* In 1989, the band released the demo CD "Satanische Verse" and after another year their debut album "Die Propheten" on Bruno Kramm's own label, Danse Macabre.
Das Ich skillfully mixed electronic, symphonic and early industrial elements into an explosive cocktail unprecedented in the often cliche ridden German music culture. Das Ich established itself with a fixed position in the scene and became the very epitome of experimental and electronic music.
They are celebrated as the starting spark of a new genre of post wave, post Kraftwerk, post Neubauten era, and successfully led the way in the charts of the independent scene. Tours all over Europe strengthened the position of Das Ich, who quickly got a reputation for being "apocalyptic eccentrics", since their concerts appear to be evil and bone-jarring spectacles.
* After the release of their maxi CD "Stigma" in 1993, Das Ich went off on an extended tour through all of Europe and the U.S., and in addition played at various festivals, for example the Peter Gabriel WOMAD in Hamburg, as well as at the Documenta in Kassel.
* After that followed what up to now is their most compressed work as well as their least accessible, "Staub". Its success underpined their precedence. Released right at Christmas time, "Staub" was on the waiting list of the German Media Control Charts for 11 weeks.
It took about 2 years to create this work, in which both the innovation that characterized their debut, and modern industrial-elements (comp. "Das Ich im Ich") were amalgamated. Harsh noise-loops bedded into symphonic arrangements and combined thematically with the Holocaust of self-contempt in modern human society rendered "Staub" a milestone for electronic music of the nineties. 8 tracks, which catapulted Das Ich to international significance and which carried on the importance of the German industrial-electro-scene. With "Staub" Das Ich played a tour containing more than 60 shows whole over the world. "Staub" was also released domestically in the USA on the Californian label Tess Records, ran by William Faith of Faith and the Muse, while "Die Propheten" was re-released on Black Orchid Records from Miami.
* After the band recruited the drummer Chad Blinman on the U.S. tour, Das Ich grew into a genuine live band. In 1995 they put the live album "Feuer" out on the market to question the term "canned music", which all electronic bands have to deal with sooner or later.
* Immediately after that, a project done together with the famous metal band "Atrocity" was released. The album "Die Liebe" was a successful attention-getter for both bands and is still numbered among the first representatives of the successful metal/gothic crossover movement of the time.
Until today, many of these crossover bands refer to this album as initial innovation and influence.
* At the end of 1996 Das Ich began the early work on their new album "Egodram".
* However, the work had to be interrupted for half a year in order to compose the soundtrack album "Das Innere Ich" for the underground movie "Das Ewige Licht". After a further successful tour in the U.S. in May of 1997 with the new drummer Jakob Lang, the work on "Egodram" could finally begin again and be completed at the end of 1997. While all the previous releases appeared on the Danse Macabre label, Das Ich decided in the summer of 1997 to sign a worldwide recording contract with Edel Records for "Egodram".
* The first single "Kindgott" which was out taken from the new album was released in December 1997.
* In February 1998 the successful "Egodram" album and the second single "Destillat" with a stunning videoclip, directed by the wellknown Qfilm company, were released.
* From March to April 1998 Das Ich toured Germany, Austria and Switzerland. In May they played the International Wave Gothik Treffen in Leipzig.
* After touring for the first time Spain and Mexico they finished the work on their literal work in June, "Morgue" which features songs to the poems of the famous German expressionist writer "Gottfried Benn" in an extreme diversity which brought them also a fantastic feedback from cultural institutions whole over Europe. In November 98 Das Ich toured France and Germany again to present some of their new songs.
* In 1999 it was time to celebrate ten years of Das Ich with "Re_Laborat" and the big USA Totentanz Tour 99. This album was a successful hit on the dance floor. It offers various remixes from well-known bands like Deine Lakaien, Atrocity, VNV Nation, And One and many others. The smashing dance floor hit "Destillat", remixed by VNV Nation became a club hymn for the summer of 2000 worldwide. The dark romantic track "Reanimat", only available on a limited double CD was transferred to a videoclip, directed by Hans Helmut HдЯler, with whom the band worked on "Das Ewige Licht" before. "Re_Laborat" was also brought to France on XIII Bis Records domestically, while their online archives www.dasich.de found birth on the internet.
* *In 2003 "Das Ich" released a double CD box, a Best Of called "Relikt" with a 48 page booklet. They also toured again the USA and Russia for the first time with a tremendous effort and success.
*In the middle of the burning summer 2004, Das Ich released their breathtaking new album, called Lava which focuses on emotional issues. For the first time in the bands outspanning history, love, hate, greed and other human feelings struggle against the ratio, the understanding of the human being. It is the fight of the Freudian "Es" (it) against the moral "Ich" (Ego)
* In 2006 Das Ich released Cabaret, a gothic album based on theatrics.
* In 2008 Das Ich released the EP Kannibale, which they call their harshest and most brutal endeavour yet.
