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| 8 | %% (ZCE) - Zero Context Example |
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| 15 | %% Image selected per Image Pickin thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=17088739710.83989100 |
| 16 | %% Please don't change or remove without starting a new thread. |
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| 18 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/8a592355_24d2_4ad2_8cb3_247452bffdc8.jpeg]] |
| 19 | |
| 20 | ->''Auferstanden aus Ruinen\ |
| 21 | Glück für Menschen und Maschinen\ |
| 22 | Eilt herbei von fern und nah\ |
| 23 | Wir sind wieder da!\ |
| 24 | JA! - NEIN! - '''RAMMSTEIN'''!''[[note]]Risen From the Ruins/ Joy for men and machines/ Come gather from far and wide/ WE ARE BACK![[/note]] |
| 25 | -->-- "Ramm 4" |
| 26 | |
| 27 | Rammstein[[note]]pronounced "RAAM-shtine"[[/note]] is a six-man IndustrialMetal band from UsefulNotes/{{Germany}}. They were formed in 1994 after UsefulNotes/{{East German|y}} escapee Richard Z. Kruspe wanted to make music that mixed musical grooves with a machine-like sound, which they'd later describe as "Tanz-Metall"[[note]]dance metal[[/note]], and gathered the rest of the group to bring it about. They take their name from the Ramstein US Air Force Base where an airshow ended in disaster when three planes collided mid-air in 1988, adding an extra M ''by mistake'', though the band insists they took the name for a kind of battering ram once they got popular. Their stateside popularity began in 1997, when a couple of their songs were featured in Creator/DavidLynch's ''Film/LostHighway'', and the song "Du Hast" became a smash hit. |
| 28 | |
| 29 | The band is notable for their absolutely absurd and spectacle-driven live shows that feature impressive pyrotechnic displays and plenty of {{Audience Participation Song}}s, to the point where lead vocalist Till Lindemann lets the crowd sing some songs in their entirety. |
| 30 | ---- |
| 31 | !! Band members: |
| 32 | * Richard Z. Kruspe - lead guitar, backing vocals |
| 33 | * Oliver "Ollie" Riedel - bass |
| 34 | * Christoph "Doom" Schneider - drums |
| 35 | * Till Lindemann - lead vocals |
| 36 | * Paul Landers - rhythm guitar, backing vocals |
| 37 | * Christian "Flake" Lorenz - keyboards |
| 38 | |
| 39 | !! Discography: |
| 40 | * ''Herzeleid''[[note]]"Heartache"[[/note]] (1995) |
| 41 | * ''Sehnsucht''[[note]]"Longing"[[/note]] (1997) |
| 42 | * ''Mutter''[[note]]"Mother"[[/note]] (2001) |
| 43 | * ''Reise, Reise''[[note]]"Voyage, Voyage"[[/note]] (2004) |
| 44 | * ''Rosenrot''[[note]]"Rose Red"[[/note]] (2005) |
| 45 | * ''Liebe ist für alle da''[[note]]"Love is For Everyone"[[/note]] (2009) |
| 46 | * ''[[GreatestHitsAlbum Made in Germany 1995 - 2011]]''[[note]]"[[RunningGag Made In Germany 1995 - 2011]]"[[/note]] (2011) |
| 47 | * ''[[SelfTitledAlbum Rammstein]]''[[note]]the album is officially untitled[[/note]] (2019) |
| 48 | * ''Zeit'' [[note]]"Time"[[/note]] (2022) |
| 49 | |
| 50 | !! Videography: |
| 51 | * ''Rammstein Life'' (1996) - A recording of their Autumn 1996 Berlin concert. Was released on VHS in December of 1996 as a Christmas gift for members of the official Rammstein Fanclub. |
| 52 | * ''Live aus Berlin''[[note]]"Life from Berlin"[[/note]] (1999) - A recording of their 1998 concert tour (also available as a live album). Features music from their first two albums. Known for their controversial performance of ''Bück dich''. |
| 53 | * ''Lichtspielhaus''[[note]]old German word for cinema, literally "light play house"[[/note]] (2003)- A compilation of their music videos up to ''Feuer Frei!'' as well as clips from various concerts between 1996 and 2001. |
| 54 | * ''Völkerball''[[note]]"Dodgeball"[[/note]] (2006) - A recording of their 2004-2005 tour (also available as a live album). Features music from their first five albums. |
| 55 | * ''Videos 1995 - 2012'' (2012) - Contains all of their music videos and making-of documentaries. |
| 56 | * ''Rammstein in Amerika'' (2015) - Contrary to the name[[note]]In German usage of the term "Amerika" varies between the Latin America meaning (i.e. all of North and South America) and the Anglo-American meaning (i.e. the USA) which is meant is usually determined by context; note that "Amerikas" is not a commonly used term in German[[/note]], this is actually a composite of live shows in both New York and Montreal, with some additional footage from Mexico City, filmed in 2010 as part of the LIFAD tour. |
| 57 | * ''Paris'' (2017) - A recording of their 2012 [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin concert in Paris]]. Features music from all of their albums. |
| 58 | ---- |
| 59 | !!We're All Troping In Amerika: |
| 60 | |
| 61 | [[foldercontrol]] |
| 62 | |
| 63 | [[folder:A-G]] |
| 64 | %% (ZCE) * AbusiveParents: "Laichzeit", "Tier" and [[BasedOnATrueStory "Wiener Blut"]]. |
| 65 | * AndIMustScream: The victim in "Stein Um Stein" is being held captive, abused, and raped by the lyrical self, who repeatedly says "Ich werde immer bei dir sein..."[[note]]I will always be with you[[/note]] in an eerie sing-song voice. {{Lampshaded}} in that the last line of the song actually translates to "And no one will hear you scream." |
| 66 | * AlbumFiller: ''Rosenrot'' as a whole. In fact, most of it is composed by leftover material of the recordings for ''Reise, Reise''. Aside from "Mann Gegen Mann", "Zerstören", "Rosenrot", "Benzin" and "Te Quiero Puta", no songs from ''Rosenrot'' were played in concerts, and from these five "Rosenrot" was only played during Tour Rehearsels that only members of the official Rammstein Fanclub were allowed to attend. |
| 67 | * AllGermansAreNazis: They are frequent victims of this accusation, for no other reason than singing metal in German. That, and the leather costumes on stage, the lyrics full of paroles, stomping drum rhythms, and their tendency to invoke RefugeInAudacity, including dipping into this theme. |
| 68 | ** At the release of "Herzeleid" in the 90s, the German newspaper "Bild" (comparable to the British "The Sun") accused the band of portraying themselves as the "master race"... because they're all shirtless on the cover to the album. These false claims unfortunately still follow the band to this day. |
| 69 | ** The music video for their cover version of "Stripped" by Music/DepecheMode consisted of clips of a Nazi propaganda film about the 1934 Olympic games held in Germany made by Leni Riefenstahl. The band soon apologized for this decision, making it clear that while they find the strong imagery interesting, they hate Nazis and their politics. |
| 70 | ** Till even had to justify himself for the way he rolls his "R"s, explaining that it just comes to him naturally whenever he sings in a baritone octave. He said he's never thought about it in a fascist context before it was brought up in interviews, but that it was ''never'' their intention to invoke fascist connotations or to empower fascism with their music. |
| 71 | ** The band wrote "Links 2-3-4" as their [[TakeThatCritics counterargument to this accusation]] - they've even said in interviews that they hate Nazis as well. In addition, actually paying attention to their lyrics reveal that none of their songs contain any fascist or Nazi-sympathizing lyrics, but try telling certain critics that. "Links" is German for "Left", and it's about their left-wing status, and how awesome it is to be left-wing. It's intentionally based on a German marching song, because they wanted to make the point that a song can sound militaristic without ''being'' militaristic. |
| 72 | ** Yet ''again'' with "Deutschland", which is about the way the narrator feels about their home country's complicated and often horrific past, which is shown in pretty gritty and gruesome detail in the music video they released. The depiction of the Holocaust in particular led to complaints by advocacy groups. |
| 73 | * AntiLoveSong: Till once infamously described all Rammstein songs to be love songs. Which includes the various songs about rape, murder, cannibalism, abuse and incest. |
| 74 | ** Played straight with "Amour", a heart-wrenching ballad that characterizes love as a wild animal that eats you up and spits you out. |
| 75 | ** "Bück Dich" and "Ich Tu Dir Weh" are less love songs and more... [[ObligatoryBondageSong fuck songs]], but the latter even specifically spells out "You love me because I don't love you"... |
| 76 | * ArtisticLicenseGeography: "Amerika" includes in one refrain such American brands as Coca-Cola and Wonderbra. The latter is actually originally a ''Canadian'' product. That's some kind of irony right there. |
| 77 | * AttractiveBentGender: Schneider makes a surprisingly attractive woman as Frau Schneider, as do Ollie and Paul. |
