Eine Frau, die ich kannte [English translation]

I saw a woman, a woman I used to know

A few years back, when she was still a young girl.

We both learned because you always learn something.

And we learned how much you can hate your job!

We would bump into each other now and then leaving the office.

And on Sundays, we took the bus,

A long ride to the forest, under the sun, to the lake,

Where you don't have to pay.

We both knew well that we would be

Together for just one summer,

How hard on us winter would be and that

Our bodies and our souls would be held fast by the cold weather.

For neither of us owned either boots or furs.

And we wouldn't have known other than

By being outdoors, in the park, on the frozen benches,

How to cultivate our feelings for each other.

She had chosen another guy, and believed

He would get her through the winter better than I would.

Yes, it's always like that, how girls act,

Those who have nothing but their youth!

And just like thousands of other girls, she also believed

That a pot belly evokes a feeling of security.

And that she would, over time, get used to

The grasp of his sticky fingers.

She stayed with him,

But from that time on, winter never left her.

I saw her hands, the chewed fingernails,

The irritated, red cuticles.

And her dull eyes like those of a person

Whose life isn't worth much any more.

Eyes that had long since not had tears,

Those that cleanse dust off the pupils.

Eyes that had long since not had tears,

Those that cleanse dust off the pupils.

• Artist:Hannes Wader
• Album:Der Rattenfänger