Der Freund
Wer auf den Wogen schliefe,
Ein sanft gewiegtes Kind,
Kennt nicht des Lebens Tiefe,
Vor süßem Träumen blind.

Doch wen die Stürme fassen
Zu wildem Tanz und Fest,
Wen hoch auf dunklen Straßen
Die falsche Welt verläßt:

Der lernt sich wacker rühren,
Durch Nacht und Klippen hin
Lernt der das Steuer führen
Mit sichrem, ernstem Sinn.

Der ist vom echten Kerne,
Erprobt zu Lust und Pein,
Der glaubt an Gott und Sterne,
Der soll mein Schiffmann sein!

Joseph Freiherr von Eichendorff

I watch the Western sky
The sun is sinking
The geese are flying South
It sets me thinking

I did not miss you much
I did not suffer
What did not kill me
Just made me tougher

I feel the winter come
His icy sinews
Now in the fire light
The case continues

Another night in court
The same old trial
The same old questions asked
The same denial

The shadows closely run
Like jury members
I look for answers in
The fire's embers

Why was I missing then
That whole December
I give my usual line:
I don't remember

Another winter comes
His icy fingers creep
Into these bones of mine
These memories never sleep

And all these differences
A cloak I borrow
We kept our distances
Why should it follow I must have loved you

What is the force that binds the stars
I wore this mask to hide my scars
What is the power that pulls the tide
I never could find a place to hide

What moves the Earth around the sun
What could I do but run and run and run
Afraid to love, afraid to fail
A mast without a sail

The moon's a fingernail and slowly sinking
Another day begins and now I'm thinking
That this indifference was my invention
When everything I did sought your attention

You were my compass star
You were my measure
You were a pirate's map
A buried treasure

If this was all correct
The last thing I'd expect
The prosecution rests
It's time that I confess: I must have loved you

How many of you people out there
Been hurt in some kind of love affair?
And how many times did you swear
That you'd never love again?
How many lonely, sleepless nights?
How many lies, how many fights?
And why would you want to
Put yourself through all of that again?

"Love is pain," I hear you say
Love has a cruel and bitter way of
Paying you back for all the faith you ever had in your brain
How could it be that what you need the most
Can leave you feeling just like a ghost?
You never want to feel so sad and lost again

One day you could be looking
Through an old book in rainy weather
You see a picture of her smiling at you
When you were still together
Or you could be walking down the street
And who should you chance to meet
But that same old smile you've been thinking of all day?

Why don't we turn the clock to zero, honey
I'll sell the stock, we'll spend all the money
We're starting up a brand new day
Turn the clock all the way back
I wonder if she'll take me back
I'm thinking in a brand new way

Turn the clock to zero, sister
You'll never know how much I missed her
I'm starting up a brand new day
Turn the clock to zero, boss
The river's wide, we'll swim across
We’re starting up a brand new day

It could happen to you,
Just like it happened to me,
There's simply no immunity
There's no guarantee.
I say love's such a force if you find yourself in it
You need some time for reflection
You say, baby wait a minute, wait a minute
Wait a minute, wait a minute
Wait a minute, wait a minute

Turn the clock to zero, honey
I'll sell the stock, we'll spend all the money
We're starting up a brand new day
Turn the clock to zero, Mac
I'm begging her to take me back
I'm thinking in a brand new way

Turn the clock to zero, boss
The river's wide, we'll swim across
We're starting up a brand new day
Turn the clock to zero buddy
Don't wanna be no fuddy duddy
Started up a brand new day

I'm the rhythm in your tune
I'm the sun and you're the moon
I'm the bat and you're the cave
You're the beach and I'm the wave
I’m the plow and you’re the land
You're the glove and I'm the hand
I'm the train and you're the station
I'm a flagpole to your nation - yeah

Stand up all you lovers in the world
Stand up and be counted every boy and every girl
Stand up all you lovers in the world
Starting up a brand new day

I'm the present to your future
You're the wound and I'm the suture
You're the magnet to my pole
I'm the devil in your soul
You're the pupil I'm the teacher
You're the church and I'm the preacher
You're the flower I'm the rain
You're the tunnel I'm the train

Stand up all you lovers in the world
Stand up and be counted every boy and every girl
Stand up all you lovers in the world
Starting up a brand new day

You're the crop to my rotation
You're the sum of my equation
I'm the answer to your question
If you follow my suggestion
We can turn this ship around
We'll go up instead of down
You're the pan and I'm the handle
You're the flame and I'm the candle

Stand up all you lovers in the world
Stand up and be counted every boy and every girl
Stand up all you lovers in the world
We're starting up a brand new day

DIE EWIGKEIT
Marie Luise Kaschnitz












Sie sagen, dass wir uns im Tode nicht vermissen
Und nicht begehren, dass wir hingegeben
Der Ewigkeit, mit anderen Sinnen leben
Und also nicht mehr von einander wissen,








Und Lust und Angst und Sehnsucht nicht verstehen,
Die zwischen uns ein Leben lang gebrannt,
Und so wie Fremde uns vorübergehen,
Gleichgültig Aug dem Auge, Hand der Hand.








Wie rührt mich schon das kleine Licht der Sphären,
Die wir ermessen können, eisig an,
Und treibt mich dir ans Herz in wilder Klage.








O halt uns Welt im süssen Licht der Tage,
Und lass so lang ein Leben währen kann
Die Liebe währen.






ETERNITY
trans. Brian Cole



They say in death we do not miss each other
Nor yet desire, that we are dedicated
To eternity and live with other senses
And so no longer know of you and me,








And cannot understand desire, worry
Or longing, which between us all our lives
Has burned, that we must pass like strangers by,
Indifferent eye to eye and hand to hand.








