Rammstein Bückstabü lyrics with English translation

Bald ist es Nacht, Soon it is night*
wir sind allein, We are alone
du musst nicht, musst nicht traurig sein. You must not, must not be sad
Stimmen flüstern hinter dem Gesicht, Voices whisper behind the face
die da sagen, They say
die da sagen: They say:
 
Tu’ das nicht! Don’t do that
Lass das sein! Let it be
Fass’ das nicht an! Don’t grasp onto it
Sag’ einfach nein! Simply say no!
 
Bückstabü*** B********
hol’ ich mir. I call myself
Bückstabü B********
hol’ ich mir. I call myself
 
Hab’ keine Angst, Have no fear
ich bin doch hier, I am not yet here
Ich bin ja, bin ganz nah bei dir. I am yeah, am nearly entirely with you
Stimmen flüstern hinter dem Gesicht, Voices whisper behind the face
die da sagen: They say:
 
Tu’ das nicht! Don’t do that
Lass das sein! Let it be
Fass’ das nicht an! Don’t grasp onto it
Sag’ einfach nein! Simply say no!
 
Bückstabü B********
hol’ ich mir. I call myself
Bückstabü B********
hol’ ich mir. I call myself
 
Zwei Seelen ‘ach in meinem Schoß, Two souls alas in my lap**
es kann nur eine überleben! There can only be one survivor
Beim ersten Mal tut es nicht weh, It doesn’t hurt the first time
ein zweites Mal wird es nicht geben! There will not be a second time
 
Bückstabü, B********
tu’ das nicht! Don’t do that
Bückstabü, B********
lass das sein! Let it be
Bückstabü, B********
fass’ das nicht an! Don’t grasp it
Bückstabü, B********
sag’ einfach! Simply say no
 
Bückstabü B********
hol’ ich mir. I call myself
Bückstabü B********
hol’ ich mir. I call myself
 
Lyric © Rammstein Translation © Affenknecht.com

Submited by EinHeisserSchrei

 

Translation Notes:

* – This could also mean “Soon it will be night” but this is correct
** – Schoss can mean lap or womb
*** – According to Richard Z. Kruspe, “B********” does not stand for “Bastard”, but for “Bückstabü”, a word made up by the band to mean “whatever you want”

109 COMMENTS

  1. Bend-Taboo. Sounds like he’s being possessed. NemuNemu get out of here with that sjw crap.

    I originally thought the song was about raping someone, but now that I’ve come back a decade later reading it again it just sounds like he’s being possessed “I call to myself, BEND-TABOO!” but the voices cry out “no don’t do it!” Dude is being possessed. As if being beckoned by an object inhabited by a powerful entity.

    • Gosh I’m sorry you’re so boring you couldn’t imagine more than two sentences’ worth of meaning behind something if you tried. Trans people have always existed and what’s more, Rammstein already have at least one other song about being a trans non-binary hermaphrodite (Zwitter) so why not another? It’s as valid an interpretation of this song as any other, die mad about it.

      • Why are you being so mean? David has his own interpretation of the song. It’s all right. Or are you replying to another post which was deleted?

        About Zwitter, I have to say I do not think it is about transgenderism at ALL. It’s about narcisism. Well, at least to me. A man that loves himself só insanely much he calls himself “zwitter” and can fertilize himself so he can have more utterly beautiful offspring.

  2. bend over (give up) at a tabu can be the meaning? because once you do a tabu you can do it again more easy and its all up to you, you fight with yourself to do it or no to do it, fight the one that grown up with moral and how your sociality tell you VS the one little self that you never show to anyone the one self that only you talk at night with where you thoughts grab into insomnia, “i call my self” back to remain being my social self and not the maniac leave out, to be in the border of do some tabu.

  3. I believe this song talks to us in many ways,like it is talking to our demons and here we are affected by it,many of you may take it in a sexual direction because it may relate to you like that. It is your on subconsciousness telling you that due to the sins you committed. I also relate to this song in a sexual way because I sinned also. This song talks to us,to our deepest fears and secret, this word that is made it, try putting your name there and the song will make sense…

  4. If you look up “Bückstabü”, it does not have a translation but “bück” means bend/bend over etc. “Stabü” doesn’t have a translation either. However, “stab” means pole/rod.

  5. I recently had an experience that tied me to this song,due to the words,we all have many personal problems,and the demons inside us urges us to commit sins,in this case,when I read the translation I felt it comming on in a sexual direction and I had that type of experience lately,this song is talking to us in our soul of secrets,thus the sins you commit are tied to this song,like it knows what you have done and what you fear in many more ways than just one….

