Ein Lied

A pair of big, strong and warm imaginary arms wraps their way around my body and tiny brain when I listen to this song. Ein Lied. Allow me to start this entry with Blaise Pascal’s famous quote: “There is a God shaped vacuum in the heart of every man which cannot be filled by any created thing, but only God, the Creator, made known through Jesus.”

And let me just disagree. Because, there is indeed a hole inside of us all, that people fill differently. Some with money, travelling, marriage, drugs, philosophy, career. We really are looking for salvation all over, and many people never really succeed in finding the one thing that they can just lose themselves in, forget about the world and restore their energy.
I was lucky enough to find Rammstein. My solution, my comfort, my source to energy. A place I can always go to be myself, to be understood and to explain things that I cannot explain myself.

This song helps me in so many ways; Ein Lied comforts me when I’m upset, it helps me relax if I feel tense, and all in all it just makes me feel safe. I’ve never experienced this feeling elsewhere, the song opens a haven inside of my head, a place where I can go to get relief, to unwind and even to receive a big, warm psychological hug after a long day.

Photo of me, taken by my beloved Julie.
A little attempt to show my 'haven', with my beloved guitar faithfully by my side.

I go to my own safe-haven,  where I can let the music consume me, fill me and restore me.
The song has an almost “Guardian Angel” feeling to it, I feel a promise being given to me, that the band will always be there. It encourages me to be the best person I can be, “Wer Gutes tut, dem wird vergeben, so seid recht gut auf allen Wegen.”, and I aspire to meet my own standards every day.

Unlike most Rammstein songs, it’s played in a calm manner, turning the focus to the bass and Tills voice mainly. Not initially something I would have expected from a singer with such a naturally aggressive register. But it really does show how versatile the band, and especially Tills voice is.

For many people, they will probably be able to relate to the feeling of having something in their life happening to them, that they have never actually felt that other people ever quite understood completely. Maybe even something traumatic that they don’t feel they can vent in any other way than to listen to music that explains. One of the major reasons that I adore Rammstein for what they are.
If you want it to, music can always pull you through the darkest of nights; all you have to do is to let it.

Because, truth is, music reaches everyone. It matches everyone, regardless of your religion, political views, preferences and race.
This is what this song is to me. It expresses my love for music, my relief, my salvation. No matter the situation, music can soothe it. It’ll make you feel better in the morning, it will offer you hope to pull through, and give you the energy to fulfill your dreams.

Yet another photo of me, taken by Julie.
Nothing more to say really, than "Music - my savior." 

Weißes Fleisch

Weisses Fleisch… Oh, the controversy! One of the most aggressive songs, both lyrically and musically.
I’m going to do something a bit different this time, given that I actually have a college degree in music, and thought I’d put that into use. Most importantly because I feel that one of the things that makes Rammstein such a different, interesting band, is the way the music completely compliments the lyrics, blending together into an insanely perfect mix. 

Judging from the key signature, I would assume that the key is either D-major or H-minor. There are no other indications other than the two crosses in the beginning of the song, and after having played both scales on piano, both could fit the song. 

Weisses Fleisch is a song consisting of 109 measures and is played with 132 beats per minute, and a time signature containing of 4/4. There is no real dissonance to compliment the harmonics, because the song is played in an anti-harmonic way that helps underline the lyrics.

Now to talk about the lyrics! 

People often take this for a song about a pedophile raping an under aged girl. I’ve always had a different view on the song, maybe because I’ve liked it even before I knew German. What I seem to find myself agreeing on, is that the song is about a psychopath, or at least a persona containing some tendencies, enough to have the urges that a BDSM relationship requires. I made that sound an awful lot more negative than I meant to, but rest assured, I have nothing against such. Anyways, the point!

I believe the song symbolizes a somewhat atypical S/M relationship. The black blood mentioned coming from Till isn’t necessarily literal, but underlines his dark urges to have his way with the girl with the white skin and white dress, expressing a classical view on innocence. “Mein schwarzes Blut versaut dit das Kleid.”
It explains the way a person can get sexually aroused from causing pain to other people, the need to soil another person’s innocence in order to feel superior. “Rote Striemen auf weisser Haut, ich tu dir weh und du jammerst laut” clearly indicates spanking or such, leaving marks behind on the white, pure skin.
The beginning of the “Schulhof”, the schoolyard doesn’t indicate that it is a child to me. More like a metaphor that the punisher is older than her. She surrenders to him, because he is physically superior to her, bigger, taller and stronger, and she acts as a tool to his needs.

