1916 by Sabaton Reaction | First Listen

[@JariJuslin]

The song is originally from Motörhead album of the same name, 1916. The Motörhead flag you saw was made after the cover of that album, and the flags in the parade quite replicated the row of flags in the album cover, too. The two surviving members from the last Motörhead lineup were marching with them and the person who is now Sabaton tour manager but used to be the Motörhead tour manager carried late Lemmy Kilmister's photo on their side. Sabaton often has a cover, or tribute, to some of their influences on each album, possibly as a bonus track. It is usually from some band that inspired them, but also a track that discusses war or history. On this album it was Motörhead 1916. That's also why it was shot in England, and it was English metal fans marching - it was a tribute to not just the song, but also the band and the fans that ultimately laid the foundations - metal bands didn't get radio attention in the early days, so it was the fans coming to concerts and spreading word by mouth that made metal music possible.

[@rogmorts1]

You forgot the destination of the Bus, another Motörhead reference for the live album No Sleep til Hammersmith

[@x2zchat]

Thank you for the history behind this piece! Interesting to learn that Sabaton does a cover/tribute for each album based on a band that inspired them, especially in this case where they were able to include members from Motörhead! Definitely want to hear the original by Motörhead knowing now that this is a cover of their song

[@ingobordewick6480]

@@x2zchat Get some tissues ready for that. The original is just so heart wrenching.

[@Bonovin]

A Motörhead tribute from Sabaton , Great song and so so sad . nwAse Sweden

[@Madison-iw8ix]

I remember hearing that this song was inspired by a WW1 vet that Lenny interviewed. The vet spoke of Paschendael, I think, and he broke down crying when he recalled holding his best friend as he died.

[@Buzzed720]

I live in a town called Acrington, which is a northern town in Lancashire. The Acrington Pals suffered massive losses, and we have artwork and actual pictures of the Acrington Pals regiment all around the town to remember them.

[@x2zchat]

Thank you for sharing! After looking up some history on them, it is interesting to learn that the battalion was gathered in only 10 days purely from those who volunteered

[@MrSapperb3]

Burnley here (the town next to Accrington for those who don’t know). The Accrington Pals and the Burnley Pals suffered the most losses out of the pals battalions, as said in the song, an entire generation of men wiped out in a single day, in Burnley we’ve got a specific Burnley Pals memorial behind our cenotaph and every time I get the train over the bridge through Accrington I give a nod to the huge mural in the town centre

[@carinarodebak9419]

All the soldiers participating in that marbch are from different Sabaton song. The whole video is such nods. The bus to Hammersmith is to an album by Motörhead. The car standing in the road is to de car that Archduke Franz Ferdinand rode in Sarajevo 1914, the stsrt to the war. The bandmembers from Motörhead walking with their former tourmanager,who now is manager for the Sabaton tour, carrying the picture of Lemmy Kilminster. The planes from Red Baron, Nightwitches and No Bullet Fly As you continue down the Sabaton road you will encounter all their stories .

[@gryphonosiris2577]

All the names in the credits were Soldiers who fought in WWI and WWII (of the first two pages). Most were recipients of Victoria Cross, Medal of Honor, Silver star, or similar awards. All of them big damn heroes.

[@x2zchat]

Wow, thank you for pointing out that the car was the one Archduke Ferdinand rode in! Pretty significant detail considering the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand was the catalyst for the start of the war

[@ozzygaming96]

I love how you mentioned that part where "Now nobody remembers our names." Actually it's pointed by the songwriter at the thing that can be missed easily... there's so many unknown soldiers. Still being signed as missing after such events as a war. They were buried in the same graves. Unknown graves. Here in Poland we've got a graveyards where you won't see a name on the crosses. But we have those places. Maybe we won't know or remember the names, but we will remember the sacrifices they've made.

[@johncrwarner]

They filmed part of the video in Birmingham, England and I recognized it as close to a famous venue called "Digbeth Civic Hall" when I visited it in the 1980s for punk gigs but now called "O2 Institute Birmingham" The venue was a place many bands played over the years I am sure Motörhead played there It was in a dingy bit of Birmingham near the bus station but the venue was good for hardcore punk rock concerts in the 1980s at least along with the nearby Irish Centre in Digbeth.

