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LT → German, English, Latin → Subway to Sally → Die Trommel → English
  • Subway to Sally

    Subway to Sally

    Die Trommel → English translation

  • 4 translations
    English #1
    +3 more
    , #2, French, Turkish
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Translation
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The Drum

Click to see the original lyrics (German)
We stood on the field
And we couldn't do anything about it1
Positioned in rank and file
There was no song upon our lips
 
Ach, I was still almost a child
I didn't muster up my courage
But as the drum started to call,
The noise2 got to me so deeply
I followed it's sound,
I didn't look back.
 
Because the drum calls so loud! (so loud)
Because the drum calls so loud! (so loud, so loud)
Because the drum calls so loud! (so loud, so loud)
I didn't look back!
 
Suddenly I stood on the field
I quickly forgot money and fame
I ran screaming over hedge and ditch3
Fear ran through my bone and marrow
Suddenly I was terrified,
I didn't look back.
 
Because the drum calls so loud! (so loud)
Because the drum calls so loud! (so loud, so loud)
Because the drum calls so loud! (so loud, so loud)
I didn't look back!
 
At night I often hear the sound,
The thunderous singing
And I lie awake in terror
I curse it a hundred times
 
Because the drum calls so loud! (so loud)
Because the drum calls so loud! (so loud, so loud)
Because the drum calls so loud! (so loud, so loud)
I didn't look back!
 
  • 1. I translated it literally here, but the idea may be that "We didn't have a choice in the matter," hinting the warriors involved were draftees in some sense
  • 2. I didn't use the English possessive pronoun in some places where the German uses the possessive pronoun for stylistic reasons
  • 3. literally, "cross-country"
Original lyrics

Die Trommel

Click to see the original lyrics (German)

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Subway to Sally: Top 3
1.Imperator rex Graecorum
2.Kleid aus Rosen
3.Ad mortem festinamus
Idioms from "Die Trommel"
1.over hedge and ditch
2.rank and file
Comments
caillean7caillean7    Sun, 04/05/2014 - 14:55

Hi, some suggestions:

First, it's just one drum, so might want to change all references to the drum to singular, or, should you have chosen plural for stylistic reasons perhaps, add a footnote. Plural of 'Trommel' is 'Trommeln'

'Doch als dann die Trommel rief' -> 'doch' means here 'but / yet / still' -> 'But then, as the drum was calling' (something like that)

'Hab mich nicht mehr umgeschaut.' -> I'd translate that to 'I didn't look back', it means that he didn't turn around to look back, and it fits the context for both lines.

'Denn die Trommel ruft so laut' -> that's present tense, so it should be 'Because the drum calls so loud'

About 'querfeldein' - I think you could perhaps also translate that to 'over hedge and ditch', I guess it means that he's just running and not paying attention which way he takes. That's it :)

caillean7caillean7    Tue, 06/05/2014 - 05:46

Thinking about the differing tenses - I think the part with the drum is in present tense, because it describes what the drum usually does, not just now, a bit like the difference in English between 'call' and 'calling'. It speaks about the drum in general - does that make sense?

The other line - I think there is a contrast - the person in the song is nearly a child, hasn't worked up courage, but still, as the drum calls, he answers to its call. If you're uncomfortable with 'but' you can change it to 'yet' or 'still' perhaps, but it doesn't mean 'indeed'.

caillean7caillean7    Tue, 06/05/2014 - 16:54

I think he had himself let lured to go into war, but when he really saw what was going on the battlefield, he ran.

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