40:1 (song)

40:1
Artist	Sabaton
Album	The Art of War (2008)
Length	04:11
Music	Brodén
Lyrics	Brodén

Tracklist
1. Sun Tzu Says
2. Ghost Division
3. The Art of War
4. 40:1
5. Unbreakable
6. The Nature of Warfare
7. Cliffs of Gallipoli
8. Talvisota
9. Panzerkampf
10. Union (Slopes of St. Benedict)
11. The Price of a Mile
12. Firestorm
13. A Secret
14. Swedish Pagans
15. Glorious Land
16. The Art of War (Pre-Production Demo)

40:1 is the third song on the The Art of War album by Sabaton.

Information

• The song tells about chapter four - "Tactical Dispositions" in Sun Tzu's "The Art of War" book.
• For some reason, Sun Tzu's quote is placed at the end of The Art of War song.
• Demo version of the song was titled "Soldier of Heaven". It featured improvised lyrics with no historical references, most likely to find the vocal melodies. The title was reused in a song of the same name and released in 2022 on The War to End All Wars album.
• The song became a phenomenon in Poland shortly after it was released, thanks to a fan video from YouTube that shortly reached over 3 000 000 views. It was the most viewed video in Poland at the time.
• In 2008 and 2009, the song and the band got major coverage in Polish media.
• The band was invited to Wizna village by the Wizna 1939 Association, where they could see the bunkers and the battlefield, visited Captain Raginis' grave, held a press conference, met with the fans and families of the soldiers who participated in the battle.
• Sabaton wanted to release the song with Polish lyrics as a single in 2008, but it was too difficult for Joakim to sing the whole song in Polish.
• Thanks to the popularity of 40:1, Sabaton played a free concert on the 90th Anniversary of Polish Independence Day in Gdańsk. (11.11.2008). They were invited by European Solidarity Centre and SUM Association.
• The band received various thank-you gifts from the Poles for the song:

1. A hand-embossed gorget with a Polish Eagle from the scouts in Wizna
2. Polish traditional military four-cornered caps called "rogatywka" at the concert in Kraków, 2008
3. An original officer's saber from the times of the Second Polish Republic, from archbishop Głódź

• Director Jacek Raginis, one of the Captain Raginis' relatives, shot the music video for 40:1.
• Rafał Roskowiński, a Polish artist, made a comic book inspired by the song "Wizna 1939. 40:1. Art of War". It features the story of the battle, the lyrics to the song in English, as well as the Polish translation. The comic book premiered on the same day as the music video, 22.02.2009. The comic was even available for download from the Polish Army's website.
• Thanks to 40:1 which resulted in the band's rising popularity in Poland, Sabaton headlined their first major tour in Poland called "Always Remember Tour" in 2009. One of the concerts took place in Strękowa Góra, on the actual battlefield described in the song.
• Even more "thank-you gifts" for the song in Poland were presented to the band during the concert in Strękowa Góra in 2009. The Chief of the Chancellery of the President of the Republic of Poland, Władysław Stasiak, in the presence of Deputy Speaker Krzysztof Putra, handed Sabaton the heraldry of the White Eagle. Following this, the head of the Zawady Municipality, Paweł Pogorzelski, announced the resolution of the Municipality Council, granting honorary citizenship of the Zawady municipality to Sabaton band members. The musicians received personalized diplomas.
• In the 10th anniversary of The Art of War interview, Pär revealed that the Polish president Lech Kaczyński was supposed to attend the concert in Strękowa Góra, but he had a meeting with the Russian president on the day of the concert.
• In 2013, 40:1 single, limited to 2000 copies with Polish version of 40:1 (featuring guest vocalists from the Polish metal scene) was released exclusively in Poland.
• In 2019, 40:1 became the anthem of Uniformed Education Center in Ełk, Poland.

Background

Joakim: "Polish fans had sent us information about the battle of Wizna. When we read of the deeds of Captain Władysław Raginis and his friends, it was for us the story so improbable that we thought at first that may not be true. Such incredible courage of 720 soldiers resisted to 42 0000 of Germans! We recognized immediately that this is the most interesting battle of history, and of course we wrote a song about it, "40:1"."

Pär: "This is what we do, we write songs about historical war themes. Basically we did nothing different, besides that we asked our fans worldwide to send in ideas for songs for a new album. Since we had a lot of Polish fans that were very enthusiastic, they sent in ideas for several historical things from Poland. One of them was the history of Wizna. We thought when we made our research that it was very interesting event in your history and something worth writing a song about."

Joakim: "We have a song, “40:1,” it’s about the Battle of Wizna in Poland. We played that particular battlefield exactly 70 years on the day after the battle happened. Those things are kind of hard to forget (...)"

