Rammstein

[speed]

I was watching XXX ( an ok but predictable hollywood action movie) and the openng scene of the movie consisted of Rammstein doing their trademard firebreathing act in front of a crowd. Its been a while since Ive listened to Rammstein, and I really cant say I listen to them at all anymore, but I ve always found them to be entertaining- and at least possessing some musical talent. Sure they ripped off Kmfdm, but I give them credit for the whole act they put on.

Anyway I have always liked their harsh german vocals, they sound good- so I was wondering why more European bands dont switch to their native vocals? I can see Kreator, or Sodom using german vocals, it would be perfect.

So the question is, why dont German, Swedish, Norwegian, even Polish and Russian bands switch to their own native vocals? Its not as if the underground metal fan really cares all that much about the lyrics.

 

[Stormwatch]

So the question is, why dont German, Swedish, Norwegian, even Polish and Russian bands switch to their own native vocals? .

Because it sounds fucking stupid? Well Rammstein do anyway - ruins the songs for me.
Enslaved sing some songs in their native language and it sounds alright though.

 

[ffanatic]

A lot of Norwegian bands sing in their native tongue (mostly black metal acts). Norwegian is a cool tongue. To answer your question, I don't know why more bands sing in their native tongue. I remember reading an interview with Rhapsody and they were talking about the first song they wrote in Italian, and how much fun it was because it was easier for them to craft lyrics in Italian than English. Why not write all in Italian in first place? I could finally ignore those awful narration passages. A lot of people in Europe are proficient in English as a second language anyway, so that might be another reason.

 

[Stormwatch]

Sepulturas early lyrics were quite funny as they didn't translate them properly - "The Past Reborns The Storms" anyone?? Still, good songs.

 

[None_So_Vile]

i dont see why bands shouldnt sing in their native language, i dont think it sounds stupid at all, i mean they could think that it sounds stupid singing everything in our language

 

[Wolfenmond]

Well i think that's mainly up to the bands themselves, i don't even care that much since it's more the kind of how the vocals are performed, as the language they're written in, which is importatnt to me...

 

[Niklas]

rammstein's german singing isn't not that they cant speak english.... (they can kind of)
it's because they dont want to go against their herritage..

if i was german i wouldn't want to sing in english... why the fuck should they....

they're just proving a point by going against everyone who sings in english...
most bands sing in english, even if it's not their first language.... for some reason

 

[iAMtheblackwizards]

I think another reason bands choose to sing in english is that because of the fact a lot of europe is proficient in english, it means their lyrics can be enjoyed by a larger audience. Besides, in the US for example, aside from Rammstein, it is VERY hard to market any music that is not in english. That's just what im thinking.

 

[Black Chaosstorm]

even though i'm a sweed, and proud (...), i think swedish lyrics is about the wourst thing a swedish metal band can do. finntroll is a good example. when a song is called "Midnattens Widunder" i cant do anything more then laugh. in english it would be called "the midnight beast". its just that "widunder" isnt even spelled as that. it should be vidunder
in english this song would just be bad. as it is now, if youre a sweed with good taste, this is pathetic.
even if i dislike amercia and its therms of "democracy", english is my second language, which im almost fluid in.
english is a better way of expressing yourself.

 

[opacity]

So the question is, why dont German, Swedish, Norwegian, even Polish and Russian bands switch to their own native vocals? Its not as if the underground metal fan really cares all that much about the lyrics.

german is perhaps good for rap/hip hop (edgy, sharp, pointed) but not for metal songs. some german BM bands have german lyrics and it sounds really r e a l l y stupid;
maybe Dornenreich sound decent, but german just isn't the language for any kind of music except for that rap/hip-hop kind.

 

[speed]

I was in Sweden (stockholm) for two days- and Norway (Oslo) for one day two years ago, and I have to say in both countries everyone spoke perfect English to me. Its the same in Holland- they all speak English too.


Yet, the prices were not very American friendly, beer was like 8 dollars I think when I convert into American dollars . And we ate at a non fancy restruant- and it cost me like 35 bucks for my meal, it was good but damn I could get a gourmet meal over here for those prices. My god, I dont know how anyone can afford to live in Scandinavia. Oh and the cds were pretty expensive as well- I remember getting 5 or 6 cds at some shop on the main pedestrian only street in Stockholm, and it cost me like a hundred dollars.

 

[pinkorag]

english is a better way of expressing yourself

I think this is a very valid point. A lot of languages might have a lot less ways to say something. English has so many more words to use. I think english has 2x or 3x the amount of words that a language like German might have. Also, the fact that English is easy to learn and widely used doesn't hurt.

 

[David Å.]

I´m all for native languages in music! I don't know what bands you listen to, but there are tons of groups out there that are mostly singing in their own tongue.

How about:

Moonsorrow
Vintersorg/Otyg
Månegarm
Sorhin
Odal
Nargaroth
Thyrfing
Windir
Ásmegin
Trelldom
Belenos
Stille Volk
Menhir
Ashen Light
Severnie Vrata
Skyforger
Butterfly Temple
Lunar Aurora
Temnozor
etc.

