These are, as best as I can tell from the recordings, Michael Kunze's English lyrics for Ich gehör' nur mir, Die Schatten werden länger, and Kitsch. I think all native English speakers would agree that they're pretty bad! :) Poor, forced, and false rhymes throughout, grammatical constructions that are incorrect or just plain make no sense in English, different rhyme schemes for different verses of the same song...and just what is a "shade of night", anyway?!? (I know what he means by the phrase, but then, I know the original German--and have read enough old literature to know why he thought it would work. But it doesn't.) And is there a major dialect of English where time "gets old"? Don't even get me started on the freezing/burning/being put on a shelf nonsense....!
Thanks to Stef, Iris, and Faith for helping decipher these lyrics--all the more so, since it meant having to actually listen to them!!
I Belong to Me
(original title: Ich gehör' nur mir)
I will not be well-bred,
Obedient, and well-behaved
I will not be humble,
Don't jumble to be enslaved.
I don't want to be your property,
'Cause I belong to me.
When I walk the tightrope,
Don't stop me, just let me try.
I want to take chances,
Find out what it takes to fly.
I don't care at all if you agree.
I belong to me.
If you try to range me
On your own array,
You force me to leave you alone.
If you try to change me,
I just break away
To be what I am on my own.
I'm freezing, I'm burning,
You can't put me on the shelf.
I'm growing, I'm learning
To be even more myself.
I know it's not easy to be free.
But I belong to me!
I hate to be burdened
With duties and ancient lies,
Can't stand to be touched by
The looks of a thousand eyes.
I flee from the crowd in agony.
I just belong to me.
If you want to find me,
Don't hold me so tight.
Don't break me, and don't take me on.
If you want to bind me,
I'm ready to fight;
I'll shake off my chains and be gone.
I'm here when you need me,
I live and I die with you.
I'll share all your troubles,
I'll laugh and I'll cry with you.
You can blame me and bless me,
But you cannot possess me,
'Cause I belong to me!
To me!
The Shades of Night are Growing
(original title: Die Schatten werden länger)
Now this is the right occasion
For a private conversation.
You know me. Yes, you know me.
Since your childhood, we're befriended,
And our friendship hasn't ended.
I promised not to leave you.
I call you in desperation
Every time this nightmare haunts me,
When it feels like suffocation.
You need me, here I am!
The shades of night are growing.
The future has been bought and sold.
The doomsday horns are blowing
While they're dancing round a cup of gold.
The shades of night are growing.
It is five to twelve, our time is getting old.
Have the gods ran out of kindness?
Our ship has lost direction.
Is the helmsman struck with blindness?
He does not even hear me.
On the black sky, scarlet letters
You can read; they spell disaster.
Put your horse to waiting fetters.
It's driving me insane!
The shades of night are growing,
As man becomes a beast of prey.
We don't know where we're going,
But we're going faster every day.
The shades of night are growing;
It is five to twelve, our chances melt away.
It's all up to you.
So do what you have to do.
Dare take heart, to be a rebel!
Rebel?
The shades of night are growing;
One must try at last to turn the tide.
When good and bad are going,
Time is always on the devil's side.
The shades of night are growing.
So stand up and fight, and reach out for the light!
Take a pretty souvenir,
Out of the cheapest and the best.
All delightful, sweet, and right for
Thy general request, so
Kitsch!
Kitsch!
Kitsch!
Now do I see a crowd
Of hypocrites pretending they care about the truth?
The truth is very cheap,
But no one wants to buy it--it's depressingly uncouth.
A century has gone,
And still Elisabeth has much appeal.
But who she really was,
No book, no movie, and no show can possibly reveal.
They emptied and they spiced her,
Threw gold at her and smut.
We're shipping out Elisa,
And now she's nothing but
Kitsch!
Kistch!
Kitsch!
Well, anyway, sweet Sisi
Was a tough and selfish woman who struggled to be free.
Most everything she did,
She did only to make clear that she was stronger than Sophie.
She fought to get her son,
But later when he needed her, she never was around.
While living on the monarchy,
She put her trust in Switzerland and a numbered account.
If this should make you broody,
There is no need to flap.
For s-(censored :)) as well as beauty
Pulls down the colored crap.
Kitsch!
Kitsch!
Kitsch!