Die weißen Tauben sind müde

I heard this tune and knew it was trying to be heroic/tragic/epic. I looked up the translation of the lyric (I could get, "Come here Marie" and knew that fliegen had something to do with flight, but that was about as far as my German language aptitude could get me on my own).
While I was looking, I also found a video on youtube.

The music is admittedly bombastic, but I find that to be one of its charms. In someways, this is a musical version of "Dover Beach" by Matthew Arnold. Of course it's a good deal different, written years apart in different languages. But the emotion, the angst is spot on between them two.

It reminds me how silly I am when I'm all angsty and lonely. I still am angsty and lonely, but I know it's silly to look at. :-P





--German from lyric site, translation by google---
Hans Hartz - The White doves Are Tired
Infos Info Interpret: Artist: Hans Hartz Hans Hartz
Album: - --
Songtext-Nummer: Lyrics number: 61931
Eingesendet: Submitted: 02.12.2005
Einsender: One person: ErichG ErichG

Videos Videos Für Hans Hartz - Die Weißen Tauben Sind Müde von Hans Hartz wurden noch keine Videos gespeichert. For Hans Hartz - The White doves Are Tired by Hans Hartz were no videos.

Komm her Marie ein letztes Glas, ---Come here Marie one last glass,
genießen wir den Augenblick, --------we enjoy the moment,
ab morgen gibt’s statt Wein nur Wasser. From tomorrow, there's only water instead of wine.
Komm her und schenk uns noch mal ein,--- Come here and gift us again,
soviel wird morgen anders sein ----so tomorrow will be different
Marie die Welt wird langsam blasser. ---Marie the world is slowly faded.
Die weißen Tauben sind müde, ---The white doves are tired,
sie Fliegen lange schon nicht mehr. ---they fly long, not more.
Sie haben viel zu schwere Flügel; ---You've spent too heavy wings;
und ihre Schnäbel sind längst leer,--- and their beaks are long empty,
jedoch die Falken fliegen weiter, ---However, the hawks fly further,
sie sind so stark wie nie vorher; ---they are as strong as never before;
und ihre Flügel werden breiter, ---and its wings are broader,
und täglich kommen immer mehr, ---and daily more and more
nur weiße Tauben fliegen nicht mehr. ---only white doves fly no more.

Bleib doch Marie, ---Stay but Marie,
der letzte Rest reicht für uns beide alle mal. ---the last remaining enough for both of us all times.
Ab morgen gibt’s statt Brot nur Steine, ---From tomorrow, there's only bread instead of stones,
komm her und schenk uns noch mal ein, ---come, and gift us again,
denn so wie heut wird’s nie mehr sein; ---because as today's will never be more;
Marie die Welt reist von alleine. ---Marie travels the world on their own.
Die weißen Tauben sind müde, ---The white doves are tired,
sie Fliegen lange schon nicht mehr.--- they fly long, not more.
Sie haben viel zu schwere Flügel; ---You've spent too heavy wings;
und ihre Schnäbel sind längst leer,--- and their beaks are long empty,
jedoch die Falken fliegen weiter, ---However, the hawks fly further,
sie sind so stark wie nie vorher; ---they are as strong as never before;
und ihre Flügel werden weiter, ---and will continue their wings,
und täglich kommen immer mehr,--- and daily more and more
nur weiße Tauben fliegen nicht mehr.--- only white doves fly no more.

Sieh dort Marie das leere Bett,--- Look there Marie the empty bed,
der Spiegel unsrer großen Zeit.--- the mirror of our big time.
Ab Morgen gibt’s statt Glas nur Scherben. ---From tomorrow, there's only instead of glass shards.
Komm her und schenk uns noch mal ein,--- Come here and gift us again,
den letzten Schluck vom letzten Wein, ---the last sip from the last wine,
Marie die Welt beginnt zu sterben. ---Marie the world begins to die.
Die weißen Tauben sind müde, ---The white doves are tired,
sie Fliegen lange schon nicht mehr. ---they fly long, not more.
Sie haben viel zu schwere Flügel; ---You've spent too heavy wings;
und ihre Schnäbel sind längst leer, ---and their beaks are long empty,
jedoch die Falken fliegen weiter, ---However, the hawks fly further,
sie sind so stark wie nie vorher;--- they are as strong as never before;
und ihre Flügel werden weiter, ---and will continue their wings,
und täglich kommen immer mehr, ---and daily more and more
nur weiße Tauben fliegen nicht mehr.--- only white doves fly no more.

Die weißen Tauben sind müde,--- The white doves are tired,
sie Fliegen lange schon nicht mehr.--- they fly long, not more.
Sie haben viel zu schwere Flügel; ---You've spent too heavy wings;
und ihre Schnäbel sind längst leer, ---and their beaks are long empty,
jedoch die Falken fliegen weiter,--- However, the hawks fly further,
sie sind so stark wie nie vorher; ---they are as strong as never before;
und ihre Flügel werden weiter,--- and will continue their wings,
und täglich kommen immer mehr, ---and daily more and more
nur weiße Tauben fliegen nicht mehr. ---only white doves fly no more.

Re reading the Greats, and not.

Nearly everyone has something they learned or thought wrong as a child that they later discovered was mistaken. One of the things I had mistaken included the idea that boys and girls had different left and right arms. (When my mom was teaching me left from right, she'd be facing me, and we'd have opposite right arms and left arms. She never realized I didn't get it. Imagine my surprise when I got to 1st grade and saw while saying "The Pledge" that the girls placed their same hand over their hearts as I did mine.

The teacher explained when I asked her that every one's right and left are the same.)

Another idea I had wrong was the belief that one could only read a book once. Because then you'd read it. Other things were like that--if you thought didn't like a vegetable or some food, you'd have to try it, but once you tried it, you didn't have to eat it again. Or movies: once you'd seen a movie, then you'd seen it. You could remember it, talk about enjoying it, but you didn't go back. (Although one could play songs over and over and over again, which I did--which nearly drove my father to violence...)

One summer when I was reading through books like a paper shredder. Not that I tore or shredded them really, but I was just zooming through the pages and moving on. I played the same album while I read a book, and then I'd change the music when the book was over. I didn't really think much about it until I read The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. I enjoyed that book so much that it colored the album I was listening to. To this day, that music makes me think of reading Tom Sawyer. And when I was finished, I completely stopped and breathed a sigh: I had finished Tom Sawyer, and it was great and I could never read it again, because I had read it now.

There were so many things to see and to read (and still are, for all that) that I didn't even realize until years later that one could see a movie a second time or more if it was really good, and one could read a book a second or third time or more. What fun! What a surprise for me!

Since that discovery, I've read a number of books more than once, and a couple books as regularly as annually or bi-annually. But I've never re-read The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. I know I could. I've known I could for many years now. But that first reading was so perfect, so intensely sweet and irreproducible that if I did re-read the book, like a river, it wouldn't be the same book any more. Although concerning books I had been mistaken about not being able to read more than once, this one experience of reading I'm saving as the perfect one.