Rammstein Stein um Stein lyric with English translation

Ich habe Pläne grosse Pläne
Ich baue dir ein Haus
Jeder Stein ist eine Träne
Und du ziehst nie wieder aus
Ja ich baue ein Häuschen dir
Hat keine Fenster keine Tür
Innen wird es dunkel sein
Dringt überhaupt kein Licht hinein

Ja ich schaffe dir ein Heim
Und du sollst Teil des Ganzen sein

Stein um Stein mauer ich dich ein
Stein um Stein
Ich werde immer bei dir sein

Ohne Kleider ohne Schuh
Siehst du mir bei der Arbeit zu
Mit den Füssen im Zement
Verschönerst du das Fundament
Draussen wird ein Garten sein
Und niemand hört dich schreien

Stein um Stein mauer ich dich ein
Stein um Stein
Ich werde immer bei dir sein

Welch ein Klopfen welch ein Hämmern
Draussen fängt es an zu dömmern
Alle Nägel stehen stramm
Wenn ich sie in dein Leibholz Ramm'

Stein um Stein mauer ich dich ein
Stein um Stein
Und keiner hört dich schreien
I have plans big plans
I'm going to build you a house
Every stone will be a tear
And you'll never move out again
Yeah I'm going to build a little house for you
with no windows no door
It'll be dark inside
No light will get in at all

Yeah I'll make you a home
And you are to be a part of it all

Stone by stone I wall you in
Stone by stone
I'll always be with you

Without clothes without shoes
You watch me working
With your feet in cement
You brighten up the foundation
Outside there will be a garden
And no one will hear you scream

Stone by stone I wall you in
Stone by stone
I'll always be with you

What a pounding what a hammering
Outside it's starting to get dark
All of the nails stand at attention
when I ram them into your body-wood

Stone by stone I wall you in
Stone by stone
And nobody will hear you scream

A slow monologue about someone building a little house to entomb his victim alive – a possible interpretation of Edgar Allan Poe’s The Cask of Amontillado. The riff during the chorus resembles the riff after the second chorus in Rosenrot; it was originally going to be the first single from Reise, Reise but was dropped in favour of “Mein Teil”)

A similar theme is to be found in Romanian mythology. In the folk poem Monastirea ArgeÅŸului (“The Monastery on the ArgeÅŸ River”), Mesterul Manole has to wall his wife, in order to finish the monastery he is building.

Another interpretation is that the song refers to the Berlin Wall and the former East German government; until the end of 1989, East Germans were not readily allowed into the capitalist West.

An interesting pun exists in the lyrics during the final verse of the song. Till sings, “Wenn ich sie in dein Leibholz ramm-…Stein um Stein…” The literal translation is, “When I ram them into your body-wood…Stone by stone…” However, because of German grammar and conjugation rules, the verb “ramm,” meaning “to ram” must be placed at the end of the sentence. Thus, this creates “ramm-…Stein,” wordplay alluding to the name of the band.

49 COMMENTS

  1. I think another interpretation could be this: a toxic relationship since in the beginning he says “every tear is a stone” and then he goes “STONE WITH STONE I WALL YOU IN” which could mean, in my opinion that he abuses her and turns her to depression and she feels trapped in all the ways possible. It could also be Stockholm syndrome

  2. I’ve always understood this song to be clearly, absolutely, incontrovertibly about communism. East Germans were literally walled in like the song describes. The DDR government aggressively sought to shut every door and window to outside influences and ideas. No light form outside was allowed in. And especially the verse about there being a garden outside – that’s something nominally communist dictatorships still do. They have fronts and façades that they use to impress the rest of the world.

  3. The more I learn German, the better I understand Rammstein’s songs and their true poetic beauty… this one has a figural meaning – it is about an abusive relationship wherein one partner resorts to what is called “coercive control”, thus gradually and diligently encaging the other over time. Thus “every stone is a tear” and the (beautiful) “garden” outside of the house (cage) so that nobody sees the abuse.

  4. Quick (overly padentic) note on the footnotes, “ramm” does not mean “to ram” (the infinitive form), rather, “rammen” means “to ram”. “Ramm'” is just a shortened form of “ramme”, which is the conjugated form of rammen for “ich” (first person singular). Just feel it’s important to point out as a learner of German, as not to confuse other learners.

  5. the more I hear this song the more I think that is about someone who’s burying a loved one. He’s building a tomb a great tomb (tomb has no window or door),he wants to make a big garden ( here in italy you can see how mucj effort somenone put in decorating tombs with flowers and plant). The part “without clothes or shoes” , in some cultures the defuncts lies in the ground naked onlu a blanket cover them and actually they’ll become part of the ground ( the foundation), and the the part about nails and wood. This si what I like about their works, you can find so many level of interpretation

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