Vaterland [English translation]

Father, is that really true,

Were you really a socialist in the 30s?

Were you really in the resistance,

Did you fight against your own fatherland?

Father, I have to be ashamed,

I want an other name,

At school, you can't believe how embarrassing that is,

They call you a communist.

And the boy dreams of law and order,

Of a healthy, straight march,

And in his mind, he hears them marching,

And in his mind, he's already marching with them.

And the father doesn't know what to do,

This is how far it has come with the cowering,

With hunting communists and occupational bans1

And "economic miracle"2 and employment problems.

You fight against all this rubbish for your whole life

And then, in return, they ruin your son.

And the father takes a night time

And tells the boy about the inhumanity,

About war and concentration camps, about the people's cowardice,

And he shouts: "beware, they3 are spreading again soon!"

Then the boy packs his stuff,

Says: "father, you make me laugh,

You can read it everywhere:

It was actually very different."

And then he dreams about high boots

And about men made of steel and granite,

And in his mind, he hears trumpets,

And in his mind, he's already marching with them.

And the father doesn't know what to do,

This is how far it has come with the cowering,

With hunting communists and occupational bans

And "economic miracle" and employment problems.

You fight against all this rubbish for your whole life

And then, in return, they ruin your son.

And a few weeks later the boy stands in front of the door

And trembles and whispers: "It's not my fault,

They are serious, they build grenades,

They talk about Volkssturm4 and assassinations.

Father, I have to be ashamed,

I want an other name,

We did - I almost don't dare to say it -

Last night, in a dispute, beat a man to death."

And the father thinks about back then,

Hears the cruel boots marching,

And in the minds, they are still marching,

And it can happen again as soon as tomorrow.

And like so many others he gets angry,

What's become of Germany again?

With hunting communists and occupational bans

And "economic miracle" and employment problems.

You fight against all this rubbish for your whole life

And then, in return, they ruin your children.

1. Communists were/are subject to bans on getting a job in their learned profession in (West) Germany.2. Well-known German propaganda phrase3. the Nazis4. Nazi propaganda phrase designed to rally militias when the war was already lost