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Family Values German Style

Hellmut, September 13, 2008October 20, 2010

For myheadhurts and Everyone Else Who Is Looking for Meaning Beyond the Confines of Fundamentalism

Celebrating the resilience of children despite parental pathologies, Wir Sind Helden has recorded another song that asserts humanity while facing life’s nastiness. Kaputt‘s credo is reminiscent of a John Irving novel.

Although parents are dented, broken, and borderline insane, the child perseveres and finds goodness and meaning by acting on the limited possibilities to help, but not heal, the parents.

Grounding its moralism in realism, Kaputt does not need to rely on idols and enemies to celebrate humanity’s virtue and resilience. Accepting life’s imperfections, Kaputt embraces parents without homophobic paranoia nor banal mothers day propaganda. Real love for real parents by realistic children who choose to find meaning within the constraints of possibility.

You can youtube the original music video here. However, this rogue version by Geggo probably translates German better into ‘visual’:

Here is a translation of the lyrics from LyricWiki:

Your father is broken
But you’re not
Battered and twisted
And perhaps insane
But somewhere underneath it all
You are strangely okay
Almost intact
Among everything that hurts

I know you want to help
I know you’re worried
I know you want to bunk
I know you’re ashamed

It’s okay
Each should flee if they can
If you’re driving the getaway car
Buckle up!

There’s so much broken
But so much not
Every fragment
Reflects the light
There’s so much broken
But between the blaze
Between ash and debris
Something was good

Your mother is broken
But you’re not
You wear the same bandages
Layer over layer
But somewhere underneath it all
You’re already healed
For too long
You have shared her wounds

I know you want to help
But you don’t know how
I know you want to bunk
You could never do this

It’s okay
You shall help if you can
If you pick up the pieces
Put gloves on!

There’s so much broken
But so much not
Every fragment
Reflects the light
There’s so much broken
But between the blaze
Between ash and debris
Something was good

You’ve found it
And you’ve got to carry it
For you and for everyone
Who asks for it

You’ve found it
And you’ve got to carry it
For you and for everyone
Who asks for it

There’s so much broken
But so much not
Every fragment
Reflects the light
There’s so much broken
But between the blaze
Between ash and debris
Something was good

PS: In the meanwhile, I found a video with subtitles by RobinB88:

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Comments (3)

  1. Craig says:
    September 14, 2008 at 6:55 pm

    I am a big fan of Wir sind Helden. Probably my favourite German band. Sie rocken!

  2. Hellmut says:
    September 15, 2008 at 5:53 am

    Awesome! What do you like about them, Craig?

  3. Craig says:
    September 16, 2008 at 12:27 am

    I like their music, their melodies, their lyrics, the message of several of their songs. I like their style, and I like listening to music in German as it helps maintain my fluency.

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