“The Partisan” is an anti-fascist anthem about the French Resistance in World War II. The song was composed in 1943 by Russian-born Anna Marly, with lyrics by French Resistance leader Emmanuel d’Astier de la Vigerie, and originally titled “La Complainte du partisan” (English: “The Lament of the Partisan”). Marly performed it and other songs on the BBC’s French service, through which she and her songs were an inspiration to the Resistance. A number of French artists have recorded and released versions of the song since, but it is better recognised globally in its significantly, both musically and in the meaning of its lyrics, different English adaptation by Hy Zaret, best known as the lyricist of “Unchained Melody”.
It was in London, in 1943, while Marly ran a hostel for French exiles, that she wrote the anti-fascist anthem “La Complainte du partisan”, with lyrics by d’Astier, going on to perform it and her other songs on Radio Londres (English: Radio London), the French Resistance radio operated by the Free French Forces, through the British Broadcasting Corporation. It was at this time that she also wrote “The March of the Partisans”, with English lyrics by the Russian ambassador’s daughter, Louba Krassine. The French exiles, Joseph Kessel and Maurice Druon, also resident in London, translated it into French for play on Radio Londres and it became “Le Chant des Partisans” (English: “Song of the Partisans”), an unofficial French anthem towards the end of the war.
Douglas Martin reported for the New York Times that Zaret “loosely translated” the French lyrics, and in his book Passion and Ambivalence: Colonialism, Nationalism, and International Law, author Nathaniel Berman compares excerpts of d’Astier’s original French lyrics alongside, what he calls Zaret’s English “(mis)translation”, and notes that “the two versions reflect very different views”; that Zaret’s English suggests that the partisans will “come from the shadows”, while the French “nous rentrerons dans l’ombre“, he states as “we will return to the shadow” (emphasis in quote) in English, suggests that the partisans – the Resistance – are “an artifact of the imperialism that dominates [them]”, and that “reconciliation of society with its shadows is an illusion”.
Alex Young, for Consequence of Sound, describes the differences between the original French and Zaret’s English, saying it “downplays the song’s historical content – the English lyrics contain no references to France or the Nazi occupation”, with an example of literal English translations of the song’s first line, “The Germans were at my house” (French: “Les Allemands étaient chez moi“), being unheard in his English lyrics.
Canadian singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen recorded his version, using Zaret’s adaptation, and released it on his 1969 album ‘Songs from a Room‘, and as a 7-inch single in Europe. Cohen’s version re-popularised the song and is responsible for the common misconception that the song was written by Cohen. It has inspired many other artists to perform, record and release versions of the song, including American Joan Baez, on her 1972 album Come from the Shadows, and with the title “Song of the French Partisan”, Canadian Buffy Sainte-Marie and Israeli Esther Ofarim.
