Despite popular belief that this song is about torturing someone else, or being about a couple's relationship, it is describing self-mutilation, not mutilation of another person. Whether this is literal or figurative is debatable, but that the relationship is between the mind and body is not. The person is punishing his body for personal reasons, and Rammstein makes this clear several times throughout the song.
Ich seh' im Spiegel dein Gesicht is probably the giveaway here. He sees his own face in the mirror.
Du bist das Schiff, ich der Kapitän. The body is the vessel, the speaker's mind (also can be seen as the soul) is the narrator who is controlling what is going on.
Some other wordplay that most people don't catch on to is "Tut mir nicht leid" means "I'm not sorry," but the words literally mean "It doesn't pain me," so basically hes saying "I do you harm, it doesn't pain me." Rammstein always has double meanings hidden in their work. It is what comes from having a true poet as frontman and songwriter. I love it.
Despite popular belief that this song is about torturing someone else, or being about a couple's relationship, it is describing self-mutilation, not mutilation of another person. Whether this is literal or figurative is debatable, but that the relationship is between the mind and body is not. The person is punishing his body for personal reasons, and Rammstein makes this clear several times throughout the song.
Ich seh' im Spiegel dein Gesicht is probably the giveaway here. He sees his own face in the mirror. Du bist das Schiff, ich der Kapitän. The body is the vessel, the speaker's mind (also can be seen as the soul) is the narrator who is controlling what is going on.
Some other wordplay that most people don't catch on to is "Tut mir nicht leid" means "I'm not sorry," but the words literally mean "It doesn't pain me," so basically hes saying "I do you harm, it doesn't pain me." Rammstein always has double meanings hidden in their work. It is what comes from having a true poet as frontman and songwriter. I love it.