Rammstein Klavier lyric with English translation

Sie sagen zu mir
schließ auf diese Tür
die Neugier wird zum Schrei
was wohl dahinter sei
hinter dieser Tür
steht ein Klavier
die Tasten sind staubig
die Saiten sind verstimmt
hinter dieser Tür
sitzt sie am Klavier
doch sie spielt nicht mehr
ach das ist so lang her

Dort am Klavier
lauschte ich ihr
und wenn ihr Spiel begann
hielt ich den Atem an

Sie sagte zu mir
ich bleib immer bei dir
doch es hatte nur den Schein
sie spielte für mich allein
ich goss ihr Blut
ins Feuer meiner Wut
ich verschloss die Tür
man fragte nach ihr

Dort am Klavier
lauschte ich ihr
und wenn ihr Spiel begann
hielt ich den Atem an
Dort am Klavier
stand ich bei ihr
es hatte den Schein
sie spielte für mich allein

Geöffnet ist die Tür
ei wie sie schreien
ich höre die Mutter flehen
der Vater schlägt auf mich ein
man löst sie vom Klavier
und niemand glaubt mir hier
das ich todkrank
von Kummer und Gestank

Dort am Klavier
lauschte ich ihr
und wenn ihr Spiel begann
hielt ich den Atem an
Dort am Klavier
lauschte sie mir
und als mein Spiel begann
hielt sie den Atem an
They say to me
unlock this door
the curiosity becomes a scream
what certainly could be behind it
behind this door
stands a piano
the keys are dusty
the strings are out of tune
behind this door
she sits at the piano
but she doesn't play anymore
oh, that was so long ago

There, at the piano
I listened to her
and when her playing began
I held my breath

She said to me
I'll always stay with you
but it only seemed
that she played for me alone
I poured her blood
into the fire of my rage
I locked the door
they asked for her

There, at the piano
I listened to her
and when her playing began
I held my breath
There, at the piano
I stood beside her
it seemed
she played for me alone

The door is open
oh, how they scream
I hear the mother pleading
the father is beating me
they take her from the piano
and no one believes me here
that I am deathly ill
from sorrow and the stench

There, at the piano
I listened to her
and when her playing began
I held my breath
There, at the piano
she listened to me
and when my playing began
she held her breath

One of Rammstein’s few slow songs, Klavier is about a man who loved the way his girlfriend played the piano so much he locked her away in the attic. One day her parents and the police make the man open the door and they see their beautiful daughter tied to the piano dead.

16 COMMENTS

  1. Where in the world are you getting the idea that there’s an attic, police, or tying up? That’s in no way in the lyrics. Yes, this guy gets jealous and presumably kills her and lives with her corpse, but the rest of the details are completely imagined.

    • I do agree that he kills his girlfriend, and it is by means of strangulation. When looking at the Live aus Berlin performance of this song, when Till sings “und als mein Spiel begann hielt sie den Atem an”, he wraps his hand around his throath as to animate that “mein Spiel” means wrapping his hand around her throath. “hielt sie den Atem an” refers to her not being able to breath due to his hand around her throath.

      As you said, for the rest, there is no evidence. I can may be see the police accompanying the parents due to the they referal, but no one else is specifically named outside the mother and father, so the police is pure speculation.

  2. I agree with RzK.

    “Es hatte nur den Schein” dass sie für mich allein spielte.

    It only *seemed* that she was playing for me alone.

  3. I may be way out, buf I think this song is about sex. Her “playing” represents her sexuality. She played her piano for someone else (cheated) And he kills her out of rage. And in the last verse, when he’s playing the “piano” he is having sex with her and she holds her breath because she is already dead.

  4. Oh my god..such a gorgeous song. And the lyrics… <33. I had never bothered to listen to this song until someone recommended it to me (I love Rammstein completely), but this is great. 😀

  5. This song sounds to me that he was maybe watching her from afar and couldnt hold his feelings bak and wanted her but couldnt have her so he took her life instead…

  6. I’m not sure why this came to mind, but the “and no one believes me HERE” line makes me think that the speaker is presently in an insane asylum, or perhaps prison. (The stink mentioned in the following line would be present in either of these places as well as the attic a dead girl had been kept in.)

  7. I love the word play;

    His admiration:
    “and when her playing began
    I held my breath”

    and her end:
    “and when my playing began
    she held her breath”

  8. He doesn’t really provide any proof that she cheated on him. If anything she loved him. I think he wanted to make it so that he was the only one that could ever hear her music. And maybe he was a little crazed.

  9. [Pwnage song ^^]

    Sie sagen zu mir

    schliess auf diese Tür

    die Neugier wird zum Schrei

    was wohl dahinter sei

    hinter dieser Tür

    steht ein Klavier

    die Tasten sind staubig

    die Saiten sind verstimmt

    hinter dieser Tür

    sitzt sie am Klavier

    doch sie spielt nicht mehr

    ach das ist so lang her

  10. Lol, they say it’s so beautiful but it’s about him killing his girlfriend? None the less, this song is awesome.

  11. “Sie sagte zu mir ich bleib immer bei dir doch es hatte nur den Schein sie spielte für mich allein…”

    It sounds to me like the girlfriend said they’d be together forever, but then wasn’t faithful to him. That could explain why he “poured her blood into the fire of [his] rage.”

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