our climes;
Among the French the kings are dead. (repeat)
The Republic may live forever!
Anathema to royalty!
May this refrain, sung everywhere,
Protect politics from kings.
To arms, citizens...
France that Europe admires
Has regained liberty
And every citizen breathes
Under the laws of equality, (repeat)
One day its beloved image
Will extend throughout the universe.
Peoples, you will break your chains
And you will have a fatherland!
To arms, citizens...
Trampling on the rights of man,
the soldierly legions
of Rome’s first inhabitants
enslaved nations. (repeat)
A larger project, and wiser,
Engages us in battle
And the Frenchman only arms himself
In order to destroy slavery.
To arms, citizens...
Yes! Already insolent despots
And the band of emigrants
Waging war on the sans-culottes [lit. without-breeches]
By our weapons are withered; (repeat)
Vainly their hope is based
On piqued fanaticism
The sign of liberty
Will soon spread around the world.
To arms, citizens...
To you! Let glory surround
Citizens, illustrious warriors,
Fear in the fields of Bellona,
Fear the sullying of your laurels! (repeat)
To dark unfounded suspicions
Towards your leaders, your generals,
Never leave your flags,
And you will remain invincible.
To arms, citizens...
(Children’s Verse)
Children, let honour and fatherland
be the object of all our wishes!
Let us always have souls nourished
With fires that might inspire both. (repeat)
Let us be united! Anything is possible;
Our vile enemies will fall,
Then the French will cease
To sing this fierce refrain:
To arms, citizens...