Fünf Jahre nicht gesungen [English translation]

I've gone five years without singing1

Half a decade

And you see what happens

And I know it's a shame

It doesn't matter how I was

Or how I'm doing now

On my gravestone it says

"Died at 19:10"

A woman in my kitchen says

"I'm worried about you"

But it's nice how you headbang

And it's nice when you headbang2

And then there's also the state

That always thinks of me

And then I donated my signed book

to the cuckoo3

He said: People like you

Live like a stone

People like you

Are better off alone

I tried everything

It wasn't enough

Alone in the city

Lonely behind the dyke

Give me a pen an paper

And the rest will appear

Life is not a highway

It's the B73

My mother is doing well

Probably better than me

On an old Christmas photo

There's still four of us

The big question on Christmas Eve:

How do you explain to your child

That after 100,000 years, men

Are still apes

And then came the New Year

And it became clear to me

That when the summer begins

Another year dies

See my 8-year-old nephew

As he swings a flare at midnight

I gave it to him

For Christmas

365/24/7

I'd fall in love with you again

Anytime

But I agree with your friends

Let it be

'Case people like me

Are better off alone

I tried everything

It wasn't enough

Alone in the city

Lonely behind the dyke

Give me a pen an paper

And the rest will appear

Life is not a highway

It's the B73

I remember everything

Even the war

A German is only happy

When somebody is lying on the floor

Then he praises himself

And kicks in again

Feels morally superior

Thinks: this is exactly how it should be

This isn't the way to Valhalla

This is Bundesstraße 44

And the bird that fouls its own nest5

Is my favourite animal

In my hand

It feels comfortable

I'm as sad

As Helmut Kohl's

Sons

Evangelically moody

I make my rounds

This is how it will remain

I've gone five years without singing

Let's once more

Scream together:

People like me

Are better off alone

But I like the feeling

That stalks me

When I think

We could have been enough for each other

I still miss you now

And I hope we'll see each other again

Life is not a highway

I tried everything

It wasn't enough

Alone in the city

Lonely behind the dyke

Give me a pen an paper

And the rest will appear

Life is not a highway

It's the B73

1. Lit. "I've haven't sung for five years"2. Bangen as a verb in German has several meanings, I went for the one that made the most sense to me with Thees Uhlmann being a rock musician: https://www.dict.cc/?s=bangen.3. I can't find what this might be a reference to or metaphor for, but will correct this as soon as I find out.4. As a Brit I would call a Bundestraße an A-Road: https://www.dict.cc/?s=Bundesstrasse. I would feel odd calling a specific Bundesstraße by such a British-sounding name though, so I've left this in German.5. Not a specific animal, but a lexical gap in English that demanded the translation sound like it is one: https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Nestbeschmutzer.

• Artist:Thees Uhlmann
• Album:Junkies und Scientologen (2019)