This is a hauntingly beautiful song about introspection, specifically about looking back at a relationship that started bad and ended so poorly, that the narrator wants to go back to the very beginning and tell himself to not even travel down that road. I believe that the relationship started poorly because of the lines:
"Take me back to the night we met:When the night was full of terrors: And your eyes were filled with tears: When you had not touched me yet"
So, the first night was not a great start, but the narrator pursued the relationship and eventually both overcame the rough start to fall in love with each other:
"I had all and then most of you"
Like many relationships that turn sour, it was not a quick decline, but a gradual one where the narrator and their partner fall out of love and gradually grow apart
"Some and now none of you"
Losing someone who was once everything in your world, who you could confide in, tell your secrets to, share all the most intimate parts of your life, to being strangers with that person is probably one of the most painful experiences a person can go through. So Painful, the narrator wants to go back in time and tell himself to not even pursue the relationship.
This was the perfect song for "13 Reasons Why"
A small human only pretends to die
it wanted to be completely alone
the small heart stood still for hours
so they decided it was dead
it is being buried in wet sand
with a music box in its hand
The first snow covers the grave
it woke the child very softly
in a cold winter night
the small heart is awakened
As the frost flew into the child
it wound up the music box
a melody in the wind
and the child sings from the ground
Up and down, rider **
and no angel climbs down
my heart does not beat anymore
only the rain cries on the grave
up and down, rider
a melody in the wind
my heart does not beat anymore
and the child sings from the ground
The cold moon, in full magnificence
it hears the cries in the night
and no angel climbs down
only the rain cries on the grave
Between hard oak boards
it will play with the music box
a melody in the wind
and the child sings from the ground
Up and down, rider
and no angel climbs down
my heart does not beat anymore
only the rain cries on the grave
up and down, rider
a melody in the wind
my heart does not beat anymore
and the child sings from the ground
Up and down, rider
my heart does not beat anymore
On Totensonntag they heard
this melody from god's field
then they unearthed it
they saved the small heart in the child
Up and down, rider
a melody in the wind
my heart does not beat anymore
and the child sings on the ground
up and down, rider
and no angel climbs down
my heart does not beat anymore
only the rain cries on the grave
it wanted to be completely alone
the small heart stood still for hours
so they decided it was dead
it is being buried in wet sand
with a music box in its hand
The first snow covers the grave
it woke the child very softly
in a cold winter night
the small heart is awakened
As the frost flew into the child
it wound up the music box
a melody in the wind
and the child sings from the ground
Up and down, rider **
and no angel climbs down
my heart does not beat anymore
only the rain cries on the grave
up and down, rider
a melody in the wind
my heart does not beat anymore
and the child sings from the ground
The cold moon, in full magnificence
it hears the cries in the night
and no angel climbs down
only the rain cries on the grave
Between hard oak boards
it will play with the music box
a melody in the wind
and the child sings from the ground
Up and down, rider
and no angel climbs down
my heart does not beat anymore
only the rain cries on the grave
up and down, rider
a melody in the wind
my heart does not beat anymore
and the child sings from the ground
Up and down, rider
my heart does not beat anymore
On Totensonntag they heard
this melody from god's field
then they unearthed it
they saved the small heart in the child
Up and down, rider
a melody in the wind
my heart does not beat anymore
and the child sings on the ground
up and down, rider
and no angel climbs down
my heart does not beat anymore
only the rain cries on the grave
Lyrics submitted by John M
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wow, I gotta say, this is a poor translation of this song. Please check out the band's website for the Jeremy Williams translations, they are much better. btw, Mensch is better translated as person, and is used more commonly in the german language than in english. So my understanding of this song is this: a small child is put to rest, although his soul seems to remain. This spirit is portrayed perfectly as a child singing a children's song. It is obvious that the soul is not ascending to heaven (und kein Engel steigt herab) and the fact that no one is 'crying' on the grave gives a feeling of loneliness. As the song nears it's ending, someone finally hears the child and saves it. At this point it becomes apparent that the child is being used metaphorically, to show that although a person might want to be alone, he/she might find him/herself lonely and afraid, especially of death. Rammstein's clever way of changing the song's meaning at the very end. Definately one of my favorites though :P