Of Elvenkind and Rammstein
One day, many years ago, my eldest came home from school with a big smile and a CD. Not unusual in itself, but the music was unlike anything I'd ever heard before. Kind of like opera, but with loud, heavy guitars, and electronics skittering away in the background. Also, like opera, there was singing in a foreign language. This turned out to be German, not a language I was familiar with, but, raised on a mixed musical diet, I was able to recognise portentous guitar noises when I heard them, and some counting in German. My son asked "What's he singing about?"

"I dunno, I've only just started learning German, so it could be anything. That's definately counting though" said my daughter..

"It's all very portentous, like the angel opening the seals in Revelations or something?" I wondered aloud. I could only compare it with Black Sabbath, so the idea of bibleish shouting plus loud guitars would make sense. (?)

Later that year, the larger of the Junior Beer Elves started the orthodontic treatment, as she was still a nipper really, I went along with her. On the bus. For hours and hours. This was lightened up considerably by sharing the headset to her MP3 player, with lots of the former mentioned shouty German industrial metal, including the counting song from earlier. My daughter's liking for them not diminished by my continually nudging her in the ribs and asking "What's he singing now?".

"He's singing about the sun, in the sky, and how it beats down and the heat burns people."

"Ah so it's not biblical then?"
Beer Elf Jnr giggled "No not at all, he's warning his fellow pale skinned Germans about the dangers of not wearing sunblock! or something"

This set us both off giggling again. and as time went on, my eldest started having more and more trouble at school, culminating in a course of treatment by a variety of head doctors. All of which needed a lot of travelling by bus, accompanied by our now favourite German minstrels. We resolved then that if they ever toured this country, we would definately go and see them play.

I even promised to put up with camping at Download Festival, should they have appeared there. But it doesn't matter, because..

We're going to see Rammstein on Wednesday, finally, for my birthday. I am soooo excited, and if they play "Sonne" Those two wobbly lasses jumping up and down in tears... will be us!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yl7Pe-yW11w Probably NSFW, some drug use and S+M overtones.. It still makes me laugh/well up and gives me goosebumps...
(Beer Elf Thought this was like a campfire, anyhow, on, Mon 1 Feb 2010, 19:45, Reply)