Not all are very well known, I give you that, but I regard many of them as personal favorites. Of course, I understand both Swedish/Norwegian/Danish perfectly and also German to some extent, but I appreciate French, Finnish and Russian lyrics too.

 

[iAMtheblackwizards]

I think this is a very valid point. A lot of languages might have a lot less ways to say something. English has so many more words to use. I think english has 2x or 3x the amount of words that a language like German might have. Also, the fact that English is easy to learn and widely used doesn't hurt.

Thats a good point, im taking german at my school now (learning it quite well actually but thats irrelivant) and like there are certain verb forms that dont exist. Ill give a great example.

take the german word fahren

literally it is the verb "to drive" so now lets conjugate it to "i drive": ich fahre. However it also means, aside from I drive, "I do drive" and "I am driving"

The I do and I am forms of a verb do not exist in german, which makes it weird when im trying to say something like "I am playing guitar" all i can say is "Ich spiele Gitarre" which is "I play guitar" in a literal translation.

I hope that makes sense.

 

[anonymousnick2001]

I always like Rammstein's habit of sticking to their native tongue.

In Flames definitely need to get back to the Swedish, because a lot of their English is laughable.

What really sucks are Asain metal bands trying to make it big. They never will, because eastern languages don't even operate in the fucking clumsy way that western languages do. You can express emotions and concepts in those languages that don't even exist in English, and yet many Vietnamese, Bangladeshi, Chinese, Indian, etc. bands have to resort to using silly names like Soul Reaver or The Knives to get attention, with horrible/cliche-ridden/poorly translated English 'lyrics'.

I would love to hear a kickass metal song in Bengali. You know what, I'll write one, and no English song will compare...

 

[opacity]

The I do and I am forms of a verb do not exist in german, which makes it weird when im trying to say something like "I am playing guitar" all i can say is "Ich spiele Gitarre" which is "I play guitar" in a literal translation.

I hope that makes sense.

that's true, but you have words that describe that you are doing something right now, and which you concretely use to emphasize something

also, i have some doubts about english having more words than german:
1. german is the kind of language in which you can put together nouns/verbs/adjectives and get new, valid words. which is not possible in english (remember "germanisms" ! )
example: cellar wall. german: Kellerwand. in english it's not a new word when you write cellarwall together; in german it is: Keller is an own word, Wand is an own word, and Kellerwand is its own word as well!

2. english has a lot of loan words, coming mainly from latin, which german has not. or rather: you can have a german word for almost any latin/english/french term. they may sound a bit funny, especially in fields of electronics and technology, but still: you have an own word for almost any "loaned" word of course, some loan words are not to "germanize" and mostly not even discovered to be a loan word in the first place (Fenster; Mauer; Wein; .....)

 

[None_So_Vile]

thats a good point about the language not always translating properly but in a way its up to the artist because the lyrics are meant to mean something to them and changing it into another language might spoil it in their mind, i dunno, i'll shush. I agree with iamtheblackwizards

 

[genocide roach]

rammstein was impressive live

i think the idea of doing vocals in the native tongue is a great idea. and ive noticed the scandinavian bands do it. and thats cool. another german band does it, "in extremo". and actually, the vocals sound extremly (hardy har har) similar.

but here is somthing to consider. in most metal bands, you cant really understand what the hell they are saying anyways. like in alot of black metal bands. and while its a cool idea to stick with your native tongue, its not like people are gonna be able to tell most the time. unless you have a good vocalist who can enunciate (sp?) and even still people wouldnt understand because its not english so they would just pass it off as unenunciated screaming. get what im saying?

in the current times i think its a great idea to incorperate native tongues. if my native tongue wasnt allready english, id do that. and the reason is, alot of the languages are starting to be phased out as everyone starts to speak english. and i think thats apart of a culture that shouldnt be lost. its what makes a culture and country unique. but everyone is starting to speak english and everyone is starting to blend into eachother. and while that may help for international business, i think it takes away from our world as a whole
~gR~

 

[iAMtheblackwizards]

that's true, but you have words that describe that you are doing something right now, and which you concretely use to emphasize something

Well yeah, i could say "I spiele Gitarre jetzt" which is I play the guitar right now, but it could be that im a native english speaker that "I am playing guitar" means something slightly different from "I play guitar right now".

Also, im probably overanalyzing at it at this point. Either way, i still enjoy the german language, so ill contune learning it

 

[opacity]

Well yeah, i could say "I spiele Gitarre jetzt" which is I play the guitar right now, but it could be that im a native english speaker that "I am playing guitar" means something slightly different from "I play guitar right now".

exactly that as a native speaker it means something slightly different to you.
same in german: "ich spiele jetzt gerade Gitarre" expresses exactly "I'm playing guitar"
the certain undertone in "right now" would be expressed with yet another additional small word or with the voice (in german). or you place the "jetzt" at another position in the sentence and change the voice a bit.


and i admire your patience to learn german i think i wouldn't have enough if it