  6. The word is names. It’s letters.
    He calls himself NAMES.
    It doesn’t matter what he calls himself, the words are meaningless, you put the meaning in: the point revealed.
    From my perspective, at least.
    SO LET IT BE.
    FASS DAS NICHT AN.
    SAG EINFACH

    BÜCKSTABÜ!

  7. Dredging up things long after the fact, my bad.

    But each time I read the lyrics, I have this distinct sense of sexual something. I don’t think it’s necessarily like, sexual in the erotic sense, but more like sexuality, more specifically, gender-related.

    I can’t shake the notion of a transgender individual. Being transgender is an exceptionally difficult thing. Usually, it’s something that the people surrounding try to dissuade the person from feeling.

    The literal picture that forms in my mind is a a trans-person alone with his or herself, at night. Night, for some, is a very lonely time and when a lot of thinking takes place.

    “Soon it is night*
    We are alone
    You must not, must not be sad”

    I see a lot of inner-struggle in this person, battling with them not to acknowledge the fact that they are in the wrong body, which can be something that causes a lot of sadness and struggle.

    “Voices whisper behind the face
    They say
    They say:

    Don’t do that
    Let it be
    Don’t grasp onto it
    Simply say no!”

    I get a literal image of a person who has a penis, fighting a natural sexual urge, due to discomfort of being in the wrong body, and literally wanting to abstain from touching an appendage that feels alien.

    “B********
    I call myself
    B********
    I call myself”

    In the sense that bückstabü has no real meaning, it could be a liberating way of identifying what the feeling is, for this person, so they can say, “I call myself this.”

    “Have no fear
    I am not yet here
    I am yeah, am nearly entirely with you”

    I think those lyrics show a process, as the person begins absorbing it all. As they attempt to not be scared of it and work towards integrating this feeling.

    “Two souls alas in my lap**
    There can only be one survivor”

    This is the first instance where the idea of transgenderism came into my mind. The image of two ‘souls’: the birth-sex and the soul-sex, of which there can only be one survivor, for this person.

    “It doesn’t hurt the first time
    There will not be a second time”

    But after this point, I see a reference to defeat. Where the first time refers to birth, which doesn’t typically hurt. The second time, being the transition to the identified gender, for this person, which is, unfortunately, usually painful in various levels.

    I see this person resigning to a life of feeling nameless and in a state of denial of their body, calling him or herself whatever they please.

    I am probably so, so off, but I hadn’t really noticed it mentioned. That probably should have been a tip, though, but I figure why not try?

    • Seems more to me the song would be the war within one’s self more than sexuality. Though can see it in that aspect, what about the aspect of mental illness like D.I.D. or B.P.D.?

  8. Those saying “-stabe” is untranslatable are wrong. Bückstabü is a corruption of Buchstabe which quite literally means bookstaff in English. Read the following:

    Letter
    mid-12c., “graphic symbol, written character,” from O.Fr. lettre, from L. littera (also litera) “letter of the alphabet,” of uncertain origin, perhaps from Gk. diphthera “tablet,” with change of d- to l- as in lachrymose. In this sense it replaced O.E. bocstæf,
    lit. “book staff” (cf. Ger. Buchstabe “letter, character,” from O.H.G. buohstab, from P.Gmc. *bok-staba-m). The pl. litteræ in L. meant “epistle, written documents, literature,” a sense first attested early 13c. in M.E., replacing O.E. ærendgewrit, lit. “errand-writing.” School letter in sports, first awarded by U. of Chicago football coach Amos Alonzo Stagg.

    Buchstabe comes from Middle High German buochstap, from Old High German buohstab (“letter, writing”). From Proto-Germanic *b?kastabaz, from Proto-Indo-European roots *bhagós (“book”) + *st?bh, *stemb (“support, stamp, be astonished”). Compare English bookstaff, bookstave.

    Not only is it translatable but it has a counterpart in English that comes from the same root. The modern word for “staff” in German is “Stab.”

  9. as i read all these comments,in all the interpretations. some have very strong opinions of what the songs are about. well thats just the point. there all just opinions.one might inerperate a song completly opposit than another. thats why some lyrics and poems are writen in metaphor, so that one can see it they way he or she wants to. it only matters what the song is about to yourself, not to anybody else. thats what makes us all indavidual.your opinion only matters to you, no one else.and that’s what matters. be open to others opinions but don’t submit completly to them. thats what keeps our individuality.

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