From Reise, Reise · 2004 · Track 3
Dalai Lama
«Dalai Lama»
More from the album · Reise, Reise
In context
Goethe's “Erlkönig” put on a plane. The horse is the flight, the night is the turbulence, and the Elf King calls from the sky.
- Literary quotation
- Fear of flying
- Father and son
- Origin
- From “Reise, Reise” (2004).
- The German key
- “Der Erlkönig” (1782) is one of Goethe's best-known poems and another staple of German schooling: a father rides through the night with his sick son; the boy says he hears the Elf King; the father tells him it is the wind; when they arrive, the boy is dead. The structure — the father who rationalizes, the son who hears, the inevitable ending — is kept intact.
- What the band has said
- The band has not explained the title. It has been said to allude to the fourteenth Dalai Lama's fear of flying, but that claim circulates without a firm source.
- Live
- Played only six times, in autumn 2004.
Our reading
It is the third case of the same method in this archive: “Rosenrot” with the “Heidenröslein”, “Haifisch” with Brecht, and here the “Erlkönig”. It is neither coincidence nor ornament: it is the band's way of writing. As for the title, another reading — more solid, in the view of several commentators — points to serfdom in Tibet. The song doesn't settle it.
The archive's interpretation, not an official account.
Original (German)
Ein Vater mit seinem Kind
Translation
A father with his child
Verse cited for the purpose of analysis.
Goethe at ten thousand metres
“Der Erlkönig” (1782) is among Goethe’s best-known poems and another fixture of German schooling: a father rides through the night with his sick son in his arms; the boy says he hears the elf king calling him; the father tells him it is the wind; when they arrive, the boy is dead.
“Dalai Lama” is that same story put on an aeroplane. The horse is the flight, the night is turbulence, and the elf king is a voice calling from the sky. The poem’s structure — the father rationalizing, the son hearing, the inevitable ending — is kept intact.
It is the third instance in this archive of the same move: Rosenrot with the “Heidenröslein”, Haifisch with Brecht, and here the “Erlkönig”. Not coincidence and not decoration: it is the band’s compositional method.
The title
This is the least clear part of the song. It has been said to allude to the fourteenth Dalai Lama’s fear of flying, but that claim circulates without a firm source. Another reading, which several commentators consider sounder, points to serfdom in Tibet. The song does not clarify it and neither has the band.
We leave it unresolved: it is interpretation, not fact. We would rather say it is unknown than pick the more entertaining version.
A listening note
It is worth hearing with the poem alongside. The effect — knowing how it ends from the first line — is exactly what Goethe was after, and the band exploits it without changing the ending.
Translation and notes by Rammstein Colombia, for the purpose of analysis. The full original lyrics belong to their authors.