A quick translation of
some Rainald Grebe lyrics. I chose these ones because they rely more
on concepts and wit than on wordplay and rhyme. Corrections welcome.
Dear motorway, I’m
going to lick your central reservation
A bath in the day, I
think I’ve earned that
Bottom line – which
line? – it was a good year, a good year
Tralala
Another company car...
Always left, always left! [ie overtaking]
And the jacket in its
foil
Yeah, Peter, Peter,
clock kilometers, Peter.
My God how everything’s
shaken up and down in this country
30 year olds, 40 year
olds, what they put away, awesome, awesome!
Go on ask the satnav,
when are we in Osnabruck
The satnav is broken,
ticka ticka ticka ticka tick!
The hedgehog tells
the hare: lame rabbit,
I’ll prick you
with my little speedo needle!
We start the day with a
delicious coffee and a working breakfast
Swallow it! Chop chop!
The receipt in the box, you can claim it back, claim it back
I swear, my girlfriend
and me, it’s just a working relationship
Come on, give us a
kiss, a kiss, kisses you can claim them back, claim them back
You’ve gotta fuck,
fuck, the Ministry of Labour said
Go on get fucking, get
fucking, plenty fuckee you get a special year-end bonus
I look at old people
and think: “They’ve got it behind them”
I look at little kids
and think: “Look forward, look forward to what’s coming!”
The hedgehog tells
the hare: lame rabbit, [a ref. to the Grimm fairytale]
I’ll prick you
with my little speedo needle!
We’re calling from
the prime of life
Calling from the
prime of life
I’m normal. I’m
normal
Calling from the
prime of life
Calling from the
prime of life
Teteretetet
OK that’s what it
is, right? That’s normal!
The
customer is the measure of all things – oh right! –
What
we do we do just for him.
Now
is the time, if you haven’t yet
Then
you never will
Yeah,
yeah, you wanted to just look around in life a bit more –
Sure,
the sun shines so nice in your back yard –
Are
you dumb? No! No!
We
are now we’re the ones who, who are standing at the machine
Produce,
produce, I want to see your backs in it,
backs in it
The
35 year old stutterer makes 35 year old promises –
The
35 year old criminal does 35 year old crimes –
“I’ll
do my best tomorrow” is New Year already
“I’ll
do my best tomorrow” is New Year already
It
was it was it was a good year
Great buffets, and the eggs still recognizable as eggs! ["eggs" here also = "balls"]
If
you want let’s meet in August for a coffee
“How do you do?” “How do you do?” How do I do what?
Those
with work complain they’ve got so much much much much much
Those
with none complain they’ve got none none none none none
At Penny and at Plus there’s organic really cheap cheap, oh I
need it!
When
every tramp can eat healthy, yeah, then I don’t know
Have
you got time for kids, have you time for a boyfriend?
No!
No! No! You don’t need Powerpoint to get it!
The hedgehog tells
the hare: lame rabbit,
I’ma prick you
with my little speedo needle!
We’re calling from
the prime of life
Calling from the
prime of life
Teteretetet
I love Berlin... I
love normality!
I wanted to do so much
Now the day’s already
done
So many important
things
Not today I’ll stay
at home
I wrote three
bestsellers
And built four dams
Grated so much cheese
Chewed off so many ears
My jets have jetted
all around
From here via Munich
to Milan
And I still haven’t
saved the world
So another
saviour can
It’s good, it’s
good, it’ll be over soon.
No fuss, no howling
at the moon.
It’s good. I count
the sheep
Until I finally
sleep.
When will the
sandman come to call
To sail my boat along the wall?
And the volcano's extinguished
The chip pans on
standby
Even in far-off Baikolo
The rockets have the
day off
And hell is yawning
sleepily
In the Great White’s
mouth
Just an untiring hammer thrower
Still spins
himself around
My jets have jetted
all around
From here via Munich
to Milan
And I still haven’t
saved the world
So then let someone
else, someone else...
It’s good, it’s
good, it’ll be over soon,
No fuss, no howling
at the moon.
It’s good. I count
the sheep
Until I finally
sleep.
When will the
sandman come to call
To sail my boat along the wall?
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