This is one of the most erotic songs from Rammstein in my book, having all the good aspects playing up and uniting to a beautiful anthem of a twisted facet of perversion, the urge to make the pure, innocent and untainted dirty, and the trust and expectation from the “white flesh”. And I adore Rammstein for putting out there instead of making a taboo. 

Photo of me, taken by my amazingly talented friend Julie,
attempting to portray the passion, lust and pervesion of the song.
And also because I'm amazingly pale!

Feuer Frei!

Bang bang – Feuer frei! 

Probably one of the most popular songs from my lovely boys, apart from Du Hast. One of their most extreme live-performances as well, having massive pillars of flames shooting out just a few inches from their face. Insane, but that’s how I love them.  The songs popularity may possibly have been boosted by the fact that it was the theme song of xXx movie with Vin Diesel.

What could be as simple as a tribute to pyro technique, I’ve always viewed as something a lot gloomier. A lot of bottled up anger can come from certain situations and upbringings, which is what I believe this song is about. The entire Mutter album seems to have its focus on childhood themes, Mein Herz Brennt and Mutter being beautiful examples. 

For me, this song can expose how all the anger you’ve kept inside sometimes can overflow and overwhelm a person. How people who have experienced something traumatic in life are a lot sturdier than people who haven’t, have the power to fight and bite back if they feel treated disrespectfully. An aggressive upbringing can easily cause aggressive behavior, which can make people fear them. 

From the people I know personally, I would have to admit that there is a lot more character to those who have felt how roughly life can treat you.
“Getadelt wird wer Schmerzen kennt, vom Feuer das die Haut verbrennt Ich werf ein Licht in mein Gesicht - Ein heisser Screi - Feuer Frei!"  Whoever knows pain becomes criticized from the fire that burned up the skin. I throw a light in my face - A hot cry - Fire freely! 

To me this explains how physical mistreatment can mark you substantially. How a person can come to terms with what has happened, the damage that has been dealt, and finally standing up to the rest of the world, acknowledging the situation, ready to fight on. “Feuer Frei” is sort of a battle-cry that Till shouts out to ready himself, ready the world for the new mindset.
”Gefährlich ist wer Schmerzen kennt vom Feuer das den Geist verbrennt.” Same concept as above, except it portrays mental abuse and the aftermath. 

Somehow the song has a very retribution-like theme, both in rendered in the hard beat of the drums and guitar synchronizing, but also in the lyrics, in between the lines. Fire is, after all, the most used metaphor for hatred and anger; an image of how those two emotions can destroy and burn out everything in its path.

Stein um Stein

A song I’ve always felt was underappreciated, is “Stein um Stein”.  It’s from the Reise, Reise album, and has rarely been performed live. An excellent live-performance of this song is from the live DVD “Völkerball”. I have a lot of different perspectives on this song, but as I’ve promised myself, I’ll give you my own version of the meaning first and add the others afterwards. 
I’ll advice you, if you don’t already know the lyrics/song, to read and listen before reading my blog, as I’ll make a lot of references that won’t make sense otherwise.

Stein um Stein live-performance.

My absolutely stunning friend Marie,
who was kind enough to let me cover her
in makeup and try to portray
one of the feelings this song can give me

