Rammstein Roter Sand lyrics with English translation

Buy Rammstein song “Roter Sand” on Amazon

Eine Liebe, ein Versprechen One love, one promise
Sagt’ ich komm zurück zu dir Said I would come back to you
Nun, ich muss es leider brechen Well, I must sadly break it
Seine Kugel steckt in mir His bullet is stuck in me
Eine Liebe, zwei Pistolen One love, two guns
Eine zielt mir ins Gesicht One points into my face
Er sagt, ich hätte dich gestohlen He says I stole you
Dass du mich liebst He doesn’t know
Weiss er nicht That you love me
 
Roter Sand und zwei Patronen Red sand and two rounds
Eine stirbt im Pulverkuss One dies in a kiss of gunpowder
Die zweite soll ihr Ziel nicht schonen The second shall not spare its target
Steckt jetzt tief in meiner Brust Now is stuck deeply in my chest
 
Eine Liebe, ein Versprechen One love, one promise
Ach das Blut läuft aus dem Mund Oh the blood runs from the mouth
Und keiner wird mich rächen And no one will avenge me
Sinnlos gehe ich zugrund Senselessly I perish
Eine Liebe zwei Pistolen One love, two guns
Einer konnte schneller ziehen One could draw faster
Nun, ich bin es nicht gewesen Well, it was not me
Jetzt gehörst du ihm Now you belong to him
 
Roter Sand und zwei Patronen Red sand and two rounds
Eine stirbt im Pulverkuss One dies in a kiss of gunpowder
Die zweite sollt’ ihr Ziel nicht schonen The second which didn’t spare its target
Steckt jetzt tief in meiner Brust Now is stuck deeply in my chest
 
Roter Sand und weisse Tauben Red sand and doves*
Laben sich an meinem Blut Refresh themselves on my blood
Am Ende gibt es doch ein Ende At the end there is but an end
Bin ich doch zu etwas gut I am good for something finally
 
Roter Sand und zwei Patronen Red sand and two rounds
Eine stirbt im Pulverkuss One dies in a kiss of gunpowder
Die zweite sollt’ ihr Ziel nicht schonen The second which didn’t spare its target
Steckt jetzt tief in meiner Brust Now is stuck deeply in my chest
 
Lyric © Rammstein Translation © Affenknecht.com

Submitted by EinHeisserSchrei

 

Translation Notes:

* Tauben = pigeons, weisse Tauben = white pigeons = doves

87 COMMENTS

  1. Erm, I’m not a big expert on guns but I don’t think “Patronen” translate to rounds. They’re bullets, single pieces of ammo one loads their chosen shooting device with. Rather than a pistol I’d go with a hunting gun or a rifle since patrone is a pretty big, evil looking bullet, usually filled with a mix of powder, sharp particles and similar stuff that explodes and works the target up pretty badly.
    Other than pondering over different types of arms this song makes me cry. That being, it is one of about 5 things on the whole world that have such liquid-drainig effect on me. I don’t find it so difficult to understand. For me it is about prooving faithless to a loved one, trying to defend their and your own bare life and being defeated. That’s why the lyrics say he’s death is worthless. He cannot protect his loved one anymore, he failed. Either because he wasn’t quick enough, or not violent enough or a bit reluctant to take a human life. And that whole thing is fucking sad and unfair and I sometimes don’t know whether I should love Till for writing such poetic things or should I hate him for embarassing me when I tear up. :3

  2. I’m personally not really sure whether I believe that this is a prequel or a sequel to “Leise”…

    Because it would make sense either way, since the general consensus about “Leise” is that the man in the song rapes the woman, and in this one, two men fight over who is assumed to be Leise.

    But my thinking is that it could be one of two things:

    1. This is the SEQUEL, where the man who raped Leise is being shot and killed by another man who loves Leise (could be her actual huband/partner, etc., or her father), or;

    2. This is the PREQUEL, where the two men who want Leise are battling over her, and the one who Leise actually loves is being killed, and the raper wins, and then runs to Leise, and then cue music.