Schwanenschrei
Das Ich Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
bring es aus dir raus
Alles stirbt sich gleich
ganz langsam leuchtest do
Niemandes Harmonien
leise Würmer fressen
Deine Wirklichkeit
der Morgenstern heißt dich willkommen
Alles aus den Fugen fällt
Glorie ein Neugeborenes
Nach dir bis Ende der Zeit
tote Egomasken aus
heilen deine Welt
Schatten in die Sehnsucht
wie das Vieh I'm warmen Stall
Wir sind aufgebrochen
I'm Stacheldraht der Zeit
mit dem Krug des Herzens
deine Tagebücher
Immerwieder hasten
schlaf in dunklen Felsen
tief in deinem Schädel
Der Abendstern winkt dir zum Abschied
Immerfort Atomzerfall
hängen Engel federlos
füllst do tote Brunnen auf
leuchten Kinderaugen aus
Wir I'm Spiegel auf und ab
Geheimnisse vergessen sich
jagen Stimmen in der Nacht
Es ist wie Hunger, es ist wie Sex
Es macht mich müde, es schmeckt wie Dreck
So fließt Ende zum Anfang, wie der Schwanenschrei
mit großen Augen Fragen, zünden wir die Sonne an
So fließt Anfang zum Ende, wie des Kampfes Lieder
mit allen Wassern waschen wir des andren Kinder rein
In the first verse of "Schwanenschrei," Das Ich muses on the inevitability of death and the futility of trying to control it. The opening line, "Niemand weiss warum" (Nobody knows why), suggests a sense of resignation and powerlessness in the face of the unknown. The next line, "bring es aus dir raus" (bring it out of yourself), hints at the idea that perhaps one can find meaning in their own life by facing their mortality head-on. The lines that follow, "Alles stirbt sich gleich / ganz langsam leuchtest du" (everything is dying the same way / you slowly begin to shine), suggest that in the face of death, we all ultimately lose ourselves and become one with the void. The lines "Niemandes Harmonien / leise Würmer fressen / deine Wirklichkeit / der Morgenstern heißt dich willkommen" (nobody's harmonies / quiet worms eat away / your reality / the morning star welcomes you), underscore the idea that death is a force that erodes everything in its path, but can also be seen as a welcome release from the pain and confusion of life.
In the second verse, Das Ich shifts its focus to the idea of rebirth and spiritual renewal. The line "Alles aus den Fugen fällt" (everything falls out of joint) suggests a sense of upheaval and chaos, but the line "Glorie ein Neugeborenes" (glory, a newborn) hints at the possibility of something new coming from the old. The lines "nach dir bis Ende der Zeit / tote Egomasken aus / heilen deine Welt" (after you until the end of time / dead ego masks out / heal your world") suggest that by shedding one's old, dead selves, one can find a new way of being that is more healing and transcendent. The image of "Schatten in die Sehnsucht / wie das Vieh im warmen Stall" (shadows in the longing / like cattle in a warm barn) conjures a sense of comfort and safety within this new way of being.
Line by Line Meaning
Niemand weiss warum
No one knows why
bring es aus dir raus
Bring it out of you
Alles stirbt sich gleich
Everything dies the same
ganz langsam leuchtest du
You slowly shine
Niemandes Harmonien
Nobody's harmonies
leise Würmer fressen
Quiet worms eating
Deine Wirklichkeit
Your reality
der Morgenstern heißt dich willkommen
The morning star welcomes you
Alles aus den Fugen fällt
Everything falls apart
Glorie ein Neugeborenes
Glory, a newborn
Nach dir bis Ende der Zeit
After you until the end of time
tote Egomasken aus
Dead ego masks out
heilen deine Welt
Healing your world
Schatten in die Sehnsucht
Shadows in longing
wie das Vieh im warmen Stall
Like the livestock in the warm stable
Wir sind aufgebrochen
We have set out
Im Stacheldraht der Zeit
In the barbed wire of time
mit dem Krug des Herzens
With the jug of the heart
deine Tagebücher
Your diaries
Immerwieder hasten
Hastening again and again
schlaf in dunklen Felsen
Sleep in dark rocks
tief in deinem Schädel
Deep in your skull
Der Abendstern winkt dir zum Abschied
The evening star bids you farewell
Immerfort Atomzerfall
Constant atomic decay
hängen Engel federlos
Featherless angels hanging
füllst du tote Brunnen auf
You fill dead wells
leuchten Kinderaugen aus
Children's eyes shine
Wir im Spiegel auf und ab
We go up and down in the mirror
Geheimnisse vergessen sich
Secrets forget themselves
jagen Stimmen in der Nacht
Voices chase in the night
Es ist wie Hunger, es ist wie Sex
It is like hunger, it is like sex
Es macht mich müde, es schmeckt wie Dreck
It makes me tired, it tastes like dirt
So fließt Ende zum Anfang, wie der Schwanenschrei
So the end flows to the beginning, like the swan's cry
mit großen Augen Fragen, zünden wir die Sonne an
With big questioning eyes, we light the sun
So fließt Anfang zum Ende, wie des Kampfes Lieder
So the beginning flows to the end, like the songs of battle
mit allen Wassern waschen wir des andren Kinder rein
We clean each other's children with all the waters
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, KLETTER ENTERTAINMENT INC
Written by: BRUNO KRAMM, STEFAN SIEGFRIED ACKERMANN
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind