Ein kleiner Mensch stirbt nur zum Schein wollte ganz alleine sein Das kleine Herz stand still fuer Stunden So hat man es fuer tod befunden Es wird verscharrt in nassem Sand Mit einer Spieluhr in der Hand Der erste Schnee das Grab bedeckt Hat ganz sanft das Kind geweckt In einer kalten Winternacht Ist das kleine Herz erwacht Als der Frost ins Kind geflogen Hat es die Spieluhr aufgezogen Eine Melodie im Wind Und aus der Erde singt das Kind Hoppe Hoppe Reiter Und kein Engel steigt herab Mein Herz schlaegt nicht mehr weiter Nur der Regen weint am Grab Hoppe Hoppe Reiter Eine Melodie im Wind Mein Herz schlaegt nicht mehr weiter Und aus der Erde singt das Kind Der kalte Mond in voller Pracht Hört die Schreie in der Nacht Und kein Engel steigt herab Nur der Regen weint am Grab Zwischen harten Eichendielen wird es mit der Spieluhr spielen Eine Melodie im Wind Und aus der Erde singt das Kind Hoppe Hoppe Reiter Und kein Engel steigt herab Mein Herz schlaegt nicht mehr weiter Nur der Regen weint am Grab Hoppe Hoppe Reiter Eine Melodie im Wind Mein Herz schlaegt nicht mehr weiter Und aus der Erde singt das Kind Am Totensonntag hoerten sie Aus Gottes Acker diese Melodie Da haben sie es ausgebettet Das kleine Herz im kind gerettet Hoppe Hoppe Reiter Eine Melodie im Wind Mein Herz schlaegt nicht mehr weiter Und auf der Erde singt das Kind Hoppe Hoppe Reiter Und kein Engel steigt herab Mein Herz schlägt nicht mehr weiter Nur der regen weint am Grab |
A small human only pretends to die It wanted to be completely alone The small heart stood still for hours So they decided it was dead It is being buried in wet sand With a music box in its hand The first snow covers the grave It woke the child very softly In a cold winter night The small heart is awakened As the frost flew into the child It wound up the music box A melody in the wind And the child sings from the ground Up and down, rider And no angel climbs down My heart does not beat anymore Only the rain cries on the grave Up and down, rider A melody in the wind My heart does not beat anymore And the child sings from the ground The cold moon, in full magnificence It hears the cries in the night And no angel climbs down Only the rain cries on the grave Between hard oak boards It will play with the music box A melody in the wind And the child sings from the ground Up and down, rider And no angel climbs down My heart does not beat anymore Only the rain cries on the grave Up and down, rider A melody in the wind My heart does not beat anymore And the child sings from the ground On Totensonntag they heard This melody from god's field Then they unearthed it They saved the small heart in the child Up and down, rider A melody in the wind My heart does not beat anymore And the child sings on the ground Up and down, rider And no angel climbs down My heart does not beat anymore Only the rain cries on the grave |
A decidedly depressing song, this song is about a little child who wants to be all alone, so it plays dead. The people of the village take it for dead and quickly bury it under the sand. The cold air outside wakes the buried-alive child, who plays the music box it was buried with and sings from underground. It is eventually heard and the child is dug back out of the ground.
This song reminds me of a story our teacher told us as kids. “There was a case around 400 ago, the kid suffered from a heart condition unknown at this time and his heart was beating too low for the doctors to hear, it was in a coma like state. They buried him and 1 day after they heard his screams and dug him out”.
I wouldn’t call this a depressing song at all. It follows a very traditional folkloric pattern, in keeping with the fairytale flavor favored by Till. Germans still have a strong affinity for their folkloric traditions, and that provides a great storytelling foundation.
I also don’t get the feeling that the child is rescued from the grave: “Mein herz schlaegt nicht mehr weiter” – this isn’t a Disney song. Perhaps the spirit of the child is heard singing from the underworld, or maybe the song of the spieluhr is heard from within the grave, but I didn’t get the impression the people found a living child when they opened the grave. Too easy, too pat. This is a tragedy: the child “wollte ganz allein sein” – be careful what you wish for!
pretty much exactly how I feel; well said
yet the lyrics explicitly say they saved the child in time.
One of the great things about Til’s lyrics are the multiple interpretations. You can read them in many different ways. Magically finding the child alive is also consistent with the fairytale atmosphere, but the tragic version is more powerful.
Of course, we can also take this to a more metaphorical level, and see it as a comment on how each of us buries our inner child, how the joys of childhood are lost to loneliness and sorrow.
Rammstein is like a little music box we can wind-up to re-experience the joys of youth. %^)
(Note: Totensonntag is sort of a German Day of the Dead, the last Sunday before Advent.)
I always took the “singing” as a metaphor for screaming and crying
@Erin
The sound of the music box is on a keyboard already (ofc) but the actual rhythm is made up by Flake.
Totensonntag would be translated as “remembrance sunday” literally.
going on from what Rammspieler said: does anyone know the tune that the music box plays in this song? is it something that Rammstein composed or a pre-existing melody from a nursery rhyme or something?
Thanks!
this “Hoppe hoppe Reiter ” is so freaking good sounding in the track and efect on the vocals gives the power overall; great song, the story is sinister but good.Awesome
@Necromancer: Definitely not “Achtung, Achtung”. The child is singing an old nursery rhyme. “Warning, Warning rider” would make no sense because the child is not intending to warn anyone about anything. And “Achtung Achtung Reiter” is not an old nursery rhyme.
@CinnamonRevenge: I am aware that Khira Li appears in the Live Aus Berlin performance of Tier, but where does she appear in the Engel Music Video? Is she one of the two children in the cage?
@EVERYONE: Can anyone tell me the chord progression of the intro/outro ‘music box’ riffs? It would be greatly appreciated.
@Serge, do you know the name of this spooktale you mentioned? Or do you know how to find the ‘whole story’?
@Tasha, yes it’s Khira Li singing, but there’s no video for the song. However, Khira Li does appear in the video of “Engel”.
It’s sounds like instead of “Hoppe Hoppe” it’s “Achtung.. Achtung..”
any one else?
@ Serge, I think I might be wrong, but it’s a female singing this. I’m sure if there is a video released for this or not..
The actual singer is Khira Lindemann, she’s Richard’s daughter with Till’s ex wife. Till’s ex wife kept the last name after she divorced Till so she’s a Lindemann.
Hoppe hoppe Reiter” which is the “up and down rider” is from a german kids song:
Up and down, rider
if he falls, then he cries out
up and down, rider
if he falls, then he cries out
if he falls into the marsh
then the rider makes a plop
Up and down, rider
if he falls, then he cries out
if he falls onto the rocks
then his legs cause him pain
if he falls in the marsh
then the rider makes a plop
Up and down, rider
if he falls, then he cries out
if he falls into the ditch
then the ravens devour him
if he falls in the marsh
then the rider makes a plop
@ CRIS, it’s a german nursery rhyme. You put your kid on your knees and make it go up and down while singing this…
http://german.about.com/library/blhopp.htm
I don’t understand “Hoppe Hoppe Reiter” -Up and down, rider
What does that mean?
I love this song, and Rammstein is the best, saw them in Stockholm last saturday 20/2 – 2010, it was awesome!
I love the opening and the ending. It is so haunting!