Charles Chaplin
Lyric guide

The Final Speech (from The Great Dictator)

The Final Speech (from The Great Dictator) lyrics by Charles Chaplin. I'm sorry, but I don't want to be an emperor That's not my business I don't want to rule...

Charles Chaplin visibility2 visits Video on page
person Curated by Ethan Walker LyroVerse team
Lyrics

The Final Speech (from The Great Dictator)

The lyric stays readable and compact here; the note and related paths sit nearby so you do not lose the song while looking for context.

I'm sorry, but I don't want to be an emperor

That's not my business

I don't want to rule or conquer anyone

I should like to help everyone if possible

Jew, Gentile, Black Man, White

We all want to help one another, human beings are like that

We want to live by each other's happiness, not by each other's misery

We don't want to hate and despise one another

And this world has room for everyone, and the good Earth is rich

And can provide for everyone

The way of life can be free and beautiful

But we have lost the way

Greed has posioned men's souls

Has barricaded the world with hate

Has goose-stepped us into misery and bloodshed

We have developed speed, but we have shut ourselves in

Machinery that gives us abundance has left us in want

Our knowledge has made us cynincal

Our cleverness, hard and unkind

We think too much, and feel too little

More than machinery, we need humanity

More that cleverness, we need kindness and gentleness

Without these qualities life will be violent, and all will be lost

The aeroplane and the radio have brought us closer together

The very nature of these inventions cries out for the goodness in men

Cries out for universal brotherhood

For the unity of us all

Even now my voice is reaching millions throughout the world

Millions of despairing men, women, and little children

Victims of a system that makes men torture and imprison innocent people

To those who can hear me, I say

Do not despair

The misery that is now upon us is but the passing of greed

The bitterness of men who fear the way of human progress

The hate of men will pass, and dictators die

And the power they took from the people will return to the people

And so long as men die, liberty will never perish

Soldiers!

Don't give yourselves to brutes

Men who despise you

Enslave you

Who regiment your lives

Tell you what to do

What to think and what to feel!

Who drill you

Diet you

Treat you like cattle

Use you as cannon fodder

Don't give yourselves to these unnatural men

Machine men with machine minds and machine hearts!

You are not machines!

You are not cattle!

You are men!

You have the love of humanity in your hearts!

You don't hate!

Only the unloved hate

The unloved and the unnatural!

Soldiers!

Don't fight for slavery!

Fight for liberty!

In the 17th Chapter of St Luke it is written: The Kingdom of God is within man

Not one man nor a group of men, but in all men!

In you!

You, the people have the power

The power to create machines

The power to create happiness!

You, the people, have the power

To make this life free and beautiful

To make this life a wonderful adventure

Then, in the name of democracy

Let us use that power

Let us all unite

Let us fight for a new world

A decent world that will give men a chance to work

That will give youth a future and old age a security

By the promise of these things, brutes have risen to power

But they lie!

They do not fulfil that promise

They never will!

Dictators free themselves but they enslave the people!

Now let us fight to fulfil that promise!

Let us fight to free the world

To do away with national barriers

To do away with greed, with hate and intolerance

Let us fight for a world of reason

A world where science and progress will lead to all men's happiness

Soldiers!

In the name of democracy, let us all unite

Quick answers

What this page can answer fast

Who performs "The Final Speech (from The Great Dictator)"?

Charles Chaplin performs "The Final Speech (from The Great Dictator)", and this lyric page sits inside the Charles Chaplin catalog on LyroVerse.

Are there related songs to explore after "The Final Speech (from The Great Dictator)"?

Yes. The related section below points to Se Bella Giu Satore and Smile with a short reason for opening each page next.

Where can I find more songs by Charles Chaplin?

Use the artist link near the top of the page or the related paths section below to keep moving through Charles Chaplin's lyric pages.

Song Room

Interpretations, questions, and corrections for this song

Interpretations, questions, memories, and correction notes live together here. The room stays noindex while the best insights are reviewed.

Open Song Room
0 followers Selected insights only surface after moderation
Listener comments

What people are saying

0 comments
Add a short interpretation or memory

A strong comment here is specific: the phrase you keep hearing, the mood you come back for, or the reason this song stays in rotation.

Sign in to post the first listener note. Reporting stays open to everyone.

No listener comments on The Final Speech (from The Great Dictator) yet.