    In particular, the lines:

    “He says I stole you
    He doesn’t know
    That you love me”

    make me think that maybe he and Leise were actually together, and the other guy is just a psychopath. However, on the other hand, it COULD be the other guy who’s going to rape her, just actually believing she loves him.

    Just my take on everything; either side could be the right one, but I guess unless we can actually ask Rammstein about it, we’ll never know 😛

  3. Ich hätte dich gestohlen should be translated as “I would have you stolen” or “I would steal you”.

    Also, if we are to belive BEOLINGUS, “zugrunde gehen” = to perish (expression), e.g. Ich gehe zugrunde. Notice that it has an e at the end so it’s slightly different than Ich gehe zu grund (lit. I go to the ground). I think it has a bit of a double meaning(like Du Hast, but not so different)

  4. This one put me into tears, wich is the first for a Rammstein song… I’ve never been a really big fan of their ballads (despite of me being a huge R-fan in general), untill this one came allong… Absolutely a stunning, beautifull song. I could see the scenery playing in front of me while I was reading the lyrics along with the song. And Till’s voice sounds so delicate but still powerfull as ever. My oh my, and the orchester version is even more heartbreaking. This, my friends, is poetry nevertheless… Liebe zu Ihnen alle.

  5. Till is such a brilliant artist. Capable of revving you up, cheering you up, making you smile and just when you think you know him he writes sheer poetry like this. Almost brings a tear to my eye. Excellent song and the music is so moving.

  6. It’s written ” ich hätte dich gestohlen” it means something like – I would steal you, not I stole you.I stole you is – Ich habe dich gestohlen !!!

  7. Wow, just heard this song and read lyrics for the first time. Amzing song, as most are.This one definatly is different in a way though. Very well written.

  8. Oh, this song is so beautiful. I listen to it almost every night and I knew it had to do with a duel. The lyrics made me tear up even more so now, hehe.
    I love Rammstein so much and Till is a great poet and lyricist.

  9. @Jeremy
    I got the same Cowboy feel, i thought its basically one of those cowboy stories how the two guys go for the girl and as cliche’s go the good guy gets away, but perhaps this is told from the other point of view, of how perhaps the good guy DOESN’T get the girl in the end anyway, quite sad xD

  10. In general, I am somewhat at a loss to interpret LIFAD. I am learning that I love the music as much as “Reise Reise,” however RR came to me at a very low point in my life, where the politics of which I am aware (here in US) and other matters made RR seem like a beam of fire-y sunlight burst through the clouds. In that song in particular, I felt that Rammstein … I guess principally Til, was summoning some dark soldiers to come to our rescue – from ourselves of course. Then of course, my favorite song, “Amerika” – so much information contained in such a beautifully crafted package.

    Then there’s LIFAD — which seems almost smart-assed by comparison. I have “explained” to someone that “Ich tu dir weh” is an analogy to the public… the helpless masochism of people before the mighty. But I just made that up. The individual I said this to is into it for its seemingly sexual content. LIFAD seems like a joke that I am not getting. Oh well.

  11. It’s an old wild-west gunfight. Hence the doves and sand. That or it’s John Woo. Most of those kind of western duels were single shot, and whoever managed to get their shot off first tended to win. Quickdraw duels…you only get one shot.

  12. I thik the sentences :’Am Ende gibt es doch ein Ende
    Bin ich doch zu etwas gut’ should be seen together and ought to be translated like this:

    ‘At the end, there is only an end. At least I was of some use.’ You should look at it more poetically, as in: there is no heaven or hell, only an ending which is what the person finally discovers.

  13. Thinking about it now it sounds like a prequeal to liese like the death of the woman’s lover at the hands of her assailant rammstein seems to have a twist on the traditional love story, much like rosenrot how the protagonist ultimately fails or dies under twisted circumstances.

Leave a Reply to Phill Cancel reply

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here