Geman Speaking Dopers: Help with some song lyrics, please.

Cafe Society
1

These are the lyrics to the song Auf Herz und Nieren by Xavier Naidoo.
I have attempted a translation but feel like I am misssing some of the more subtle meaning and nuance. I am still not quite sure what the song is about??? Is it religious in nature…a statement about “The Man”, so to speak? Anyone care to clarify this translation or offer a better interpretation?
Thank You,
devils sort of knew

Auf Herz Und Nieren v. Xavier Naidoo

REF. Ihr habt hier nichts verloren
Ich hab ihnen die Treue geschworen
Ich hab nichts zu verlieren
Sie prüften mich auf Herz und Nieren

Ich fordere dich heraus, komm raus
aus ihrem Haus
und sieh was du getan hast, wie viele
Jahre du sie geschlagen hast
Wäre es nicht gerecht, wenn du jetzt
ihre Last zu tragen hast
Und wenn du Fragen hast

Vielleicht werden sie lange
Schmerzenleiden
Vieles war und ist nicht zu vermeiden
Eure Zeit geht, unsere Zeit kommt,
ist und war
Du bist ein Hauch, wir sind immer da
Wir warten auf wahre Begebenheiten
Wer glättet die Wogen und
Unebenheiten

Du bildest dir ein weise und mächtig
zu sein
Und u hältst ihn rein, deinen
mächtigen Heiligenschein
Du hältst die Hand ins Feuer für
die deinen
Doch wir da unten sind für dich
nicht mit den feinen zu vereinen

Through and Through by Xavier Naidoo
Chorus:you lost nothing here
I swore my loyalty to them (you?)
I have nothing to lose
They (You?) tested me through and through

I summon you to come forth
come out of your house
and see what you have done
How many years you have beat her (them?)
Wouldn’t it be fair,
if now you had to bear your own burden
And if you had questions

Maybe you (they) will suffer long in pain
Much was and is not to be avoided
Your time is going, our time is coming
is and was
You are barely a trace, we are always there.
we wait for the true event
who straightens the bent and uneven?

You imagine yourself to be wise and powerful
And you hold it in, your mighty heavenly light (You hide your light under a basket?)
You hold your hand in the fire for your own
Certainly we down below are not worthy to join with the finest for you.(feinen=embellished?).

2

Your translation seems very good to me; see below for a minor correction. I have not the slightest idea what Xavier is singing about, but it might easily be something religious, since he is very religious. The lyrics are cryptic, and I don´t know enough about him or about his other work to put the them in a proper context.

You´re right about the “you/they” singlular/plural distinction in the different verses. This is very noticeable and I´m sure it´s important to the meaning of the song, but don´t ask me that might be.

Let me add that I find Xavier Naidoo incredibly annoying and pretentious, I don´t like his music, and to me he comes off as having an “holier than thou” attitude that really ticks me off. So I´m not in the best position to answer your question, but since nobody else replied…

“Heiligenschein” specifically means “halo”, as in the halo of an angel or saint. “Du hältst ihn rein” comes from the verb “reinhalten” which in this context means “keep something clean/pure/untainted”. So that line would translate to “And you keep it clean(pure), your mighty halo”, or without keeping the rhythm “And you keep your mighty halo clean(pure)”.

3

A quick followup: “Wogen” is a poetic term for “waves”. “Die Wogen glätten” normally means to calm a situation down or to de-escalate something.