Tweet
Ok, people, buckle up! Hold on to your hats and glasses and remain seated. Make sure to keep legs and arms in the vehicle, because Waidmann takes you on a ride through one of his monstrosities again: a long analysis of the song Alter Mann. Not for people who can’t spare a minute.
This song always seemed highly philosophical to me. Not only after carefully listening to and close reading the lyrics, but even before that. From in the beginning the mystical keyboard sounds and the title itself evoked wisdom and philosophy to me. And to reveal what wisdom lay in this song, I read and interpreted the lyrics. The Affenknecht English lyric page describes the contents as following:
“This song is about a man who watches an old man stare at himself in a reflecting pool and fan the water smooth when it is disrupted. The old man is possessed by the reflection of himself. After seeing this, the one who threw the stone in the beginning looks into the water and sees the same thing the old man saw and also becomes possessed. He then calls for the old man to save him from the same fate. This song is possibly about the cleansing of society.”
Except for that last sentence, of which I’ll speak later, overall and generally speaking I can agree to this. Most of the online interpretations seem to hold to this tale as well. Only the summary leaves some things out and therefore seems to come to other conclusions than I do. For the record: I don’t disagree with this summary. I only think it’s a bit incomplete and overlooks that there might be more to this song that this brief explanation.
I begin with the beginning and already find something that everyone seems to overlook, more precisely the first verse: “Er wartet auf den Mittagswind”. That already raises a question for me, namely: “why? Why is he waiting for the afternoon wind?”
When you look to the rest of the lyrics, it doesn’t seem very logic. Is he waiting for the wind, ready to smoothen the water when it comes? Possibly. But it could mean something else too, if you take a closer look at the word “Mittagswind”. In German, “Mittagswind” can mean afternoon’s wind, as every translator of Alter Mann chooses to read it. But what these translations overlook is that “Mittagswind” in German more often means something else, namely ‘southern wind’ (like in French the word ‘midi’ also can mean either ‘midday’ but often also ‘southern’), a warm wind that often announces a storm to come.
One interpretation doesn’t rule out the other, of course. But it does mean that the second one is at least as plausible, and from a linguistic perspective even more likely. Anyway, whatever the meaning (knowing Rammstein it’s likely both of them at the same time), something is coming and whether it’s a storm or just wind, it’s an unwelcome thing that’s coming. The man wants a clear view of the water, a smooth surface to gaze upon. But for what reason? What’s there to see?
Many interpretations think the man sees something in the water that obsesses him (like the Affenknecht summary does). It’s quite acceptable, like many people think, that it’s his own reflection that draws his attention. That thought is backed up by the lyrics. The chorus says that the water should be your mirror. And being obsessed by your own reflection isn’t an unknown feeling in western literature of course. It could remind us of the Greek mythological tale of Narcissus, the man who became in love with his own reflection in the river water. This comparison seems legit when you look at the other details of the story: Narcissus, like the old man in the Rammstein song, stares in the water, gets upset by anything that disturbs the water, smoothens it constantly and eventually dies by the riverside.
So, is the song about Narcissus? Well, despite the many similarities, there’s the modern invention of the ‘fan’ that undermines this Greek Mythology thought, as well as the other man in the song that befalls the same fate. Narcissus his obsession was a curse inflicted by the Gods, so the situation in Alter Mann, where another man gains the same obsession would be impossible in the ancient Greek story. And the rest of the chorus brings us even further from this all, as I will come to discuss now.
The chorus is in English is:
the water should be your mirror. Only when it’s smooth, you will see how much fairy tale is left for you. And for salvation you will flee.
The second phrase is weirdly formulated. All online translations however choose to change the original text and reformulating it in plural, by making “how many fairy tales are left for you”. I personally can’t legitimize to change the original from singular to plural, so I won’t. I’d like to keep close to the text, no matter how weird it is. And I don’t think Till sung it in singular by mistake or so, that’s very unlikely, definitely because he kept the singular form in all live performances I could find.
So, what we get is the following: when you can see yourself clearly in the water, you’ll see how much fairy tale is left. And that’s apparently not a good thing, because for salvation you will flee.