| 78 | * AudienceParticipationSong: "Ich Will", "Ohne Dich", "Engel", "Sonne", "Links 2-3-4", "Du Hast"... Even [[NationalStereotypes the French]] can sing along to that! |
| 79 | * AuthorVocabularyCalendar: |
| 80 | ** The sun shining is referenced in some way in "Rammstein", "Engel", "Küss Mich (Fellfrosch)", "Mein Herz Brennt", "Sonne", "Mutter", "Morgenstern", "Mann Gegen Mann", "Hilf Mir", "Liebe ist für Alle Da", "Halt", "Ausländer", "Puppe", "Weit Weg" and "Hallomann". The motif appears on ''every single album.'' |
| 81 | ** Another frequent motif is water. It's described or mentioned in "Seemann", "Nebel", "Reise Reise" (the ocean), "Donaukinder," "Mutter", (a river), "Spieluhr" (the rain), "Feuer und Wasser", "Bück Dich" (which uses tears as a metaphor for [[UnusualEuphemism sperm]]), "Laichzeit", "Alter Mann", "Mann Gegen Mann", "Waidmanns Heil", ... |
| 82 | * AxCrazy: |
| 83 | ** "Zerstörer" is about a spree killer. |
| 84 | ** "Weisses Fleisch" is about a psychopath murdering a little child out of lust. |
| 85 | ** "Halt" is about a ButtMonkey driven to mass murder. |
| 86 | ** "Puppe" is about a child living with their sister who works as a prostitute - the child itself is severely neglected and therefore psychosocially handicapped, getting locked in a room every night and forced to hear the sister's screams. The song starts off as an eerie guitar ballad until Till starts having a complete mental breakdown accompanied only by rattling drums. |
| 87 | * TheBandMinusTheFace: In the video for "Haifisch", the rest of the band are already discussing who to replace Till with ''at his own funeral''. |
| 88 | * BasedOnATrueStory: |
| 89 | ** "Rammstein" narrates the stark contrast between the beautiful day and the horror of [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramstein_airshow_disaster the Ramstein air show disaster]], from which the band took their name, originally being called "Rammstein-Flugschau", adding the second M on accident. A Rammstein is also a medieval door stopper, literally "ramming stone", which could also be a penis joke, which would be in character for the band. |
| 90 | ** "Mein Teil" tells the story of [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armin_Meiwes Armin Meiwes]], from the viewpoint of his victim. |
| 91 | ** "Wiener Blut" refers to [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fritzl_case the Fritzl case]]. |
| 92 | ** "Donaukinder" is a song about the aftermath of the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2000_Baia_Mare_cyanide_spill Baia Mare cyanide spill]], considered the greatest ecological disaster in Europe since Chernobyl. |
| 93 | ** "Halleluja" deals with the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catholic_Church_sexual_abuse_cases child sexual abuse scandals]] in the Catholic church. |
| 94 | ** "Radio" talks about living in East Germany, yearning for anything non-censored, and only having a Radio that could bring it to you from West Germany. |
| 95 | * BeachEpisode: The video for "Mein Land" is a parody of the trope, featuring the band playing an IndustrialMetal song with natural instruments... only to feature the band fully painted at night near the end of the video playing with their actual instruments in a crazy metal fest. |
| 96 | * BeatStillMyHeart: In "Mein Herz Brennt", the VillainProtagonist talks about ripping his heart from his chest, setting it on fire and using its power to force children to surrender their TearsOfFear. The [[https://youtu.be/WXv31OmnKqQ?t=230 music video]] shows him ripping out the heart and starting to eat it. |
| 97 | * BicepKiss: Till does this in the music video to "Mein Land". |
| 98 | * BigBeautifulWoman: |
| 99 | ** The video for "Mein Land" features a number of bathing beauties, one of which is plus-sized. |
| 100 | ** The video for "Auslander" features an African village full of half-naked women, one of whom is plus-sized and treated very favorably by the band members. At the end of the video, she kidnaps Flake. |
| 101 | * BilingualBonus: |
| 102 | ** "Moskau" has parts sung in Russian; |
| 103 | ** "Amerika" and "Stirb Nicht Vor Mir" have parts sung in English |
| 104 | ** "Pussy" is in straight English apart from [[InvokedTrope invoked]] GratuitousGerman |
| 105 | ** There're English versions of "Du Hast", "Engel" and "Amerika" among the singles |
| 106 | ** "Amour" and "Frühling in Paris" have some parts sung in French |
| 107 | ** "Te Quiero Puta!" is sung entirely in Spanish. |
| 108 | ** "Mein Teil" has the occasional moment where he'll say "Yes, it's mein teil" instead of the usual "Es ist mein Teil". |
| 109 | %% (ZCE) ** Up to eleven with "Ausländer". |
| 110 | ** The booklet for Herzeleid has the lyrics for "Das Alte Leid", "Heirate Mich" and "Herzeleid" written in French whilst all the others are in their original German. |
| 111 | ** The onomatopoeic phrase "Bang Bang!" from "Feuer Frei" was intentionally used because it means the same thing in English. |
| 112 | * BookEnds : ''Herzeleid'' begins with "Wollt Ihr Das Bett In Flammen Sehen?" and ends with "Rammstein", both of which feature repeated chants of "Rammstein". |
| 113 | %% (Dubious example) * BrotherSisterIncest: "Liese" describes child-on-child rape, though it's unclear if the children are siblings. |
| 114 | %% (ZCE) ** Hinted at in "Laichzeit". |
| 115 | %% (ZCE) ** Brother-brother incest in "Spiel Mit Mir". |
| 116 | * ButtMonkey: In the ''Made in Germany'' tour, Flake's status as the band's ButtMonkey is alleviated somewhat by the performance of "Bück dich", in which the ''entire band'' falls into ButtMonkey status. Till, Paul, Flake and Ollie are led on all fours and abused by Frau Schneider towards Richard, who also gets abused as well. Then, later, Till squirts his dildo right into Schneider's face mid-performance. |
| 117 | * BuxomBeautyStandard: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=thJgU9jkdU4 "Dicke Titten"]], which literally means "Big Tits" and features this chorus: |
| 118 | -->''She doesn't have to be beautiful\ |
| 119 | She doesn't have to be smart, no\ |
| 120 | She doesn't have to be rich\ |
| 121 | But I would like to ask for one thing: big tits!'' |
| 122 | * CallAndResponseSong: "Ich Will", whose chorus translates to: |
| 123 | -->''Can you hear me? [[AudienceParticipation We hear you]].\ |
| 124 | Can you see me? [[AudienceParticipation We see you]].\ |
| 125 | Can you feel me? [[AudienceParticipation We feel you]].\ |
| 126 | I don't understand you.''[[note]] towards the end, it repeatedly replaces "me" with "us."[[/note]] |
| 127 | * CallBack: |
| 128 | ** All the fantasies the other band members have of killing Till in "Haifisch" are related to previous videos: "Du Hast", "Ohne Dich", "Keine Lust", "Sonne", and "Amerika". |
| 129 | ** The first line in "Deutschland" is "Du hast...", calling back to, well, "Du hast". |
| 130 | %% (ZCE) * CarefulWithThatAxe: |
| 131 | %% (ZCE) ** The bridge of "Mein Teil". |
| 132 | %% (ZCE) ** The end of "Heirate Mich" and "Stein um Stein". |
| 133 | %% (ZCE) ** The chorus of "Wiener Blut" |
| 134 | %% (ZCE) ** The chorus of "Bückstabü". |
| 135 | %% (ZCE) ** A few lines in "Weißes Fleisch". -- Which lines? |
| 136 | %% (ZCE) ** "An den großen roten... AUGEN!"[[note]]"on the big red... eyes!"[[/note]] in "Laichzeit". |
| 137 | %% (ZCE) ** The emo-esque chorus of "Puppe" stands out. -- How? |
| 138 | * TheCameo: |
| 139 | ** Music/MarilynManson, a longtime friend of the band (especially Richard), has a cameo role at Till's funeral in "Haifisch", the only celebrity at the funeral who is not a part of the band, in a few [[FreezeFrameBonus blink-and-you'll-miss-it shots]]. |
| 140 | ** The same video briefly shows photographs of Music/HenryRollins and [[Music/{{Metallica}} James Hetfield]] as the band members consider who'll replace Till as the vocalist. |
| 141 | * CanadaDoesNotExist: The ''Rammstein in Amerika'' DVD is billed as a recording of Rammstein's famous Madison Square Garden show in 2010; in reality, the DVD is a composite of the two North American shows from that year (Madison Square Garden in New York and the Bell Centre in Montreal, Canada). Even though the DVD tip-toes around mentioning this, it becomes readily apparent when some of the crowd shots include Canadian and Quebec flags being waved, as well as shots of the Montreal Canadiens hockey team logo on the stadium entrances. |
| 142 | %% (WANE) * CaptainMorganPose: Till likes [[https://youtu.be/srN1GsnBui8?t=101 this]] [[https://youtu.be/zz4PH4TEZX0?t=192 pose]]. |
