Moskau (Rammstein song)

Reise, Reise by Rammstein

This article is about the song by Rammstein. For the song by Dschinghis Khan, see Moskau (Dschinghis Khan song).

Moskau is the seventh track on German heavy metal band Rammstein's 2004 Reise, Reise album. Rumored to have originally been intended as a duet with Yulia Volkova of Russian pop duo t.A.T.u., it instead features the vocals of Viktoria Fersh, whose voice bears a strong resemblance to Volkova's. Many (perhaps even most) sources say that it is t.A.T.u. who perform the additional vocals, but this can be clearly seen to be untrue by checking artist listing on the second to last page of the Reise Reise lyrics booklet.

The song refers to the Russian capital of Moscow. The track features two perspectives on the city: its beauty and culture, as well as its less florid undercurrents of corruption.

Lyrics

The opening verse to Moskau, representing the greatness of the city, follows.

Это песня о самом прекрасном городе в мире – Москва!

Which translates into English as:

This is a song about the most beautiful city in the world – Moscow!

The song is about the city of Moscow, and its beauty and unique sites. The city is continuously referred to as a prostitute, for example, in the first verse:

Original	Translated
Diese Stadt ist eine Dirne Hat rote Flecken auf der Stirn Ihre Zähne sind aus Gold Sie ist fett und doch so hold Ihr Mund fällt mir zu Tale wenn ich sie dafür bezahle Sie zieht sich aus doch nur für Geld Die Stadt die mich in Atem hält	This city is a prostitute She has red spots on her forehead Her teeth are made of gold She's fat and yet so lovely Her mouth falls to my valley when I pay her for it She takes off her clothes but only for money The city that keeps me in suspense

The song continues this theme, with the exception of the (relatively simple) chorus, which goes combines Russian and German to say:

Original	Translated
Moskau Раз, два, три! Moskau Посмотри! Пионеры там идут, песни Ленину поют.	Moscow One, two, three! Moscow Look! Pioneers go there, to sing songs to Lenin.

In the song's coda, Till and Fersh go back and forth singing phrases with similar meanings. At first these seem like simple translations, but audiences familiar with both languages will note the different connotations. Fersh's lines are delivered as those of a typical pop song dealing with love, whereas Till's have a more explicit and sadistic undertone. For example:

Fersh: Kогда ты предо мной лежишь (When you lie with me)

Till: Wenn du vor mir niederkniest (When you kneel before me)

Fersh: Kогда со мною говоришь (When you talk to me)

Till: Wenn du mich mit dem Mund berührst (When you touch me with your mouth)

Also of note is that several of the German words used, like "Dirne" or "hold" (fair) are archaisms primarily known to current generations through fairy tales and other Middle Ages stories; they are, however, understood without problems by most native speakers, and don't strike one as particularly "old" in the context of the song. The spelling "Tale" is the poetic variant of "Tal", which is quite commonly used for rhyming, syllable count or other poetic purposes. Again, native speakers will not find this variation the least bit odd.

Trivia

"Moskau" is also the name of a hit 1979 single from Disco/Glam group Dschinghis Khan. A recently discovered music video has led to the song becoming a recent Internet fad.

External links

• The Official Rammstein Website (English)
• Lyrics and Translation of Moskau
• Moskau performance