Stein um Stein

Yes, clearly this song is based on the legend of the ArgeÅŸ Monastery, but Rammstein gives us their own interpretation with this one. The original story is somewhat blasphemous because it basically has God telling the mason to kill someone in a horrifying way if he wants the monastery to stand and says that God's efforts can be thwarted. Anyone who uses "God's word" to justify anything you wouldn't wish on your worst enemy--let alone your spouse (there are suggestions if not indications that the mason walls in his wife alive)--is guilty of sacrilege. But I digress.

This version is more likeable and more realistic. Rammstein instead depicts the mason as a psychopath maliciously and gleefully entombing a victim alive ("No one will hear you scream!" indicates the victim is alive). Not just the lyrics but also the sound indicate that the first person is obsessive, sadistic, merciless and remorseless. It enjoys its victim's fear and suffering. When I first listened to this song in a lyrics and translation video on You Tube, I felt like I was watching an episode of "Criminal Minds". I guess Rammstein read or heard the story and felt that only a twisted, evil person would do this, and since such a fate leaves you to die of starvation, dehydration and/or suffocation (or maybe even hypothermia, depending on the time of year), all the while trapped in total darkness and unable to be heard, I heartily agree. Maybe there are a few worse ways to die, but