Cystitis, acne, fucking, digestion, tears, death, defecation, cuddles, flatulence, kissing...I could go on forever, but I won't.
What do all of these things have in common? You know it.
Okay, now consider, just for a moment, that I am serious. My tongue, which is incidentally crawling with bacteria, is very firmly planted in my cheek, but I do have a point. I'm just going to rampage through and plant some ideas in your head. Jeremy's proper translation is there for you if you need to refer to it:
Bacteria live all over us, inside and out. Without them we would probably die. We have a symbiotic relationship with them, in that they form part of our immune arsenal (pun incidental) and they aid us in extracting nutrients from our food. We're riddled with bacteria, and every time we look at another living creature we are also looking at, if not seeing, vast armies of bacteria.
We are the entire world for our personal germs. They inhabit us, the way we inhabit this planet. We are theirs and they are ours. If a bacterium was as arrogant and self-aware as humanity I'm sure it would consider us here to service, house, feed, and care for it. We're their planets and they probably care for us as much as we care for the world we live in. They certainly harm us to a similar extent (I wonder if we will kill Earth in the end). They don't love us, but we're preoccupied with them.
I like the idea that I am a ship for a crew of germs to ride through oceans of life. I also get a kick from the knowledge that I am forever locked in a bacterial embrace, either fighting or benefiting from them. The bondage humanity is in is one of infection and disease, and even our greatest weapon, our immune system, isn't enough to beat them completely, and part of it is made up of the enemy's siblings.
They do major damage as the cause of Tetanus, they bring us agony through cystitis, they scar us via acne, and I won't go into detail about syphilis. They get into us via contact with animals, tools (blunt saw, anyone?) and weapons, with food, and because our own bodily functions rely on orifices, and damage to our armour (skin), opens up more.
They mark us up, and break us down. They torture us, help us, and ultimately they eat us. After you die you continue to live in all the little bastards that hasten your decomposition. Does that console you?
The line that might be a little odd in this context is the sticking of medals on faces. What is a medal if not a badge signifying what we have done? Is an acne scar a badge of honour for a bacterium? I don't know, but it's a laugh to consider it.
Anyway, I honestly do not believe that this is what Lindemann had in mind when he wrote the song. I just think it's interesting to come up with concepts that fit his words. Here endeth this one.
[discuss]
Showing posts with label LIFAD meanings. Show all posts
Showing posts with label LIFAD meanings. Show all posts
2009-11-13
2009-11-10
2009-10-19
Love Stories
I'm finding stories in the various translations of the new lyrics going around. I am having a lot of trouble with some songs, but a few have provoked fairly vivid images, and I'm going to post them as they occur to me or when someone else breaks the cypher. I'm not going to go too deeply though. You could probably find just about anything if you peeled enough layers off, so I'm just going with impressions that are fairly blatant (to me).
Rammlied is a Rammthem. It's pretty clear it's about them and us, and the end of the drought. No-brainer!
Ich tu' dir weh is about S&M. Also a no-brainer. I'm sure people will find a lot of little symbols and analogous imagery in there, but the basics are the giving and receiving of pain as a form of intimacy.
Waidmann's Heil is ostensibly about a hunt, but the general idea seems to be that it's about getting laid. Let's call it a story about cruising for pussy, since that's the simplest explanation.
Haifisch I've found myself thinking more about. It seems to be about the band (Sechs Herzen die Brennen, Das Feuer hält euch warm). My interpretation is that it's about how little we get to see of their lives, feelings, problems, love, etc. The shark's tears are hidden by its context, and the personal lives of the band are also hidden in the context in which we experience their lives, i.e. on stage, in interviews, through their music, and at promotional or public events. The idea that the tears of the shark are what makes the sea saline leads me to think that the band's form of expression is their work, and it's their performance and context through that work, which disguises what's really going on with them.