What does that mean? Maybe that mankind should get a good look at himself? And when he does so, he might see that there’s not much beauty to it (anymore). The fairy tale of the goodness of mankind, of people itself is after all a fairy tale, not true, just something you think you see when you’re not really looking clearly at all. And so the man wants salvation, looking at himself, wanting to see who he really is and finding a solution for this problematic image. He found the truth, can’t stop looking at it and in the same time wants to get rid of it (salvation). This duality is of course typical Rammstein: wanting and not wanting, being freed and imprisoned at the same time, enlightening and darkness…
Note that the protagonist in the song takes it worse than the old man. The old man just watching the water, smoking his pipe and keeping surface smooth. The other man however, taking the old man’s place, sees the same and stares into the water like his predecessor, but not in his calm, thoughtful way. The protagonist screams for the old man every day, so that he might save him from this situation. Where the old man was obsessed, the protagonist is also quite dramatic.
As well as this interpretation fits, I think we can read it in a slightly different way as well. As the song is called old man, we are also invited to think about age in our search for meaning. In this case, we can read it as if the mirror doesn’t reveal who you are, but is a vanity instrument, showing you how you are aging. When you look in the clear water, you see the traces of time, like the gray hairs, wrinkles, face lines etc. You see only how much “fairy tale” (the life you intended, schemed, looked forward to have, with all the many plans a person has) there’s still left for you, how you can’t beat the clock and operate beyond time. Everyone is aging at each time of the day, every second and only by looking at your own reflection, you can see how much, to what extend and how fast. This realization of age and aging turns obsessive, depressing for the one submitted to this epiphany, making him want to flee.
The Affenknecht interpretation ends with the thought that the song might be about cleaning of society. My immediate questions are: what social group? And what implies that there’s any “cleaning” in this song?
Maybe getting ready of the elder people? (old man). Well, there is talk about a ‘new wind’, bringing change, leading to the situation where an old man is replaced by a younger person (or he wouldn’t call the other one “old”). But the protagonist isn’t the one who got rid of the old man, nor did he bring something new. On the contrary: he tends to do the exact same thing and he doesn’t cope well, in fact he cries for the old man to save him. Maybe this can be read as revolution or renewing not working out or so, but social cleaning? I don’t see it. Maybe someone among you do? Do tell me
!
And as always counts: share your opinions about this with me
! Be honest and true, preferably in a polite way.
This song always seemed highly philosophical to me. Not only after carefully listening to and close reading the lyrics, but even before that. From in the beginning the mystical keyboard sounds and the title itself evoked wisdom and philosophy to me. And to reveal what wisdom lay in this song, I read and interpreted the lyrics. The Affenknecht English lyric page describes the contents as following:
“This song is about a man who watches an old man stare at himself in a reflecting pool and fan the water smooth when it is disrupted. The old man is possessed by the reflection of himself. After seeing this, the one who threw the stone in the beginning looks into the water and sees the same thing the old man saw and also becomes possessed. He then calls for the old man to save him from the same fate. This song is possibly about the cleansing of society.”
Except for that last sentence, of which I’ll speak later, overall and generally speaking I can agree to this. Most of the online interpretations seem to hold to this tale as well. Only the summary leaves some things out and therefore seems to come to other conclusions than I do. For the record: I don’t disagree with this summary. I only think it’s a bit incomplete and overlooks that there might be more to this song that this brief explanation.
I begin with the beginning and already find something that everyone seems to overlook, more precisely the first verse: “Er wartet auf den Mittagswind”. That already raises a question for me, namely: “why? Why is he waiting for the afternoon wind?”
When you look to the rest of the lyrics, it doesn’t seem very logic. Is he waiting for the wind, ready to smoothen the water when it comes? Possibly. But it could mean something else too, if you take a closer look at the word “Mittagswind”. In German, “Mittagswind” can mean afternoon’s wind, as every translator of Alter Mann chooses to read it. But what these translations overlook is that “Mittagswind” in German more often means something else, namely ‘southern wind’ (like in French the word ‘midi’ also can mean either ‘midday’ but often also ‘southern’), a warm wind that often announces a storm to come.
One interpretation doesn’t rule out the other, of course. But it does mean that the second one is at least as plausible, and from a linguistic perspective even more likely. Anyway, whatever the meaning (knowing Rammstein it’s likely both of them at the same time), something is coming and whether it’s a storm or just wind, it’s an unwelcome thing that’s coming. The man wants a clear view of the water, a smooth surface to gaze upon. But for what reason? What’s there to see?