| 143 | * ChummyCommies: The ants in the "Links 2-3-4" music video are meant to represent this and the proletariat. The song is about how Rammstein leans left as a response to the AllGermansAreNazis and MusicToInvadePolandTo accusations their music received, and therefore the ants are shown to be good natured, living a communal life and apparently are fans of Rammstein. Their city is then suddenly attacked by large beetles representing capitalist elites, imperialist exploiters and repressive fascists. When the ants seem down, one of them inspires them to work together to take down their oppressors. The ants march in formation united and use their combined might to make up for their lack of individual strength to defeat the beetles, symbolizing a communist revolution where the workers unite to take down the bourgoise, imperialists and fascists. |
| 144 | %% (ZCE) * ConceptVideo: Most of them. |
| 145 | * CoverVersion: They have done covers of Depeche Mode's "Stripped", The Ramones's "Pet Semetary" and Kraftwerk's "Das Model" (with the title of the cover version being spelt as "Das Modell"). |
| 146 | * CrapsackWorld: "Halt" is written from the perspective of a person who's the [[ButtMonkey victim of society]], is completely fed up with the world and just can't stand it any longer. |
| 147 | -->''Ich geh jetzt heim und hole mein [[WhosLaughingNow Gewehr!]]''[[note]]I'll go home and get my rifle![[/note]] |
| 148 | * CreepyChildrenSinging: |
| 149 | ** "Spieluhr" tells the story of a child presumed dead being buried alive with a music box put into its casket. The chorus features the child itself singing the words "Mein Herz schlägt nicht mehr weiter"[[note]]"My heart beats no longer"[[/note]]. |
| 150 | ** "Amerika" features a children's choir singing along to the chorus, which symbolises the children being indoctrinated into the overly patriotic colonialist ideology early on. |
| 151 | ** "Halleluja", a song about a pedophile priest molesting a boy from the church choir, features a little boy singing the word "halleluja" again and again in the chorus. |
| 152 | * {{Crossdresser}}: |
| 153 | ** Schneider plays Armin Meiwes' mother in "Mein Teil". In the making-of, it is mentioned that the files to the Armin Meiwes case include a picture of Meiwes' mother - and her hairstyle looks exactly like the wig Schneider wore in the video. The character of 'Frau Schneider' reappears occasionally in live shows. |
| 154 | ** In "Dicke Titten," Richard's character is seen sneaking into the basement, where he tries on a slip (made by himself), a blond wig, makeup, and jewelled earrings, and hesitantly examines his reflection. |
| 155 | %% (ZCE) * CueTheSun: "Sonne". |
| 156 | * DealWithTheDevil: The protagonist of "Morgenstern", a woman whose face is so ugly the light is too scared to shine into her face, prays to the morning star for beauty every day. The morning star is the planet Venus, named after the goddess of beauty, and also associated with Lucifer. |
| 157 | * DeathByMusicVideo: The music video for "Ich Will" depicts the band robbing a bank, alternating between the robbery and its aftermath. During the robbery, Flake is seen wearing a rather large and elaborate bomb strapped to his chest. Scenes showing the aftermath and the band being arrested have Flake notably absent (apart from a large InMemoriam picture of him), implying that he died when the bomb detonated. |
| 158 | * DestructiveSaviour: The firemen in "Benzin" obliviously plow through trees, cars, buildings and a train with their enormous fire engine as they speed to rescue a single suicide jumper. And they fail even at that. |
| 159 | %% (ZCE) * DirtyOldMonk: A rather tragic example in the music video for "Rosenrot". |
| 160 | %% (ZCE) * {{Dominatrix}}: Snow White in "Sonne". |
| 161 | * DontExplainTheJoke: Setting the "Mein Land" video as a Creator/DavidHasselhoff-style beach party diverts attention from the song's lyrics, a critical commentary on anti-immigrant xenophobia. In the video's making-of documentary, the original concept appeared to involve the beach party being disturbed by [[Film/CreatureFromTheBlackLagoon a campy costumed sea monster]]. |
| 162 | * DrivenToSuicide: |
| 163 | ** The song "Spring", where a man gets on to a bridge just to enjoy the view, but a crowd forms eager to see him jump, to redeem him from his shame, thinking that he is a mentally unstable individual. He gets pushed off. |
| 164 | ** Flake plays a suicide jumper in the video for "Benzin". |
| 165 | * DrugsAreBad: |
| 166 | ** "Kokain" describes a horror trip in a ''very'' gruesome way. |
| 167 | ** One possible interpretation of the song "Adios", where the narrator talks about a man injecting himself with 'music' as a drug and overdosing. |
| 168 | * DyingCandle: The music video to "Ohne Dich" ends with [[https://youtu.be/LIPc1cfS-oQ?t=327 a candle going while the singer dies]]. |
| 169 | * {{Eagleland}}: |
| 170 | ** "Amerika" satirizes Type 2, in a nuanced way: the lyrics describe how Americans believe that their culture and way of life are the only successful and "right" ones, and attempt to make everyone follow them. |
| 171 | ** Two members, Richard and Flake, firmly hold to each type, with the former living in (and writing a song about) New York City until 2011, and the latter vehemently despising the country's attitude and culture. |
| 172 | * EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: |
| 173 | ** Rammstein's earliest shows were absent of the ImpressivePyrotechnics that would quickly become one of the band's defining hallmarks. |
| 174 | ** "Herzeleid" is notable for having much more prominent 90s techno influences than their later work, with its lead single "Du Riechst So Gut" and album track "Laichzeit" frequently surprising first time listeners. |
| 175 | * EasterEgg: |
| 176 | ** The Japanese version of ''Mutter'' has "Hallelujah" as an unlisted hidden track. |
| 177 | ** The voice clip hidden either in the pregap of ''Reise, Reise'' for European pressings or at the start of the song for the US pressings. The clip itself is the last 38 seconds of the cockpit voice recording from the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JAL123 JAL123 disaster of 1985]]. Due to it being the ''deadliest single aircraft incident in history'', said Easter egg was removed from Japanese pressings and later US pressings. |
| 178 | ** In the "Ich Tu Dir Weh" video, if you keep an eye on Richard's hands, you'll see a ring from his other band, Emigrate. |
| 179 | * EgomaniacHunter: "Waidmanns Heil", using hunting as a metaphor for sex [[InterplayOfSexAndViolence with bonus implications of rape.]] |
| 180 | * TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt: "Der Meister", describing a classical biblical apocalypse. |
| 181 | * EstablishingSeriesMoment: The band wanted a video to promote their first song "Rammstein", and out of sheer tenacity, decided to ask Creator/DavidLynch to produce the video. They sent him a cassette of the ''Herzeleid'' album along with some promo material, not expecting him to reply. To their surprise, he not only loved the album, but asked them to allow him to use some of the songs in his movie ''Film/LostHighway'' (which they agreed to). The resultant attention from this led to the band doing the unthinkable of being a German language band with a sizable US following. Numerous musicians raved about the band, including Music/{{Korn}}, who invited Rammstein to appear on their Family Values tour in 1998. During this time period, Rammstein even recorded some material in English for the US market, these being their cover of Depeche Mode's "Stripped" and English versions of "Engel" (Angel) and "Du Hast" (You Hate). Rammstein's popularity grew with the NuMetal movement, with their famously theatrical live shows attracting attention, until reaching huge proportions with the Mutter album in 2001. The appearance of the band and use of "Feuer Frei" in ''Film/{{XXX}}'' sealed the deal. Thanks to these business decisions, they are one of the most successful metal bands on the planet despite many of their fans not speaking German. |
| 182 | * EtherealChoir: "Mein Teil", though sounding less like it comes from heaven, and more like... from hell. |
| 183 | %% (ZCE) ** Also generously used in "Morgenstern". |
| 184 | %% (ZCE) ** Briefly in "Du Hast". |
| 185 | %% (ZCE) * EvilLaugh: "Eifersucht" and "Benzin". |
| 186 | * EvenTheGuysWantHim: Till and Richard mostly, but Schneider, Paul and Ollie get some love as well in the comments on their youtube videos. |
| 187 | * ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin: "Ein Lied" is German for "A Song". This is, of course, a song. A song about, you guessed again, a song... |
| 188 | * {{Fanservice}}: |
| 189 | ** The "Mein Land" video features the entire band shirtless and in beachwear for most of it (and Till as a lifeguard), not to mention a lot of bikini-clad women. Towards the end, there are very quick shots of topless women and [[GirlOnGirlIsHot other women making out with each other]]. |