B****** is one I've had trouble with, but I can't stop wondering if it's about masturbation. My initial gut reaction was that it must be about a simple personal conflict, or some social taboo, but I'm not sure. The lyrics are very simple, and as such can be interpreted in many ways. There's obviously something about which he's a bit torn. I'm probably getting the masturbation idea from the overwhelming theme of love/lust/intimacy throughout the album, so I could be on completely the wrong track.
Frühling in Paris seems to be about his loss of virginity in Paris to a [possibly older] Parisienne. His innocence might be spring, left bleeding in Paris, but not regretted.
Wiener Blut is about the Fritzl case. There really isn't anything else that needs saying.
Pussy is obviously about getting laid. From remarks by Paul in an interview the overarching theme might be sexual tourism. For those unaware there are people who travel to poorer nations to indulge in the sexual favours of prostitutes of all kinds, thus taking advantage of depressed currencies and countries, and the poverty and desperation that brings.
Liebe ist für alle da seems to be about someone who takes women as and when he chooses, perhaps a rapist. He may simply be a fantasist though. I think it's unclear if he actually gets the girl or not.
Superficially (I haven't put a lot of thought in on this one yet) Mehr seems to be about greed in general, but in my view it's more about material greed than anything else. Love of things, or for money and what that brings.
Red sand is a story about the loss of a duel over a lover. He lies dying at the end, and the other guy gets the girl. It's a pretty simple story of love (and life) lost.
More as it comes to mind, and hand in the case of the bonus tracks.
[discuss]
Rammlied is a Rammthem. It's pretty clear it's about them and us, and the end of the drought. No-brainer!
Ich tu' dir weh is about S&M. Also a no-brainer. I'm sure people will find a lot of little symbols and analogous imagery in there, but the basics are the giving and receiving of pain as a form of intimacy.
Waidmann's Heil is ostensibly about a hunt, but the general idea seems to be that it's about getting laid. Let's call it a story about cruising for pussy, since that's the simplest explanation.
Haifisch I've found myself thinking more about. It seems to be about the band (Sechs Herzen die Brennen, Das Feuer hält euch warm). My interpretation is that it's about how little we get to see of their lives, feelings, problems, love, etc. The shark's tears are hidden by its context, and the personal lives of the band are also hidden in the context in which we experience their lives, i.e. on stage, in interviews, through their music, and at promotional or public events. The idea that the tears of the shark are what makes the sea saline leads me to think that the band's form of expression is their work, and it's their performance and context through that work, which disguises what's really going on with them.
B****** is one I've had trouble with, but I can't stop wondering if it's about masturbation. My initial gut reaction was that it must be about a simple personal conflict, or some social taboo, but I'm not sure. The lyrics are very simple, and as such can be interpreted in many ways. There's obviously something about which he's a bit torn. I'm probably getting the masturbation idea from the overwhelming theme of love/lust/intimacy throughout the album, so I could be on completely the wrong track.
Frühling in Paris seems to be about his loss of virginity in Paris to a [possibly older] Parisienne. His innocence might be spring, left bleeding in Paris, but not regretted.
Wiener Blut is about the Fritzl case. There really isn't anything else that needs saying.
Pussy is obviously about getting laid. From remarks by Paul in an interview the overarching theme might be sexual tourism. For those unaware there are people who travel to poorer nations to indulge in the sexual favours of prostitutes of all kinds, thus taking advantage of depressed currencies and countries, and the poverty and desperation that brings.
Liebe ist für alle da seems to be about someone who takes women as and when he chooses, perhaps a rapist. He may simply be a fantasist though. I think it's unclear if he actually gets the girl or not.
Superficially (I haven't put a lot of thought in on this one yet) Mehr seems to be about greed in general, but in my view it's more about material greed than anything else. Love of things, or for money and what that brings.
Red sand is a story about the loss of a duel over a lover. He lies dying at the end, and the other guy gets the girl. It's a pretty simple story of love (and life) lost.
More as it comes to mind, and hand in the case of the bonus tracks.
[discuss]
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