Historic fact

In 1939 when the German Wehrmacht rolled into Poland crushing virtually all resistance, 720 Polish soldiers positioned near the small village of Wizna proved that the Polish people truly had Spartan blood running in their veins. These few brave men managed to hold a German force of over 40,000 soldiers at a stalemate for 3 days. They were outnumbered 40 to 1.

The battle of Wizna (7th-10th of September 1939). 720 Polish infantrymen, commanded by Władysław Raginis, defended a small fortified line near the village of Wizna against more than 40 000 German soldiers while being under a heavy artillery barrage.

Lyrics

40:1

"Hence to fight and conquer in all your battles is not supreme excellence; supreme excellence consists in breaking the enemy's resistance without fighting." - Sun Tzu Baptised in fire Forty to one So silent before the storm Awaiting command A few has been chosen to stand As one outnumbered by far The orders from high command Fight back, hold your ground! In early September it came A war unknown to the world No army may enter that land That is protected by Polish hand Unless you are forty to one Your force will soon be undone Baptised in fire Forty to one Spirit of spartans Death and glory Soldiers of Poland Second to none Wrath of the Wehrmacht brought to a halt The 8th of September it starts The rage of the Reich A barrage of mortars and guns Stand past, the bunkers will hold The captain has pledged his life I’ll face my fate here! The sound of artillery strike So fierce The thunder of guns So come, bring on all that you’ve got Come hell, come high water, never stop Unless you are forty to one Your lives will soon be undone Baptised in fire 40 to 1 Spirit of spartans Death and glory Soldiers of Poland Second to none Wrath of the Wehrmacht brought to a halt Always remember, a fallen soldier Always remember, fathers and sons at war Always remember, a fallen soldier Always remember, fathers and sons at war Always remember, a fallen soldier Always remember, buried in history No vermin may enter that land That is protected by Polish hand Unless you are forty to one Your force will soon be undone Baptised in fire Forty to one Spirit of spartans Death and glory! Soldiers of Poland Second to none Wrath of the Wehrmacht brought to a halt No, no, no

40:1 (Polish Version)

Ochrzczeni w ogniu Twardzi jak stal! W tej ciszy niosącej śmierć Czekają na znak Wybrańcy co dziś pójdą w bój Gotowi przelać swą krew Gdy rozkaz wydano im "Walczymy, już czas" We wrześniu zobaczył nasz świat Wojny zakrwawioną twarz Nie damy wejść tutaj dziś wam Bo Polak dumnie swych strzeże bram Nieliczni, lecz twardzi jak stal Do walki stają, już czas Już czas! Baptised in fire 40:1 Spirit of Spartans Death and glory Soldiers of Poland Second to none Wrath of the Wehrmacht brought to a halt Na dobre zaczęło się Naciera już wróg Lecz bunkry wytrzymają tę Zaporę moździerzy i kul Kapitan im dzielnie rzekł: "Tu spotkam swój los" Ogromny artylerii huk I deszcz granatów i bomb Nie damy wejść tutaj dziś wam Bo Polak dumnie swych strzeże bram Nieliczni, lecz twardzi jak stal Do walki stają, już czas Już czas! Baptised in fire 40:1 Spirit of Spartans Death and glory Soldiers of Poland Second to none Wrath of the Wehrmacht brought to a halt Zawsze pamiętaj, polscy żołnierze Zawsze pamiętaj, krwawy stoczyli bój Zawsze pamiętaj, polscy żołnierze Zawsze pamiętaj, ojców i synów krew Zawsze pamiętaj, polscy żołnierze Zawsze pamiętaj, wiecznie niech pamięć trwa Pokażcie więc na co was stać Piekła sił nie będziemy się bać Nieliczni, lecz twardzi jak stal Do walki stają, już czas Już czas! Baptised in fire 40:1 Spirit of Spartans Death and glory Soldiers of Poland Second to none Wrath of the Wehrmacht brought to a halt Nie! Nie! Nie!

Soldier Of Heaven (40:1 demo)

I see how the heathes rise L*** for their lives Are into the christians of time You know, what evil will do I run down the stairs to hell Come hear what I say! Now you will be paying the price You know, their lies has been burned He stands on the top of the world His eyes are scanning for sins on Earth He knows that his fire still burns He knows the evil will call, will call Soldier of heaven, warrior of light Valhalla's waiting, ride for Odin Soldier of heaven, warrior of light Valhalla's waiting, pray for Odin right

Video

SABATON - 40 1 (Official Music Video)-0

SABATON - 40 1 (Official Fan Made Video)

SABATON - 40 1 Live in Poland 2010 (OFFICIAL LIVE)

Sabaton - 40 to 1 - Live at Wacken Open Air 2019

Sabaton History

40 1 – The Battle of Wizna – Sabaton History 001 Official