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Haifisch (English) Lyrics
We hold together [1]
We put up with each other
We stick together
No one will slow us down
We remain loyal to you
We stand by that
We follow the rules
if we are allowed to rule
And the shark, it has tears [2]
And they run down its face
But the shark lives in the water
so no one sees the tears
We keep up the pace
We keep our word
If one (of us) isn't keeping up
we stop right away
We keep our eyes open
We hold each other by the arm
Six hearts that burn
The fire keeps you warm
And the shark, it has tears
And they run down its face
But the shark lives in the water
so no one sees the tears
In the depths it is lonely
And so many a tear flows [3]
And that is why the water
in the seas is salty
They can think whatever
they want about us
We keep each other harmless [4]
We will never stop
And the shark...
In the depths it is lonely
And so many a tear flows
And that is why the water
in the seas is salty
And the shark...
[1] The song uses the verb "halten" in may different ways (prefixes, etc.) that cannot all be translated with the same verb in English so most of the repetition is lost in translation.
[2] The chorus was inspired by the song "Die Moritat von Mackie Messer" ("Mack the Knife") from the Die Dreigroschenoper (The Threepenny Opera) by Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill.
Part of the original song:
Und der Haifisch, der hat Zähne
Und die trägt er im Gesicht
Und MacHeath, der hat ein Messer
Doch das Messer sieht man nicht
And my translation:
And the shark, it has teeth
And it wears them in its face
And MacHeath, he has a knife
But no one sees the knife
[3] "Zähre" is an archaic word for "tear", even more closely related to the English word than the usual German word, "Träne".
[4] "Schadlos halten" is legal terminology that means "to hold harmless", "to indemnify", and so on, but that doesn't seem to fit here.
We put up with each other
We stick together
No one will slow us down
We stand by that
We follow the rules
if we are allowed to rule
And they run down its face
But the shark lives in the water
so no one sees the tears
We keep our word
If one (of us) isn't keeping up
we stop right away
We hold each other by the arm
Six hearts that burn
The fire keeps you warm
And they run down its face
But the shark lives in the water
so no one sees the tears
And so many a tear flows [3]
And that is why the water
in the seas is salty
they want about us
We keep each other harmless [4]
We will never stop
And so many a tear flows
And that is why the water
in the seas is salty
[1] The song uses the verb "halten" in may different ways (prefixes, etc.) that cannot all be translated with the same verb in English so most of the repetition is lost in translation.
Und der Haifisch, der hat Zähne
Und die trägt er im Gesicht
Und MacHeath, der hat ein Messer
Doch das Messer sieht man nicht
And the shark, it has teeth
And it wears them in its face
And MacHeath, he has a knife
But no one sees the knife
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This is a very, very bad translation. It's all wrong. How did you translate this? Google Translator?
I tried my best, here's my improvement (translated analogous):
I tried my best, here's my improvement (translated analogous):
We hold together we endure each other we close ranks No one stops us
We hold together we endure each other we close ranks No one stops us
We pledge allegiance to you we stand fast to it we stand to the rules if you let us rule
We pledge allegiance to you we stand fast to it we stand to the rules if you let us rule
And the shark, he has tears And they run from his face, But the shark lives in the water so the tears you cannot see
And the shark, he has tears And they run from his face, But the shark lives in the water so the tears you cannot see
We keep the pace We keep our word; If one cannot keep up, we abrubtly stop
We keep the pace We keep our word; If one cannot keep up, we abrubtly stop
We keep our eyes open, we stick together six hearts that burn the fire keeps you warm...
We keep our eyes open, we stick together six hearts that burn the fire keeps you warm
And the shark, he has tears And they run from his face, But the shark lives in the water so the tears you cannot see
It's lonely in the depth and many a teardrop falls that's the reason why the ocean is so saline
One can think of us whatever you want; we recoup ourselves we never hold still.
And the shark, he has tears And they run from his face, But the shark lives in the water so the tears you cannot see
It's lonely in the depth and many a teardrop falls that's the reason why the ocean is so saline
And the shark, he has tears And they run from his face, But the shark lives in the water so the tears you cannot see
this translation fits better. it's from jerry wiliams, from herzelied.com We hold together [1] We put up with each other We stick together No one will slow us down
We remain loyal to you We stand by that We follow the rules if we are allowed to rule
And the shark, it has tears [2] And they run down its face But the shark lives in the water so no one sees the tears
We keep up the pace We keep our word If one (of us) isn't keeping up we stop right away
We keep our eyes open We hold each other by the arm Six hearts that burn The fire keeps you warm
And the shark, it has tears And they run down its face But the shark lives in the water so no one sees the tears
In the depths it is lonely And so many a tear flows [3] And that is why the water in the seas is salty
They can think whatever they want about us We keep each other harmless [4] We will never stop
And the shark...
In the depths it is lonely And so many a tear flows And that is why the water in the seas is salty
And the shark... [1] The song uses the verb "halten" in may different ways (prefixes, etc.) that cannot all be translated with the same verb in English so most of the repetition is lost in translation.
[2] The chorus was inspired by the song "Die Moritat von Mackie Messer" ("Mack the Knife") from the Die Dreigroschenoper (The Threepenny Opera) by Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill.
Part of the original song: Und der Haifisch, der hat Zähne Und die trägt er im Gesicht Und MacHeath, der hat ein Messer Doch das Messer sieht man nicht
And my translation: And the shark, it has teeth And it wears them in its face And MacHeath, he has a knife But no one sees the knife
[3] "Zähre" is an archaic word for "tear", even more closely related to the English word than the usual German word, "Träne".
[4] "Schadlos halten" is legal terminology that means "to hold harmless", "to indemnify", and so on, but that doesn't seem to fit here.
that being said, it's probably about the band, how they're viewed by everyone else as being dangerous, but really they are just harmless.
@damacles It isn't clear why "hold harmless" seems a bad fit to translate "Schadlos halten" in this song but your footnote made me wonder if you knew the phrase "hold harmless" is also a legal term in English, used just the same way as its German counterpart. That makes it exactly the right fit in an English version of the song, especially as it restores a "halten/hold" word repeated in the song, otherwise lost as you discuss in your first footnote.
@damacles It isn't clear why "hold harmless" seems a bad fit to translate "Schadlos halten" in this song but your footnote made me wonder if you knew the phrase "hold harmless" is also a legal term in English, used just the same way as its German counterpart. That makes it exactly the right fit in an English version of the song, especially as it restores a "halten/hold" word repeated in the song, otherwise lost as you discuss in your first footnote.
Lemme know if I'm way off base on this, please....
Lemme know if I'm way off base on this, please. You've done a nice job with a song whose deceptively "simple" phrasing is really a subtle and complex bit of poetry ... and not at all easy to translate.