[@loafersheffield]

Seen Motorhead 3 times between Between '82 and last time in Sheff, 11 years ago. Mi dad's dad survived WW1. Not the Somme tho. The lines quoted were from Lemmy's autobiog. White Line Fever. Another godd book, Covenant With Death. (John Harris) Punk aint dead.

[@PeterMinoz-px3kx]

This is an anthem to every man and woman who have fought since the beginning of time. They put "heroes from history" in the video. The woman who they showed was a night witch. They are listed at the end credits.

[@CosmosJack]

"Now there's nobody remembers our names" -- my great-grandfather was an American soldier in WW1. He never talked about it and my grandmother never mentioned that he was in the war. We know more about what happened to our family who fought in the Civil War than what he saw in Europe.

[@merryrose6788]

Thanks for your thoughtful reaction. You mention that all we have are stones with the soldiers' names, but also discuss the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. The Tomb and the changing of the guard are impressive and sombre. The Tomb seems orderly. If you get a chance, research the Douaumont Ossuary, which is a giant tomb at Verdun, containing the unknown bones mixed up, of French, Brits, Germans, etc. It's a terrible visual of what war really is. A local bishop had visited the abandoned battlefield, shocked by the scene of a field covered with the remains of the soldiers, lying unburied. He arranged for the Ossuary. "The ossuary is a memorial containing the remains of both French and German soldiers who died on the Verdun battlefield. Through small outside windows, the skeletal remains of at least 130,000 unidentified combatants of both nations can be seen filling up alcoves at the lower edge of the building." I never knew of this, but watching 1916 led me to this research, and it's truly horrific to see.

[@CosmosJack]

From Lemmy's autobiography: "I wrote the words [to '1916'] before I wrote the music. It's about the Battle of the Somme in World War I . . . it happened that I was in England, watching a programme about World War I and I had a brainstorm when they got to the Battle of the Somme. Nineteen thousand Englishmen were killed before noon, a whole generation destroyed, in *three hours* -- think about that! It was just terrible -- there were three or four towns in northern Lancashire and south Yorkshire where that whole generation of men were completely wiped out. And those towns are still suffering from it because they were never able to build their population up again. Places like Accrington, in Lancashire, were fucking destroyed. They brought five old guys back to the battlefield in this TV special. One guy, who was about ninety, said 'They told us to walk, not run, and we walked across and all the lads around me laid down. I thought there might have been an order from the rear that I hadn't heard. And then I realized they were all dead.' It's a case of the English killing more Englishmen than the Germans. Hindenberg, who later became president of Germany, said, 'They were lions lead by donkeys.' So I wrote a song about it. But I do have a lot of ambivalence about that tune. This kid wrote to me and said he played it for his grandfather, who was there, and the old man cried all the way through it. That's a very great compliment, but I'm not sure I like the guy feeling that bad for my gratification. It's an amazing thing to have happen, though, to reach back over all those years and touch somebody like that." -Lemmy Kilmister (with Janiss Garza) White Line Fever 2002

[@georginad7394]

With this song being so new there's not a sabaton history episode for it yet. However, quite by chance, you guys had a conversation about the tomb of the unknown soldier and there IS a sabaton history episode about that. A lot of people miss it because it doesn't link to a specific song but rather an intro to a song, however it's just as informative and interesting as the rest of the Sabaton histories. The episode is called: "Diary of an unknown soldier".

[@susanjw7763]

There is a “making of 1916”

[@x2zchat]

Interesting, we will add it to our list to watch!

[@ingobordewick6480]

This is a cover of a Motörhead song, written by the one and only legend Lemmy Kilmister.

[@dorlonelliott9368]

Tina Guo on cello....

[@101stub]

I have seen a few reactions to this video, and you are the first I have seen to pick that they were Greek Hoplites and not Roman Centurions. Good pick up.

[@micke3721]

Great, love your Sabaton reactions..🤟🤟🇸🇪🇸🇪

[@amygoodson-catlady]

Sabaton Squad, Southern California thanks you for checking out more Sabaton, and for sharing the video!

[@hansreftel4271]

Motörhead were an English rock band London in 1975-2015 Lemmy (lead vocals, bass) was the primary songwriter and only constant member and he loved History this is a Motörhead cover. In the March you see the Motorhead flag and some remaining Motorhead band members and they have a picture of Lemmy.

