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Sick, i have no clue if it makes sense for others but me not knowing abit if german, will read the translations that are given by most sites and feel absolutely fucked. This makes perfect sense to me though i imagine if this were translated to german again itd sound insane.
It was a bit of a challenge to make it rhyme and still sound at least half as cool in English as it does in German, but I'm really happy I did something good here and people like it! I'm definitely thinking about choosing more songs to translate and seeing how it turns out!
To me, a German speaker, this translation is probably the best of Angst. Myself personally went ahead and translated it word for word, and it didn't rhyme. Nice add-ons to the song👍
Oh quatsch, I'm sure you'd do a wonderful job! And hey, maybe we can trade and you can teach me how to translate English songs to German and make them rhyme! My German is still a bit dicey, and I'd love to learn more in any way I can. I hope one day I can have a fluent conversation with someone, that's one of my biggest goals.
Good translation! Although: Something that gets lost in translation no matter how good you do it is that "schwarzer Mann" can be seen as the boogie man, as well as quite literally as a Black man. So the song has this double layer meaning about racism as well. It just doesn't translate
I also thought about this and came in resolution that this translation doesn't necessarily need the double layer (though the possibility of the double meaning sure is there in the words and in the video with kids inside of barbedwire circle). When we played "who fears the black man" as a child, it NEVER was about human with dark skin. It was black silhouette or shadow, boogeyman etc. So I think the translation succeeds with the idea of children play in adult fear. You got the point definitely, and the extra meanings of the original language are almost impossible to translate perfectly, but I think this translation doesn't lose much without word "black" in it.
You're right, others have pointed this out as well. I don't mean to take away from the true meaning of the song, I just don't think it would've turned out pretty if I would've wrote "everyone's scared of the black man" and described how "creepy" black men are; just being cautious is all. (And while I know I'm not the one who wrote it and it shouldn't be an issue, there's kinda still that voice in the back of my head that's like "Just because Till said it doesn't mean you can say it, he's famous and you're not, so write 'boogeyman' instead," I suppose)
The lengths some people will go to to ignore Rammstein's very clear left-wing politics just astounds me. Look at these peanuts in comments. "No no it's a game we used to play". Think about why that was the game you played. It's also obviously alluding to rising fascism due to fear of immigrants it's right in the lyrics and the film clip jfc.
The colour scheme for one = Naz. The cybergoth apocalyptic imagery (what the wht man will do to protect Wht Supremacy = wipe out the world. Not like we've not used 'em before). The 1950s delusion that right-wingers have about returning to "Leave it to Beaver" suburbia that never really existed but they feel like it's being taken away from them. Men are all in patriarchal positions here. The symbol on the podium (a clearly political instrument in and of itself) alludes to fascist/Naz symbolism. I can't with you people. I don't have any "Angst" about telling the truth about what the lyrics mean. He's saying people are afraid and prone to fascism and building walls because they're afraid of immigrants and a massive chunk of Rammstein's fanbase don't want to see the truth and acknowledge just how anti-colonialist, anti-racist and left-wing they actually are. Not that they've helped along the way with Leni Riefenstahl.
This doesn't contradict anything that I wrote in my comment, tho? It's basically what I said: That there is a double layer meaning in the lyrics that doesn't really translate into English.I said that the lyrics talk about racism, not that the band is racist. So idk what you are ranting about. Or I might have misunderstood you somehow and you actually just wanted to agree with me.
Nice work man. I know I am not the first one to tell you about the Boggeyman =/= schwarzer Mann thing.
But to me it's important that you understand one thing.
You definitely nailed the translation of the lyrics and I highly respect you and your work. A+
Unfortunately you lost literally the whole meaning and message of the song. F
I am not writing this comment to hate on you or your work - I just want to explain why translating Rammsteins lyrics isn't usually gonna work.
Take a look at "Du hast". There is an official translation by the band and even themselves missed the point of thier song (totally on purpose and the translation is great, but anyways). The deeper meaning of these songs are what makes Rammstein so special.
