How about "and if they haven't died yet" instead of "if they are not dead" in both places? You could also say, "If they haven't died yet/They're living happily ever after." I would also write more clearly in footnote that this is the phrase in the original Grimm fairy tales that always gets translated into English as "they lived happily ever after." Which is actually pretty funny, since it changes the meaning from what a grownup would think to what a grownup would want to tell their young children.
I never really listened to Die Toten Hosen, but I for some reason I didn't think they wrote this kind of song :)
At the request of fulicasenia, further information:
The origin of the phrase “they all lived happily ever after,” has been routinely translated from “und wenn sie nicht gestorben sind, leben sie noch (heute).” It can be traced back to the writings of the Brothers Grimm, who collected the old German legends and folklore of their time, then published them. At their inception, the stories were not meant to be age-appropriate for young children, and some were meant to be a "warning tale" for children such as "Hansel und Gretel." Many of the stories were violent, but have become “sanitized” through the editing and printing process, and over time, and have turned into the popular fairy tales we know today.
One story in particular, Fundevogel (Foundling-Bird) used both “Es war einmal” (Once upon a time) at the beginning and “wenn sie nicht gestorben sind, leben sie noch” at the end (most of the tales don't contain both). I also found a translation where the original German meaning fit and was used; this may be the original source of that text. The last line of the English translation reads, “and if they have not died, they are still alive.”
Original German text (Fundevogel)
English translation (Foundling-Bird)
"traditional" translation 1
"traditional" translation 2
.
Here are additional links with some interesting reading:
The Brothers Grimm
Grimm's Fairy Tales
Reinhardswald is the area where the Brothers Grimm came from. Interesting to note: this is also the birth place of the best (most successful) Hanoverian breeding line in the world (Hanoverian mare line 659).
Reinhardswald (Reinhard Forest)
"Hannoveraner Stutenstämme," Asmussen Verlag (Publishing).
This was a very interesting and moving song to translate. In order to convey the meaning, I had to use both straight translations mixed with their idiomatic expressions.
I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!!
And...if you have any questions, feel free to ask!
:)