All this talk of Rammstein made me wonder what I was missing. So I went to the used CD store and got a copy of each of their last two CDs.
This stuff is absolutely cool! I’ve been listening to this stuff pretty much nonstop since I got it. It’s got the hard edge I like without being completely obnoxious.
Now I feel like an addict. Next band you decide you like, please keep it to yourself, lest I succumb again.
Any of you other poor saps become addicted to music because someone recommended it? Please tell me so I don’t feel all alone in this.
Nirvana, Aerosmith, Eric Clapton, Greenday. Among others.
I didn’t like music at ALL (except for a select few people) until I was about 16. And only recently have I been able to tolerate or even like Nirvana and Greenday.
Count me as another convert. I noticed Sehnsucht on my neighbor’s shelf and he loaned it to me. I guess I’ll have to trek into the city and buy my own copy now along with Herzeleid and Mutter.
A while ago CMJ (College Media Journal) had “Du Hast” on one of their CDs. I thought the song sounded great, but the lyrics seemed WAY over the top. “You! … You hate! … You hate me!!” Is this song a bitingly clever parody of bad death metal, do the english lyrics not do the song justice, or am I just way too square to get the point?
Rammstein hates singing in English, but their management correctly assumed that without providing SOME english to their fans they’d never make it in the states, so Sehnsucht provided two english translations of Du Hast and Engel, both of which are not direct translations of the song.
However, much like their name, they also like to deal in double meanings. Rammstein can mean battering ram, but it also is the name of a town in Germany.
Du Hast literally means You Have. But Du Hasst means You Hate. The song is basically about bad relationships with women, which seems to be a running theme in their music. But a brutally literal translation of Du Hast (the chorus at least), is
You
You have
You have me
You have me
You have asked me
You have asked me
You have asked me and I have not answered.
the English they provided to us Americans was:
You
You hate
You Hate me.
you hate me
you hate me to say
you hate me to say
you hate me to say and I didn’t not obey.
it really makes no sense, but it makes the mosh pit happy to revel in their angst, and it fun at the concerts to watch Till point to people and insist that they hate him and then he bursts into either tears or laughter.
They have a very good sense of humor, and they know exactly what most Americans think of them, so they play off the jokes. People who think they’re violent, angry facists should work on translating a few songs. They’re almost exclusively about getting laid or feeling bad after getting laid.
I just love to talk about it. Rammstein fans in general don’t like that Rammstein is known for Du Hast, almost as much as we don’t like Rammstein being known for Columbine or “the Dildo”. Du Hast is really poor, lyrically, and doesn’t adequately showcase their abilities. The best lyrics they’ve ever written, IMHO is for the song Seemann (The Sailor):
Seemann :: Seaman
Come in my boat
a storm is rising
and it is becoming night
Where do you want to go
so completely alone
you are drifting away
Who holds your hand
when it pulls you under
Where do you want to go
the cold sea is boundless
Come in my boat
the autumn wind holds
the sails taut
Now you are standing by the lantern
with tears in your face
the daylight falls on the side
the autumn wind sweeps the streets clear
Now you are standing by the lantern
you have tears in your face
the evening light chases away the shadows
time stands still and it becomes autumn
Come in my boat
the helmsman feels longing
Come in my boat
I was the best seaman
Now you are standing by the lantern
you have tears in your face
you take the fire from the candle
time stands still and it becomes autumn
They only spoke of your mother
only the night is so merciless
at the end I am left alone
time stands still
and I am cold
Certainly not as compelling and romantic in English, but in German, trust me, it’s gorgeous.
Hey, thanks jarbaby! I’m glad to know that I’m not a complete music loser - in this case at least. Now where’d I put that “Best of Rodger Whittaker” CD?
