Suppose one day1 my head was2 calm and light as a feather
And I came to terms with myself,3 had my head4 free5
If I could finally decide for myself, without it tearing me apart
Would I then be happy (happy), happy (happy)?
If I’d seen the whole world, down to6 the smallest backwater7
Would I still be restless even then8 or would it satisfy me?
Would there be9 a place, at which I’d say: “here I’ll stay until my last day!”?
And would I there10 be happy (happy), happy (happy)?
Man, I myself know, that the world isn’t like that, it is more complicated
Everything is planned out and then the opposite happens
But all this, which almost brings me to despair11
First kills me and then brings me further12
Because everything comes as it must
(And) certainly stays that way until the end
And all that makes me stronger, and perhaps also (makes me)
Happy one day13
Happy one day
Suppose one day, I was already old, (my) hair white
I’d experienced much and learnt even more over time14
If I already knew today,15 what I would know at eighty16
Would I now be happy (happy) happy (happy)?
And if I was always only happy, without grey days17
Everything ran smooth and perfect exactly as if it had been painted over18
If my life took a completely straight course19, without ups and downs
Would it20 then be happy, happy?
Man, I myself know, that the world isn’t like that, it is more complicated
Everything is planned out and then the opposite happens
But all this, which almost brings me to despair
First kills me and then brings me further
Because everything comes as it must
(And) certainly stays that way until the end
And all that makes me stronger, and perhaps also (makes me)
Happy one day
Happy one day
Happy one day
Happy one day
But all this, which almost brings me to despair
First kills me and then brings me further
And because everything comes as it must
(And) certainly stays that way until the end
And all that makes me stronger, and perhaps also (makes me)
Happy one day
1. ”mal angenommen” (I assume “ma’” is an abbreviation for “mal”) literally translates to “time accepted” as in “for a time accepted”, “accept for the moment” or “accept (that) one day”. “Angenommen” comes from the verb “annehmen”=“to accept/assume/suppose” or literally “to take on” (coming from “an”=“on” and “nehmen”=“to take”).2. literally “would be”, but in English the word “suppose” implies “would be” and so only “was” is necessary.3. or “got on with myself”4. literally “skull”5. I assume, given the context of the verse, that he refers to internal conflict, as in “my head was free of internal conflict”6. literally “until”7. ie; out of the way place/town8. ”immer noch immer” literally “always still always”9. literally “is there then”10. in English it would make more sense to structure the sentence as “would I be happy there?”, but I thought the literal translation would be helpful given the repetition of “happy” and the use of this repetition elsewhere in the song.11. literally “where/on which I almost despair”12. as in “it kills me but I keep going/survive”13. ”irgendwann” literally “some when” as in “sometime”, as in “it will make me happy sometime/some day” (I think “one day” makes more sense in English).14. literally “over all the time” ie; “over the course of my life”15. literally “knew all that today”, but I thought it would make more sense like this given the rest of the line16. ie; years old17. ie; always happy and never sad18. ”ausmalen”=“to colour/crayon in” or “blazon”, and “sich ausmalen”=“to envision/imagine/picture”, “aus”=“over”, all implying that his life has been covered over with paintings and imaginings to create a prefect facade without any of the lows of ordinary life19. ”verlaufen”=“to run/proceed/take course”20. ie; his life