Lyrics and translations of Rosenrot

Translation

I need time, don't need heroin
Nor alcohol nor nicotine
I don't need help, nor caffeine
But I do need dynamite and turpentine
I need oil for gasoline ⁽¹⁾
Explosive like kerosene
With lots of octane and free of lead
A fuel like

Petrol ⁽²⁾

I don't need a friend, nor cocaine
I need neither a doctor nor medicine
I don't need a woman, just Vaseline
Some nitroglycerine
I need money for gasoline
Explosive like kerosene
With lots of octane and free of lead
A fuel like

Petrol
Give me petrol

It flows through my veins
It sleeps in my tears
It leaks from my ears
Heart and kidneys are motors

Petrol

If you want to part with something
Then you have to incinerate it
If you never want to see it again
Let it swim in petrol
Petrol
I need petrol
Petrol
Give me petrol

Translation Jeremy Williams

Translation

Destiny smiled on me
And gave me a present
Threw me on a warm star ⁽¹⁾
So close to the skin, so far from the eye
I take my destiny in my own hands
My desire is manned

Where the fresh water dies
Because it taints itself in salt
I keep the Little Prince in mind
A king without a queen
When a woman is mistaken about me
Then the bright world is confused

Man against man
My skin belongs to the gentlemen
Man against man
Birds of a feather flock together
Man against man
I am the servant of two masters
Man against man
Birds of a feather flock together

I am the corner of all rooms
I am the shadow of all trees
No link is missing in my chain ⁽²⁾
When lust pulls from behind
My family calls me a traitor ⁽³⁾
I am the nightmare of all fathers

Man against man
My skin belongs to the gentlemen
Man against man
Birds of a feather flock together
Man against man
But my heart freezes on some days
Man against man
Cold tongues that beat there

Gay-ah ⁽⁴⁾

I'm not interested in balance
The sun shines in my face
But my heart freezes on some days
Cold tongues that beat there

Gay-ah
Man gayfor man ⁽⁵⁾

⁽¹⁾ Warm means the same as the English word "warm", but also is slang for "homosexual". Thus, the star is either warm or gay, or both.

⁽²⁾ Glied can mean both "link" (of a chain) and "member" – that is, "penis".

⁽³⁾ Geschlecht can mean many things: "sex", "gender", "family", "house", "generation", etc. It can also be short for "Geschlechtsteil" which means "genitals".

⁽⁴⁾ The screaming ("Ah") has been combined with "Schwuler" to make "Schwulah". That, or it's similar to "playa" as opposed to "player", just changing the ending to sound "hip".

⁽⁵⁾ Gegen and "gaygen" sound the same. The former means "against", the latter "gay for".

Translation Jeremy Williams

Translation

A girl saw a little rose
It bloomed there in bright heights
She asked her sweetheart
If he could fetch it for her

She wants it and that's fine
So it was and so it will always be
She wants it and that's the custom
Whatever she wants she gets

Deep wells must be dug
If you want clear water
Rose-red, oh Rose-red
Deep waters don't run still

The boy climbs the mountain in torment
He doesn't really care about the view
Only the little rose is on his mind
He brings it to his sweetheart

She wants it and that's fine
So it was and so it will always be
She wants it and that's the custom
Whatever she wants she gets

Deep wells must be dug
If you want clear water
Rose-red, oh Rose-red
Deep waters don't run still

At his boots, a stone breaks
Doesn't want to be on the cliff anymore
And a scream lets everyone know
Both are falling to the ground

She wants it and that's fine
So it was and so it will always be
She wants it and that's the custom
Whatever she wants she gets

Deep wells must be dug
If you want clear water
Rose-red, oh Rose-red
Deep waters don't run still

Translation Jeremy Williams

Translation

On a bridge, quite high
A man holds his arms open
There he stands and still hesitates
Right away the people swarm in droves
I won't miss out on it either
I want to see it up close
I get into the first row
And scream

The man wants to climb from the bridge
The people begin to hate
They form a dense crowd
And don't want to let him down
So he climbs back up
And the mob begins to rage
They want his innards
And scream

Jump
Redeem me
Jump
Don't disappoint me
Jump for me
Jump into the light
Jump

Now the man begins to cry
A cloud moves in secret
Asking himself what have I done
In front of the sun, it gets cold
I just wanted to see the view
The people break ranks
And look into the evening sky
And they scream

Jump

They scream
Jump
Redeem me
Jump
Don't disappoint me
Jump for me
Jump into the light
Jump

A cloud moves in secret
In front of the sun, it gets cold
But a thousand suns burn just for you
I creep onto the bridge in secret
And kick him in the back from behind
I redeem him from this shame
And I scream to him

Jump

Jump
Redeem yourself
Jump
Don't disappoint me
Jump for me
Jump
Don't disappoint me

Translation Jeremy Williams

Translation

I love you
I love you not
I love you no more
I love you no more or less than you
Than you loved me
When you still loved me ⁽¹⁾

The pretty girls are not pretty
The warm hands are so cold
All clocks have stopped
It's no longer healthy to laugh, and soon

I'll look for you behind the light
Where are you, where are you
I don't want to be so alone
Where are you, where are you

The pretty girls are not pretty
The warm hands are so cold
All clocks have stopped
It's no longer healthy to laugh, and soon

I look for you behind the light
Where are you, where are you
I don't want to be so alone
Where are you, where are you
I look for you under every stone
Where are you, where are you
I fall asleep with a knife
Where are you, where are you

⁽¹⁾ The first few lines build on each other by adding only a word or two, yet changing the meaning of all the lines said up to this point. It can't really be fully translated.

