Rammstein spieluhr bedeutung

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The Sandman Will Keep You Awake - The Loop

	„Ich sehe was, was du nicht siehst.“
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Spieluhr (Music Box) is the seventh track of the album Mutter.

The lyrics recall a German children's song with the lyric Hoppe, hoppe Reiter (slang for up and down, as riding a horse). The song entails a young child who pretended to be dead, because it wanted to be alone. So a group (presumably the townspeople) buried the child with a music box in its hands in a graveyard (referred to as Gottes acker, or God's field) without ceremony. The child awakes, winds the music box, and sings with it from the ground, telling only that its heart beats no longer. While celebrating the holiday of Totensonntag (Sunday of the dead, a holiday taking place on the last Sunday before Advent in November. It's the day when Protestant Christians remember their dead), the townspeople hear the child's song, and come to its rescue, unearthing it and "saving the small heart."

The chorus features a duet between Till Lindemann and Khira Li Lindemann, the daughter of Richard Kruspe. Special features of the track are the pinging of a music box, and the faint thump of a heart, which begins when Till sings "...saved the small heart."

The song features a Xylophone which can be heard during the intro and outro of the song.

Lyrics & Translation[]

Ein kleiner Mensch stirbt nur zum Schein
wollte ganz alleine sein
das kleine Herz stand still für Stunden
so hat man es für tot befunden
es wird verscharrt in nassem Sand
mit einer Spieluhr in der Hand

Der erste Schnee das Grab bedeckt
hat ganz sanft das Kind geweckt
in einer kalten Winternacht
ist das kleine Herz erwacht

Als der Frost ins Kind geflogen
hat es die Spieluhr aufgezogen
eine Melodie im Wind
und aus der Erde singt das Kind

Hoppe hoppe Reiter
und kein Engel steigt herab
mein Herz schlägt nicht mehr weiter
nur der Regen weint am Grab
hoppe hoppe Reiter
eine Melodie im Wind
mein Herz schlägt nicht mehr weiter
und aus der Erde singt das Kind

Der kalte Mond in voller Pracht
hört die Schreie in der Nacht
und kein Engel steigt herab
nur der Regen weint am Grab

Zwischen harten Eichendielen
wird es mit der Spieluhr spielen
eine Melodie im Wind
und aus der Erde singt das Kind

Hoppe hoppe Reiter
mein Herz schlägt nicht mehr weiter

Am Totensonntag hörten sie
aus Gottes Acker diese Melodie
da haben sie es ausgebettet
das kleine Herz im Kind gerettet

Hoppe hoppe Reiter
eine Melodie im Wind
mein Herz schlägt nicht mehr weiter
und auf der Erde singt das Kind
hoppe hoppe Reiter
und kein Engel steigt herab
mein Herz schlägt nicht mehr weiter
nur der Regen weint am Grab

A small human only pretends to die
it wanted to be completely alone
the small heart stood still for hours
so they decided it was dead
it is being buried in wet sand [1]
with a music box in its hand

The first snow covers the grave
it woke the child very softly
in a cold winter night
the small heart is awakened

As the frost flew into the child
it wound up the music box
a melody in the wind
and the child sings from the ground

Up and down, rider [2]
and no angel climbs down
my heart does not beat anymore
only the rain cries on the grave
up and down, rider
a melody in the wind
my heart does not beat anymore
and the child sings from the ground

The cold moon, in full magnificence
it hears the cries in the night
and no angel climbs down
only the rain cries on the grave

Between hard oak boards
it will play with the music box
a melody in the wind
and the child sings from the ground

Up and down, rider
and no angel climbs down
my heart does not beat anymore
only the rain cries on the grave
up and down, rider
a melody in the wind
my heart does not beat anymore
and the child sings from the ground

Up and down, rider
my heart does not beat anymore

On Totensonntag they heard [3]
this melody from god's field [4]
then they unearthed it
they saved the small heart in the child

Up and down, rider
a melody in the wind
my heart does not beat anymore
and the child sings on the ground
up and down, rider
and no angel climbs down
my heart does not beat anymore
only the rain cries on the grave

Translation notes[]

The verb "verscharren" means to bury, specifically without ceremony.
"Hoppe hoppe Reiter" is a line from a German children's song. "Hoppe hoppe" is slang for up and down, as in the movement when you are riding a horse.
"Totensonntag" translates to "Sunday of the dead". This is a holiday celebrated on the last Sunday before Advent in November. It is the day when Protestant Christians remember their dead.
"Gottesacker" means "god's field" but refers to a graveyard.
Several parts of this translation lack the poetry of the German original (a necessary sacrifice in most translations, but pertinent here because Lindemann is actually a published poet). Two quick examples would be the oft-repeated bit "und aus der Erde singt das Kind" which is translated as "and the child sings from the ground." In fact, the German original reads "and from the Earth sings the child." To the English ear it not only sounds more archaic (it is), but the emphasis is clearly meant to be on the Earth, not the child. It's the sensibility of hearing a faint melody emanate from beneath the soil. The other one would be the phonetic play of "wird es mit der Spieluhr spielen" ("it will with the music-box play" is a more accurate translation, rather than the given "it will play with the music box"). Apart from the phonetic play which is impossible to reproduce in translation, what's lost is--again--the order of emphasis.

v • d • e

Herzeleid

Mein Herz brennt (My heart burns) · Links 2, 3, 4 (Left 2, 3, 4) · Sonne (Sun) · Ich will (I want) · Feuer frei (Fire freely) · Mutter (Mother) · Spieluhr (Music box) · Zwitter (Hermaphrodite) · Rein, raus (In, out) · Adios (Good-bye) · Nebel (Mist)