| 190 | ** "Mann gegen Mann" features the band almost completely naked. But, as a twist on "Mein Land", the end of the clip ends in in [[GuyOnGuyIsHot a pile of man making out]]. That said, this one is [[DoubleStandard a lot harder to find on video sites]]. |
| 191 | ** "Auslander" features an African village. [[NationalGeographicNudity All the women go topless throughout the entire video.]] |
| 192 | * FemmeFatale: In the first scene of the video for "Deutschland", Germania is seen cutting off the head from a dead body (probably a Roman soldier, evoking Rome's UsefulNotes/GermanicWars); in several scenes throughout the video, Germania is holding, and one time, kissing the head (which appears to be the head of Till Lindemann). This pose evokes two famous femme fatales from Literature/{{the Bible}}, Judith (who seduced Holofernes in order to murder him and cut off his head) and Salome (who used her beauty to [[DemandingTheirHead persuade King Herod to have John the Baptist beheaded]]); both of them are often depicted in art together with the severed heads of their victims. The same characterization is also apparent in a different set of scenes which show Germania watching indifferently, or sometimes with apparent delight, as Till Lindemann gets beaten to a pulp in a 1920s boxing match, skewered with swords in a medieval battle, hanged as a Concentration Camp prisoner, and beaten up by a policeman in a 19th century prison. The accompanying lyrics (sung by Till Lindemann) fittingly address Germany with the lines "Deutschland – deine Liebe / Ist Fluch und Segen" ("Germany, your love is a blessing and a curse") and "Deutschland – mein Herz in Flammen / will dich lieben und verdammen" ("Germany, my heart in flames / I want to love and to damn you"). |
| 193 | %% (ZCE) * FilleFatale: In the "Rosenrot" video. Emphasis on "fatale". |
| 194 | * FiremansSafetyNet: Used by the band, dressed as firefighters, in "Benzin". It rips just as Flake is making the jump. |
| 195 | %% (ZCE) * FiremenAreHot: The "Benzin" video. |
| 196 | * ForeignPeopleAreSexy: |
| 197 | ** Sort of parodied in "Pussy". This is why there's the GratuitousGerman [[{{Irony}} in a predominantly English song]], though still quite ironic since German is not considered to be a particularly "sexy" language. The song itself is also a parody of the sex tourism trade. |
| 198 | ** Done very tongue-in-cheek with "Auslander". The name itself means "foreigner" and it's about someone who travels around to other countries to have sex with the women there. He doesn't even bother with one-night stands, he's only there long enough for a hookup before going on to the next place. It's possibly a metaphor for being a touring band. |
| 199 | * {{Foreshadowing}}: At the end of the "Haifisch" video. The postcard turns out to be a minor spoiler for the "Mein Land" video. |
| 200 | %% (ZCE) * TheFunInFuneral: The "Haifisch" video. |
| 201 | * GagPenis: The cannon used during live performances of "Pussy." |
| 202 | * GenreRoulette: |
| 203 | ** They usually play with elements from other genres. You have the country-ladden "Los", "Spiel Mit Mir" with its gothic dark-wave influences[[note]]Many in the band were goths as teenagers, and all of them were big fans of Depeche Mode[[/note]], "Rammlied" which sounds very symphonic, or softer folk ballads like "Roter Sand" and "Liese". |
| 204 | ** ''Rammstein'' has the synthpop vibe of "Ausländer", bluesy hooks of "Sex" and even the chorus of "Puppe" akin to 90's PostHardcore. |
| 205 | * GenreThrowback: The first half of "Mein Land" is a parody of teen beach party movies, a once-popular genre that has largely been dead since the late '60s. |
| 206 | * GlasgowGrin: In the video for "Mein Land", the makeup the band wears at night makes them look eerily like [[Film/TheDarkKnight Heath Ledger's Joker]]. |
| 207 | %% (ZCE) * GlowingEyesOfDoom: In "Du Riechst So Gut '98". |
| 208 | * GoingNative: "Te Quiero Puta!" makes sense in the knowledge that ''Reise Reise'' and much of ''Rosenrot'' were recorded in Malaga, Spain. As can be seen in the ''Making Of Reise Reise'' documentary, the band had a very relaxing time there and spent a lot of time joking around. "Te Quiero Puta" sounds exactly like the sort of song written on holiday whilst attempting to speak the local language. |
| 209 | * GreatBallsOfFire: All of their live shows and a fair few of their videos too feature a lot of fire-related pyrotechnics. |
| 210 | * GreenEyedMonster: "Eifersucht" is addressed ''at'' this green-eyed monster, telling them to do the most gruesome things to him out of jealousy. |
| 211 | -->Bin ich schöner, zerschneid mir das Gesicht[[note]]If I'm more beautiful, cut apart my face[[/note]]\ |
| 212 | Bin ich stärker, brich feige mein Genick[[note]]If I'm stronger, cowardly break my spine[[/note]]\ |
| 213 | Bin ich klüger, töte mich und iss mein Hirn[[note]]If I'm smarter, kill me and eat my brains[[/note]]\ |
| 214 | Hab ich dein Weib, dann töte mich und [[JustEatHim iss mich ganz auf]]![[note]]If I have your woman, kill me and eat me whole![[/note]] |
| 215 | * {{Grimmification}}: The video for "Sonne" is a rather dark take on Disney's version of ''WesternAnimation/{{Snow White|AndTheSevenDwarfs}}'', featuring the band members as masochistic dwarves working for a gold dust-addicted Snow White who overdoses at one point. |
| 216 | [[/folder]] |
| 217 | |
| 218 | [[folder:H-P]] |
| 219 | * HarshVocals: This is how Till sings, with highly distinctive, raspy, towering vocals in a deep stentorian pattern. Bonus points for being his actual voice. |
| 220 | * {{Hermaphrodite}}: "Zwitter" (which does indeed translate as "Hermaphrodite") is about a man and a woman fusing together into one body, and this hybrid of two souls and two sexes being [[ScrewYourself very comfortable]] with their new life. |
| 221 | %% (ZCE) ** Flake's character in the music video for "Pussy" is also one. |
| 222 | %% (ZCE) * HesBack: The general point of "[=Ramm4=]". |
| 223 | %% (ZCE) * {{Hunk}}: Till, Richard, and Schneider qualify the most. |
| 224 | * HurricaneOfPuns: |
| 225 | ** "[=Ramm4=]" uses song titles of past songs to make plenty of goofy puns. |
| 226 | ** "Los" is almost entirely made of puns between the imperative verb "los" ("go!") and the suffix "-los" ("-less"). |
| 227 | * IJustWantToBeLoved: Many of their ballads, if not directly: |
| 228 | ** "Ohne Dich" in its entirety. |
| 229 | --> ''"Weh mir, oh weh!"''[[note]]Woe to me, oh woe![[/note]] |
| 230 | ** "Seemann" hints at this, overall being an incredibly sad song sung in a weak, but desperate voice. |
| 231 | ** "Mutter". Though it's more explicitly about loneliness and abandonment, the trope shines through. |
| 232 | --> "Niemand gab mir einen Namen"[[note]]Nobody gave me a name[[/note]] |
| 233 | --> "Gezeugt in Hast und ohne Samen"[[note]]Conceived in haste and without a semen[[/note]] |
| 234 | ** "Mein Herz Brennt" is usually interpreted as how men are forced from a young age to repress their emotions and how it breaks them as people. The title of the song means "My heart is on fire", or more literally, "My heart ''is burning''". |
| 235 | %% (ZCE) ** "Amour" is a comment on this whole trope. -- How? |
| 236 | ** "Morgenstern" has the woman pleading for Lucifer to tell her she's not alone. |
| 237 | * ILoveTheDead: "Heirate Mich" is about an old man digging up the skeleton of his dead wife to have sex with it. |
| 238 | * IfItBleedsItLeads: Satirized in the "Ich Will" video, in which the band members play [[BankRobbery bank robbers]] who are out not for money, but for media attention -- and even get a Golden Camera[[note]]Germany's equivalent of the Emmys[[/note]] award after being arrested. The way journalists and cameramen [[MediaScrum assault them with questions as if they were celebrities or politicians]] is rather unsettling, and it really makes you think about how the media, intentionally or not, turns criminals into celebrities. |
| 239 | * ImAHumanitarian: "Mein Teil", which is about a famous news story of a cannibal who advertised on the internet for someone willing to be killed and eaten by him. His victim being entirely willing and cooperative in his own brutal demise did not prevent a conviction for manslaughter in the case. In live performances of the song, Till "cooks" Flake [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_EEWjqAwvco with a]] [[PyroManiac flamethrower]]. Taken to new heights during the Made in Germany tour. When Flake laughs off the flamethrower, Till brings out an industrial-sized flamethrower and torches him. Till laughs joyously and continues singing only to be flabbergasted when Flake climbs out of the cauldron and runs around the stage. |
