This song is about the Boxer rebellion. I have a bunch of other versions if you're interested!
Japanese: • "時は1900年55日の北京よ" - Jap...
German: • "55 Tage in Peking" - ...
Spanish: • "55 días en Pekín" - S...
Lyrics:
The year was 1900, 'tis worth remembering
The men who lived through fifty-five days at Peking
T'was called the Boxers Insurrection of bloody oriental war
Against all nations of the diplomatic core
The flags of France and Britain
How they fluttered in the breeze
The Italian and the Russian and the flag of the Japanese
Then came the sound of bugles
And the rolling drums doom
And the streets of Peking were as empty as a tomb
The Empress of all China gave the signal to begin:
"Let the foreign devils be driven from Peking!"
They stormed the French Legation
They attacked with shot and shell
And they came in blood red blouses
Screaming 兇手(xiōngshŏu) as they fell
The drums have long been muffled
The bugles cease to ring
But through the ages, you can hear them echoing