Rammstein Reise Reise lyric with English translation

Auch auf den Wellen wird gefochten
Wo Fisch und Fleisch zur See geflochten
Der eine sticht die Lanz' im Heer
Der andere wirft sie in das Meer

Ahoi

Reise, Reise Seemann Reise
Jeder tut's auf seine Weise
Der eine stößt den Speer zum Mann
Der andere zum Fische dann

Reise, Reise Seemann Reise
Und die Wellen weinen leise
In ihrem Blute steckt ein Speer
Bluten leise in das Meer

Die Lanze muss im Fleisch ertrinken
Fisch und Mann zur Tiefe sinken
Wo die schwarze Seele wohnt
ist kein Licht am Horizont

Ahoi

Reise, Reise Seemann Reise
Jeder tut's auf seine Weise
Der eine stößt den Speer zum Mann
Der andere zum Fische dann

Reise, Reise Seemann Reise
Und die Wellen weinen leise
In ihrem Blute steckt ein Speer
Bluten leise in das Meer

Reise, Reise Seemann Reise
Und die Wellen weinen leise
In ihrem Herzen steckt ein Speer
Bluten sich am Ufer leer
Even on the waves there is fighting
Where fish and flesh are woven into sea
One stabs the lance while in the army
Another throws it into the ocean

Ahoy

Arise, arise seaman arise
Each does it in his own way
One thrusts the spear into a man
Another then into the fish

Arise, arise seaman arise
And the waves cry softly
In their blood a spear is lodged
They bleed softly into the ocean

The lance must be drowned in flesh
Fish and man sink to the depths
Where the black soul dwells
there is no light on the horizon

Ahoy

Arise, arise seaman arise
Each does it in his own way
One thrusts the spear into a man
Another then into the fish

Arise, arise seaman arise
And the waves cry softly
In their blood a spear is lodged
They bleed softly into the ocean

Arise, arise seaman arise
And the waves cry softly
In their heart a spear is lodged
They bleed themselves dry on the shore

Reise, Reise is about mutiny on a ship, and the opening song of the 2004/05 Ahoi! Tour.

56 COMMENTS

  1. My friend gave me an interesting interpretation of the song. He felt that the song could be a poem about religious preference, sexual preference, or a preference for peace or war. It’s all about personal choice.

    This stanza captures it all:

    “Der eine stoesst den Speer zum Mann,
    Der andere zum Fische dann.”

    1) “One thrusts his spear toward man”
    (i.e. thrusting the spear toward man = hating secularism, embracing homosexuality, or killing man literally [i.e. war mongering])

    2) “The other toward fish then”
    (i.e. thrusting the spear toward fish = hating Christianity and/or Judaism, embracing heterosexuality, or killing fish literally [i.e. being a fisherman instead of a warmongerer]).”

    There is so much meaning in the two lines of that stanza. It’s interesting when you consider the themes that I provided for each line. It almost sounds like Till is making a cultural comparison of the United States to Nazi Germany, or perhaps inviting tones of the Roman Empire (i.e. Nero), Ancient Greece (i.e. Phillip Alexander), or Saxony (i.e. Richard the First). Reise Reise (journey journey) is very much like the idea of military conquest or crusade.

    There is also tremendous mockery within that stanza. The stanza, itself, promotes a binary comparison (“man or fish”). The two-way comparison is clearly Till’s mockery of binary thinking.

    Ultimately, I agree with Till when he writes, “Jeder tut’s auf seine Weise.” ….”Everyone does it his own way”. The chaos of the stanza prevents a cohesive interpretation, which truly reflects the chaotic nature of humanity. Nothing really makes sense in the end. We either choose peace or war. Das Ende.

  2. I made a previous comment, but was pretty interested in knowing why “Reise” would be translated as “arise” instead of “travel”.

    According to Wikipedia, this is a military wake-up call, but the Duden doesn’t include that definition. However, if you look at the very last part of the page for “Reise” there is the section on what the word is derived from. There, I found that there is a connection that goes back to Old High German (which was documented language around 750-1050). Back then, there were many more English similarities in word meanings than survive today, and rīsan is one of them. Here is that section.

    Herkunft ⓘ
    mittelhochdeutsch reise = Aufbruch, (Heer)fahrt, althochdeutsch reisa = (Heer)fahrt, zu mittelhochdeutsch rīsen, althochdeutsch rīsan = sich erheben, steigen, fallen

  3. I really don’t know why… but I think because all the Germans are patriots, Rammstein sang this song for Bismarck; and now after 15 years, Sabaton sings a song about Bismarck too. I think Sabaton sings Bismarck because of Rise rise.
    (I’m not English so please Excuse me about my weak English)

    • I would like to point out that there are many other ways to interpret this song. Rammstein themselves have made clear that no interpretation of their lyrics are wrong but neither are any of them official. As for Sabaton, they are Swedish not German and besides they write songs about history and war, that’s what they do. They have dozens of songs covering the history and warfare of other countries apart from Germany and they also have songs that condemn Nazi-Germany.

        • I doubt you’d be saying that after they held a pistol to the head of your child. The best thing about National Socialist Germany was its disappearance.

  4. This theory about the song and the album cover being related makes sense… Even the album cover is orange… The color of the “black box” is actually orange, which also helps us believe the song is about the flight accident 🙂

    • the album could be named Dalai Lama, but Dalai Lama for album title is sounds like tribute to Dalai Lama or they’re a buddhist or something. Reise Reise is Clearly says Seaman not a pilot. they also already made song for specific flight disaster (Rammstein from Herzeleid)

  5. To me, it sounds like a very obvious double meaning about homosexuality. Thrusting the lance in man, the spear must be drowned in flesh, bleeding out on the shore…

  6. seeman is a man who wrote a book on social alienation. so I believe this song is about breaking free from this stigma/condition by any means necessary.
    thrusting is spear into either a man or a fish means breaking free either by murder/violence or by a hobby.
    Reise Seeman Reise!

  7. Reise means travel, end of the story

    By the way my favourite song from Rammstein, so basically my favourite song all around 🙂

      • I am sorry, but it doesn’t mean that at all. Wake up is aufwachen, and arise is entstehen.
        Seit 1977 habe ich Deutsch gesprochen. Du hast falsch.

        Reisen means to travel, but if you are speaking in the imperative, commanding a person to travel, or take a journey, you would say “Reise!”. What the other person said about the capitalization of nouns is true, but that’s not what’s being said, they are telling the sailor to travel. I have no idea why it is translated this way. Like I said, I have spoken German for most of my life, but I left there in 1983, so perhaps there is some colloquial way that the “arise” translation makes sense, but I have never heard it.

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