When my friend Dave came to stay with us recently, he brought with him a few CDs of music, one of which was by Rammstein, a German Heavy/Industrial Metal band.
My 10 year old son, Rogan, overheard Dave playing it to me and insisted on having a copy for himself. Now as they sing in German, I have no idea of the content of their lyrics (Dave didn't know either - he just liked the music). However, I figured that if even their language was foul, we wouldn’t be offended as no one speaks German in this house.
Earlier today, though, I heard Rogan singing along to one of the tracks as he was playing the CD in his bedroom. He loves the album and it appears he’s learned many of the songs phonetically.
My only hope now is that Rammstein is not full of offensive lyrics, and that if they are, Rogan never repeats his singing in front of any Deutschlanders.
As long as it is sung well, it matters not what is said.
ReplyDelete--==/ So Sayeth the Robot \==--
Wow. I didn't realize this, but you're five hours ahead of me! What's it like, living in the future?
ReplyDeleteIt means that I don't get the 5 hours advanced warning that you do, of things that are going hideously wrong ;)
ReplyDeleteNever heard of them, but here's a site that claims to have the lyrics in English http://www.btinternet.com/~rammstein_online/lyrics.html
ReplyDeleteCan't say that I like the lyrics much, here's a sample from Weißes Fleisch
"White flesh
You in the schoolyard
I 'm ready to kill
and nobody here knows
of my loneliness
Red welts on the white skin
I 'm hurting you
and you are loudly whimpering
Now you are scared
And I am ready
My black blood
soils your dress
Your white flesh excites me so
I am just a gigolo
Your white flesh enlightens me
My black bloodyour white flesh
I 'm getting more and more excited by your screams
The sweat of fear on your white forehead
It is hailing into my sick brain "
Thanks for that Naomi. The link allowed me to find a translation of the album he's listening to ('Mutter'), which doesn't seem quite as dodgy as the one you posted here. Having said that, the lyrics on that album are still pretty dark, although I don't know that they are that much worse than some of the stuff you hear in the charts.
ReplyDeleteAt least it's not full of swear words, as that would have thrown me into a moral quandary. Does a swear word mean anything if you don't understand it?(Write 500 words on that and have it on my desk by Friday!)
There must be some site where you can check the lyrics, no?
ReplyDelete-N
Evil Bob Dole says:
ReplyDelete"What did you expect from rap music? Rainbows and sunshine?"
Natalia - At this rate I might start suspecting that you don't read any of the comments (see Naomi above for a link where I could check the lyrics, and see the next comment for my response)
ReplyDelete:)
Evil Bob Dole - thanks Bob.
Just don't let him sing in public, you never know who does and doesn't know German. My mother who is German has lived in the States since she was 7. She speaks fluent German. She was in an elevator one day when two men made comments her to each other in German; she didn't interrupt until she was ready to get off on her floor, by then both men were done with their conversation and before she stepped off the elevator, she turned around and commented IN GERMAN. The men as she explained to me were in shock beyond belief.
ReplyDeleteB
I once did a similar thing in Wales when I was a teenager. I was in a cafe and I knew that the couple sitting on the table nearby, who were speaking in Welsh, were making derogatory comments about the English. I didn't speak Welsh, but it was quite clear from the way they kept glancing over, and the expressions on their faces that they were not being complimentary. However, I did know "Thank you very much" in Welsh, which I said clearly to the cafe owner as I left, and enjoyed watching their faces turn bright red.
ReplyDelete