Grossvater [English translation]

After every quarrel with my mother, my first path was from home to visit you.

And you said, “she's alone, you gotta understand,

you’ll get through it, come on and have a beer.”

Then you told me, all of life is about taking and about giving much more.

After that, one night I took

The few thousand schillings left in your cupboard

to waste it all in a discotheque, but a few days later you asked me for it.

I denied it, cried hysterically, your look was sad, then I confessed

You just said: “C’mon, let’s forget it,

Money can't be that important!”

When you talked about the war, how you faced

The Russians eye to eye

You offered each other a cigarette,

And the hand on the trigger was shaking out of fear

Or your wife, who filled up your ears the whole day with her terrible singing

You just said: “I like her,

I don't have to hear everything she says!”

Grandfather, can't you come over here for a quick cup of coffee?

Grandfather, I want to tell you so much, things I just now finally understand!

Grandfather, you were my first friend and I'll never forget that, Grandfather.

You weren't a superman, but you never pretended to be one either,

Exactly for that reason there somehow was a power.

And the way you lived your life

gave me an inkling of how it might be possible to make it.

Your principle was: first think, have an opinion, then stand up for it.

Never resort to violence, talk everything over, but above all, don't fear anyone.

Grandfather, can't you come over here for a quick cup of coffee?

Grandfather, I want to tell you so much, things I just now finally understand!

Grandfather, you were my first friend and I'll never forget that, Grandfather.