Sabaton - Ruina Imperii (Lyrics Svenska & English)

After the sudden death of King Charles XII in Norway it fell on Lieutenant General Carl Gustaf Armfeldt to lead the remaining 5800 soldiers back to Sweden. When they tried to cross the mountain Öjfjället the army was caught by a blizzard. In this disaster, known as the "Carolean Death March" (Karolinernas dödsmarsch), 3700 men froze to death.

"The Great Northern War is over. And thus ends Sweden's era of just over one hundred years as a great power in Europe, never to return." (from the Carolus Rex liner notes)

CAUTION!
I won't tolerate any racist, discriminatory or in any other form inappropriate comments! This song neither glorifies war, nor National Socialism, but should be considered as a historical work.
"No, we don't glorify anything, we just tell stories about things that have happened." (Rikard Sundén, founding member of Sabaton)

Please support Sabaton and purchase their current album Carolus Rex.

Used footage: Kong Karl XII angrep

[MarcusAsenlund]

Fun fact: Joakim said that they couldn't do a english version because the song only worked in swedish and didnt have that emotional feel in english.

[theurizen]

I dunno. I find it fitting that there's only a Swedish version. It's almost like this song is too personal to be sung in another language. It's about shame and the death of a dream. As if these words shouldn't be said in a foreign tongue because it's a shame that Swedish people bear alone.

[warden]

The Swedish empire never died. it just became ikea.

[mexicoball]

When your IKEA box doesnt have the instructions inside

[samwelltarly]

You can practically see the Caroleans falling one by one while the rest trudges on, on the brink of despair.

For better or for worse, Sabaton are bards of the modern Era, translating our history into legend and myth

[zewolfocanada]

Probably their best album. Which makes sense since their own national pride went into this album giving it that extra touch.

[leosjonak]

Where were you when Carolus Rex died?
I was at home praying to god
When messenger came: "Carolus is kill"
"No"

[MisterLindqvist]

It is fascinating how many incredibly skilled field marshals/generals Sweden had during the great power era. Some examples:
Carl Gustaf Wrangel - The unimaginably rich commander.
Carl Gustaf Rehnskiöld - Sweden's equivalent to Hannibal.
Lennart Torstenson - The master of the artillery and the leader who set the Czech Republic and Denmark in flames.
Johan Banér - "Pray, little child, pray because tomorrow the Swede will come." German parents told their children before the obvious successor to Gustavus Adolphus set fire to their city.
Torsten Stålhandske - The king's loyal and ruthless cavalry expert.

[SkullCaptin]

When the smart kid gets moved away so they can't give you answers anymore

[handleonafridge]

Now I can see why this song wasn’t made in English, can’t imagine trying to rhyme that

[lothairthecommiemonarch]

>Listening to Poltava, Long live the king and then this
>Trying not to cry
>Roll over
>Cry a lot
Swedish mod enabled

[tarahrahboom]

Fuck this song is so beautiful, not only the fact that the Swedish sounds amazing but the lyrics are so moving and it sounds like it really came from the heart.

[soft_er]

Girls: He didn't cry over the Titanic, do guys have feelings at all?
Guys:

[ionized]

This song hits hard, as its just downright sad, after all we heard, carouls rex, caroleans prayer, long live the king, its just like putting ice with salt in your palm, it just hurts.

[feuersturmfeuersturm]

The power of this song is so... raw. Somehow angry, melancholic and furiously sad (especially the "Aldrig, aldrig, aldrig atervända"). This song has truly a specific mood and tone to it.

[ideclaredwaronyourfrenchas]

When you run out of manpower and your army gets stackwipe leaving you to just sit there and cry

[filipjezercic]

I watched the movie about Carolus and just seeing that scene when his sister hears that her beloved older brother and starts crying desperately was enough to bring a few tears on my eyes

[kevlonk]

NAPOLEON: Well, that sucked. My army just narrowly managed to get home after a harrowing death march that saw most of us freeze to death, and now it looks like our entire empire is collapsing. Our nation may never recover from this.
CARL GUSTAF ARMFELDT: First time?

EDIT: 69 likes. Nice.

[deathcall]

This song has so much passion in it, it draws such sadness, sorrow, contempt, you can feel it in the voice. Even if you don't understand swedish you can still feel the tragedy in it. You know this song is from the heart. Sabaton should be a national treasure just for this one. They always make you feel not just patriotic for another country, but feel their struggle as well. That's why metal like this is superior to any other kind of music, it awakens so much emotion within people, it's not just the music (which is great as far as instruments and voice) but the message is expressed in such a passionate way.

[deadknight]

From the translations and the tone, it sounds like as if it were composed by a surviving soldier, who knew that his country would fall in its power, and knew why; that it had died with their last king.