AMD 4 - Adam Zientarski

For this AMD I decided to look at the Rammstein song "Hilf mir" and compare and contrast the differences between the german lyrics, my translation, and the google translation version.



Rammstein lyrics when translated into English seem very simplistic, rarely reaching over 4 or 5 words per sentence. But if you actually look at the German lyrics of the song, you will see that most of the stanzas end in exact rhymes.

For the sake of space I will analyze one stanza I found the google translation a little humorous.

Ich bin verbrannt mit Haut und Haar
Verbrannt ist alles ganz und gar
Aus der Asche ganz allein
Steig ich auf zum Sonnenschein
Das Feuer liebt mich
Das Feuer liebt mich nicht

My translation of this stanza is as followed:

My skin and hair is burned
I am burned all over
From the ashes all alone
I climb up to the sunshine
The fire loves me
The fire loves me not

The google translation:

I'm burned with skin and hair
Everything is burned entirely
From the ashes, all alone
I climb up to the sunshine
The fire loves me
The fire loves me not

The google translation of this song is actually very close, except for the first two lines. It incorrectly translates mit literally to with. This just sounds silly and the only thing that would work is that the singer is burned on his skin and hair. The second line I believe is a little off because in context I think the singer is still talking about himself. The rest of it seems to be correct.

The actual translation:

I have been totally burned
Everything is burned completely
From the ashes, all alone
I climb up to the sunshine
The fire loves me
The fire loves me not

As it turns out, the top line is an expression for being burned completely and is not a literal translation. The second line, google translate was closer than I was. But the rest of the stanza, both google translate and I were spot on. It is important to note that the final line is "The fire loves me not" instead of "The fire does not love me" because the "nicht" appears at the end of the sentence.