Upon a distant hillside

There stands a linden tree

As children we would play there

My friends and you and me

We thought that it would never end

For children never see

We thought that we would always play

Around the linden tree around the linden tree

One day your eyes were misty

As eyes can sometimes be

You told me that you loved me

Beside the linden tree

I thought you'd always be around

For lovers never see

I thought our children soon would play

Around the linden tree around the linden tree

But then the trumpet sounded

And love was not to be

The call to death or glory

Took you away from me

You thought that you would never die

For soldiers never see

But we will never meet again

Beneath the linden tree beneath the linden tree

And now I lay my flowers

Beside the linden tree