[@Erik6706]

Great reaction gentlemen! Thank you. This song was very powerful when i saw it live at Avicii Arena. Greetings from Sweden.

[@x2zchat]

Thank you for watching! Greetings from the US :)

[@JariJuslin]

The soldiers from various era were mostly cameos from other Sabaton songs. For example Christmas Truce too place so early in WW1 that German uniforms were not yet unified - remember, the whole thing about Germany itself being unified was very new at the time. So as you see in Christmas Truce, the Germans often had the pre-unification uniforms from their respective states. This is why the stereotypical helms with spike on the top of the head were not there.

[@x2zchat]

Appreciate the history regarding the uniforms! Makes sense why they were not wearing the infamous pickelhaube helmets in the earlier periods of the war

[@alancarter41]

Lemmy Kilmister of the English metal band Motorhead wrote the song "1916" after seeing a TV documentary about the Battle of the Somme. He was deeply moved by the story of a veteran of the battle, who broke down describing holding his best friend as he died. This features highly in the song. Props to Sabaton for including the surviving members of Motorhead in the video. The man holding the photo of Lemmy was the Motorhead tour manager who now works for Sabaton. A fantastic and moving tribute to Lemmy and all the soldier throughout history that marched off to fight, and sometimes die, for their homelands. The young-looking soldier represents Sidney Lewis, who enlisted and fought in the Battle of the Somme at age 12. There is a video that shows the making of "Sabaton-1916' that is worth watching. An interesting fact is that one of the incompetent English commanders at the Battle of the Somme was also in command of troops at the disaster at Gallipoli. Great reaction.

[@x2zchat]

Definitely can see the inspiration from the story of the veteran who survived and lost his best friend. It truly was a horrific conflict and it is difficult to fathom what such loss felt like. Powerful song and tribute for sure

[@SJ-vc6zn]

The youngest soldier in ww1 was 8. 8 years old. No joke.

[@santino001vileno9]

Thank you gentlemen for a wonderful and respectful reaction to this epic song. I'm sure that every "Vet" watching must feel the same way. Note that the hauntingly beautiful chello outro was performed & written by the equally beautiful Tina Guo (Re: Wonder Woman). Peace and long life to you and yours.

[@x2zchat]

Glad you enjoyed, thanks for watching! Sung very powerfully and thank you for pointing out Tina performed the instrumentals at the very end

[@mauricioramirez5948]

Can't wait until you get to those stories that nobody has heard of. I recommend "Night Witches" "Attack of the Deadmen" or "Lady of the Dark"

[@madurso]

The general of the first attack of the battle was utterly inept and let the soldiers continue to run into German fire, even though his plan totally failed. The Germans were so impressed by the sacrifice and courage of the English that they said: lions led by donkeys.

[@alancarter41]

One of the English commanders at the Battle of the Somme was also in command during the fiasco at Gallipoli. The British had probably the most incompetent military leadership of all time in WW1.

[@madurso]

@@alancarter41 Not just the British. At that time all commanders were probably totally incompetent. But especially the politicians who started this war.

[@x2zchat]

Wow. It is disappointing how so many young men lost their lives as a result of inadequate leadership. Interesting quote that summarizes it pretty well

[@Fuilleverte]

Tomb of the Unknown was even guarded during a hurricane. To the Gaelic peoples, the most potent cure is to be forgotten. Win or lose didn't matter as much as to be remembered your name.

[@swenartmann1670]

Great reaction. Greetings from Germany

[@x2zchat]

Thank you! Greetings from the US

[@JariJuslin]

The unknown soldier was ever more relevant in first half of WW1. Dog tags were not yet invented, people often falsified records when signing up and there was not always going to the No Man's Land to recover bodies. So thousands of men - and boys - just went over the wall and were never heard about again. Also, in Battle of Somme the artillery preparation was so immense there was no structure of any kind left in the No Man's Land, so many people just drowned in mud, so they might still be there in the soil and never recovered. It must have been harrowing for the families when their kids just disappeared and no one really know what happened to them.

