Sonntag auf der Ammerwiese, hütet Gänse brav die Liese Da kommt Jakob angerannt, hält eine Sichel in der Hand Diese schiebt er hin und wieder dem Lieschen unter Rock und Mieder Er will sie kosten, will sie zwingen und der Bub’ wird dazu singen Liebe Liese, lass die Gänse, ich will von deiner Haut probieren Vom Blute rostig ist die Sense, bist du freundlich nicht zu mir Der Jakob darf vom Lieschen lecken und sie wird nach Birne schmecken Sich kleine Härchen aufgestellt, eilen sie zum Weizenfeld In der Goldflut gut versteckt, hat er die Liese angesteckt Hält bis zum Abend sie Eng umschlungen und hat in das Kind gesungen Liebe Liese lass die Gänse, ich will von deiner Haut probieren Vom Blute rostig ist die Sense, bist du freundlich nicht zu mir Liebe Liese lass die Gänse, ich will von deiner Haut probieren Vom Blute rostig ist die Sense, bist du freundlich nicht zu mir Lyric © Rammstein |
Sunday at the Meadow Bunting Geese look after Liese (as she) behaves Then Jakob comes running up holding a sickle in his hand This, he pushes here and there The “Liese-junior”* under the skirt and panties He wants to taste her, wants to force her and the boy is singing Dear Liese, let the geese be, I want to try your skin The scythe is rusty from the blood, you are not friendly to me. Jakob is allowed to lick Liese and it shall taste like pear Small hairs are drawn, they hurry to the wheatfield. In the gold flood** well hidden He has infected Liese He held her into the evening, embracing her tightly and sung to the child Dear Liese, let the geese be, I want to try your skin The scythe is rusty from the blood, you are not friendly to me. Dear Liese, let the geese be, I want to try your skin The scythe is rusty from the blood, you are not friendly to me. Translation © Affenknecht.com |
* “-chen” is the diminutive suffix. Metaphor for her genitalia.
** a metaphor for the womb
Submited by Caleb Wilson
1) Goldflut must be seen in relation to Weizenfeld because wheatfields are golden. It’s not a a metaphor for the womb.
2) ““-chen” is the diminutive suffix” – Right, but not a metaphor for her genitalia. It is just meant as belittlement.
Alternate Translation… (Key difference: I think by “Angesteckt” he means make a cut on an artery like you would an animal whos blood you have to drain, he then embraces and holds her until later evening).
——–
On a Sunday in the meadows,
Liese sheppards over geese,
Thats when Jakob comes up running,
holds a sickle in his hand
This he nudges now and then
beneath little Lieses skirt and korsett
He wants to try her, wants to force her,
and the boy will sing…
Oh Dear Liese, leave the geese,
I want to taste of your skin.
Blood has turned Sickle rusty,
are you friendly? Not to me.
Jakob’s allowed to lick little Liese
and she will taste just like a pear
As the hairs stand on their skin,
they hurry off to the wheat field.
In fields of gold, well hidden
he has opened (cut) Liese up
He holds her tight till late evening
and sang into the child:
Oh Dear Liese, leave the geese,
I want to taste of your skin.
Blood has turned Sickle rusty,
are you friendly? Not to me.
Oh Dear Liese, leave the geese,
I want to taste of your skin.
Blood has turned Sickle rusty,
are you friendly? Not to me.
Just to touch up Micha’s translation:
On a Sunday in the meadows,
Liese sheppards Geese,
Thats when Jakob comes up running,
holding a sickle in his hand
He nudges it now and then
beneath little Lieses skirt and korsett
He wants to taste her, wants to force her,
and the boy will sing…
Dear Liese, let the geese be,
I want to have the taste of your skin
Blood has turned this Sickle rusty,
You aren’t friendly to me
Jakob’s allowed to lick little Liese
and she will taste just like a pear
As the hairs stand on their skin,
they hurry off to the wheat field.
In fields of gold, well hidden
he has infected Liese
He holds her tightly into the evening, embracing her
and sang to the child:
Dear Liese, let the geese be,
I want to have the taste of your skin
Blood has turned this Sickle rusty,
You aren’t friendly to me
Dear Liese, let the geese be,
I want to have the taste of your skin
Blood has turned this Sickle rusty,
You aren’t friendly to me
Also, “bist du freundlich nicht zu mir” is a question. “Are you not friendly to me?”
