Single voice.
Brothers, our earthly pilgrimage
Is endless climbing and falling,
No sooner up than down again;
Among the pressing crowds
There are so many, oh so very many, pitfalls
The last of which is the grave.

Chorus.
So, brothers! pour out the drink.
If we have to be lowered into the grave
Let's go down high on wine!

Single voice.
One of us has had a success
And been lifted up high,
But fate is just like a ball:
You see, the harder you throw it
And the higher you dare,
The further you fall.

Chorus.
So, brothers! pour out the drink.
If we have to fall
Let's go down high on wine!

Single voice.
At least once in his life a human
Has to surrender to the blind god
And Amor preys on his mind;
He then has to make a terrible atonement.
Sighing, he sinks at the feet
Of his chosen Queen.

Chorus.
Keep clear of women.
If we have to be lowered into the grave
Let's go down high on wine!

Single voice.
Sometimes there will be a storm raging,
And there is no land where the roses
Blossom without any thorns,
Wormwood grows next to grapes,
Is there anyone who has never sunk into melancholy,
Weighed down by care?

Chorus.
Wormwood, melancholy leave them be,
If we have to be lowered into the grave
Let's go down high on wine!

Single voice.
Keeping your soul pure
When gracious shapes
Everywhere invite you towards vice
Is something praiseworthy,
But not everyone manages to escape,
They are not strong enough, they trip, they fall.

Chorus.
So, brothers! pour out the drink.
If we have to fall
Let's go down high on wine!

Single voice.
Can you see in the storm and bad weather
That man climbing the mountain,
Lit up by the glow of fame?
Yet who is going to protect him up there?
Up there he is closer to the lightning,
If a flash of lightning strikes him, he will fall.

Chorus.
Let up there be up there,
If we have to fall
Let's go down high on wine!

Single voice.
Just as a worm buries itself in books
Thirst refreshes itself with salt;
For humans never know enough,
They nibble the blossom of joy
And then sink into gloomy contemplation
And are not clever enough to make anything of themselves.

Chorus.
Brothers, do not claim any wisdom,
If we have to fall
Let's go down high on wine!

Single voice.
And if anybody here imagines
That he would not fall,
He should set no store on his rare fate,
Nothing will protect him from what is finally going to happen,
In the end we shall all sink
Into the lap of mother earth.

Chorus.
If it really has to happen,
We shall go down high on wine,
Even down into the grave.