How I am chilled by that so tiny light
Of those great spheres which we can sense above,
And driven to your heart in fierce complaint.








O keep us, World, in this sweet light of day,
And grant to us so long as life may last
That love may last.

There's a little black spot on the sun today
It's the same old thing as yesterday
There's a black hat caught in a high tree top
There's a flag-pole rag and the wind won't stop

I have stood here before inside the pouring rain
With the world turning circles running 'round my brain
I guess I'm always hoping that you'll end this reign
But it's my destiny to be the king of pain
There's a little black spot on the sun today
That's my soul up there
It's the same old thing as yesterday
That's my soul up there
There's a black hat caught in a high tree top
That's my soul up there
There's a flag-pole rag and the wind won't stop
That's my soul up there
I have stood here before inside the pouring rain
With the world turning circles running 'round my brain
I guess I'm always hoping that you'll end this reign
But it's my destiny to be the king of pain
There's a fossil that's trapped in a high cliff wall
That's my soul up there
There's a dead salmon frozen in a waterfall
That's my soul up there
There's a blue whale beached by a springtime's ebb
That's my soul up there
There's a butterfly trapped in a spider's web
That's my soul up there
I have stood here before inside the pouring rain
With the world turning circles running 'round my brain
I guess I'm always hoping that you'll end this reign
But it's my destiny to be the king of pain
There's a king on a throne with his eyes torn out
There's a blind man looking for a shadow of doubt
There's a rich man sleeping on a golden bed
There's a skeleton choking on a crust of bread
King of pain

There's a red fox torn by a huntsman's pack
That's my soul up there
There's a black-winged gull with a broken back
That's my soul up there
There's a little black spot on the sun today
It's the same old thing as yesterday

I have stood here before in the pouring rain
With the world turning circles running 'round my brain
I guess I always thought you could end this reign
But it's my destiny to be the king of pain
King of pain
King of pain
King of pain
I'll always be king of pain

Sting

Für Marcel




Treten sie ein, meine Damen und Herren

treten sie ein und zögern sie nicht

ein Stehplatz ist immer, immer zu haben

nur das Programm, das sie kamen, zu sehen

es hält sehr selten, was es verspricht



Auf den besten Plätzen sitzen leider nicht die besten

und auf den schlechten geht’s kaum anders zu

unsre Manege, sie bleibt heute leer

wir lenken die Lichter auf unsere Gäste

und was wir da sehen, interessiert uns viel mehr



Denn ein jeder hat so seine Geschichte

mancher hat keine, dann erfindet er sie

nun lassen sie hören, was haben sie zu sagen

wir schenken ihnen Zeit, doch wir warten nicht gerne

wir schenken ihnen Zeit und vielleicht Sympathie



Obwohl erst alle betroffen schweigen

und einer verärgert das Billett zerreißt

beginnen sie plötzlich leise zu reden

der Ton schwillt an, und ein Scheinwerfer kreist



Sie schreien sich die Hälse mager

sie rufen ihren Kummer hinaus

und ihre Verzweiflung findet kaum Worte

nur ein stummer alter Mann

nimmt seine Mütze und geht nach Haus



Und keiner sagt, was ihm gefallen

an der Geschichte, die die seine ist

sie alle rufen ihre Beschwerden

und beklagen, dass es nicht anders ist



Als nun die Lampen in Scherben gehen

da stehen sie auf und schlagen sich wund

und in ihr Weinen fällt eine Stimme

die sagt: genug, es wird mir zu bunt,

verschwindet und tut was, doch redet nicht mehr



Ab morgen seht ihr, was ihr kamt zu sehen

ab morgen läuft wieder das volle Programm

und euren Applaus, den wollen wir hören

er soll das Zelt zum Himmel tragen

und zum Schluss da steht ihr noch stramm



Die Feuerwehr kam und löschte, was brannte

und jemand fegte den traurigen Rest;

durchnässt saß ein Kind auf einem Klappstuhl

und wartet noch immer auf das große Fest



Es fragt seine Mutter unter Tränen

ob's einmal so wird wie die, die da schreien

die Mutter wird bös und sagt: lass deine Fragen

lass das Gezeter und lass deine Faxen

werd erstmal erwachsen, werd erstmal wie wir


Hans Hammerschmid / Hildegard Knef

Shine another glass make the hours pass
Working every day in a cheap café
Who am I to care for a love affair?
Still I can't forget I can see them yet

They came hand in hand, why can't I forget?
For they'd seen the sign that said "Room to Let"
The sunshine of love was deep in their eyes
So young, oh so young, too young to be wise
They wanted a place a small hideaway
A place of their own if just for one day

The walls were so bare, the carpet so thin,
But they took that room and heaven walked in
And I closed the door and turned to depart
With tears in my eyes and tears in my heart

Shine another glass make the hours pass
Working every day in a cheap café
Who am I to care, one more love affair?
Love is nothing new I have work to do

We found them next day, the way they had planned
So quiet, so cold, but still hand in hand
The sunshine of love was all they possessed
And so in the sunshine we laid them to rest
They sleep side by side two children alone
But I'm sure they've found a place of their own

So why must I see the ribbon she wore
The glow on his face as I closed the door
Be still children, still, your shadows may start
The tears in my eyes and tears in my heart

Shine another glass make the hours pass
Working every day in a cheap cafe
Evrything is fine 'till I see that sign
How can I forget -- it says "Room to Let"

Wenn du ein Gärtchen hast und eine Bibliothek,
so wird dir nichts fehlen.

Marcus Tullius Cicero, 106-43 v.Chr.