Translation of the song lyrics Ode an die Freude - The Dark Tenor

Ode an die Freude (original)

Enter darkness
A life from dusk till dawn
Last night leaves us
Where we feel so torn
We can’t go back if we try
Although it’s black, we’ll survive
Bold like fire
From the ash we rise
Freude schöner Götterfunken
Tochter aus Elysium
Wir betreten feuertrunken
Himmlische, dein Heiligtum
Deine Zauber binden wieder
Was die Mode streng geteilt
Alle Menschen werden Brüder
Wo dein sanfter Flügel weilt
Still the flame grows
Stranded in the night
Casting shadows
In the silver light
All angels fall in the end
Together here we were sent
From the fire
We were meant to rise
Freude schöner Götterfunken
Tochter aus Elysium
Wir betreten feuertrunken
Himmlische, dein Heiligtum
(Bridge)
From the fire
We were meant to rise
From the fire
Freude schöner Götterfunken
Tochter aus Elysium
Wir betreten feuertrunken
Himmlische, dein Heiligtum

Ode an die Freude (translation)

Step into shadow’s silent vestibule,
Existence flares—twilight to day’s pale spark,
Night—her velvet shroud—slips from our shoulders,
Here, where longing rends us, raw and stark.
The paths behind are sealed, though we implore—
Yet blackness brims with life we still endure.
Daring as wildfire,
Out of embers, I ascend once more.
Joy—radiance sprung from the gods’ bright anvil,
Daughter of Elysium’s golden shore,
We stagger in, awash with fiery revel,
Celestial one, to your consecrated door.
Your charms entwine what custom cruelly severed,
That fashion’s razor split apart in haste,
All mortals—brothers—by your touch are gathered,
Where your gentle pinion makes its holy rest.
Still the flame surges—soft, inexorable,
A castaway upon obsidian seas,
We hurl our shadows—long, ephemeral—
Beneath argent lanterns in the silvered breeze.
All angels fall, each wing at last unclasping,
Yet here, together, fate decreed our quest.
From fire’s forge,
We were shaped to rise from ash and test.
Joy—radiance sprung from the gods’ bright anvil,
Daughter of Elysium’s golden shore,
We stagger in, awash with fiery revel,
Celestial one, to your consecrated door.
(Bridge)
From fire’s forge,
We were shaped to rise from ash and test.
From fire’s forge,
Joy—radiance sprung from the gods’ bright anvil,
Daughter of Elysium’s golden shore,
We stagger in, awash with fiery revel,
Celestial one, to your consecrated door.