This is a short poem by German poet Schiller (died 1805). I first heard this on Freesound Organisation, in a wonderful audio clip by NilsB entitled “Schiller.wav”. The NilsB clip is great but I wanted to do it myself to a steady beat and with a musical key in mind. And so I (a non-German speaker) recorded my voice into a condenser mic and added a vocoder effect. I’ll also add a “Skype” effect version. The poem is called “Das Gemeinsame Schicksal” or “The Common Fate” and the sentiment , in English, goes something like:

We hate, we fight, we disagree,
While time passes and we go grey — you and me.

Another, more singable English version, might go:

We hate, we fight,
We disagree;
While Time turns us grey,
You and me.