Communist Camp Songs

One of the more interesting aspects of communist camp life, as revealed in Paul Thorez's Model Children: Inside the Republic of Red Scarves, is the myriad camp songs that expressed the ideological hopes of the U.S.S.R. for its emerging citizens, the youth who were, according to socialist teachings, perfectly malleable. Here are a few of these songs:

Such joyful laughter

Such flames in the eyes

Down there--it's the changing of the guard

It's the Communist youth, the Young Leninists.

Pioneer, don't waste a minute

Don't leave time on your hands

Don't leave time on your hands

When the sun comes up

Salute it with your Pioneer sign

Salue the sun of the Motherland

Rushing, powerful,

Invincible,

My homeland,

My Moscow.

It's you that I love above all.

When night falls across the sea,

At Artek it's bed for me.

All over the world,

In Russia, In China, in Hungary,

The sun is shining on everyone.

The winter is over.

Flag of the nation

Flag of the people

Leading the country

On to victory.

Georgian, Estonian, Russian, and Uzbek

We're all one great big family

Him, her, you, and me

Artek, Artek!

On nights like tonight

In the campfire light

We will hear the story

Of our country's glory

And of workers and heroes

Building a new world.

The seagull flaps its wings

Telling us to hurry

Comrades, friends, Pioneers,

Follow me on another journey.

Russians and Chinese are brothers forever,

Moscow-Beijing, Beijing-Moscow

The people are advancing

Stalin and Mao are at our command.

We believe in the cause of Lenin and Stalin.

In the vast territories of our marvelous land

Tempered in battle and in toil

We have written a song of joy

Of Stalin--of the Guide

Stalin--our glory in battle

Stalin--our youth in song

Victorious ever, a song on our lips,

The people are on the march,

With Stalin at the fore.