Seemann

A weak echo leads my thoughts to an empty place. An abandoned place, where only the pulse

of the guitar reminds me of the waves hitting the body when one lies down on

the shore of a beach, a night where people just weren’t there and the beach

only sounds of the wind and the weak tuning of the waves…

Till’s voice falls on its knees before me, and his whimpering, longing singing

through the song sends me out to the bottom of the ocean where nothing can be

heard. Once you’re down there, you’re not going to get up again. A corner of

our souls is eternally trapped on.

Because the rock, Till, is a stern fortress where I can hide from what I relive

every day. Till’s hand that he reaches out to me during the song gives me

something to hold on to. And the boat that he paints so clearly in my mind, the

boat he stands on and being dragged by the rest of the band… I know I’ll move

forward. The music intensifies and I can see the canvas getting pulled.

And despite the calming shadow the music throws over me on my journey, I’m still all alone.

The song is from 1995, the first album Rammstein made. The band was once, just like today,

renewing and the only band of their kind. Rammstein isn’t for the broad crowd, and the accept from society has been absent, if not gone. No wonder he felt alone.

Till holds a light over me when he sings. I identify completely with these emotions. I feel like he’s right beside me when I stand before this light. Not just any light, it’s a flicking and weak light. It’s the only place I don’t feel wrong… I feel protected and sheltered in the only way that feels right.

People are trying to steal my light, and Till is the only one guarding it. My heartbeat synchronizes with the pulse of the drums and Till’s voice is guiding me forward – but not home.

Even though he captures my heart and takes my hand, I still have to live.

Till is only the messenger, the only one who’s both reality and fantasy. Sad he sings this hymn, a warning, a painting of my soul that he’s the only one who sees clearly. He doesn’t fully interfere, it would reveal what he does for me for too many people. He shows me a way, but he asks me to lay the bricks on the road myself, out of dreams and my chain of thoughts.

The dawn lies on the other side in this tale. Men tilts their heads in order to try and understand better, but Till knows; he’s seen it all before. Time stops. And he knows how cold I am. I find the only thing I have true passion for, the only thing that never lets me down, is him.

But people will never understand.

The last verse about the cruelty of the night, Till’s explanation – the sea we all come from – Just witnesses how hard it is to live right now, how easy it is to live in the past and in another reality

– The reality: Rammstein.

Music is the boat of death that we step into –through-

the music, that guides me in, and unable me to escape again. He’s on the boat

that saves me from all the dead places in my mind.