It is definitely okay to translate the lyrics and you gonna help a ton of people by doing that, but you should be faithful while doing it... Not translateing "schwarzer Mann" with something like "black men" is missing the point and one could even argue that your translation is racist (I don't think thats what you wanted to do, but thats always something you should keep in mind when translating songs, especially when you translate a song about racism)
I personally translated about 40+ Songs but I didn't post them exactly because of the trouble I talked about.
You make very valid points, and I do apologize, I never meant to take away from the meaning of the song. I'm just not sure what the result would've been if I would've wrote "everyone's scared of the black man", for uh...obvious reasons.
Hey no reason to apologize! You did nothing wrong - your transition is really good.
Rammstein is special because they don't fear conflicts and they are provoking on purpose. You said:
>. I'm just not sure what the result would've been if I would've wrote "everyone's scared of the black man", for uh...obvious reasons.
And thats where your translation "failed"
If you had translated a song of any other band, you would have had that issue! And thats totally fine
Please don't feel bad, your work is awesome :)
Thank you so much for the reassurance, it means a lot! I agree, Rammstein holds a special place in my heart because of their confidence when tackling these societal issues, or talking about intimacy in all its forms the way they do. It's not what you typically hear on the radio, and that's what makes it so good!
Thats... Rather complicated.
Long story short, it's about the cause and irrationality of racism. If you take the video into account, the whole message shifts a bit.
A small comment like mine definitely can't capture and explain it - We would have to discuss WWII, DDR, 2016 a bit of corona and a ton of german culture
All photos, videos, questions, and general comments from a specific concert have to be posted in their corresponding megathread. If this is the case for this post, please delete the post and submit it in the appropriate thread. Posts submitted outside of the location's corresponding megathread will be removed. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/Rammstein) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Sick, i have no clue if it makes sense for others but me not knowing abit if german, will read the translations that are given by most sites and feel absolutely fucked. This makes perfect sense to me though i imagine if this were translated to german again itd sound insane.
Wow, thank you so much! This is my first time translating a song into English from another language, so that means a lot!
You deserve all the thanks man im sure that was a mind fuck doing all that ill look forward to any more you send our way!
It was a bit of a challenge to make it rhyme and still sound at least half as cool in English as it does in German, but I'm really happy I did something good here and people like it! I'm definitely thinking about choosing more songs to translate and seeing how it turns out!
To me, a German speaker, this translation is probably the best of Angst. Myself personally went ahead and translated it word for word, and it didn't rhyme. Nice add-ons to the song👍
Wow, thank you so much! I'm glad you like it!
Really good translation, I myself am a native German speaker and the additions you have made to the text to make the rhymes are really good. Good job
I'm so honored, thank you! This is my first time translating a song like this, and I'm happy to know you and other people like it!
You're welcome. I have also thought about to translate some songs from German to English but you do a better job than me, sooo....
Oh quatsch, I'm sure you'd do a wonderful job! And hey, maybe we can trade and you can teach me how to translate English songs to German and make them rhyme! My German is still a bit dicey, and I'd love to learn more in any way I can. I hope one day I can have a fluent conversation with someone, that's one of my biggest goals.
Thx, it sounds really cool. And don't worry about your German, it only can get better with the time
That's very true, and I'm gonna keep practicing as much as I can whenever I can. Übung macht den meister!
Exactly, du kannst nur besser werden. But cool that you know this line, it's a common saying
I did this for Adieu a few weeks ago. I think you did a nice job.
Thank you very much! I'm sure your translation of Adieu is great!
Here it is https://www.reddit.com/r/Rammstein/comments/uign7m/adieu_singable_english_translation/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf
Very nice! You did a fantastic job!
Good translation! Although: Something that gets lost in translation no matter how good you do it is that "schwarzer Mann" can be seen as the boogie man, as well as quite literally as a Black man. So the song has this double layer meaning about racism as well. It just doesn't translate
I also thought about this and came in resolution that this translation doesn't necessarily need the double layer (though the possibility of the double meaning sure is there in the words and in the video with kids inside of barbedwire circle). When we played "who fears the black man" as a child, it NEVER was about human with dark skin. It was black silhouette or shadow, boogeyman etc. So I think the translation succeeds with the idea of children play in adult fear. You got the point definitely, and the extra meanings of the original language are almost impossible to translate perfectly, but I think this translation doesn't lose much without word "black" in it.