Many interpretations think the man sees something in the water that obsesses him (like the Affenknecht summary does). It’s quite acceptable, like many people think, that it’s his own reflection that draws his attention. That thought is backed up by the lyrics. The chorus says that the water should be your mirror. And being obsessed by your own reflection isn’t an unknown feeling in western literature of course. It could remind us of the Greek mythological tale of Narcissus, the man who became in love with his own reflection in the river water. This comparison seems legit when you look at the other details of the story: Narcissus, like the old man in the Rammstein song, stares in the water, gets upset by anything that disturbs the water, smoothens it constantly and eventually dies by the riverside.
So, is the song about Narcissus? Well, despite the many similarities, there’s the modern invention of the ‘fan’ that undermines this Greek Mythology thought, as well as the other man in the song that befalls the same fate. Narcissus his obsession was a curse inflicted by the Gods, so the situation in Alter Mann, where another man gains the same obsession would be impossible in the ancient Greek story. And the rest of the chorus brings us even further from this all, as I will come to discuss now.
The chorus is in English is:
the water should be your mirror. Only when it’s smooth, you will see how much fairy tale is left for you. And for salvation you will flee.
The second phrase is weirdly formulated. All online translations however choose to change the original text and reformulating it in plural, by making “how many fairy tales are left for you”. I personally can’t legitimize to change the original from singular to plural, so I won’t. I’d like to keep close to the text, no matter how weird it is. And I don’t think Till sung it in singular by mistake or so, that’s very unlikely, definitely because he kept the singular form in all live performances I could find.
So, what we get is the following: when you can see yourself clearly in the water, you’ll see how much fairy tale is left. And that’s apparently not a good thing, because for salvation you will flee.
What does that mean? Maybe that mankind should get a good look at himself? And when he does so, he might see that there’s not much beauty to it (anymore). The fairy tale of the goodness of mankind, of people itself is after all a fairy tale, not true, just something you think you see when you’re not really looking clearly at all. And so the man wants salvation, looking at himself, wanting to see who he really is and finding a solution for this problematic image. He found the truth, can’t stop looking at it and in the same time wants to get rid of it (salvation). This duality is of course typical Rammstein: wanting and not wanting, being freed and imprisoned at the same time, enlightening and darkness…
Note that the protagonist in the song takes it worse than the old man. The old man just watching the water, smoking his pipe and keeping surface smooth. The other man however, taking the old man’s place, sees the same and stares into the water like his predecessor, but not in his calm, thoughtful way. The protagonist screams for the old man every day, so that he might save him from this situation. Where the old man was obsessed, the protagonist is also quite dramatic.
As well as this interpretation fits, I think we can read it in a slightly different way as well. As the song is called old man, we are also invited to think about age in our search for meaning. In this case, we can read it as if the mirror doesn’t reveal who you are, but is a vanity instrument, showing you how you are aging. When you look in the clear water, you see the traces of time, like the gray hairs, wrinkles, face lines etc. You see only how much “fairy tale” (the life you intended, schemed, looked forward to have, with all the many plans a person has) there’s still left for you, how you can’t beat the clock and operate beyond time. Everyone is aging at each time of the day, every second and only by looking at your own reflection, you can see how much, to what extend and how fast. This realization of age and aging turns obsessive, depressing for the one submitted to this epiphany, making him want to flee.
The Affenknecht interpretation ends with the thought that the song might be about cleaning of society. My immediate questions are: what social group? And what implies that there’s any “cleaning” in this song?
Maybe getting ready of the elder people? (old man). Well, there is talk about a ‘new wind’, bringing change, leading to the situation where an old man is replaced by a younger person (or he wouldn’t call the other one “old”). But the protagonist isn’t the one who got rid of the old man, nor did he bring something new. On the contrary: he tends to do the exact same thing and he doesn’t cope well, in fact he cries for the old man to save him. Maybe this can be read as revolution or renewing not working out or so, but social cleaning? I don’t see it. Maybe someone among you do? Do tell me
!And as always counts: share your opinions about this with me
! Be honest and true, preferably in a polite way.
Comment