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.