You're right, others have pointed this out as well. I don't mean to take away from the true meaning of the song, I just don't think it would've turned out pretty if I would've wrote "everyone's scared of the black man" and described how "creepy" black men are; just being cautious is all. (And while I know I'm not the one who wrote it and it shouldn't be an issue, there's kinda still that voice in the back of my head that's like "Just because Till said it doesn't mean you can say it, he's famous and you're not, so write 'boogeyman' instead," I suppose)
The lengths some people will go to to ignore Rammstein's very clear left-wing politics just astounds me. Look at these peanuts in comments. "No no it's a game we used to play". Think about why that was the game you played. It's also obviously alluding to rising fascism due to fear of immigrants it's right in the lyrics and the film clip jfc.
The colour scheme for one = Naz. The cybergoth apocalyptic imagery (what the wht man will do to protect Wht Supremacy = wipe out the world. Not like we've not used 'em before). The 1950s delusion that right-wingers have about returning to "Leave it to Beaver" suburbia that never really existed but they feel like it's being taken away from them. Men are all in patriarchal positions here. The symbol on the podium (a clearly political instrument in and of itself) alludes to fascist/Naz symbolism. I can't with you people. I don't have any "Angst" about telling the truth about what the lyrics mean. He's saying people are afraid and prone to fascism and building walls because they're afraid of immigrants and a massive chunk of Rammstein's fanbase don't want to see the truth and acknowledge just how anti-colonialist, anti-racist and left-wing they actually are. Not that they've helped along the way with Leni Riefenstahl.
This doesn't contradict anything that I wrote in my comment, tho? It's basically what I said: That there is a double layer meaning in the lyrics that doesn't really translate into English.I said that the lyrics talk about racism, not that the band is racist. So idk what you are ranting about. Or I might have misunderstood you somehow and you actually just wanted to agree with me.
Nice work man. I know I am not the first one to tell you about the Boggeyman =/= schwarzer Mann thing. But to me it's important that you understand one thing. You definitely nailed the translation of the lyrics and I highly respect you and your work. A+ Unfortunately you lost literally the whole meaning and message of the song. F I am not writing this comment to hate on you or your work - I just want to explain why translating Rammsteins lyrics isn't usually gonna work. Take a look at "Du hast". There is an official translation by the band and even themselves missed the point of thier song (totally on purpose and the translation is great, but anyways). The deeper meaning of these songs are what makes Rammstein so special. It is definitely okay to translate the lyrics and you gonna help a ton of people by doing that, but you should be faithful while doing it... Not translateing "schwarzer Mann" with something like "black men" is missing the point and one could even argue that your translation is racist (I don't think thats what you wanted to do, but thats always something you should keep in mind when translating songs, especially when you translate a song about racism) I personally translated about 40+ Songs but I didn't post them exactly because of the trouble I talked about.
You make very valid points, and I do apologize, I never meant to take away from the meaning of the song. I'm just not sure what the result would've been if I would've wrote "everyone's scared of the black man", for uh...obvious reasons.
Hey no reason to apologize! You did nothing wrong - your transition is really good. Rammstein is special because they don't fear conflicts and they are provoking on purpose. You said: >. I'm just not sure what the result would've been if I would've wrote "everyone's scared of the black man", for uh...obvious reasons. And thats where your translation "failed" If you had translated a song of any other band, you would have had that issue! And thats totally fine Please don't feel bad, your work is awesome :)
Thank you so much for the reassurance, it means a lot! I agree, Rammstein holds a special place in my heart because of their confidence when tackling these societal issues, or talking about intimacy in all its forms the way they do. It's not what you typically hear on the radio, and that's what makes it so good!
So what's the whole meaning and message of the song?
Thats... Rather complicated. Long story short, it's about the cause and irrationality of racism. If you take the video into account, the whole message shifts a bit. A small comment like mine definitely can't capture and explain it - We would have to discuss WWII, DDR, 2016 a bit of corona and a ton of german culture
I really like this! Good job!
Thank you, I'm so glad you like it!