Rammstein was the first band I heard as a kid where all of the lyrics were in a foreign language. I had heard maybe a line or two in some songs previously, José Feliciano’s “Feliz Navidad” and The Beatles’ “Michelle” are a couple that come to mind, but that was about it (kind funny that I would learn later on that The Beatles actually recorded some of their songs entirely in German). The first Rammstein song to catch my attention was “Du Hast.” Despite not having any familiarity with the language at the time, it didn’t lessen my enjoyment of the song at all. For me, the melodic and rhythmic elements of the vocal worked well with the music, making the lyrical content almost secondary. As time went on, I found that I enjoyed even more of their songs, which reinforced to me Longfellow’s notion that “music is the universal language of mankind.”
Song: “Keine Lust”
Artist: Rammstein
Songwriter(s): Christoph Doom Schneider, Doktor Christian Lorenz, Till Lindemann, Paul Landers, Richard Z. Kruspe-Bernstein, Oliver Riedel
Album(s): Reise, Reise
Release Year(s): 2004
Song: “Marahuana”
Artist: Bette Midler
Songwriter(s): Arthur Johnston, Sam Coslow
Album(s): Songs For The New Depression
Release Year(s): 1976
I Wish You Would Hear Playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6jFrq03xPtVVOexYHZF1OW?si=bc9df95d2d854d