Stein um Stein never fails to give me goose bumps, it’s perhaps one of the only songs from Rammstein that I’ve ever really felt physically uncomfortable from listening to. It keeps on shocking me, and I can honestly say that it scared me. Not only because of the obvious scare-factor of being trapped alive inside of a concrete wall, but the way some psychopaths are able to actually enclose their ‘victim’ in their own mind. I think it scares me because I’ve encountered it more than once, I’ve seen it from many perspectives. It’s a frightening feeling, the emotion of being afraid of your own shadow. Because it really is what psychopaths can do to a fragile mind. It’s scary how people can benefit on other peoples poor state of mind, and actually use them against themselves. I don’t necessarily view this song as a physical imprisonment, even though the thought is bloodcurdling. When imprisoned in your mind, getting out it not easy; it gets down to everything from behavior to habits, to how you used to think to how you react to certain words, smells and even how people approach you and where they touch you. You slowly decay inside your own mind and become your own worst enemy, even after the person has lost the control over you.  Somehow it really paints the picture of an egoist. “ICH habe plane”. Etc. His perfect idea of a relationship, not bothering to look to the significant other in the relationship, but entirely focusing on himself. I love how this song connects my body in a terrifying quiver, all along with surprising me yet again with the atmosphere. One of my friends who has no knowledge of the German language heard the song while it was playing silently in my room, and she actually felt quite uneasy. It was afterwards that she asked me to translate it for her, and she was left just as speechless, even staggered as I. She didn’t like metal and didn’t like Rammstein, but even she had to admit that it was indeed quite amazing that a song could give her such a feeling, even without really having an understanding. 

There are a lot of interpretations, and the above is just my personal experience based on subjective opinions. Now, let’s move onwards to the others I’ve been wanting to discuss. 

Photo taken by me in the German KZ camp
Neuengamme.

Another thing that strikes me, as the history geek I am, is the notorious theme of holocaust. With the words “Stone by stone, I wall you in”, not to mention “I have a plane big plans” + “Without clothes, without shoes, you watch me working. “No one will hear you scream”, and “You will never move out again.”

We associate the Jewish holocaust with the nazi death camps: “And you are to be part of it all.” 
This is an aspect that has been interesting to me for a long time. Because Rammstein faces a lot of nazi accusations, and I’m not exactly making it any better. But this is an aspect that I don’t feel should be overlooked, just as I don’t feel that the holocaust should be forgotten. Not that I link it with the people of Germany today, but ‘just’ a reminder, so that it will never happen again. They’ve planned to build a house for them all, but they allow no door nor a window. 

Another aspect of the song is the great wall in Berlin. The “Iron carpet”. 
If you want to understand this aspect of the band, it’s important to know their background. The entire band grew up in the DDR, the side of Berlin which was heavily influenced by censorship and restrictions. It may or may not have been a protest against the life that they lived as young teenagers.

Ich tu dir weh

Time to talk a little about ich tu dir weh. As I've mentioned, these are my personal interpretations of the song and lyric, it's only a place to vent my obsession and empty some thought from my tiny brain.
To balance on the edge of the acceptable and the unacceptable is easily said a difficult balancing act. Therefore, I think it's quite rare for bands to do it, because it's risky for their career. But Rammstein has made this their career. People expect to be shocked. Which is why (What I think, at least) they made the Mein Land video the way that they did. But that will follow some other time! Rammstein balances perfectly and switches back and forth between these. One thing that I have always liked about Rammstein is that, if you care enough to analyze the lyrics, even just slightly, then you're instantly provoked to think. Provoked to make a choice, decide what you think of the topic. Because some of the topics really are carried out from the rough, cold world, topics that are left as taboos... just like Ich tu dir weh.

From what I have experienced in Rammstein, a lot of their songs carry out a double meaning. Such as this beautiful piece of music. It has been one of my favorite Rammstein pieces lyrically and musically, as you don't find too many Rammstein songs with a sort of catchy, swinging refrain. Don't get me wrong, all of Rammsteins songs have some sort of epic, raw and even erotic feeling to it. But this is different, in a lot of ways. And then again, it isn't. The song was banned from German television because of the controversial themes, and this song was the reason that the CD made it to "Over 18" in stores, not even on display. 
The video is made as a 'simple' performance video, the band soiled in flames in the background, and Till singing in front of them. What immediatly struck me about this, was the light that was shining from Tills mouth whenever he opened it. An LED light that had been placed in the roof of his mouth, from a chord that had been pierced through his cheek. The band insisted on, "Till, the audience is metres away, it will be perfectly fine for you to just have a fleshcolored chord, nobody will notice!" But he insisted in doing it this way, even though it could easily have been infected and caused a health risk for him. I think it emphazises the song perfectly. Because, this is what the song is about. To me, at least.

