The Whole Wide World Around

• Music: Hans Leo Hassler, adapted and arranged by J.S. Bach - choral 'O Haupt voll Blut und Wunden' from St. Matthew Passion
• Lyrics: Tom Glazer, adapted by Côr Cochion Caerdydd

Because we all are com­rades wher­ev­er we may be,
One union shall unite us, for­ev­er proud and free.
No fas­cist shall defeat us, no tyrant strike us down,
All those who toil shall greet us, the whole wide world around.

My com­rades are all oth­ers, for­ev­er hand in hand.
Wher­ev­er peo­ple strug­gle, there is my native land.
My com­rades’ fears are my fears, race, nation-state or town,
My com­rades’ tears are my tears, the whole wide world around.

Let every voice be thun­der, let every heart be strong,
Until the world’s unit­ed. our work shall not be done.
Let every pain be spo­ken, the lost years shall be found,
Let slav’ry’s chain be bro­ken, the whole wide world around.

PDF: The Whole Wide World Around_E♭

All parts

Sopra­no

Alto

Tenor

Bass

History

The hymn known in Eng­lish as ‘O Sacred Head sore Wound­ed’ is based on a long medieval Latin poem, Salve mun­di salutare, with stan­zas address­ing the var­i­ous parts of Christ’s body hang­ing on the Cross.

The music for the Ger­man and Eng­lish ver­sions of the hymn is by Hans Leo Has­sler, writ­ten around 1600 for a sec­u­lar love song, “Mein G’müt ist mir ver­wirret”, which first appeared in print in the 1601 Lust­garten Neuer Teutsch­er Gesäng. The tune was appro­pri­at­ed and rhyth­mi­cal­ly sim­pli­fied for Ger­hardt’s Ger­man hymn in 1656 by Johann Crüger. Johann Sebas­t­ian Bach arranged the melody and used five stan­zas of the hymn in the St Matthew Pas­sion.

The song ‘Because all men are broth­ers’ was writ­ten by US singer/songwriter Tom Glaz­er and set to the same tune — he first pub­lished the song in 1948. It was sung and record­ed by the Weavers and lat­er by Peter, Paul and Mary. The orig­i­nal words were:

Because all men are broth­ers, wher­ev­er men may be,
The world shall be one union for­ev­er proud and free.
No tyrant shall defeat us, no nation strike us down,
All men who toil shall greet us, the whole wide world around.

My broth­ers are all oth­ers, for­ev­er hand in hand,
Where chimes the bell of free­dom, there is my native land.
My broth­ers’ fears are my fears, yel­low, white or brown.
My broth­ers tears are my tears, the whole wide world around.

Let every voice be thun­der, let every heart be strong
Until all tyrants per­ish our work will not be done.
Let every pain be token, the lost years shall be found.
Let slav­ery’s chains be bro­ken, the whole wide world around.

(Among many oth­er songs, Tom Glaz­er also wrote ‘On Top of Spaghetti’!)

The words were adapted/updated by Côr Cochion Caerdy­dd to ‘Because we all are com­rades’, which appears on their CD The Best of / Gorau Côr Cochion Caerdy­dd.

Because we all are comrades,
Wher­ev­er we may be,
One union shall unite us
For­ev­er proud and free.
No fas­cist shall defeat us,
no nation strike us down,
All those who toil shall greet us
The whole wide world around.

My com­rades are all others,
For­ev­er hand in hand.
Wher­ev­er peo­ple struggle
There is my native land.
My com­rade’s fears are my fears,
I shall not let them down,
My com­rade’s tears are my tears
The whole wide world around.

Let every voice be thunder,
Let every heart be stone.
Until all tyrants perish
Our work shall not be done.
Let every pain be token;
The lost years shall be found.
Let slav­ery’s chain be broken,
The whole wide world around.

Our ver­sion has a few more minor changes to these lyrics.