Резултати претраге

Fatherland

Father, is that really true,
Were you really a socialist in the 30s?
Were you really in the resistance,
Did you fight against your own fatherland?
Father, I have to be ashamed,
I want an other name,
At school, you can't believe how embarrassing that is,
They call you a communist.
 
And the boy dreams of law and order,
Of a healthy, straight march,
And in his mind, he hears them marching,
And in his mind, he's already marching with them.
 
And the father doesn't know what to do,
This is how far it has come with the cowering,
With hunting communists and occupational bans1
And 'economic miracle'2 and employment problems.
You fight against all this rubbish for your whole life
And then, in return, they ruin your son.
 
And the father takes a night time
And tells the boy about the inhumanity,
About war and concentration camps, about the people's cowardice,
And he shouts: 'beware, they3 are spreading again soon!'
Then the boy packs his stuff,
Says: 'father, you make me laugh,
You can read it everywhere:
It was actually very different.'
 
And then he dreams about high boots
And about men made of steel and granite,
And in his mind, he hears trumpets,
And in his mind, he's already marching with them.
 
And the father doesn't know what to do,
This is how far it has come with the cowering,
With hunting communists and occupational bans
And 'economic miracle' and employment problems.
You fight against all this rubbish for your whole life
And then, in return, they ruin your son.
 
And a few weeks later the boy stands in front of the door
And trembles and whispers: 'It's not my fault,
They are serious, they build grenades,
They talk about Volkssturm4 and assassinations.
Father, I have to be ashamed,
I want an other name,
We did - I almost don't dare to say it -
Last night, in a dispute, beat a man to death.'
 
And the father thinks about back then,
Hears the cruel boots marching,
And in the minds, they are still marching,
And it can happen again as soon as tomorrow.
 
And like so many others he gets angry,
What's become of Germany again?
With hunting communists and occupational bans
And 'economic miracle' and employment problems.
You fight against all this rubbish for your whole life
And then, in return, they ruin your children.
 

• 1. Communists were/are subject to bans on getting a job in their learned profession in (West) Germany.
• 2. Well-known German propaganda phrase
• 3. the Nazis
• 4. Nazi propaganda phrase designed to rally militias when the war was already lost

You Are So Ugly

Together I've lived way too long
with the same woman in the same burrow,
paying off my laps of life to her.
Always the same struggles for supremacy,
always the same duties at night.
I'm getting feeble and my brain is running out.
 
Our love got lost like a handkerchief,
and when she talks to me I'm standing outside of myself.
Only sometimes when I dream, I am reborn,
I play the strong man, and then I tell her:
 
You are so ugly that it's hard to bear,
your gait and smile do bother me,
so does the way you look at me.
You are so ugly that it's hard to bear,
your decency annoys me, and since long
it upsets me that you attract me,
that you still attract me.
 
It's true, I am a subordinate,
the world feels like glue,
and life is running past me full of lust.
The same duties day by day,
a shot glass of freedom, as agreed,
instead of being a hero I'm a wimp.
 
Then friends arrive, besieging my time.
The same old sayings, and I'm playing with my toes,
instead of leaping up and furiously standing wide
in front of them, so they can clearly hear each word:
 
You are so ugly that it's hard to bear,
and your childish songs of happiness and friendship kill me.
You are so ugly that it's hard to bear,
and your ridiculous urge to laugh with me, is so stupid,
so terribly stupid.
 
Together I've lived way too long
with the same woman in the same burrow,
paying off my laps of life to her.
The same cowardice each day,
concealing what you want to say.
I'm even running out of my heroic dreams.
 
And somewhen she will ask me, that's for sure,
why I kept running from myself all the time.
I will be speechless and, as always, will be silent,
and then she'll tell me, standing up in front of me in victory:
 
You are so ugly that it's hard to bear,
your gait and smile do bother me,
so does the way you look at me.
You are so ugly that it's hard to bear,
but since a long time it satisfies me,
that finally you don't attract me any longer,
that finally you don't attract me any longer.
 

To My Children

Now you are grown up, will soon leave our house,
your childhood passed rapidly by,
no, it's not yet over for dad and mom,
they still have some other desires.
 
Although, I'd have gladly held them back,
those moments, too precious to waste,
but fugacity of time nobody can mold,
according to their own petty taste.
 
So, what can I hand you as a gift on your way,
that you'll master now on your own?
My hope, that on each and every day
my love will not leave you alone.
 
I've never been a man of high moral standards.
When are children good, when bad?
Children are innocent, keep them clear
from oppression and moral fear.
 
You are a miracle, like everyone,
born out of absolute beauty.
Our world would be more peaceful indeed,
if this knowledge became worldwide duty.
 
I've never been perfect, you know me,
failure is my second name.
In the best case we used to be amused,
when perfect parents came up.
 
What have I done wrong, what was right?
Yes, you were only lent to me.
I will not beat around the bush, 1
education was never important to me.
 
Education what for? For ambition, for greed?
For being boss in a well payed position?
You know my heart is wide open
for dreamers and losers in any case.
 
There's only one single big request that I have,
please listen to me and conform:
No matter what they promise you, my child,
never wear a uniform!
 
It will not be easy, the times they are hard,
they will throw spanners in your works. 2
I hope that in any hardship and pain
my unconditional love will help.
 
It is all I have and all I can give,
no bulging bank accounts, but
we keep those moments of beauty when
together we happily basked.
 
Don't worry about your father, 'cause now
it's time for your very own life.
I am grateful to you, because from you I learned,
to give without expectation.
 

• 1. Idiom: Um den heißen Brei herumreden
• 2. Idiom: Sand ins Getriebe streuen