Halleluja Response

The response to the video post to the Rammstein FB page has been interesting. The majority of reactions to the English lyrics have been critical of the inaccuracy, i.e. my adaption is not a verbatim translation. This is a given, since my goal is to produce working English lyrics, rather than a literal translation. I don't speak German. I leave that to the Jeremy Williamses of this world. Jeremy speaks German like a native, and has a solid grasp of attractive English prose, so his translations are very elegant, and come with useful notes where English falls down. He's most definitely the guy you go to for Rammstein translations.

I, on the other hand, am a poet. I make every effort to be faithful to Till's intent where it is apparent, and to his words where it isn't. I try to inject as much clever word-play and subtle or unsubtle humour (where appropriate) as I can. I also have the singer foremost in my mind at all times. If someone were to perform Rammstein's songs with my lyrics in place of Till's the idea is that they could ride Till's rhythmic and rhymic rails with my words, and it should work, musically. If that means a shift in the actual wording then so be it. I am not trying to mirror the man's work verbally at the expense of usability. I am writing English lyrics.

I think part of the problem is also that Soeren, who made the video, has replaced some of my lines with more accurate translations, so it's a mixture of literal but rhythmically dissonant lines, and my texturally correct but verbally shifted English lyrics. This inconsistency is probably a little confusing to the uninitiated. Why use the shifted English lyrics at all when you can translate it literally? Or why use the literal translation when you have English lyrics that fit the music?

I'm not sure what his reasoning was for mixing it up, but I think either way the video is effective and fun.

Another response has been a pretty serious up-turn in German traffic to LILT. I am not sure why. Most of my readers have been from the US until last week. Now suddenly up to 50 % of my traffic has come from Germany. I can only assume that the official FB page attracts domestic fans more than my usual referrers.

Anyway, if you're from Germany and reading this please forgive me the liberties I have taken with Till's German lyrics. In order for me to do what I aim to do it is entirely necessary, and by no means reflects badly on the original German lyrics. My appreciation for Till's German lyrics is what drives me to do this in the first place.

The less said about his English lyrics the better...