Rammstein: Lieben sie ein gutes metallband!
Welcome to Fraulein Boomer’s German School of Rock!
Repeat after me: Rammstein! Rrroll your R’s, get some phlegm in your throat, that’s right. Good. Again! RAMMSTEIN!
Feels good, doesn’t it? This band makes Kraftwerk look like Flock of Seagulls – and they were in town on lucky Friday the 13th to destroy Rexall Place, second time it was destroyed that week. Next to System of a Down, we’ll have to give the edge to Rammstein as the best metal show of the year. Danke schoen!
While French is the language of love and English the language of business, German is truly the language of … industrial heavy metal. This is yet another subgenre of the form that refers to any hard rock that uses sequencers or other computerized rhythm devices and whose members dress mainly in black. Their music is often dark and stern and cold and wrought with weltschmerz – like the Germans. Oh, yes, there’s fun to be had, but it’s a grim sort of fun. There’s a dark cloud inside every silver lining in every Rammstein song. It is a scientifically proven fact: industrial metal sounds scarier in German.
Consider the evidence. Here is a typical Rammstein lyric:
“Steck bratwurst in dein sauerkraut!”
And in English: “Plug a bratwurst in your sauerkraut!”
Who can see the sexual reference here? Anyone?
Let’s try another one: “Wir bilden einen lieben reigen, die freiheit spielt auf allen geigen. Musik kommt aus dem Weißen Haus, und vor Paris steht Mickey Maus.”
Translated: “We create a lovely round dance, the freedom plays on all violins, music comes from the White House, and in front of Paris stands Mickey Mouse.”
Can we see the social satire coming through in both languages or has something been lost in translation?
Well, that’s enough for today.
Don’t forget to roll your R’s!