Translation Jeremy Williams

Translation

The night opens her lap
The child's name is loneliness
It is cold and motionless
I cry softly into time
I don't know what your name is
But I know that you exist
I know that sometime
Someone will love me

He comes to me every night
No words are left to say
With his hands around my neck
I close my eyes and pass away

I don't know who he is
In my dreams he does exist
His passion is a kiss
And I can not resist

I wait here
Don't die before I do
I wait here
Don't die before I do

I don't know who you are
I know that you exist
Don't die
Sometimes love seems so far
I wait here
Your love I can't dismiss
I wait here

All the houses are covered in snow
And candle light in the windows
They lie there together
And I
I only wait for you

I wait here
Don't die before I do
I wait here
Don't die before I do

I don't know who you are
I know that you exist
Don't die
Sometimes love seems so far
I wait here
Your love I can't dismiss

Don't die before I do

Translation Jeremy Williams

Translation

I want to tend to my things
And reduce the rest to rubble
Ripping, bashing
Crushing, picking
I go along the garden fence
And feel the urge again
I must destroy
But only if it doesn't belong to me
I must destroy
But only if it doesn't belong to me

No

I'll take your belongings
I'll annihilate them
Sawing, stripping
Not asking, smashing
And now the supreme discipline
Pulling the head off a doll
Hurting, tearing, corroding
Destroying
But only if it doesn't belong to me
I must destroy
But only if it doesn't belong to me

No

I would like to destroy something
But only if it doesn't belong to me
I want to be a good boy
But the desire overtakes me
I must destroy
But only if it doesn't belong to me

No

Ripping, bashing
Crushing, picking
Chopping and stealing
Not asking, smashing
Tearing, hurting
Burning, then running
Sawing, stripping
Breaking, avenging

He met a girl that was blind
Shared pain and like-minded
Saw a star go from the sky
And wished that she could see
She opened her eyes
And left him in the same night

Translation Jeremy Williams

Translation

I was all alone at home
Both of my parents were out
There before me I suddenly saw
A little box, nice to look at

Oh, I said, how pretty and nice
That must be a splendid toy
I strike a match
Like mother often did

Every time that I'm alone
I'm pulled to the fire
Why is the sun round
Why don't I get healthy

It reaches for me, I don't resist
Jumps with claws to my face
It bites hard, it pains me a lot
I jump around the room

Oh no, the flame touches my dress
My jacket burns, it glows far
My hand burns, my hair burns
In fact my whole body is burning

Every time that I'm alone
I'm pulled to the fire
Why is the sun round
Why don't I get healthy
The fire loves me
Help me
The fire loves me not
The fire loves me

I have been totally burned
Everything is burned completely
From the ashes, all alone
I climb up to the sunshine
The fire loves me
The fire loves me not

Help me

Translation Jeremy Williams

Translation

Hey friends
Go ahead friends

Come on, come on, my love
I really like your flavor
Not not not not your heart
Really really like your lemon
Give me your fruit
Come on, my love

I love you, whore! ⁽¹⁾
I love you, whore!
Oh, so good

Oh, so good, one, two, three
Yes, I want you once again
But not not not your heart
More more more of your lemon
Darling
Give me your fruit
Give me your fruit
Come on, my love

I love you, whore!
I love you, whore!
Oh, so good

Between your legs I'm going to cry
I'm going to be happy and sad
I'm going to be happy and sad

More, more, more, please
More, more, more, yes, yes, sir
More, more, more, please
More, more, more, yes, yes, sir
Don't be afraid of me
I'm not going to eat you
More, more, more, please
More, more, more, yes, yes, sir
Yes, yes, sir

I love you, whore!
I love you, whore!
Give it to me, give it to me
I love you, whore!

⁽¹⁾ There are several ways of saying "love" in Spanish. "Quiero" can also mean "want" but in this case, it is "love", as in "romantic love".

Translation

It's beautiful when she swims the breaststroke
Then I can see into her core
Not that the breast is what's beautiful
I just swim after her
Sparking dust flows from the center
A firework shoots from her crotch

Fire and water don't come together
Can't be bound, aren't related
Sunken in sparks, I am aflame
And am burned in the water
Burned in the water

It's beautiful when she swims naked
Then I want to see her from behind
Not that the breasts are attractive
Her legs open like scissors
Then from its hiding place, the flame
Glows hotly from her thigh-angle ⁽¹⁾

She swims past and doesn't notice me
I am her shadow, she stands in the light
There is no hope and no confidence

Fire and water don't come together
Can't be bound, aren't related
Sunken in sparks, I am aflame
And am burned in the water
Burned in the water
Like this, the blood boils in my loins
I grab her with wet hands
Smooth as a fish and cold as ice
She won't waste herself on me
I know

Fire and water never come together
Can't be bound, aren't related
Sunken in sparks, I am aflame
And am burned in the water
Burned in the water

⁽¹⁾ Schenkeleck is a made up word and is supposed to mean the same thing as "crotch".

Translation Jeremy Williams

Translation

Whoever does good will be forgiven
Therefore be good in all your journeys
Then you'll soon have visitors
We'll come with the song book

We were born for music
We are the servants of your ears
Whenever you're sad
We play for you

If you live without sin
And give each other a hand
If you don't squint into the sun
A song will be played for you

We are the servants of your ears
We were born for music
Whenever you're sad
We play for you

Whenever you can't sleep
May you be treated to a song
And heaven cracks
A song falls softly from the light of heaven

We were born for music
We are the servants of your ears
Whenever you're sad
We play for you

Translation Jeremy Williams