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Strasbourg Lyrics
I'll meet you in West Germany
October 1983
I know that freedom was a lie
I know your husband was a spy
You say that words are impotent
But they can help us pay the rent
I knew for sure there was nothing left
Except the vodka on your breath
We meet in Strasbourg
In Strasbourg
Dann sind wir Helden
We meet in Strasbourg
The courage that your father plucked
From inside a cattle truck
Will help us fix the exit polls
Our children must have rock'n'roll
Surveillance cameras captured dawn
Breaking on the autobahn
I knew for sure our chance was blown
When rifles made you feel at home
We meet in Strasbourg
In Strasbourg
Dann sind wir Helden
We meet in Strasbourg
We meet in Strasbourg
In Strasbourg
Dann sind wir Helden
We meet in Strasbourg
Eins, zwei, drei, vier
Ideas can change the government
But they never listen to our arguments
On TV our friends smashed cement
And pulled down the bastards monuments
I went outside for a cigarette
I could see things I had tried to forget
The news showed us who we had left
And I could smell the vodka on your breath
October 1983
I know that freedom was a lie
I know your husband was a spy
You say that words are impotent
But they can help us pay the rent
I knew for sure there was nothing left
Except the vodka on your breath
In Strasbourg
Dann sind wir Helden
We meet in Strasbourg
From inside a cattle truck
Will help us fix the exit polls
Our children must have rock'n'roll
Surveillance cameras captured dawn
Breaking on the autobahn
I knew for sure our chance was blown
When rifles made you feel at home
In Strasbourg
Dann sind wir Helden
We meet in Strasbourg
We meet in Strasbourg
In Strasbourg
Dann sind wir Helden
We meet in Strasbourg
But they never listen to our arguments
On TV our friends smashed cement
And pulled down the bastards monuments
I went outside for a cigarette
I could see things I had tried to forget
The news showed us who we had left
And I could smell the vodka on your breath
Add your song meanings, interpretations, facts, memories & more to the community.
Yeah! Think the little count in German is cool, very Franz Ferdinand! Think it's about a German girl he's arranged to meet? Then Dann sind wir Helden means Then we are heroes !!!!! Yeah!!!!!
Strasbourg is in France. It is located near the german border in the East of France. In the past, the city was occupied several times by the Germans but is now French since the World War II. Nowadays the german influence in the city is very important (specific dialect, architecture, etc.)
I knew for sure there was nothing left Except the vodka on your breath
that's a coolly clever line..
pretty tragic and grubby lol.
I'm not sure exactly what this song is about because I don't know very much about war history but it's good.
its about a couple trying to get to west germany through Strasbourg, a city in france. no matter how little you know about history, you must know that germany was divided until 1990, and people werent allowed to travel?
I get the impression she is coming from East Germany, hence but the only bit of the east left with her is the Vodka on her breath... and why rifles make her feel at home... somthing along those lines
I think it's about people trying to escape Germany when the Berlin Wall was still raised. Well, that's what they said in an interview once.
Quite possibly the girl is Russian, hence the Vodka, and they have to get to Strasbourg, out of Germany altogether, in order to be happy together. And they'll be heroes for making it across the Berlin Wall undected. But then they get caught and she's being deported back to russia so she spends their last moments looking back at the riots in the city.
Have no idae what t's about but it's by far the best song by them it's got so much energy.
Ahh!!! Are you all blind, read the lyrics and the meaning is obvious, and strong. It is about the anti-Soviet resistance movement in East Germany. They are fixing the 'exit polls,' voting to leave the Warsaw Pact, so that they can have Western music. They were caught by the police/authorities, and held at rifle point, assumedly because they were involved in resistance work They final verse is about the Hungarian uprisings, they were 'our friends' because they were also resisting. And they 'pulled down the bastards monuments' this refered to the iconic statue of Stalin that was pulled down during the uprisings. Dann sind wir Helden means Then we are heroes, because they hope to become independant of the USSR
Extremely late response but maybe someone else who likes this song will pick up from here and run with it --
Extremely late response but maybe someone else who likes this song will pick up from here and run with it --
i think that this explanation comes closest to the intent of the author. But what is the significance of October 1983? The Hungarian Revolt was in 1956, Soviet tanks rolled into Czechoslovakia in 1968. The Russians invaded Afghanistan in 1979. Resistance in Poland began around 1980. But the only significant event in Oct '83 was the Soviets losing Grenada (which this song in not about). Thus, I am guessing, the date must have some personal meaning?
i think that this explanation comes closest to the intent of the author. But what is the significance of October 1983? The Hungarian Revolt was in 1956, Soviet tanks rolled into Czechoslovakia in 1968. The Russians invaded Afghanistan in 1979. Resistance in Poland began around 1980. But the only significant event in Oct '83 was the Soviets losing Grenada (which this song in not about). Thus, I am guessing, the date must have some personal meaning?
Definitely about Germany in the Cold War.
"On TV our friends smashed cement And pulled down the bastards monuments"