I've been working on some original lyrics of my own, but just in my head, and today on Facebook someone in a Rammstein group suggested a team effort to produce a song. Now, this is just going to be a fun thing for some perfect strangers to put together, and as we're all Rammstein fans and the lyrics I've been foodling around with are definitely Rammstein-inspired I figure I should probably make a bit more of an effort and polish the turd.
This means probably a week or more of LILT going a bit static, so I'm going to post my work on this sideline on here. It's not a LILT, since it's not a rework of Till's lyrics, but it's semi-relevant.
On a totally different subject, I've decided to share a weird little personal fact with you regarding a reaction I have to Rammstein music. I'm sure you're all very aware of the tendency Lindemann has to roll some of his Rs beyond the ordinary. I've noticed that Germans tend to use what to English-speakers sounds like either movement at the back of the throat or a soft D to sound out Rs. I assume there are conventions that dictate how the R sounds in a given context. Lindemann, on the other hand, sprinkles his singing with full-on rolling Rs, which kind of sound like he's trying to purr, only in full voice.
This particular mannerism is one I associate very strongly with my morfar (maternal grandfather), Bo. From a very young age he used to do the same thing when talking to me, as emphasis, particularly when he spoke Swedish to me but also in English. This isn't a Swedish speech mannerism in the general way, just as it's not the norm in German, as far as I know, but it was so very distinctly 'morfar' that I get a small bubble of happy when I hear anyone making this sound.
My mother's father was a huge influence on my life, and I adored him. I miss him every day, and still to this day can't consistently roll my Rs that way, though I have to admit that I don't try to as often now he's dead. He used to tease me about my inability to roll my Rs, and would ramp up the R-rolling in response to my sad failure. When he was over in NZ he'd feed me chocolate when I managed it (and when I did anything else he liked, like laughing at his jokes or giving him a good answer to a question), and that kind of thing sticks in the mind. It's a good memory.
I've never come across anyone else who rolls their Rs like this, so I naturally associate it only with this one person. This is why I feel a little internal smile come on every time I hear Lindemann purring; the kind of smile you only ever get from a private joke.
How weird is that? Associating an East German metal (?) vocalist with a man who didn't sing, would probably hate the music, and was from a different generation and culture, even if he did love German cars, is probably a stretch but it works for me.
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