Also, this song is an alternative version of “Roter Sand”
“bist Du freundlich nicht zu mir” is just an old poetic way to say “if you are not nice to me”
Liebe Liese, lass die Gänse,
ich will von deiner Haut probieren
Vom Blute rostig ist die Sense,
bist du freundlich nicht zu mir
Oh Dear Liese, leave the geese,
I want to taste of your skin.
Blood will turn the Sickle rusty,
if you are not nice to me.
Neither English, nor German, is my mother’s tongue (in fact it’s Swedish), but I’ve tried to do a translation of my own (using a very old German-Swedish dictionary and the faint memory from my school years).
From this Swedish translation I made one to English.
“Sunday at the field by Ammer
(Ammer is a lake, but might also denote a fruit or a bird)
The good Liese watches over the geese
Then comes Jacob a-running
Holding a scythe in the hand
With this he waves there and again
Little Liese under skirt and girdle (I’m not really sure how, in fact, Jakob is “waving”. Perhaps he waves in front of her face first, then cuts off her cloths, and then cuts her)
Ha wants to taste her, wants to subdue her
And the scoundrel meanwhile begins to sing:
Dear Liese, forget about the geese
I want to taste your skin
Rusty from blood is scythe
Are you friendly not to me
(I can’t fully appreciate this last sentence – but perhaps Jacob is trying to make Liese feel ashamed about making the scythe “dirty”)
Jakob may then lick little Liese
And she is going to have the flavour of a pear
Small fluff will be standing straight
And they hurry to the field of wheat
In the golden river, well hidden
He has stuck Liese down/up
(perhaps with the scythe?)
Holds her tightly wrapped until evening (with his arms or whatever, but probably with his arms)
And has sung to the child: (note the switch in tempus from present to past)
…
“
(again)
One might think about the sentence “Are you friendly not to my”, not as “poetic” but as someone speaking in bad grammar, as to a little child.
I could be a part of his “subduing her”.
The whole song is sung as to children: “Da kommt Jakob angerannt” is somewhat a childish grammar, as well as saying “der Jakob”, as a noun.
By the way, the melody, including the whistle accompaniment, is identical to Roter Sand’s, so it gives an interesting different angle of what may be one situation; when Roter Sand is sung from the view of an adult who fought over his lover and Liese – from a view of some twisted affection.
I got a new interpretation on the sentence: “hat er die Liese angesteckt”
Angestecken might mean something like ”connect to”. “Ein gesteck” is the same as a “connection”, as connecting a cable.
So it probably means that he is penetration her. Thus the song might be about necrophilia, if Liese is dead after his former “waving” with the scythe. Perhaps that’s a form af his final “subduing” her.
So, my mother tongue is german
“angesteckt” means just infected or contaminated.
and in fact there is nor childish language in this song, it’s just a little bit old school (ancient) and poetic. Some would never speak like this in the every day life, but Rammstein sometimes use this way of speaking in their songs.
Whats meant with “und sie wird nach Birne schmecken”? why pear??
i just want to ask one question, Liese is the girl’s name right? is that a popular german name? also its pronounced “Leezuh” more or less, right?
Wouldnt Leibe Leise
mean “Gentle Love”
Because I beleive that Leise does mean Gentle.
and it would also be ironic that the boy in this song is singing “Gentle Love” to the girl he is forcing to have relations with him.
Liese is a german female name. But yes it’s also oldschool. It’s often used in Old german fairy tales, the girl who looks after the geese is very often called “Gänse-Liese” It is a short form from Elisabeth, which was a popular name in the past. I would see this song as a story from old times, also because nowadays noone uses a scythe.
@ramm stein: no “liebe Liese” does not mean gentle love. “liebe” is more like “dear” and Liese is just her name (see above)
@Thuthut: i think this is just meant like, women taste sweet.
, it would have suited better if they used plum, because in german plum also stands for female genitalia.
Doesn’t it seem more fitting to conceive of this song as a deflowering of a virgin? His “sycthe” being his penis and the “blood” from her rent maidenhead. “Cutting” her implies the seduction.
I also do believe this is seduction, not rape. He wants to force himself upon her, but she runs willingly with him into the wheat fields.
now that`s my kind of lyrics
I also am thinking this is about the deflowering of a virgin.