| 240 | * ImpressivePyrotechnics: The concert shows. After the Treptow accident in 1996, Till became a licensed pyrotechnician, and the band started a cooperation with a German special effects team FFP. The band claims that it's meant to hold the attention of fans who don't speak German (which is probably a majority of the fanbase), but the introvert Till also uses it and his stage persona to direct attention away from his real personality. |
| 241 | * IndustrialMetal: Specifically of the Neue Deutsche Härte variety. The band calls it "Tanz Metall" (dance metal). |
| 242 | * IntentionallyAwkwardTitle: "Te Quiero Puta!"[[note]]"I love you, whore!"[[/note]], "Pussy", and "Dicke Titten"[[note]]"Big Tits"[[/note]]. |
| 243 | * IntercourseWithYou: Many of their songs. |
| 244 | ** "Pussy" is all about this. Special mention for including "Blitzkrieg mit dem Fleischgewehr"[[note]]blitzkrieg with the flesh gun. [[SarcasmMode VERY subtle, I know.]][[/note]] and references to putting Bratwurst in someone else's Sauerkraut. |
| 245 | ** "Rein Raus" [[note]]In out[[/note]] also deserves a mention, it doesn't seem to be very good sex though. |
| 246 | -->Der Ritt war kurz[[note]]The ride was short[[/note]]\ |
| 247 | Es tut mir leid[[note]]I'm sorry[[/note]]\ |
| 248 | Ich steige ab[[note]]I dismount[[/note]]\ |
| 249 | Hab keine Zeit[[note]]Don't have time[[/note]] |
| 250 | ** "Das alte Leid" keeps talking about the "same old sorrow". What is that sorrow he's talking about? Well: |
| 251 | -->Dieselbe Sache und das alte Leid[[note]]The same thing and the same old sorrow[[/note]]\ |
| 252 | Weiß nun endlich ... [[note]](I) finally know...[[/note]]\ |
| 253 | ICH WILL FICKEN![[note]]I WANNA FUCK![[/note]] |
| 254 | ** The stage performance of "Bück Dich" (which involves simulated sodomy) once got the band charged with obscenity. The title means "Bend over", and the song itself contains a line that translates into "Your face means nothing to me". |
| 255 | * InterplayOfSexAndViolence: Fairly common, usually wound up in IntercourseWithYou. "Wollt ihr das Bett in Flammen sehen?" [[note]]"Do you want to see the bed in flames?"[[/note]] has a bridge chant of "Sex ist eine Schlacht! / Liebe ist Krieg!" ([[SexIsViolence "Sex is a battle! / Love is war!"]]). Complete with a sound of a reloading shotgun. "Waidmanns Heil" is another good example. |
| 256 | * InsaneEqualsViolent: "Zerstören", which is about a crazy man on a rampage. "Ich Muss Zerstören!" means "I must destroy!" |
| 257 | %% (ZCE) * KillItWithFire: Till's fate in "Rosenrot". |
| 258 | * LastNoteNightmare: "Mein Teil" with its choir and "Stein um Stein" with its scream. "Zerstören" too, as it ends with a drawn-out groan to the sounds of things being smashed to pieces, although it transitions into a short, [[LighterAndSofter much slower]] song in the end. [[ZigZaggedTrope ZigZagged]] in "Hallomann" with a sort of Penultiment Note Nightmare, if you wish. |
| 259 | * LighterAndSofter: A surprising number of their remixes are almost ambient sounding: |
| 260 | ** "Ohne Dich", a [[LoveHurts somber metal ballad about heartbreak]] with string quartets and soft drums comes right after "Stein um Stein", a gruesome song about abuse and rape which ends on a LastNoteNightmare as mentioned above. |
| 261 | ** The album "Rosenrot" is closed by "Feuer und Wasser" and "Ein Lied", the latter almost sounding like a lullaby. |
| 262 | %% (ZCE) * LocationSong: "Amerika", "Moskau". |
| 263 | * LongRunnerLineup: The band was founded in 1994 and there hasn't been a single lineup change since then. According to Richard, "it is like a marriage without sex", and as such - again according to Richard - it requires weekly councelling. They presumably started this after they almost broke up in the wake of ''Mutter'', and "Ohne Dich" plus "Haifisch" is part of the process. They've expressed their intent to take this to its LogicalExtreme - if any member of the band dies or retires, Rammstein will cease to exist once and for all. |
| 264 | * LyricalColdOpen: "Das Alte Leid" starts with an awkward "Hallo, Hallo..." |
| 265 | %% (ZCE) ** "Spieluhr" and "Vergiss Uns Nicht" sort of serve as a prologue to the song. -- How? |
| 266 | * LyricalDissonance: |
| 267 | ** "Der Meister", with happy-sounding keyboards and riffs in a song about a predicted apocalypse. |
| 268 | ** A lot of "Heirate Mich" as well, which is a pretty groovy song about necrophilia. |
| 269 | ** "Roter Sand" is a heartbreaking ballad about accepting losing a lover to someone else and one's own death after being shot in a duel, but is written in a major key. |
| 270 | %% (ZCE) * MachoMasochism |
| 271 | * MadeOfExplodium: |
| 272 | ** It's not uncommon for things like Mic stands to either burst into an explosion when slammed into the ground... or burst into flames (while still being sung into) for no real reason. |
| 273 | ** The car in the "Du Hast" video explodes. |
| 274 | * MagicRealism: |
| 275 | ** "Mein Herz Brennt" names all kinds of childhood nightmarish creatures. Demons, ghosts, black fairies... |
| 276 | ** "Kokain" describes a bad cocaine trip and addiction, using a white fairy as a metaphor for the drug. |
| 277 | ** "Morgenstern" is a Beauty and the Beast-type story, with the (female!) monster being so ugly that the sun won't even shine into her face. Therefore, she hides away during the day - after all, she doesn't want to scare the light. |
| 278 | * ManOnFire: "Hilf Mir" is based on the "Dreadful Story of Pauline and the Matches" ("Die gar traurige Geschichte mit dem Feuerzeug"), a [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Literature/Struwwelpeter?from=Theatre.ShockheadedPeter German children's story from 1845]] in which a girl plays with a lighter, despite her parents telling her not to, and then burns to death. |
| 279 | %% (ZCE) * MetalScream: |
| 280 | %% (ZCE) ** Used in the chorus of "Wiener Blut". |
| 281 | %% (ZCE) ** Used in the background of "Wollt ihr das Bett...". |
| 282 | %% (ZCE) ** Used in the bridge of "Mein Teil". |
| 283 | %% (ZCE) ** Used at a few points in "Mann Gegen Mann". |
| 284 | %% (ZCE) ** Used at a few points in "Mein Land". |
| 285 | %% (ZCE) ** The [[CarefulWithThatAxe bridge and ending]] of "Stein um Stein" takes it up to eleven. |
| 286 | %% (ZCE) * MasqueradeBall: The video for "Du Riechst So Gut '98". |
| 287 | * MediaScrum: In the video for "Ich Will", at one point the media scrum towards the band, who've been arrested after committing bank robbery. |
| 288 | * MightyWhitey: Subverted in "Auslander". The band travels to an African village in stereotypical European explorer gear, but they're shown to be fairly incompetent and mostly just party with the villagers. |
| 289 | %% (ZCE) * MindScrew: Half their music videos. Just try to figure out what was going on in the "Pussy" and "Ich Tu Dir Weh" videos, both directed by MindScrew grandmaster Jonas Akerlund. |
| 290 | * MinimalisticCoverArt: Their cover arts have always been extremely minimal, especially singles releases, to the point that their self-titled album's cover is pure white with an unlit match on it. |
| 291 | * MoodMotif: The piano version of "Mein Herz Brennt", especially its first few bars, has become the subject of MemeticMutation, and gets used as stand-in music for all kinds of emotional and tragic scenes in film and theater, even as as stock BackgroundMusic in trashy German scripted [[RealityShow reality shows]]. |
| 292 | * MoonLandingHoax: Played with in the video to "Amerika", which is fundamentally about America's cultural and political impact on the rest of the world and includes a studio where "moon" shots are being taken among its scenes. |
| 293 | %% * MoralGuardians: A frequent target of them. |
| 294 | %% ** They've been blamed for inspiring the UsefulNotes/{{Columbine}} massacre. |
| 295 | %% ** "Ich tu dir weh" was indexed in their home country. The reason behind it was "abuse promotion". |
| 296 | %% ** There's also a picture of Richard spanking a nude woman in the album art for ''Liebe ist für alle da'' which got the same treatment for being "degrading to women". |
| 297 | %% ** And let us not go into "Pussy", which features only on porn sites, for the logical reason that it ''is'' porn. |
| 298 | * MovieBonusSong: |
| 299 | ** The songs "Halleluja" and "Mein Teil" have been featured on the soundtracks for the first two live-action ''Film/{{Resident Evil|FilmSeries}}'' movies, respectively. The soundtrack to ''Film/ResidentEvilExtinction'' featured Emigrate's "My World". |
| 300 | ** ''Film/XxX'' featured the song "Feuer Frei!", which resulted in Rammstein making a cameo at the beginning of the movie. |
| 301 | %% (ZCE) * MummiesAtTheDinnerTable: |
| 302 | %% (ZCE) ** "Heirate mich". |
| 303 | %% (ZCE) ** "Klavier". |
| 304 | %% (ZCE) * MurderBallad: |
| 305 | %% (ZCE) ** "Weisses Fleisch". |
| 306 | %% (ZCE) ** "Du Riechst So Gut". |
| 307 | %% (ZCE) ** "Mein Teil". |