[@x2zchat]

Sad to hear just how many completely vanished with no record or no one knowing. Did not know dog tags were not utilized at this time. I can imagine it must have been scary as a parent back then knowing your kids could run off to falsify their documents and go to war

[@JariJuslin]

I've seen a reaction to this song by a suicide survivor and he said that at the moment of death, you kinda degrade to the level of a kid, so calling for your mother for help is instinctual. I'm guessing it's about oxygen level in brain slowly dropping and thus cognitive function slowly deteriorates.

[@x2zchat]

Wow, that is frightening and sad to think about. Explains why many in their final moments would call out to their mothers

[@SteveTheCombine]

Please react to Bismarck by sabaton

[@thomasholmgren85]

Second this. Bismarck has a fantastic music video as well.

[@TheSt1ffy]

Its a tribute to Lemmy from Sabaton

[@kingteddytheangry3685]

Greetings 👋🏻 from swedish sergeant

[@wandapease-gi8yo]

Dead who were never recovered from the trenches or no man’s land are still being excavated across the War Battlefields today. Towns in Canada also lost all their young men and became ghost towns.

[@Bludngutz]

We sergeants owe it to the noobs. Officers plan, NCOs take care of the boys. We train them to survive. We owe them that and their families and friends

[@AndyMagnusson70]

Great reaction. Now normally reactors are advised to react to Sabaton after they have reacted to Nightwish. Thr drummer of Sabaton is married to the current singer of Nightwish. So why not flip it all and ask you who now have reacted to Sabaton, also react to Nightwish (best of two worlds. What can go wrong)? Ghost Love Score, live at Wacken open air 2013 is a good place to start. And keep these Sabaton reactions coming. Sabaton don´t make music videos. They are doing mini-movies that would make a lot of Hollywood directors to quit.

[@chriso6719]

I concur

[@x2zchat]

Added to our list!

[@Nem01]

J. R. R. Tolkien was at the somme and he wrote that at the end of the first day all of his friends except for maybe one of them were killed.

[@TheRealAb216]

The bodies of many of these men have never been recovered because sections of the battle fields are still unsafe to enter due to Unexploded ordnances.

[@purgethemutants4142]

To kinda put it into perspective, for every foot about 10 people died, for 6 miles

[@2104dogface]

If you haaven't seen it yet you guys should watch Peter Jackson's "They Shall Not Grow Old" it's an amazing film using all org film from WW1.

[@x2zchat]

I remember seeing it in theater! Truly an amazingly well done film and experience. I would definitely like to see it again thanks for the reminder, will ask Rob if he has watched it

[@Bludngutz]

Threw in Gurkhas , Roman and Thracians... And a modern soldier.

[@deecap71]

It wasn't patriotism so much as it was adventure lust. They thought the war would won in a couple of weeks, and that it would be the last war ever fought. They didn't want to be left out. They learned very quickly how wrong they were about everything. They died pointlessly and tragically, ordered to their deaths by officers who did not yet understand the power of the weapons they wielded.

[@davethebarber62920]

I would suggest watching this without pausing the video.

[@sundelldennis]

To bad you chopt the song, i watch reactors, and when they dont there investagenting work, they chops song they should not in fear of youtube. Sorry guys il give thumbs down, Hope to give you one up in the future! (sorry for any bad spelling)

[@danwhite9644]

Morgan was one of my favorite bands from the 1970s pretty much to all the way to Lenny's passing in 2015. What a great band

[@marcusfranconium3392]

The brits had not realy a big standing army its power mainly was seapower . and an army more fit for colonial duty , and to make matters worse during the late 1800s during the boerwars , 2/3rds of the british population was unfit for military service. poor health etc . when war broke out with germany they only had a 90.000 strong army . and had to raise huge amounts of volunteers with a big poster of lord kitchener I want you . On the song this was just one battle of a 4 year long slaughter . only to be repeated 20 years later. And the worse part is the 1800s had cost the same amount of casualties as ww1 . and before the 1800s european wars where measuerd in decades and centuries and casualties in percentages of the european population . Its not suprising the Europeans dont like to pick up arms to start wars a new . as the 2 period of longest running peace in europe where the coldwar and the 15 year peace treaty of utrecht in 1714. the region of the benelux countries northern france and boarder regions of germany switserland and italy have been a running battle for the past 1200 years.