Rammstein Bestrafe mich lyric with English translation

Bestrafe mich
bestrafe mich
Stroh wird Gold
und Gold wird Stein
deine Größe macht mich klein
du darfst mein Bestrafer sein

Der Herrgott nimmt
der Herrgott gibt

Bestrafe mich
bestrafe mich
du meinst ja
und ich denk nein
schließ mich ein in dein Gebet
bevor der Wind noch kälter weht

Deine Größe macht mich klein
du darfst mein Bestrafer sein
du darfst mein Bestrafer sein

Deine Größe macht mich klein
du darfst mein Bestrafer sein
deine Größe macht ihn klein
du wirst meine Strafe sein
Der Herrgott nimmt
der Herrgott gibt
doch gibt er nur dem
den er auch liebt
bestrafe mich
Punish me
punish me
straw becomes gold
and gold becomes stone
your size makes me small
you may be my punisher

The lord does take
the lord does give

Punish me
punish me
you mean yes
and I think no
include me in your prayers
before the wind blows even colder

Your size makes me small
you may be my punisher
you may be my punisher

Your size makes me small
you may be my punisher
your size makes him small
you will be my punishment
The lord does take
the lord does give
but does he give only to those
that he also loves
punish me

This song is about the relations between God and man, shown by a man who likes to be punished, as in S&M.

13 COMMENTS

  1. I feel like this song is about the story of Kein and Abel. The line “but does he give only to those that he also loves” speaks volumes about the state Kein was going through. In addition to that, the line “Deine Grüße macht mich klein” could also be targetted towards God, Abel or anyone who have (not a native Deutsch speaker, I don’t understand the feminine use of “Deine”). In total, this song feels like a mourning o thef have-nots and misfortunate towards the haves and the well settled.

  2. Hardly think it’s about S&M (due to “you mean yes, and I think no”), I’d say it’s more about child abuse (hence “Your size makes me small”), where the child seems to have no option and just accepts their fate, taking it as God’s will.

  3. This may be a stretch, sort of a personal interpretation, but I hearing these lyrics makes me see it from the perspective of someone who, because they have always been mistreated, “punished” when they were supposed to be loved (maybe child abuse “Deine Grosse macht mich klein”, certainly a theme seen throughout the album), now only sees love through punishment. “The Lord gives, and the Lord takes, but does he only give to those he loves”….this person only understands that through pain…so “Bestrafe Mich”.

  4. ^ This is from Sehnsucht.. Not Herzeleid..

    & I think he says “und ich sag nein” on Live Aus Berlin, but not on the recorded version 😀

  5. This song is simple and it is amazing. It’s the most “Du Hast”-esque track off of Herzleid due to its lyrical simplicity and hard-rocking music.

  6. @Buzzer –
    Your interpretation works very well. I’ve heard that the song is supposed to be sort of an amused musing that the relationship between man and God can be likened to a BDSM relationship.

    I’ve read that one of the biggest draws to the BDSM style is a raw, carnal form of trust — that the submissive partner is willing to subject themselves to whatever the dominant one plans to do to them, understanding and accepting that this will almost certainly involve pain and physical suffering.

    The parallels to trusting in God’s will, are interestingly similar.

  7. This isn’t for sake of better translation… but I think the English lyrics would sound better at “bevor der Wind noch kälter weht” if it was written as “before the wind blows colder yet”

    This would just sound better and go with the flow of the music better! Plus, it doesn’t leave or add anything to the lyrics.

    This may sound odd, but I sing both the German and English lyrics in my head. XD

    Also make “becomes” “yields”, this could make the flow better too.

    Hm… Is it ok when translating a song to try to make it flow musically? All it takes is wordplay, and then you have good sounding translations!

  8. I doubt this song has anything to do with S&M or liking punishment; that is made fairly clear by “du meinst ja, und ich denk nein”. More likely it is berating the ‘punisher’ for their egocentric sense of entitlement.

    • Hence “deine Größe macht ihn klein”. Right after the lyrics go back to first person as before, so “ihn” probably refers to the penis, which is masculine rather than neuter in German (“der”): you’re so “great” that you turn me off. I only realised this when it happened to me. To an independent person, arrogance is the best anaphrodisiac. Till hinted he’s into SM, but SM is based on trust.

    • It’s actually extremely common for Rammstein to put very subtle hints to stuff in their music. On the surface it’s about man’s relationship with god, but the more you know about them and the German language, the more you see the intentional interplay between the words said and what they hint at. Knowing Rammstein, a fair Bit of German and being in the bdsm scene… I’m pretty sure they are hinting that the relationship between god and man is like a bdsm relationship, in particular a bad one.

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