Sometimes a tattoo is just a tattoo... I would take it as a symbol for rape. There is absolutely no prove for that point. Bodenski is not a fan of telling people his interpretation of the lyrics because people tend to belive any other point of view is wrong. Some people even interpret the girl killed herself at the end when she was standing lonely near the water. Though even Bodenski said she was just supposed to stand there lonely.
Here is what I belive the song is about:
The song is basically just about growing up (as I later found out this was once even vertified by Bodenski even though I cant tell you where he said that) and starting to make your own choices. So the girl choses not to do what her parents tell her to do anymore and runs away. She gets to the stranger who prints tattoos. She asks him to give to get her roses as a tattoo. In the past tattoos often ended up in a person dieing because they bleeded a lot so the stranger didnt wanted to do it even though he was a "Meister" in this art. But as the girl kept asking him to do it he couldnt resist anymore and did it. At this point I'd like to point out that I do see the hint for the sexual intercourse and it might be true and so she MIGHT have offered him to sleep with him so he couldnt resist her bidding any more. By trying this she gets the roses (something she wants) but also learns there always is a price to pay in life. The "unkown pain". It isnt neccesaryly a realy pain but maybe something more like the pain of loosing your childly innocence (not sexually (at least not primary) but more like the uncareing type of innocence). She realizes how hard live can be but also realizes she is unable to go back. So she feels a bit lonely "standing lonely near the waters". The prize for making your own decicions always is your innocence. The Meister might reasemmble something the possibility to design your own live more than just the ordinary guy who does tattoos. Its like saying: Ok, you get to chose what you do in your live but there is a price. Your inncence (once again you can take it sexually though, for reasons of neutrality I do prefer not taking that part into account).
Sometimes a tattoo is just a tattoo... I would take it as a symbol for rape. There is absolutely no prove for that point. Bodenski is not a fan of telling people his interpretation of the lyrics because people tend to belive any other point of view is wrong. Some people even interpret the girl killed herself at the end when she was standing lonely near the water. Though even Bodenski said she was just supposed to stand there lonely. Here is what I belive the song is about:
The song is basically just about growing up (as I later found out this was once even vertified by Bodenski even though I cant tell you where he said that) and starting to make your own choices. So the girl choses not to do what her parents tell her to do anymore and runs away. She gets to the stranger who prints tattoos. She asks him to give to get her roses as a tattoo. In the past tattoos often ended up in a person dieing because they bleeded a lot so the stranger didnt wanted to do it even though he was a "Meister" in this art. But as the girl kept asking him to do it he couldnt resist anymore and did it. At this point I'd like to point out that I do see the hint for the sexual intercourse and it might be true and so she MIGHT have offered him to sleep with him so he couldnt resist her bidding any more. By trying this she gets the roses (something she wants) but also learns there always is a price to pay in life. The "unkown pain". It isnt neccesaryly a realy pain but maybe something more like the pain of loosing your childly innocence (not sexually (at least not primary) but more like the uncareing type of innocence). She realizes how hard live can be but also realizes she is unable to go back. So she feels a bit lonely "standing lonely near the waters". The prize for making your own decicions always is your innocence. The Meister might reasemmble something the possibility to design your own live more than just the ordinary guy who does tattoos. Its like saying: Ok, you get to chose what you do in your live but there is a price. Your inncence (once again you can take it sexually though, for reasons of neutrality I do prefer not taking that part into account).