From Liebe ist für alle da · 2009 · Track 2
Ich tu dir weh
«I hurt you»
More from the album · Liebe ist für alle da
In context
The song that led a German state body to restrict the circulation of an album, and a court to overturn it seven months later.
- Sadomasochism
- Censorship
- Freedom of expression
- Origin
- From “Liebe ist für alle da” (2009). The video came out on 21 December 2009, directed by Jonas Åkerlund — the same director as “Pussy” — and the single on 5 February 2010.
- The German key
- The title is a plain, direct phrase — “I hurt you” — with no metaphor to soften it. That literalness is part of what prompted the objection.
- What the band has said
- The label released a censored reissue without the song for as long as the measure was in force.
- Live
- Performed with Flake in a bathtub while Till showers him with sparks, it is one of the most elaborate stagings in the setlist.
Our reading
This is the point where the archive stops talking about aesthetics and starts talking about freedom of expression. Whatever one thinks of the lyrics: in November 2009 the BPjM put the album on its index — it cannot be displayed, sold to minors or advertised — on 31 May 2010 the Administrative Court of Cologne provisionally suspended the listing and the album went back on sale in full; the decision became final in 2011. That process is as much a part of the band's history as any tour.
The archive's interpretation, not an official account.
Original (German)
Ich tu dir weh
Translation
I hurt you
Verse cited for the purpose of analysis.
The censored album
In November 2009, the BPjM — the German federal body that assesses media harmful to minors — placed Liebe ist für alle da on its index because of this song’s lyrics and its treatment of sadomasochism, and because of a booklet photo of Richard Kruspe spanking a naked woman.
Being indexed is not an outright ban, but in practice it comes close: the record cannot be displayed openly or sold to minors, and it cannot be advertised. The label had to issue a censored re-release without this track.
On 31 May 2010, the Cologne Administrative Court provisionally suspended the measure and the BPjM took the record off the index; the decision was made final in 2011. The album went back on sale complete.
Why it is worth recording
Because it is the point where the archive stops discussing aesthetics and starts discussing freedom of expression. Whatever anyone thinks of the lyrics: a state body restricted a record’s circulation and a court reversed it. That process — seven months, a mutilated re-release and a ruling — is as much a historical fact about the band as any tour.
Context
The single came out on 5 February 2010, after the video, released on 21 December 2009 and directed by Jonas Åkerlund — the same director as “Pussy”.
Translation and notes by Rammstein Colombia, for the purpose of analysis. The full original lyrics belong to their authors.