| 308 | %% (ZCE) ** "Stein um Stein". |
| 309 | %% (ZCE) ** "Klavier". |
| 310 | %% (ZCE) ** "Heirate Mich" is a [[ILoveTheDead post-mortem version]], of sorts. |
| 311 | %% (ZCE) ** "Wo Bist Du" hint at this. |
| 312 | %% (ZCE) ** "Halt" hint at this. |
| 313 | * MusicToInvadePolandTo: {{Invoked|Trope}} and {{subverted|Trope}} with the song "Links 2-3-4", which was deliberately written to ''sound'' militaristic without ''being'' militaristic. The word "Links" means "Left" and the song is about the band's left-wing political stances, written in response to the accusations the band received of being Nazi supporters, which understandably seem to have genuinely bothered them. As mentioned above, this made them partial {{Trope Namer}}s. |
| 314 | * MyspeldRokband: The band took their name from the Ramstein airshow disaster in 1988 but, according to Paul, they made a mistake when spelling it. They thought the town's name was spelled with two m's instead of one. Though they considered other names, the misspelling stuck. |
| 315 | %% (Dubious example) * NaughtyNuns: According to the Rammwiki, several of these appeared in the unreleased Video for "Zeig Dich". |
| 316 | * NonAppearingTitle: "Nebel", "Dalai Lama", "Wiener Blut" and "Rammlied". |
| 317 | * NonFatalExplosions: When your band has a licensed pyrotechnician, you can't go wrong. Till has gotten [[ManOnFire burnt a few times]] though. |
| 318 | * ObligatoryBondageSong: The lyrics of "Ich Tu Dir Weh" are so graphic it got ''Liebe ist für alle da'' put on the Index for a short while. |
| 319 | %% (ZCE) ** "Bück Dich" |
| 320 | %% (ZCE) ** "Wilder Wein" |
| 321 | %% (ZCE) ** "Bestrafe Mich" |
| 322 | %% (ZCE) ** The unreleased "Feuerräder". |
| 323 | %% (ZCE) * ObsessionSong: "Du Riechst So Gut", among others. |
| 324 | * OdeToApathy: The song "Keine Lust" makes no bones that it's about being apathetic: its title translates roughly to "No Desire" or "I Don't Feel Like It." It's a sort of truth in advertising, as the song itself is about a person who's too apathetic or depressed to take care of, or even pleasure, themselves. The video takes the concept in a slightly different direction, as it shows most of the band flaunting fabulous wealth (and wearing gigantic fat suits) as a riff on the idea of bands becoming too rich and successful to really care about their art. |
| 325 | %% (ZCE) * OminousMusicBoxTune: |
| 326 | %% (ZCE) ** "Spieluhr". The title translates to "Music Box", as well. |
| 327 | %% (ZCE) ** A little tune at the end of "Zerstören". |
| 328 | * OnASoundstageAllAlong: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9P7Zd-x2QXw The video]] for "Amerika". The band are rocking out on the moon, before the cameras pull back to reveal it's a film set. This is also a gag at the expense of those who think the moon landings were faked on a soundstage. |
| 329 | * OneWomanWail: The finale to "Sonne". Notable for being a stock sample played on Flake's keyboard instead of an actual woman. |
| 330 | * OurWerewolvesAreDifferent: In the video for "Du Riechst So Gut '98", the band members {{animorph|ism}} into a pack of werewolves. |
| 331 | * OverlyLongTongue: Till gets two examples in music videos: |
| 332 | ** "Mann Gegen Mann" gives him a long, black, snakelike tongue. |
| 333 | ** "Ich tu dir weh" has a few brief clips of him with a forked (but still humanoid) tongue. |
| 334 | * ParentalIncest: |
| 335 | ** "Wiener Blut", though incest is only indirectly mentioned in the song. In context, it becomes clear though. |
| 336 | ** "Laichzeit" mixes this with SiblingIncest and, in the third verse, bestiality. |
| 337 | ** "Tier" is about a man molesting his daughter, who takes her revenge on him later. |
| 338 | * ParentalAbandonment: "Mutter". This song was supposedly based on the band members' own bad relationships to their mothers as children. |
| 339 | * {{Parody}}: The "Pussy" video is an over-the-top parody of GangstaRap and GlamRap videos, [[WordOfGod according to Schneider]]. |
| 340 | %% (ZCE) * PecFlex: "Mann Gegen Mann"'s video. |
| 341 | * PedophilePriest: Till's character in the "Rosenrot" video is an ephebophile priest. |
| 342 | %% (ZCE) ** "Hallelujah" is about one. |
| 343 | * PerformanceVideo: |
| 344 | ** "Feuer Frei!", also a VideoFullOfFilmClips by virtue of being part of the soundtrack for ''Film/{{XxX}}'', has the band performing live in a big hall. Some of the scenes was even used for the beginning of the movie. |
| 345 | ** "Ich tu dir weh" has the band playing while undergoing certain stuff such as Flake walking on a walking belt. |
| 346 | * PollutedWasteland: "Donaukinder", which is about [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2000_Baia_Mare_cyanide_spill a chemical spill that left a swath of Romania and Hungary nearly uninhabitable.]] |
| 347 | * PowerBallad: |
| 348 | ** Every album includes at least one. |
| 349 | %% (ZCE) ** "Ohne Dich". |
| 350 | %% (ZCE) ** "Mutter". |
| 351 | ** Invoked with the much softer, more emotional piano version of "Mein Herz Brennt". |
| 352 | * PoweredByAForsakenChild: The protagonist in "Mein Herz Brennt" is an EmotionEater who lives off the TearsOfFear of children he [[ThingsThatGoBumpInTheNight scares into crying at night in their beds]]. |
| 353 | * PrecisionFStrike: |
| 354 | ** From "Das Alte Leid": "Weiss ich endlich... ICH WILL FICKEN!" -- "I know at last, I want to fuck!". Punctuated in the early live shows with a firework launched from Till's crotch for further emphasis. Especially jarring when one remembers that the man himself rarely swears in interviews and the band's catalog (while his side project's album "Skills in Pills" is a ClusterFBomb), for all its rampant innuendo, contains little to no profanity. Even more impressive? "Das Alte Leid" is from their ''first'' album. |
| 355 | ** "Zwitter". ''Nobody'' can belt out "wenn einer zu mir ''FICK DICH SAGT''!"[[note]]"When someone tells me to go fuck myself!"[[/note]] quite like Till Lindemann can. |
| 356 | * ProductionForeshadowing: The dramatic, orchestrated ballad "Seemann" was at stark contrast with the rest of Rammstein's (predominantly sex-themed techno metal) music at the time of its recording. The song deals with a sailor who misses his lover. After recording ''Sehnsucht'' and ''Mutter'' (two more albums of techno-metal), both of which contain notable ballads such as "Klavier", "Mutter" or "Nebel", the band decided to focus on this dramatic side of the band. This culminated in the album ''Reise Reise'' and its sister album ''Rosenrot'', which are both characterized by themes of lost love (in all of its forms, as is typical for Rammstein) and orchestrations. Notably, ''Reise Reise''[='s=] title track is about a storm at sea in which the seamen must fight hard to prevent the ship sinking, and ''Rosenrot''[='s=] cover has a ship on it. |
| 357 | * PunBasedTitle: "Du Hast" translates to "You Have" (in the song, the line is extended to "Du hast mich gefragt und ich hab nichts gesagt." -- "You have asked me and I haven't said anything."), but sounds just like "Du Hasst" which means "You Hate". It doesn't help that an English version was recorded under the latter title. |
| 358 | * PungeonMaster: There's an astounding amount of wordplay in their songs, just in general. "Mein Land" is pretty much the only song whose name ''anyone'' can guess the English translation for. |
| 359 | * PunctuatedForEmphasis: "RAMM! STEIN!" used in "Wollt ihr das Bett...", "Rammstein", "Rammlied" and "[=Ramm4=]". |
| 360 | * PyroManiac: |
| 361 | ** As pyrotechnics have ''always'' been part of the band's live setup, Till has described their live shows as "just a more intense David Copperfield show". Their concerts routinely fire a flamethrower just above the front rows, which are literally named "Die Feuerzone (The Fire Zone). |
| 362 | ** Their music contains as many songs about fire as there are about sex. |
| 363 | ** "Benzin" is, in many ways, a love song to fire and destruction. Till wrote it after watching the movie ''Film/LoveLiza''. |
| 364 | --->'''Till:''' (in an interview to the French magazine ''RockMag'') "I really just watched this movie one day, it was called ''Love Liza''. It's the story of a guy who loses his wife and his job and slowly gets addicted to gasoline. He goes to gas stations and sniffs on the gas pumps. It's a kind of tragic comedy. Many films have been made about drug addiction, but never about a gasoline-sniffer. I think that was the starting point of this song." |
| 365 | %% (ZCE) ** "Feuer Frei!" ('Open fire!'). Doesn't need much explaining. -- Yes, it does. ZCE isn't allowed. |
| 366 | %% (ZCE) * RadioSong: "Radio." [[CaptainObvious Duh]]. |
| 367 | [[/folder]] |
| 368 | |
| 369 | [[folder:R-Z]] |
| 370 | * RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil: Many, many of their songs about sex are in some way connected to rape or violence. |
