Donauquell dein Aderlass Wo Trost und Leid zerfließen Nichts Gutes liegt verborgen nass In deinen feuchten Wiesen Keiner weiss was hier geschah Die Fluten rostigrot Die Fische waren atemlos Und alle Schwämme tot An den Ufern in den Wiesen Die Tiere wurden krank Aus den Augen in den Fluss Triebabscheulicher Gestank Wo sind die Kinder Niemand weisst was hier geschehen Keiner hat etwas gesehen Wo sind die Kinder Niemand hat etwas gesehen Mütter standen bald am Strom Und weinen eine Flut Auf die Felder durch die Leiche Stieg das Leid in alle Teiche Schwarze Fahnen auf der Stadt Alle Ratten fett und satt Die Brummen giftig allerort Und die Menschen soviel fort Wo sind die Kinder Niemand weisst was hier geschehen Keiner hat etwas gesehen Wo sind die Kinder Niemand hat etwas gesehen Donauquell dein Aderlass Wo Trost und Leid zerfließen Nichts Gutes liegt verborgen nass In deinen feuchten Wiesen Wo sind die Kinder Niemand weisst was hier geschehen Keiner hat etwas gesehen Wo sind die Kinder Niemand hat etwas gesehen Lyric © Rammstein |
Donau Spring your bloodletting/bleeding Where comfort and sorrow dissolve Nothing good lies hidden, wet in your damp meadows No one knows what happened here The floods (are) rusty red The fishes were breathless And all sponges dead At the banks in the meadows The animals became sick Out of the eyes into the river (the) stench (of) vile urge Where are the children? No one knows what happened here Nobody saw anything Where are the children? No one saw anything. Soon mothers stand at the stream And cry a flood On the fields through the dead body The sorrow climbed into all ponds Black flags on the city All rats fat and satisfied The poisonous humming everywhere And the people so far away Where are the children? No one knows what happened here Nobody saw anything Where are the children? No one saw anything. Donau Spring your bloodletting/bleeding Where comfort and sorrow dissolve Nothing good lies hidden, wet in your damp meadows Where are the children? No one knows what happened here Nobody saw anything Where are the children? No one saw anything. Translation © Affenknecht.com |
Submitted by Dill
The song deals with an accident near Baia Mare, in Romania, which occurred on 30th Januar 2000.
Extremely heavy rainfall on 30 January caused a dam to breach, causing 100.000 m³ of water to flood a goldmine and carry with it app. 100 ton of heavy metals and sodium cyanide into the nearby river Donau (German name for the Danube). The poison was carried along the river, causing havoc in several countries; drinking water became poisoned, and people fled the rivers’ surroundings to escape the deadly poison, which quickly destroyed all life in and around the river itself.
Lots of children were obviously affected by this disaster, but the name ‘Donaukinder’ (‘Danube Children’) more probably refers metaphorically to the fish in the river, seen as the ‘children’ of the Danube/Donau; the fish obviously suffered most directly the full force of this disaster and the absence of fish in the river is the most obvious consequence of the disaster. Hence, the song rhetorically asks: ‘Wo sind die Kinder?’ (‘Where are the children?’). Furthermore, the German name for Baia Mare, where the breach occured, is ‘Frauenbach’, meaning ‘Woman-River’, which sustains the metaphor of comparing River/Fish to Mother/Children.
“Und alle Schwämme tot”
should be
“und alle Shwäne tot” translates to “and all the swans are dead”
“Die Brummen giftig allerort”
should be
“Die Brunnen giftig aller Ort” translates to “the wells are poisonous of all towns”
“Und die Menschen soviel fort”
should be
“Und die Menschen zogen fort” translates to “and the people have moved away”