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Berlin, Without Return Lyrics
Do you spend your whole life trying to get back home?
Where do you go?
Keen old eyes unfold you in a kodachrome,
And feelings show.
Oh what do you know, baby
What do you know?
What do you know about where I come from?
What do you know?
Tell me, what do you know?
About who I am?
When I see you naked, I see more than the flesh.
Do you see the same thing?
Entertainment value,
No, I couldn't care less.
The feeling's high.
And you were so young, baby.
You were so young.
Dragging your feet in the face of creation.
I was so young,
Yeah, we were so young.
And still there was you, the center of me.
Oh, and still there was you, the center of me.
I don't know you, baby.
You don't know me.
We are just victims of the same situation.
Baby's big war,
Tell what you die for.
We were just born to lose this life.
Could we please get married?
Do this just for us.
The way we would do.
It doesn't make much sense, but maybe nothing does.
It never will.
And these gears years keep turning,
These lives keep burning,
And the love keeps changing around you.
Stuck in one place,
Painting your face
The color of milk,
The color of sky,
The colors of you,
The colors don't lie.
And I don't know you, baby.
You don't know me.
We are just victims of the same situation.
Baby's big war,
Tell what you die for.
Urges grow cold, but the feeling stays.
And what do you know?
Tell me, what do you know?
You don't know me,
Don't you question my love.
And what do you know?
Tell me, what do you know?
You don't know me,
Don't you question my love.
Where do you go?
Keen old eyes unfold you in a kodachrome,
And feelings show.
What do you know?
What do you know about where I come from?
What do you know?
Tell me, what do you know?
About who I am?
Do you see the same thing?
Entertainment value,
No, I couldn't care less.
The feeling's high.
You were so young.
Dragging your feet in the face of creation.
I was so young,
Yeah, we were so young.
And still there was you, the center of me.
Oh, and still there was you, the center of me.
You don't know me.
We are just victims of the same situation.
Baby's big war,
Tell what you die for.
We were just born to lose this life.
Do this just for us.
The way we would do.
It doesn't make much sense, but maybe nothing does.
It never will.
These lives keep burning,
And the love keeps changing around you.
Stuck in one place,
Painting your face
The color of milk,
The color of sky,
The colors of you,
The colors don't lie.
You don't know me.
We are just victims of the same situation.
Tell what you die for.
Urges grow cold, but the feeling stays.
Tell me, what do you know?
You don't know me,
Don't you question my love.
Tell me, what do you know?
You don't know me,
Don't you question my love.
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just to add what is said in german before the song begins
Woman: "Also was willst du mir sagen?" (so, what do you want to tell me?) Man: "...dass es mir leid tut" (....that i'm sorry) Woman: "Das hast du schon gesagt am Telefon" (you said that already on the phone) Man: "Ich hatte heute einen schlechten Tag und ich weiß auch nicht was mit mir los ist" (i had a bad day and i don't know whats wrong with me) Woman: "Na, dann solltest du vielleicht herausfinden was mit dir los ist. Du hast mich verletzt und ich weiß nicht warum..." (well, probably you should figure out whats wrong with you then. You hurted me and i don't know why)
i had to mention that this is one of my favorite line ever-
"And I don't know you, baby. You don't know me. We are just victims of the same situation."
it just reminds me of when i was on a date and we were in a pretty bad car accident that night. we really didn't know each other (as it was just a second date), but we sort of forced this relationship because we were "just victims of the same situation."
love it
I'm pretty sure the third line is:
"Keen old eyes unfold you in a kodachrome"
It's a type of film, specifically an old type. It was first manufactured in 1935, which would put it in time for a picture to be taken in Berlin prior to World War II.
Fixed. Sorry it took so long.
Fixed. Sorry it took so long.
Well, I'll comment. I love this song, especially the "We are just victims of the same situation."
It seems to be about a couple in a war. They say they're in love and want to get married, but that might just be because of their dire circumstances. Their lives might end soon, so why not? I just get this sense from the song that their love might not be deep, and they're likely rushing into things, but who could really blame them?