| 371 | ** "Du Riechst So Gut" focuses on primal instincts and brutality. What's worse is that the narrator of the song seems to be aware that what they're doing is wrong, which is why they tell their victim to stop screaming and fighting back. |
| 372 | ** The narrator of "Weisses Fleisch" makes it clear he gets off on the sounds of his victim's screams of pain and horror. |
| 373 | ** "Stein um Stein" drops the bomb with this particular line: |
| 374 | --->Alle Nägel stehen stramm[[note]]All nails stick tight[[/note]]\ |
| 375 | Wenn ich sie in dein Leibholz ramm'![[note]]When I ram them into your body's wood![[/note]] |
| 376 | %% (ZCE) ** "Halleluja". |
| 377 | %% (ZCE) ** "Liese". |
| 378 | %% (ZCE) ** "Tier". |
| 379 | %% (ZCE) ** "Spiel Mit Mir". |
| 380 | * RatedMForManly: This is a band comprised of some very strong and masculine men playing booming and pounding industrial metal songs about some downright unsettling subject matter, and in the German language no less. Of course, that also contributed to the [[AllGermansAreNazis Nazi accusations]]. |
| 381 | * RearrangeTheSong: |
| 382 | ** The softer, piano-based version of "Mein Herz Brennt" released in 2012, 11 years after the original. The band later released a music book and accompanying CD of instrumental piano arrangements of their songs called "Klavier" (Piano). |
| 383 | ** The deluxe version of "Liebe ist für Alle Da" features both "Roter Sand" and "Liese" - two very different songs lyrically and tonally, but using the same tune. |
| 384 | ** The track "Stirb Nicht Vor Mir" was [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=86D7Jp8JGJw demoed]] in the ''Mutter'' sessions in quite a sparse arrangement. They weren't satisfied with this version of the song, but felt it had potential. In the ''Reise Reise'' sessions, the band changed some of the lyrics, added some poppy guitar melodies and rewrote the song to be a duet, between Till and the female singer Bobo. The band still felt the song was lacking so didn't include it on ''Reise Reise''. For their follow-up album ''Rosenrot'', they removed Bobo's vocals, rewrote some of the verses in English, and got {{Music/Texas}} singer Sharleen Spiteri to sing said English vocals (Bobo's backing vocals remain in places). This version was finally released on ''Rosenrot'' as "Stirb Nicht Vor Mir (Don't Die Before I Do)" and was widely praised as one of the highlights of the album. In five years, the song had gone from being a song from the perspective of a German-speaking man dreaming of a soulmate, to a duet between a German-speaking man and English-speaking woman who are dreaming of each other without having met (or even speaking the same language). The combination of languages and the contrast between the metal and pop elements was meant to imply that love transcends all boundaries. |
| 385 | ** "Ohne Dich" was written and recorded in the ''Mutter'' sessions ([[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m7WJrA1yk6U this]] version is the Beta Version) and played once live at a fan club show before the band had decided on all the songs for ''Mutter''. It is characterized by loud guitars in the chorus (a somewhat similar effect to "Seemann"). The band decided to not release this version at the time and instead recorded a more orchestral version which was included on ''Reise Reise''. Eventually that version came out as a single and fans were treated to the original ''Mutter'' version as a B-Side. |
| 386 | ** The track "Tier" was written and played live in 1994 before ''Herzeleid'' came out (commonly bootlegged as 'Biest') but was largely rewritten by the time it appeared on 1997's ''Sehnsucht''. The same is true of "Alter Mann", which also debuted in 1994 and went through several known arrangements before appearing on ''Sehnsucht'' in 1997. |
| 387 | ** Many demo tracks from the ''Liebe Ist Fur Alle Da'' sessions leaked in 2012 which suggest the band had written backing tracks first and was trying out which lyrics worked best with the music. Examples include "Panterra" (the instrumental of "Gib Mir Deine Augen" with the lyrics from "Pussy") and "Augen Zu" (the instrumental of "Liebe Ist Fur Alle Da" with some of the lyrics from "Wiener Blut"). |
| 388 | ** Before ''Sehnsucht'' came out, the band already used the wail used as a sample in the song as their intro to "Asche Zu Asche" during live shows. Nowadays, if both "Sehnsucht" and "Asche zu Asche" are played, it's almost always back to back. |
| 389 | * RecordProducer: All but two of Rammstein's albums have been produced by Jacob Hellner. |
| 390 | %% (TLANE) * ReligionRantSong: "Zeig Dich" (Type 1). |
| 391 | * RockersSmashGuitars: The guitars actually (usually) stay intact, but Flake's keyboard and Till's mic stand are often not so fortunate. |
| 392 | * RuleThirtyFour: "Pussy". The video premiered on a porn site. |
| 393 | * {{Ruritania}}: The "Rosenrot" video takes place in a vaguely Eastern European setting. |
| 394 | %% (ZCE) * TheScream: The ''[[https://thetialys.files.wordpress.com/2012/02/rammstein-sehnsucht-frontal.jpg Sehnsucht]]'' cover. |
| 395 | * SelfTitledAlbum: Technically, their seventh album has NoTitle, however, for indexing purposes, most retailers refer to it as ''Rammstein''. |
| 396 | * SexySecretary: This is the role of the woman who seduces Schneider's CEO character in the "Pussy" video. |
| 397 | * SexySoakedShirt: The "kissing in the rain" scene in the "Du Riechst So Gut '98" video has wet clothes played for fanservice. |
| 398 | * ShirtlessScene: |
| 399 | ** When it comes to live shows, it's not a matter of whether this trope will happen or not, it's ''who specifically'' will invoke this trope. Take Völkerball, Ollie and Paul both end up shirtless by the end of the show. Given the heat on stage, it is probably understandable, but it also comes with some {{Fanservice}}. |
| 400 | ** The original ''Herzeleid'' cover, as well as the 1995 version of the "Du Riechst So Gut" video, features all members shirtless. |
| 401 | ** "Mann Gegen Mann" is a ''Clothingless'' Scene. |
| 402 | ** "Mein Land" has the band shirtless for most of it. |
| 403 | * ShockRock: To an extent - they are not afraid to push, provoke and all around use taboos in their imagery and music. |
| 404 | * ShoutOut: |
| 405 | ** The strange screaming noises in "Wollt Ihr Das Bett in Flamen Sehen?" are creature death sounds from ''VideoGame/{{Doom}}''. |
| 406 | ** The cover of ''Sehnsucht'' is a reference to Manson's music video for "The Beautiful People", which had a similar head-contraption-thing. Manson returned that shout out by using a platinum version of the "Du Hast" masks on the [="mOBSCENE"=] single cover, which also has a remix by two members of the band. |
| 407 | %% (ZCE) ** The music video for "Engel" plays heavy homage to ''Film/FromDuskTillDawn''. -- How? |
| 408 | %% (ZCE) ** The music video for "Du Hast" homages ''Film/ReservoirDogs''. -- How? |
| 409 | ** "Mein Teil" ends with a bunch of [[Music/{{Korn}} freaks on leashes.]] |
| 410 | ** "Dalai Lama" is a modern reworking of [[Literature/TheErlking "Der Erlkönig"]] by Goethe. |
| 411 | ** "Ohne Dich" contains references to a famous German poem: see below under SpiritualSuccessor. |
| 412 | ** The final fantasy in the video for "Haifisch" appears to be a shout out to the movie ''Film/Se7en''. |
| 413 | ** "Zerstören" features a sample from the Turkish song "Huma Kuşu", sung by Devrim Kaya. |
| 414 | ---> "Yar yarim, sen ağlama. Katlanamam."[[note]]"Lover, my lover, don’t cry. I can't take it."[[/note]] |
| 415 | ** The [[http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/e/e7/Mein_Land.jpeg cover art]] for the "Mein Land" single is based on the [[http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/7/74/SurferGirlCover.jpg cover art]] for Music/TheBeachBoys album ''Surfer Girl''. |
| 416 | ** Till's beach running in "Mein Land" is a nod to ''Series/{{Baywatch}}''. |
| 417 | ** During the end of the music video for "Mein Land", the band members are wearing [[ComicBook/TheJoker Joker]]-style facepaint. |
| 418 | * SingingVoiceDissonance: Till Lindemann has a [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r__RTqqmeGI German speaking voice]] to contrast his [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eC9pAker_PM American accent in-song]]. |
| 419 | %% (ZCE) * SnakesAreSexy: "Engel". |
| 420 | * SopranoAndGravel: |
| 421 | ** "Spieluhr" features vocals from [[RealLifeRelative Khira Li, Richard's daughter]], alongside Till's voice. |
| 422 | ** "Stirb Nicht Vor Mir (Don't Die Before I Do)", is a VocalTagTeam featuring Till and Music/{{Texas}}'s Sharleen Spiteri, though the original German version had said vocals performed by Bobo. |
