Ruminations

I've been thinking about the songs I don't think should have English lyrics, but which I really like the imagery or ideas in. I've decided to write English versions, but as poetry, rather than lyrics.

I agree with whoever it was that said that a lot of the frisson created by Rammstein's work stems from the German language, and while I've gone counter to that by re-lyricising Rammstein songs in English I have worked very hard to try and preserve the 'vibe' created by the sounds of the words used in German, where I can, using English words with a reasonably appropriate sound. It's hard to create verse that fits Till's singing style, the music, the German lyrics, and the feel of the verbal sounds, and I'm loving the challenge, but there's more to it than that.

Now I'm getting familiar with the songs, their meaning, and their devices there are some that, while I firmly believe they should stay German, I do want to create English verse for, if not lyrics. I plan to do that at some stage. The primary subject of this branch of my LILT project is Ich Will. The song is very powerful and very compelling, but there aren't appropriate English words to convey the meaning and the sound Till's lyrics do, so it will probably be my first poetic adaption.

These adaptions won't be listed as or classed with the LILTs. They simply don't belong in the same category of work. I guess they should be LLITs...

[discuss]