English
Translation
#1#2#3
Original
No Desire
Click to see the original lyrics (German)
I have no desire
I have no desire
I have no desire
I have no desire
I have no desire not to hate myself
Have no desire to touch myself
I would have the desire to masturbate
Have no desire to make the effort*
I would have the desire to undress
Have no desire to see myself naked
[Refrain]
I would have the desire to be with big animals [or, fall in love??]**
Have no desire to risk it
Have no desire to get out of the snow
Have no desire to freeze
I have no desire
I have no desire
I have no desire
No, I have no desire
I have no desire to chew anything
Because I have no desire to digest it
Have no desire to weigh myself
Have no desire to stay fat
I would have the desire to be with big animals
Have no desire to risk it
Have no desire to get out of the snow
Have no desire to freeze
I will simply lie here
And again I count the flies
Listlessly, I touch myself
And suddenly realise, I've been frigid for a long time ***
So cold, I'm cold
So cold
I'm cold...
"fuer etwas lust zu haben" directly translates as "to have the desire for/to do something", but desire in English is a much stronger word than it's German equivalent. Emotionally it translates better as "wanting to do something": Ich hab' keine lust = I don't want to [do anything]. In British English there's a closer match in "fancy", such as "I'd fancy it" or "fancy doing something" or "Nah, I don't fancy it". I left it here as "desire" to try to preserve the poetry better.
* "Hab' keine Lust es zu probieren" literally translates to "Have no desire to try it", but the emotional meaning is actually more like "Can't be bothered" [British English] or "Don't want to make the effort/take the trouble".
** My German friend says that, yup, this is exactly what it sounds like. Ew. hahahaha ;P
But I'm a die-hard romantic: in the song 'Amour', also on the Reise, Reise album, there's the line 'Die liebe ist ein wildes tier" = "Love is a wild animal". So I think this could also have the deeper meaning of a lonely person hoping for love but knowing he's too afraid to risk it. (Is that such a stretch? :) )
*** I struggled with whether to translate "Ich bin kalt" as "I'm frigid" or "I'm cold (still cold-frigid)". Frigid is the most accurate translation, but 'cold' fits the rhythm better, also works albeit more ambiguously. In the end I went with clarity of meaning over poetry for the first use, to set the tone, then switched "So kalt" = "So cold" ("So cold" as cold-frigid, but "I'm cold" refers to cold-temperature).
German-learners - the take-home on this if you say "Ich bin kalt, instead of "Mir ist kalt" you're telling everyone you're frigid, instead of that you're just feeling chilly! (It's funny for them though) :)