2012 has started at the same amazing pace as 2011 for Scala & Kolacny Brothers, with a tour of Northern Spain, dates in Belgium, Germany, Italy and Ireland, an upcoming trip to Korea as well as TV appearances at ITV's Dancing On Ice (UK) and at the famous San Remo Festival... But 2011 was the breakout year for Scala & Kolacny Brothers as they conquered the United States and Canada with a major tour, in support of their first North American CD release, including headlining stages at SXSW and Coachella. This success was immediately followed by a first record release in the U.K., a sold out show at London's Union Chapel in June and a triumphant “special guest” performance at the Latitude Festival, where they played the prestigious Sunday noon slot. In June the group headlined at the Heineken Dia De La Musica in Madrid, in November the album ‘Scala & Kolacny Brothers’ was released in Italy, where it immediately hit the top 10 (!) and in December the group returned to 4 sold out shows in Berlin, as well as a Radio Eins very special-alternative-Christmas-songs special. 2011 has brought Scala & Kolacny Brothers the status of international phenomenon and it all seemed to start with a simple email.
When the email arrived in May 2010, the Kolacny brothers thought it was some kind of joke. “Yeah”, the brothers thought, “right.” But the request was genuine. And the film turned out to be The Social Network. It transpired that the director, David Fincher, is a huge fan.
The song in question is a hauntingly beautiful acoustic reworking of Radiohead¹s Creep. In July 2010, two months after the brothers received the email, the Social Network trailer was released. The powerful music was center stage, heightening a growing sense of unease like a chorus of fallen angels.
Like the film itself, the trailer has been a huge global hit more than 250m people have seen in the Cinema, on TV or online. Thanks in part to the subsequent buzz on social media, traffic to the brothers’ website went through the roof: their interpretation of Creep is an internet phenomenon, watched in various forms well over 25m times.
A record-label bidding war erupted in America but the brothers chose to sign with Atco, a subsidiary of Warner, with whom they had been negotiating. They released an eponymous album in in the US in March in the US and in the UK and most of the rest of Europe - 6 June 2011 (on Wall Of Sound). Italy followed in November of this year and the album was re-released in December in the UK, with two additional titles. In 2011 Scala & Kolacny Brothers also released 2 acclaimed video clips, for their versions of Use Somebody (directed by Inti Calfat) and Everlong (directed by Mark Woollen, who also directed the The Social Network trailer).
In September Scala & Kolacny Brother’s version of U2’s With Or Without You, was featured in the trailer for Season 2 of the British hit drama series Downton Abbey (broadcast in the USA on PBS where Scala & Kolacny Brothers also have their new special ‘Live From Bruges’ airing from December). And in December Scala’s version of Last Christmas was used in the trailer for the Downton Abbey Christmas special, while the group performed at Downton Abbey’s VIP Christmas special launch party in London.
But even with numerous TV shows (including 'the Simpsons'!) using Scala & Kolacny Brother’s music in 2011, it was the Social Network trailer which shone a spotlight on the unique musical project that is Scala & Kolacny Brothers an indie-rock choir, comprising of the two Kolacny brothers, Steven and Stijn, and Scala, their all-girl choir. Steven plays the piano, Stijn conducts the choir. The brothers usually work with 20-30 singers, aged 16-26, at a time, but these days have more than 200 girls on their books, ensuring plenty of cover for their increasingly busy schedule.
Scala & Kolacny Brothers take rock and indie songs and reinvent them as elegiac hymns to breathtaking effect with the piano often the sole accompaniment to the voices. On occasion they also use drum machines, sequencers and synthesizers, and also often perform with a full rock band.
The new album includes versions of Smells Like Teen Spirit (Nirvana), Champagne Supernova (Oasis), With or Without You (U2), Use Somebody (Kings of Leon), Everlong (Foo Fighters) and more. Creep also features, as do three original compositions Seashell, Masquerade and Our Last Fight.
Rock and indie music works best because “the beating heart of the songs is often very black and very emotional, and the female voices of the choir add a certain melancholic touch”, says Stijn. “Sometimes they bring out whole new dimensions in the songs our version of Nothing Else Matters could be
classical music; its sound is nothing to do with Metallica anymore.” Other influences range from Sigur Ros to Nirvana and include the dark electro-pop of Goldfrapp and Depeche Mode, and the brooding mini-symphonies of Massive Attack.
Mutter
Scala & Kolacny Brothers Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
ich zieh sie auf ein weißes Haar
werf in die Luft die nasse Kette
und wünsch mir, dass ich eine Mutter hätte
Keine Sonne die mir scheint
keine Brust hat Milch geweint
in meiner Kehle steckt ein Schlauch
Mutter
Ich durfte keine Nippel lecken
und keine Falte zum Verstecken
niemand gab mir einen Namen
gezeugt in Hast und ohne Samen
Der Mutter die mich nie geboren
hab ich heute Nacht geschworen
ich werd ihr eine Krankheit schenken
und sie danach im Fluss versenken
Mutter
In ihren Lungen wohnt ein Aal
auf meiner Stirn ein Muttermal
entferne es mit Messers Kuss
auch wenn ich sterben muss
auch wenn ich verbluten muss
Mutter gib mir Kraft
The lyrics to Scala & Kolacny Brothers' "Mutter" speak to the loneliness and longing for maternal love and nurturing. The first verse describes the singer's desire for a mother, portrayed through the image of tears from old children and the offering of a wet chain, as if sharing the burden of their longing. The next verse speaks to the absence of maternal care, highlighting the lack of sunlight and breast milk, and the presence of a medical tube in the singer's throat. The imagery of not having a navel on their stomach suggests a lack of birth or beginning, deepening the sense of isolation and fragmentation.
The chorus then spells out the word "Mutter," German for mother, four times, emphasizing the central theme of the song. The second verse depicts the singer's ignored childhood and lack of care, unable to experience the simple pleasure of nursing or being named. The line "gezeugt in Hast und ohne Samen" suggests a darker origin story, perhaps hinting at a traumatic sexual experience. The last verse takes a more vengeful turn, with the singer swearing to "gift" a sickness to the mother who never bore them and then throwing her in the river. The final lines about the "aal" in her lungs and the "muttermal" on the singer's forehead suggest a physical embodiment of their emotional pain and a desire to be rid of it, even if it means death.
Overall, the song's lyrics convey a deeply emotional and multi-layered story of a person seeking maternal love, struggling with their fragmented identity, and finding empowerment through unusual means.
Line by Line Meaning
Die Tränen greiser Kinderschar
The tears of an old group of children
Ich zieh sie auf ein weißes Haar
I pull them onto a white hair
Werf in die Luft die nasse Kette
Throw the wet chain up into the air
Und wünsch mir, dass ich eine Mutter hätte
And wish that I had a mother
Keine Sonne die mir scheint
No sun that shines for me
Keine Brust hat Milch geweint
No breast has wept milk
In meiner Kehle steckt ein Schlauch
There's a tube stuck in my throat
Hab keinen Nabel auf dem Bauch
I don't have a navel on my stomach
Mutter
Mother
Ich durfte keine Nippel lecken
I wasn't allowed to suck nipples
Und keine Falte zum Verstecken
And no folds to hide in
Niemand gab mir einen Namen
No one gave me a name
Gezeugt in Hast und ohne Samen
Conceived in haste and without semen
Der Mutter die mich nie geboren
To the mother who never gave birth to me
Hab ich heute Nacht geschworen
I swore tonight
Ich werd ihr eine Krankheit schenken
I will give her an illness
Und sie danach im Fluss versenken
And then sink her in the river
Mutter
Mother
In ihren Lungen wohnt ein Aal
An eel lives in her lungs
Auf meiner Stirn ein Muttermal
On my forehead, a birthmark
Entferne es mit Messers Kuss
Remove it with a kiss of the knife
Auch wenn ich sterben muss
Even if I have to die
Auch wenn ich verbluten muss
Even if I have to bleed to death
Mutter gib mir Kraft
Mother, give me strength
Contributed by Ruby S. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Kon
Translation of lyrics:
The tears of a group of aged children
I draw them on a white hair
throw the wet chain in the air
and I wish that I had a mother
No sun shines on me
no breast has wept milk
in my throat sticks a hose
I have no navel on my belly
Mother
I could not lick a nipple
and had no fold to hide in
no one gave me any name
fathered in haste and without sperm
The mother who never bore me
I have this night sworn
I will gift her a disease
and after that sink her in the river
Mother
In her lungs lives an eel
on my forehead a birthmark
removed it with a knife’s kiss
even if I must die from this
Mother
In her lungs lives an eel
on my forehead a birthmark
removed it with a knife’s kiss
even if I must bleed to death from this
Mother
oh give me strength
Mireille T.
Mother
The tears of an aged group of children
I pull on a white hair
Throw the wet chain into the air
And wish that I had a mother
No sun that shines anymore
No breasts which gives milk
There's a tube in my throat
I have no navel on my belly
Mutter, Mutter,
(Ja?, Ja?)
Mutter, Mutter,
(Ja?, Ja?)
I wasn't allowed to lick any nipples
And I had no fold to hide in
Nobody gave me a name
Conceived in haste and without seed
The mother that has never born* me
Have I sworn tonight
I shall give her a disease
And then drown her in the river
Mother, Mother
(Yes?, Yes?)
Mother, Mother
(Yes?, Yes?)
An eel lives in your lungs
On my forehead there's a birthmark
Remove it with a knife's kiss
Even if I have to die from it
Mother, Mother
(Yes?, Yes?)
Mother, Mother
(Yes?, Yes?)
...Aaaaaaaaah
An eel lives in your lungs
On my forehead there's a birthmark
Remove it with a knife's kiss
Even if I have to bleed to death from it
Mother,
Oh, give me strength..
Mother, mother
Oh, give me strength..
Mother, mother
Oh, give me strength..
Mother, Mother!
Oh, give me strength....
Kon
Translation of lyrics:
The tears of a group of aged children
I draw them on a white hair
throw the wet chain in the air
and I wish that I had a mother
No sun shines on me
no breast has wept milk
in my throat sticks a hose
I have no navel on my belly
Mother
I could not lick a nipple
and had no fold to hide in
no one gave me any name
fathered in haste and without sperm
The mother who never bore me
I have this night sworn
I will gift her a disease
and after that sink her in the river
Mother
In her lungs lives an eel
on my forehead a birthmark
removed it with a knife’s kiss
even if I must die from this
Mother
In her lungs lives an eel
on my forehead a birthmark
removed it with a knife’s kiss
even if I must bleed to death from this
Mother
oh give me strength
Eric Pudalov
Danke!
ImagiW
Magnifique reprise, particulièrement émouvante. Les paroles sont encore plus profondes et prennent tout leur sens. Till Lindemann est un poète de talent reconnu, superbe.
Momo Le Homard
Thank you Shazam, I only know the rammstein's version, but I've heard a little bit of this music on a video five years ago and I loved that..
480014574
I want to do this for choir so bad...
Hunam
Thanks for fixing it. Real MVP.
Rajindra Sankar
I wish someone who knows German language if they can translate this song for me in English this song sounds like pure sorrow and sadness I love this song so much
Mireille T.
Mother
The tears of an aged group of children
I pull on a white hair
Throw the wet chain into the air
And wish that I had a mother
No sun that shines anymore
No breasts which gives milk
There's a tube in my throat
I have no navel on my belly
Mutter, Mutter,
(Ja?, Ja?)
Mutter, Mutter,
(Ja?, Ja?)
I wasn't allowed to lick any nipples
And I had no fold to hide in
Nobody gave me a name
Conceived in haste and without seed
The mother that has never born* me
Have I sworn tonight
I shall give her a disease
And then drown her in the river
Mother, Mother
(Yes?, Yes?)
Mother, Mother
(Yes?, Yes?)
An eel lives in your lungs
On my forehead there's a birthmark
Remove it with a knife's kiss
Even if I have to die from it
Mother, Mother
(Yes?, Yes?)
Mother, Mother
(Yes?, Yes?)
...Aaaaaaaaah
An eel lives in your lungs
On my forehead there's a birthmark
Remove it with a knife's kiss
Even if I have to bleed to death from it
Mother,
Oh, give me strength..
Mother, mother
Oh, give me strength..
Mother, mother
Oh, give me strength..
Mother, Mother!
Oh, give me strength....
Edgelordess
Does anyone else feel things while listening to this version?
Mina Mina
TheChibiFangirl de votre par la