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| Wir halten zusammen, | We stick together |
| wir halten einander aus, | We endure one another |
| wir halten zueinander; | We hold onto one another |
| niemand hält uns auf. | No one holds us back |
| Wir halten euch die Treue, | We stay faithful to you |
| wir halten daran fest | We firmly hold onto that |
| und halten uns an Regeln, | And obey the rules |
| wenn man uns Regeln lässt. | If you leave rules to us* |
| Und der Haifisch, der hat Tränen | And the shark, that has tears |
| Und die laufen vom Gesicht, | And they run from the face |
| doch der Haifisch lebt im Wasser – | But the shark lives in water |
| so die Tränen sieht man nicht. | So no one can see the tears |
| Wir halten das Tempo, | We keep our speed |
| wir halten unser Wort; | We keep our word |
| Wenn einer nicht mithält, | If one can’t keep up |
| dann halten wir sofort. | Then we immediately stop |
| Wir halten die Augen offen, | We keep our eyes open |
| wir halten uns den Arm; | We hold each other by the arm |
| sechs Herzen, die brennen – | Six hearts that burn |
| das Feuer hält euch warm | The fire keeps you warm |
| Und der Haifisch, der hat Tränen | And the shark, that has tears |
| und die laufen vom Gesicht; | And they run from the face |
| doch der Haifisch lebt im Wasser – | But the shark lives in water |
| so die Tränen sieht man nicht. | So no one can see the tears |
| In der Tiefe ist es einsam | In the deep it is lonely |
| und so manche Zähre fliesst | And so many a tear is shed |
| und so kommt es, dass das Wasser | And it so happens that the water |
| in den Meeren salzig ist. | In the oceans is salty |
| Man kann von uns halten | You can think of us |
| was immer man da will; | Whatever you want |
| wir halten uns schadlos, | We get compensation |
| wir halten niemals still. | We never keep still |
| Und der Haifisch, der hat Tränen | And the shark, that has tears |
| und die laufen vom Gesicht; | And they run from the face |
| doch der Haifisch lebt im Wasser – | But the shark lives in water |
| so die Tränen sieht man nicht. | So no one can see the tears |
| In der Tiefe ist es einsam | In the deep it is lonely |
| und so manche Zähre fliesst | And so many a tear is shed |
| und so kommt es, dass das Wasser | And it so happens that the water |
| in den Meeren salzig ist. | In the oceans is salty |
| Und der Haifisch, der hat Tränen | And the shark, that has tears |
| und die laufen vom Gesicht; | And they run from the face |
| doch der Haifisch lebt im Wasser – | But the shark lives in water |
| so die Tränen sieht man nicht. | So no one can see the tears |
| Lyric © Rammstein | Translation © Affenknecht.com |
Submitted by EinHeisserSchrei
Translation Notes:
This song is about Rammstein and the fans. Rammstein stick together, do what they want. The fans are the sharks who “shed a tear” that no one notices when, for instance, we heard the band nearly broke up. “Six hearts that burn, the fire keeps you warm” is obviously the band making the fans happy.
* whether “wenn man uns Regeln lässt” means “If you leave rules to us” or “if you leave control to us” can be easily determined by looking up the spelling in the official booklet. if “Regeln” is spelt with a capitalised “R”, it means “rules” (noun), but if it is spelt uncapitalised, a verb was used. consequently: capitalised “R” = “If you leave rules to us”, but uncapitalised “r” = “if you leave control to us” which is more likely.
Wir halten uns schadlos has been mistranslated. It literally means we keep ourselves from harm, which makes much more sense in the context
Don’t forget that this song is an homage to communist genius poet and writer Bertolt Brecht’s “The Threepenny Opera”.
“Sharks do not share their tears…” Or they do. And as far as I know it doesn’t help a lot, even if they are from similar source. You live in your personal hell anyway. Seeing an other hell…. helps a bit, and more if “wir halten zueinander” but you are still alone. And I can not imagine them weekly cry together.
(I am neither native in German, nor in English, and I am a bit late with this comment I know)
for this: “People think about them as 6 absolutely insane people, and they have to be such. But I think sometimes they get tired playing this role. they are just humans with their joys and sorrows and tears of course.”
nope, not really, but close. I guess I know some insane people closely.
Exactly the insane people have real pains (also others, and it is not always visible, but/and some of them make even music and show from it – depends from what fits the best to handle it). Or the other side: how could six balanced, satisfied and “normal” guy could make this dark music for decades? And why? They could do any other music, and they choose to do this one again and again. It can not be only a role, you need a strong drive. And insane, sadistic etc guys, the ones who hurt others, who have lot of hatred and frustration inside, “sharks” (as far as I know by my small sample) mostly have the real hell inside. Maybe except psychopaths.
So the sharks are them, I think. Also fits, that staying together helps, give strength “sechs Herzen, die brennen – das Feuer hält euch warm”, though “wir halten einander aus” … i’m not sure it is “endure”. Of course they always play with words…. But (by deepl) it can be “we hold each other out” what fits nicely to “In der Tiefe ist es einsam” and “so die Tränen sieht man nicht. “. Sharks do not share their tears…
Actually the second part with the rules I can not connect to anything, so I might be totally wrong.
Germans (GermEn?) love playing with words and Rammstein does it all the time. One of the very few bands which lyrics match the quality of music. Excellent job. Oh, yes – this translation is very good:
And the shark cries these tears,
that run down from his face.
But as the shark lives in water,
these tears won’t be seen.
this shark weeps
tears race from from his cheeks
…
these tears can’t be noticed
maybe more idiomatic than literal
To me, the part about the shark was neither about Rammstein nor the fans.
To me, it was about people in unfortunate life situations. When you experience pain, but since it is “expected” in that situation you are in, and has been normalized in our culture, it is simply shrugged off, and ignored by the people around.
Examples: Sexual harassment. For a very long time, harassment such as groping wasn’t seen as a big deal (and still often isn’t), and if it happened to you, especially if you happened to be a woman, you should just “shrug it off”. “It’s not a big deal.” If you spoke out about it, you were just weak or whiny, because after all, this “happens to everyone”. “You should expect it.” Therefore, the tears of the shark are ignored. The pain becomes normalized, and just part of the culture — therefore: the tears are part of the sea, and therefore no one sees them. It is, eventually what the sea is made out of. The sea is salty because the tears are ignored.
Another example: Drug abuse. This is something that also comes again in “Chop Suey” by System of a Down. “It’s your fault, you decided to do this to yourself, so you’re responsible for the problems you have now.” There’s a sort of way of thinking we often have that if someone who is struggling with drug abuse does something we consider bad, it’s just “expected”. “Well, after all, they’re an addict.” And then people shrug it off instead of helping. Their struggles slowly become their identity.
The tears become invisible because they are considered part of the environment around that person. Around the shark – the seemingly scary animal, but who in fact is extremely lonely and helpless.
These were just the two examples I came up with, but it counts for most types of injustice that people shrug off because it is “expected” or “normal”.
“Und so kommt es dass das Wasser in den Meeren salzig ist” translated as “and it so happens that the water in the oceans is salty”? Rather “and that’s why the water in the seas is salty”. (oceans would be Ozeane, if I’m not mistaken)
Mer is sea in French and Spanish, so, Latin-based. Their choice of that word has long puzzled me. I did not know the word would be understood in German. The Roman Empire was once based in Aachen so maybe it is what they call a “loan word” or is a vestige of Frankish language?
Ocean would be meer
I think
“und die laufen vom Gesicht” would better translated as “and they run from (our) sight”. As both English and German can be highly idiomatic languages, the sense of meaning is more important and the translation must tread carefully.
We stick together,
we keep from each other,
we keep each other;
nobody holds on us.
We’ll keep the faith,
we keep it tight
and adhere to rules,
if you let us rules.
And the shark has tears
And the run from his face,
But the shark lives in water –
so the tears can not see you.
We keep the pace,
we keep our word;
If one does not keep up,
then we stopped immediately.
We keep our eyes open,
we hold the arm;
six hearts that burn –
the fire keeps you hot
And the shark has tears
and running from his face;
But the shark lives in water –
so the tears can not see you.
In the depths of it’s lonely
and then flows some Zähre
and so it is that the water
in the sea is salty.
You can think of us
whatever you want there;
We agree to indemnify us
We never stand still.
And the shark has tears
and running from his face;
But the shark lives in water –
so the tears can not see you.
In the depths of it’s lonely
and then flows some Zähre
and so it is that the water
in the sea is salty.
And the shark has tears
and running from his face;
But the shark lives in water –
so the tears can not see you.
these are the correct translations
The whole song is completely tongue in check, they are comparing their own public persona with what they know is the truth of the ‘water’ they swim in and their own lives as ‘sharks’.
Rammstein is still one of the best metal bands ever and always will be, a ‘thinking man’s’ metal, if you please.
Have a great day!