"They say they're in love and want to get married, but that might just be because of their dire circumstances. Their lives might end soon" ---- could be. the "without return" in the title could suggest that. also since he sings about kodachrome which was a film manufactured in 1935 and pretty much used during the 40s it could suggest that they're stuck in ww2 in germania aka berlin the reichshaupstadt. maybe the smell what's going to happen and that they can't escape that situation but only take the chance to marry now before it's too late. i wouldn't even think...
"They say they're in love and want to get married, but that might just be because of their dire circumstances. Their lives might end soon" ---- could be. the "without return" in the title could suggest that. also since he sings about kodachrome which was a film manufactured in 1935 and pretty much used during the 40s it could suggest that they're stuck in ww2 in germania aka berlin the reichshaupstadt. maybe the smell what's going to happen and that they can't escape that situation but only take the chance to marry now before it's too late. i wouldn't even think their love isn't deep..maybe just buried under miserable circumstances which often tends to make you feel and act like your love is not strong anymore. "when i see you naked, i see more than the flesh" and "don't question my love" pretty much says it.
"They say they're in love and want to get married, but that might just be because of their dire circumstances. Their lives might end soon"
"They say they're in love and want to get married, but that might just be because of their dire circumstances. Their lives might end soon"
could be. the "without return" in the title could suggest that. also since he sings about kodachrome which was a film manufactured in 1935 and pretty much used during the 40s it could suggest that they're stuck in ww2 in germania aka berlin the reichshaupstadt. maybe they smell what's going to happen and that they can't escape that situation but only take the chance to marry now before it's too late. but maybe it's...
could be. the "without return" in the title could suggest that. also since he sings about kodachrome which was a film manufactured in 1935 and pretty much used during the 40s it could suggest that they're stuck in ww2 in germania aka berlin the reichshaupstadt. maybe they smell what's going to happen and that they can't escape that situation but only take the chance to marry now before it's too late. but maybe it's also just meant metaphorical as that is the way he feels. i wouldn't even think their love isn't deep..maybe just buried under miserable circumstances which often tends to make you feel and act like your love is not strong enough anymore. "when i see you naked, i see more than the flesh" and "don't question my love" pretty much says it.
plus: "Do you spend your whole life trying to get back home?" "What do you know about where I come from? What do you know? Tell me, what do you know? About who I am?" "And I don't know you, baby. You don't know me."
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i come from berlin and i heard stories from family how it was when the hometown was bombed..that it was kinda like your whole familiar background and hometown vanished and i bet it feels like you don't know anymore where you belong and where you come from. i often feel like this with my own history, since i come from the gdr and it's vanished and changed so much, too. you feel kinda lost.
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not only do i get the feeling they're lost about where they come from but also lost in general... with themselves and both stuck. so marriage could give you some kind of "home" and stability. people often do such a thing or make a baby in hope it would change things to the better. "It doesn't make much sense, but maybe nothing does." -- could suggest that since they seem pretty hopeless and so they grab for any little straw.
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"When I see you naked, I see more than the flesh."
I'm in love with that line.
I agree with the couple being not in love but getting married anyway because they might not have much longer left. It's an impulsive decision and they like that. No worries.
Unless there's some official lyrics I missed, I think the line is "Kino eyes unfold you in a Kodachrome(TM), the feelings show."
Kino is how you say movie cinema in German. Kodachrome is a type of film. Also I think it's, "The feelings hide," not "high." It makes sense against the previous line where the "feelings show."
Thoughts?
"kino eye" is presumably a specific reference to the soviet film director dziga vertov, who advanced the theory of the same name in the 1920s - basically it's the idea that when we see the world through a camera, the camera becomes an extension of ourselves, like a new mechanical eye. his most famous film was "man with a movie camera", which was partially inspired by an earlier film "berlin: symphony of a city".
i strongly guess the meaning is quite simple. Ramesh moved to Berlin and Voxtrot broke up.
The first boy I've ever loved showed me this song. Back then we didn't really know each other and we had nothing in common but we were both struggling with loneliness and deep sadness inside. He's no longer a part of my life but this song will always remind me of him.