From Reise, Reise · 2004 · Track 7
Moskau
«Moscow»
More from the album · Reise, Reise
In context
The city told as a woman who sells herself, and a narrator who keeps coming back anyway: he pays her, suffers her and calls her the most beautiful in the world.
- City
- Desire and transaction
- Eastern Europe
- Origin
- From “Reise, Reise” (2004). The idea dated back to the “Mutter” sessions, and part of the lyrics comes from an unreleased song called “Claudia”, which had a jungle rhythm and was set aside for lack of lyrics. The label proposed releasing it as a single in 2005; the band preferred “Keine Lust”.
- The German key
- The Russian lines — including the chorus of Young Pioneers singing to Lenin — are performed by Viktoria Fersh (Виктория Ферш); live they were played back. She was not the first choice: the band formally asked the manager of the duo t.A.T.u. for the two of them to sing those parts, and gave up after three months of negotiation.
- What the band has said
- The band has not explained the choice of metaphor or qualified it.
- Live
- Performed since October 2004, with the Russian part played back.
Our reading
The trick is that the metaphor is never switched off: there is no line that says “this is what Moscow is like”. The city and the woman are the same thing from start to finish. It is the direct counterpart of “Amerika”, from the same album: there, cultural export told with sarcasm; here, the East told through the body.
The archive's interpretation, not an official account.
Original (German)
Sie ist alt und trotzdem schön Ich kann ihr nicht widerstehen
Translation
She is old and beautiful all the same I cannot resist her
Verse cited for the purpose of analysis.
The city as a woman
“Moskau” describes the city as a prostitute: red blotches on her forehead, gold teeth, powdering her old skin, breasts rebuilt, undressing but only for money. And the narrator keeps coming back: he cannot resist, he pays, he suffers and he calls her the most beautiful city in the world.
The trick is that the metaphor is never switched off. No line says “that’s what Moscow is like”: the city and the woman are the same thing from beginning to end, with the same mixture of desire, transaction and tenderness. It is the direct counterpart to “Amerika”, on the same record, which handled cultural export with sarcasm; here the east is told through the body.
The Russian voice
The Russian lines — including the chorus of pioneers who “march and sing to Lenin” — are sung by Viktoria Fersh (Виктория Ферш). Live, her parts were played back.
She was not the first choice. The band sent the song to the manager of the Russian duo t.A.T.u. and formally asked whether they would sing the Russian parts. After three months of negotiation, Rammstein gave up and called Viktoria instead.
From “Claudia” to “Moskau”
The song’s basic idea existed as far back as the Mutter sessions, and part of the lyrics came from an unreleased song called “Claudia”. It originally had a jungle rhythm, but the band could not find lyrics that fitted and set it aside; for Reise, Reise they finally gave it its shape.
The label suggested releasing it as a single in 2005. Rammstein chose “Keine Lust” instead.
Context
Seventh track on Reise, Reise (27 September 2004), recorded at El Cortijo studio in Málaga. The live version that ended up on Völkerball was recorded, fittingly, in Moscow: 28 November 2004, at the Olympic Sports Complex.
Translation and notes by Rammstein Colombia, for the purpose of analysis. The full original lyrics belong to their authors.