He is being forceful but she is willing.
I think freundlich is being mistranslated here. I think it is intended to mean something far closer to innocent than friendly (but unschuldig wouldn’t really work in the line).
The whistling also is the same as on Roter Sand which has me wondering if the girl talked about in that song is the same as the one in this song.
Is this song about underage sex?
“kleine Härchen aufgestellt” > Herchen aufgestellt?
little gentlemen erectet> refers to….you now what…
Or am i twisted?
“Sense” is not “sickle”, but “scythe” technically speaking. Which makes it even more probable that it is a metaphor for a penis.
“Probieren”, cf “to probe” (I don’t mean that “probieren” literally means “to penetrate”, just a hint as to what nuances are in the word “probieren”).
“Goldflut” could obviously be sperm.
I believe Jakob at first forces him onto her, but after he licks her, her hairs stand on end (=she is aroused) and she follows him to the wheat fields.
That she tastes like pears is probably just a way to say that Jakob thought it was a pleasant experience to lick her, with the pear representing something good and sweet.
“Freundlich” could be the contrast between being a “friend” or something more.
“Das Kind” is mentioned in relation to the “Goldflut” and might have something to do with that he has impregnated her.
I agree with James.
and about the pear, this could be a metaphor for the penis. She’s gonna taste the pear (and not she tastes LIKE pear) which means oral sex or just penetration. what do you think?
Think this is about underage rape…
The translation does have a couple of inaccuracies, but it’s quite decent. The comments on the lyrics, on the contrary, make me wonder whether I should just laugh or… well, I’ll just laugh. It’s utterly stunning what an amount of people who listen to Rammstein just happen to be total retards. While the overall content and metaphors are quite open to interpretation, like if the song has anything to do with a rape or not, though it’s quite evident if you look carefully into it that it just concerns a boy badly desiring a girl, trying to talk her into having sex with him and eventually succeeding (by mutual consent), but necrophilia? Are you nuts? Have you ever heard of metaphor? Seriously, if some people out there seem so lost and mentally-challenged, you’d better stick to listening to something adequate of your intellectual level, Ke$ha, Britney Spears etc., or else please, please, please keep your insightful opinion to yourself because it makes me cringe and offends my brain that such gross idiotic implications can be drawn from this lyrics.
*Elgore & Edrana are completely right. “Vom Blute rostig ist die Sense,
bist du freundlich nicht zu mir” = “Blood will turn the Sickle rusty,
if you are not nice to me.” It’s just a simple first conditional sentence with omitted “if”, which causes inversion, equivalent, for example, to saying “We would have had much fun, had it been not for the rain.” Lies+chen – with ‘chen’ being just an affectionate diminuition here. And “Miede” is indeed something of the corset type garments, not panties.
@Lily,
About the last lines of the chorus; “Vom Blute rostig ist die Sense, bist du freundlich nicht zu mir” does it not matter how it’s written? We’ve assumed that it is written and punctuated this way, but it could be something like “Vom Blute rostig ist die Sense. Bist du freundlich? Nicht zu mir”. Listening to the song, to me it feels like Till isn’t intending the two lines to be related. It would be a contradiction if he were threatening to rape her when they are having consensual sex. Whilst “Bist du freundlich? Nicht zu mir” might not be grammatically accurate, it wouldn’t be the first time Till has manipulated words to rhyme, “make sense” etc. As you say, open to interpretation. Just a thought…
Don’t forget that Fritzl’s daughter, was named Elisabeth…
Dear Lily. Please – go fuck yourself. There are endless possibilities to interpret any song out there, and I think everybody deserves the right to interpret this in their own way, may it be far out of the box. Talking about keeping opinions to yourself while puking out some of your own is plain stupid.
Not that I should talk – complaining about complaints – on the internet. That’s just retarded. I should probably shut up and go to bed.
On the subject, my interpretation is that the song is about rape or loss of virginity in a painfull way. Or maybe screwed-up-talker-kind-of-love. It also sounds to me like the people are young. It is sung/told like a childrens story i feel by Till’s voice. Also having the characters named feels like a typical childrens-story. Notice how the songs about adults often are told in first or second person, with no names to them. That makes this feel kind of “childish” in the storytelling (with fucked up content though). My two cents. Peace.
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