My beloved necklace <3

The soul is the light inside his mouth, the light shining through in his eyes. The body obeys.
While many people may interpret this as a song concerning BDSM relationships, I think it's sort of a tribute to the body. The soul is singing to the body. And what an odd tribute it is. 
"Nur für mich bist du am Leben." ; You are only alive for me. What other purpose does that body have, than to serve the soul? 
As a person with little, next to no confidence, I know exactly what Till attempted to portray. 
"Ich steck dir Orden ins Gesicht" ; I stick medals onto your face. In an attempt of making the body seem like it's worth something to the people around you. Medals symbolizes achievements, achievements portrays skills. For myself, and maybe Till, these medals could be piercings in an attempt to improve our appearance. But also all the nice things we try to outline about ourselves. 
The body is utterly devoted to the soul, it's really only a casket for carrying the soul around. The body is sort of an image of the soul, portraying what's inside. Sometimes, I don't feel that the two match. So I punish the body, I try to make up for the disappointment and shame. 

"Du blutest für mein Seelenheil
Ein kleiner Schnitt und du wirst geil" ; You bleed for the peace of my soul, a little cut and you're turned on. This is where the BDSM aspect plays up really well. Pain is a way of distracting yourself from what is, in reality, hurting you. Some of us have even learnt to connect pain and pleasure, which makes Rammstein such a wonderful band, no matter if you're the one who recieves the pain, or gives. 
"Ich tu dir weh
Tut mir nicht leid
Das tut dir gut
Hör wie es schreit" ; I hurt you. I'm not sorry. It does you good. Listen to it scream. 
I remember the first time I heard the song. The chills spread wide, and the tears crawled up in the corner of my eye, and under the lid. Someone had finally described what I couldn't. Till has a way of doing that, though. Because, this is a perfect example of what it is like to be in such war with yourself, that you find no other way than to distract yourself.... from yourself. 

The song makes so much sense to me. And it was a relief to listen to it. It still is, and it has helped me deal with myself in rough situations.
Now take the same lyric and interpret it from a BDSM point of view; it's simply the song from the sadist to the masochist. It gives the song another dimension, even erotic to me. It toys around with the theme of power, the power of being in so much control of another human being, that they would actually allow the other person to hurt them so much that they become disfigured, bruised and scarred etc. 

The song, like many other Rammstein songs, will give you the oppertunity to take whatever you want from the song, and use it in whatever mood you should find yourself in.
The live-act of this show must be experienced - If not in concert, then on youtube! I demand it! Rawr. 

The beginning!

Finally I got myself together to start this blog. This is solely dedicated to Rammstein, my thoughts and little scibblets about the band. Firstly I must state that this blog has nothing officially to do with the band, this is only my tiny space for my opinions and feelings. As most of my surroundings are close to ripping my head off because I fail to ever stop ranting once I get started. Yup!


Introducing myself and my relationship to Rammstein; My name is Kattie, I’m from Denmark and I’m 20 years old. Music is my passion, but I also love photography, drawing, singing and playing piano and guitar, writing, reading, baking and playing all sorts of geeky computer games. My passion for Rammstein started way back in 2001, when I casually walked past my 6 years older brothers’ room and heard the cellos of Mein Herz Brennt play, and felt myself oddly drawn to it. I sat down and listened throughout the entire Mutter album, and since then the obsession only went on and on. I thought that Mutter was their best of-album, but soon I was to find out that it was simply the standards of Rammstein. After learning German in school, Rammsteins music drew me to German culture and history, which has cleared my path to study History in University and perhaps German as my second subject. Rammstein functions as my source of inspiration when I write, draw, and a rare time or two create music.



In the later years I have become the newswriter on the Danish fansite, Sehnsucht.dk. I have tried to involve and devote myself as much as possible to the band, especially their singer and writer, poet; Till Lindemann. Poems from his collection “Messer”, may or may not (Yeah, right) occur here on the blog. Most likely, since I find myself reading one or two every day.

This blog will focus on my personal interpretations of lyrics, music, poems and atmosphere, nothing official unless I state it. Photos and videos will accompany my posts every now and then, and I will try to only update when I actually have something insolent to say, rather than mindless ranting about how much I love the band. Even though I am sure that the latter will happen more than I plan it will.
So here it goes! Lindemanns Engel is officially kickstarted. More to come very soon!