| 423 | %% (ZCE) ** "Engel" |
| 424 | %% (ZCE) ** "Nebel" |
| 425 | %% (ZCE) ** "Moskau" |
| 426 | %% (ZCE) ** "Halleluja", the hidden track from ''Mutter''. |
| 427 | * ShowdownAtHighNoon: "Roter Sand" is about the aftermath of a classic duel over a lover, written from the loser's perspective. |
| 428 | %% (ZCE) * SplitPersonality: "Führe Mich". |
| 429 | %% (ZCE) * StalkerWithACrush: |
| 430 | %% (ZCE) ** The narrator of "Du Riechst So Gut". |
| 431 | %% (ZCE) ** "Feuer und Wasser" too, though to a much lesser extent. |
| 432 | * StarsAreSouls: "Engel" ("Angel") is about this. |
| 433 | -->Wer zu Lebzeit gut auf Erden[[note]]Who in their lifetime is good on Earth[[/note]]\ |
| 434 | wird nach dem Tod ein Engel werden[[note]]shall become an angel after death[[/note]]\ |
| 435 | den Blick gen Himmel fragst du dann[[note]]looking at the sky, you ask[[/note]]\ |
| 436 | warum man sie nicht sehen kann[[note]]why you can't see them[[/note]]\ |
| 437 | Erst wenn die Wolken schlafengehn[[note]]only once the clouds have gone to sleep[[/note]]\ |
| 438 | kann man uns am Himmel sehn[[note]]one can see us in the sky[[/note]]\ |
| 439 | wir haben Angst und sind allein[[note]]we're afraid and alone[[/note]] |
| 440 | * SurprisinglyGentleSong: They have a fair few songs like this: |
| 441 | ** "Ein Lied" lacks drums. |
| 442 | ** "Roter Sand" doesn't feature heavy guitars and lacks drums. |
| 443 | ** "Stirb Nicht Vor Mir" doesn't feature heavy guitars. |
| 444 | ** "Diamant" doesn't feature heavy guitars and lacks drums. |
| 445 | %% (ZCE) ** "Seemann". |
| 446 | %% (ZCE) ** "Ohne Dich". |
| 447 | %% (ZCE) ** "Amour". |
| 448 | %% (ZCE) ** "Nebel". |
| 449 | %% (ZCE) ** "Frühling in Paris". |
| 450 | * SyntheticVoiceActor: The creepy child voices in "Spieluhr" are done by Vocoders. |
| 451 | * TakeMyHand: Occurs in the music video for "Ohne Dich" when Till slips during the climb and Schneider tries to catch him but ultimately fails. |
| 452 | * TakeThat: |
| 453 | ** "Amerika" is one towards {{Eagleland}}. |
| 454 | ** "Pussy" is a mockery of sexual tourism and on prostitution being legalized in Germany in 2003, with lines like "I can't get laid in Germany!" |
| 455 | ** "Mein Land" is an anti-nationalism song. Its video is a parody of The Beach Boys, whose chirpy Californian image created a stereotype of Americans that endures to this day. |
| 456 | ** "Deutschland" is one to their own country but in a sadder way; they want to love Germany, but can't ignore the weight of the crimes of its past. |
| 457 | * TakeThatCritics: "Links 2-3-4" was written as a counterargument against those who [[AllGermansAreNazis accuse the band of having Nazi sympathies]]. |
| 458 | %% (ZCE) ** "Los" also counts. |
| 459 | * TallDarkAndHandsome: Till fits this criteria, with his 6'0" height, muscular build and dark hair. Richard and Schneider count as well. |
| 460 | * ATasteOfTheLash: Used in the context of mortification of the flesh in the music video for "Rosenrot". |
| 461 | * ThingsThatGoBumpInTheNight: "Mein Herz Brennt" is about "demons, ghosts and black fairies" who come out at night to torment children in their sleep and feast on their tears. |
| 462 | %% (ZCE) * ThrashMetal: "Asche Zu Asche" flirts with this genre. |
| 463 | * ThreeChordsAndTheTruth: Regardless of how awesome they sound, their guitar riffs and solos are mostly pretty simple. The biggest example is in the song "Spiel Mit Mir" where the guitar solo consists of literally ''one note''. |
| 464 | * ThroatLight: Till had one installed for the music video of "Ich Tu Dir Weh", and also used it during the "Liebe Ist Fur Alle Da" tour when singing "Rammlied." Notable in that he actually got his cheek pierced and ran a cable through it in order to power said light. |
| 465 | * TitleOnlyChorus: Plenty of them. The band acknowledges this, mocking themselves by saying all it takes to write a Rammstein chorus is some harsh-sounding German phrase repeated over a guitar riff. |
| 466 | %% (ZCE) * {{Transvestite}}: |
| 467 | %% (ZCE) ** Christoph Schneider's character in the video for "Mein Teil". |
| 468 | %% (WANE) ** [[https://imgur.com/gallery/v5zn9 This photoshoot]]. |
| 469 | %% (ZCE) ** [[AttractiveBentGender Frau Schneider]] makes a reappearance in the ''Made in Germany'' tour. |
| 470 | * TroublingUnchildlikeBehavior: "Puppe" tells the story of a neglected child that lives alone with their sister, who is quickly revealed to be a prostitute. Whenever the sister goes about her business, the little sibling gets locked in their room, with only a doll to keep them company - which they then brutalize and tear apart, night after night. Things go FromBadToWorse when the child discovers their sister was killed by a suitor. |
| 471 | * TrrrillingRrrs: Till Lindemann's trademark is his use of overly theatrical rolling R's. |
| 472 | %% (ZCE) * TruckDriversGearChange: |
| 473 | %% (ZCE) ** In the climax of "Mutter" |
| 474 | %% (ZCE) ** In the bridge of "Radio". |
| 475 | * TrueBeautyIsOnTheInside: The resolution to "Morgenstern", a Beauty and the Beast-type story, of course with a slightly more grotesque Rammstein spin. |
| 476 | * TrueCompanions: |
| 477 | ** The band has repeatedly stated that they can only function as a whole, and if any of its members were to leave, the entire band would quit. They have had the same lineup since they first began in 1994, to the point where they haven't even changed their placement ''on stage'' during live shows since their inception. |
| 478 | %% (ZCE) ** "Haifisch" can be seen as a form of principle declaration. -- How? |
| 479 | ** Subverted in the music video of "Haifisch". The video takes place at Till's funeral, and we see that the other band members have had fantasies of murdering him. They end up getting into a fight, which culminated in Flake crashing into Till's casket, which is when they found out he [[FakingTheDead faked his death]]. |
| 480 | ** "Ein Lied" is a hymn of loyalty towards their fans. According to Richard "it is a marriage without sex", and they get councelling to stay together. |
| 481 | ** Subverted in the video of "Auslander". The band gets on their boat to leave the African village they've been staying in, but when Flake suddenly comes racing out of the jungle they laugh and leave him behind as one of the village women tackles him to the ground and carries him off. |
| 482 | * UnflinchingWalk: |
| 483 | ** Flake spends a lot of his time walking on a treadmill onstage during live shows. Combined with the pyrotechnics, it often becomes this. |
| 484 | ** The entire band does one at the end of "Du Hast" as a car explodes behind them. |
| 485 | %% (ZCE) ** In [[https://youtu.be/GukNjYQZW8s?t=103 "Haifisch"]]. |
| 486 | * UnusualEuphemism: |
| 487 | ** "Pussy" is about sex tourism. The song contains "[[UsefulNotes/GermanPeculiarities Steck Bratwurst]] [[IntercourseWithYou in dein Sauerkraut]]"[[note]]"Stick a sausage in your sauerkraut"[[/note]] and "[[UsefulNotes/WorldWarII Blizkrieg]] [[PhallicWeapon mit dem Fleischgewehr]]"[[note]]"Blitzkrieg with the meat rifle"[[/note]]. |
| 488 | ** "Laichzeit" uses "the fish" as a metaphor for a penis. |
| 489 | %% (ZCE) * VillainProtagonist: |
| 490 | %% (ZCE) ** "Wiener Blut" is sung from a child abductor's perspective. |
| 491 | %% (ZCE) ** "Halleluja" is sung from a child abductor's perspective. |
| 492 | %% (ZCE) ** "Hallomann" is sung from a child abductor's perspective. |
| 493 | %% (ZCE) * VideoFullOfFilmClips: |
| 494 | %% (ZCE) ** "Stripped". |
| 495 | %% (ZCE) ** "Feuer Frei!". |
| 496 | %% (ZCE) ** "Rammstein". |
| 497 | * WalkingShirtlessScene: Ollie is more or less guaranteed to finish any performance shirtless, and will occasionally start that way. Till and Richard generally also fell into this trope in the band's early days. |
| 498 | %% (ZCE) ** The video for "Mein Land". |
| 499 | * WearingAFlagOnYourHead: Ruby Commey's portrayal of Germania in "Deutschland" is an interesting visual case. Germania is usually portrayed as carrying the national flag; but in the video with her black skin, red eyes, and gold-trimmed outfits, Germania ''is'' the flag. |
| 500 | * WhipOfDominance: During the ''Made in Germany'' performances of "Bück dich", Schneider (in full "[[{{Dominatrix}} Frau Schneider]]" mode) whips the other band members around with a riding crop. |
| 501 | * WorstAid: As the "Ohne Dich" video shows, it's not always a good idea to move someone with a broken bone. |
| 502 | * WordSaladLyrics: "[=Ramm4=]" is made by just mixing their older song titles together. |
| 503 | * ZergRush: How the ants in the "Links 2-3-4" video dealt with the beetles that invaded their anthill. The beetles never stood a chance. |
| 504 | [[/folder]] |
| 505 | ---- |
| 506 | ->''"Wir sind für die Musik geboren'', |
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