* 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.
Vater
Das Ich Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Wann hat mich die Wirklichkeit und wann bin ich ein Kind
Wer ist meines Geistes gleich verbrannte Flügel neben mir
Wo sind all die Bestgelehrten? Geht nicht Leid und Elend um
Was ist wenn es morgens blitzt und abends fehlt das Licht
Wenn ich mich dreh ist alles Eins und nichts davon trägt eine Seele
Wie fühlt sich wahre Liebe an und wie der blanke Hass
Es ist Glas auf nackter Haut von den Bienen tausend Stiche
Wenn die Erinnerung an Gestern mit dem blutend Atem heute mischt
Vater wo bist du...nimm mich an die Hand
Vater wo bist du...zeig mir Leben und Verstand
Vater wo bist du...gib mir dein warmes Blut
Vater wo bist du...beschütze mich vor Gottes Zorn
Wo sind all die großen Väter
Wer mich erzieht ist geistlich reich
The first stanza of "Vater" by Das Ich is contemplative and introspective, starting with a rhetorical question about the insignificance of individual existence in the grand scheme of eternity. The singer then reflects on the blurred line between reality and childhood memories, and questions the similarity of their thoughts with those who have gone before, represented by the burning wings beside them. The singer's inquiry then moves to the existence of suffering and misery in the world, questioning whether they are constants or subject to change. The final line of the stanza introduces the theme of existentialism, where turning around results in a realization that everything is one, but nothing in it carries any soul.
The second stanza of the song delves deeper into the human experience, exploring two stark emotions- true love and raw hatred. The singer portrays the physical manifestation of these emotions as "cold horror shivers" racing through the heart. This rawness is further emphasized by using the metaphor of being stung by a thousand bees on bare skin- unbearable and agonizing. The stanza ends with the mixing of yesterday's memories and today's bleeding breath, once again emphasizing the fragmented nature of the human mind.
The chorus of the song brings in the theme of filial love with the singer pleading with their absent father to take their hand and show them the way forward. The singer wants to emulate their father, who is presumably a great man as he has a wealth of knowledge in matters of religion and spirituality. The chorus ends with the singer appealing to their father to protect them from God's wrath, thus bringing in themes of piety and righteousness.
Line by Line Meaning
Was kümmert es die Ewigkeit das ich am Leben bin
Why does my existence matter to eternity?
Wann hat mich die Wirklichkeit und wann bin ich ein Kind
When did reality shape me and when am I still a child?
Wer ist meines Geistes gleich verbrannte Flügel neben mir
Who is like-minded to me? Burnt wings of a kindred spirit lie next to me.
Wo sind all die Bestgelehrten? Geht nicht Leid und Elend um
Where are all the best educated? Doesn't pain and suffering exist?
Was ist wenn es morgens blitzt und abends fehlt das Licht
What if lightning strikes in the morning and light is absent in the evening?
Wenn ich mich dreh ist alles Eins und nichts davon trägt eine Seele
When I turn, everything becomes one and none of it has a soul.
Wie fühlt sich wahre Liebe an und wie der blanke Hass
What does true love feel like, and what about pure hate?
Fühl das kalte grauen Zittern wenn das Herz I'm Rhythmus bricht
Feel the cold and trembling when the heart rhythm breaks.
Es ist Glas auf nackter Haut von den Bienen tausend Stiche
It's like glass on bare skin, a thousand bee stings.
Wenn die Erinnerung an Gestern mit dem blutend Atem heute mischt
When memories of yesterday mix with the bleeding breath of today.
Vater wo bist du...nimm mich an die Hand
Father, where are you? Take my hand.
Vater wo bist du...zeig mir Leben und Verstand
Father, where are you? Show me life and understanding.
Vater wo bist du...gib mir dein warmes Blut
Father, where are you? Give me your warm blood.
Vater wo bist du...beschütze mich vor Gottes Zorn
Father, where are you? Protect me from God's wrath.
Wo sind all die großen Väter
Where are all the great fathers?
Wer mich erzieht ist geistlich reich
Whoever educates me is spiritually rich.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: BRUNO KRAMM, STEFAN SIEGFRIED ACKERMANN
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind