Union Songs

Hiroshima Song   (We Will Never Allow Another Atom Bomb to Fall)

A song by Ishiji Asada and Koki Kinoshita©1955
English words by Ewan MacColl

In the place where our city was destroyed,
Where we buried the ashes of the ones that we loved,
There the green grass grows and the white waving weeds,
Deadly the harvest of two atom bombs.

Then brothers and sisters you must watch, and take care
That the third atom bomb never comes.

The sky hangs like a shroud overhead
And the sun's in the cage of the black, lowering cloud.
No birds fly in the leaden sky,
Deadly the harvest of two atom bombs.

Then, brothers and sisters you must watch, and take care
That the third atom bomb never comes,

Gentle rain gathers poison from the sky
And the fish carry death in te depths of the sea;
Fishing boats are idle, their owners are blind,
Deadly the harvest of two atom bombs.

Then, landsmen and seamen you must watch, and take care
That the third atom bomb never comes,

All that men have created with their hands
And their minds, for the glory of the world we live in,
Now it can be smashed, in a moment destroyed,
Deadly the haryest of two atom bombs.

Then, people of the world, you must watch, and take care
That the third atom bomb never comes.

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原爆を許すまじ [Genbaku o yurusumaji]
Ishiji Asada / 中央合唱団 木下航二
see Antiwar Songs

ふるさとの街やかれ
身よりの骨うめし焼土(やけつち)に
今は白い花咲く
ああ許すまじ原爆を 三度許すまじ原爆を
われらの街に

ふるさとの海荒れて
黒き雨喜びの日はなく
今は舟に人もなし
ああ許すまじ原爆を 三度許すまじ原爆を
われらの海に

ふるさとの空重く
黒き雲今日も大地おおい
今は空に陽もささず
ああ許すまじ原爆を 三度許すまじ原爆を
われらの空に

はらからのたえまなき
労働にきずきあぐ富と幸
今はすべてついえ去らん
ああ許すまじ原爆を 三度許すまじ原爆を
世界の上に

Notes

The Singing Voice of Japan, formed after the Second World War, had a choir of 5000 by 1955. This famous Japanese song was written by Ishiji Asada and set to music by Koki Kinoshita. It became popular in England in 1955 and has played a big part in numerous peace campaigns.

Ewan MacColl's English translation was sung on the Aldermaston Marches by the London Youth Choir.

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