O Du Lieber Augustin
Austrian folk
O du lieber Augustin (Oh, you dear Augustin) is a popular Viennese song. It was presumably composed by the balladeer Marx Augustin in 1679, though written documents only date back to about 1800.
In 1679, Vienna was struck by the Great Plague and Augustin was a ballad singer and bagpiper, who toured the city's inns entertaining people. The Viennese loved Augustin because of his charming humour in bitter times, and they called him Lieber Augustin (Dear Augustin).
According to legend, once he was drunk and on his way home he fell in the gutter and went to sleep. He was mistaken for a dead man by the gravediggers patrolling the city for dead bodies. They picked him up and threw him, along with his bagpipes which they presumed were infected, into a pit filled with bodies of plague victims outside the city walls. Next day when Augustin woke up, he was unable to get out of the deep mass grave. He was shocked and after a while he started to play his bagpipes, because he wanted to die the same way he lived. Finally people heard him and he was rescued from this dreadful place. Luckily he remained healthy despite having slept with the infected dead bodies and Augustin became a symbol of hope for Viennese people.
O, du lieber Augustin,
Augustin, Augustin,
O, du lieber Augustin,
Alles ist hin!
Geld ist weg, Mädl ist weg,
Alles ist hin, Augustin!
O, du lieber Augustin,
Alles ist hin!
O, du lieber Augustin,
Augustin, Augustin,
O, du lieber Augustin,
Alles ist hin!
Rock ist weg, Stock ist weg,
Augustin liegt im Dreck.
O, du lieber Augustin,
Alles ist hin!
O, du lieber Augustin,
Augustin, Augustin,
O, du lieber Augustin,
Alles ist hin!
Und selbst das reiche Wien,
Hin ist's wie Augustin;
Weint mit mir im gleichen Sinn,
Alles ist hin!
O, du lieber Augustin,
Augustin, Augustin,
O, du lieber Augustin,
Alles ist hin!
Jeder Tag war ein Fest,
Jetzt haben wir die Pest!
Nur ein großes Leichenfest,
Das ist der Rest.
O, du lieber Augustin,
Augustin, Augustin,
O, du lieber Augustin,
Alles ist hin!
Augustin, Augustin,
Leg nur ins Grab dich hin!
O, du lieber Augustin,
Alles ist hin!