God Bless America
Performed by: Erste allgemeine Verunsicherung
Translation by: Aileen Murphy Laubach
Embedded Files
Translation Goals: For this translation, the main goal was to translate in the style of Robert Bly’s 8 stages of translation. However, for this song in particular, since it is a protest song, I really wanted to focus on the meaning and intent of the lyrics, rather than making it singable. This did not mean that I did not focus on how it actually sounded, as I wanted it to mimic the “American accent” the singer sings the song with, so I wanted to incorporate as many “Americanisms” as I could.
Original
Original
Banjo, Banjo!
Wir haben zwar fast noch jeden Krieg verlorn
Doch zum Ordnung machen sind wir auserkoren
Und wer nicht Cola trinkt und keine Burger frisst ist in jedem Fall' ein bloody fucking Terrorist
Als erste waren gleich die Indios dran
Wir schickten sie zum Manitu dort kauen sie Pemmikan
Egal ob Ku-Klux-Klan mit Texashut
Wo immer wir auch sind dort wird alles gut
USA-A-U USA God bless America!
USA-A-U USA bevor uns einer ruft (sind wir schon da)
USA-A-U USA God bless America!
USA-A-U USA bevor uns einer ruft (sind wir schon da)
Banjo, Banjo!
In Vietnam gings uns nicht ganz zahm
Auch aus Kuba und Korea fuhren wir traurig ham
Doch beim Wüstensturm und in Hiroshima
Da war eine Bombenstimmung - Made in USA
Es geht uns nicht um Macht um Öl und Geld
Wir wollen nur eins - das ist die ganze Welt
Dann bauen wir überall ein Disneyland
Und singen: “Mickey Mouse for President”
USA-A-U USA God bless America!
USA-A-U USA bevor uns einer ruft (sind wir schon da)
USA-A-U USA God bless America!
USA-A-U USA bevor uns einer ruft (sind wir schon da)
Now play it again Uncle Sam!
Banjo!
In der guten alten Zeit der neuen Welt
Da stand Onkel Tom am Baumwollfeld
Heute rappt er uns die Country-Charts kaputt
Und demnächst gehört ihm auch noch Hollywood
Darum nehmen wir ihn mit in den Irak
Und dort spielen wir gemeinsam "Knüppel aus dem Sack"
Wir verhelfen der Demokratie zum Recht
Und am besten geht das mit dem Folterknecht
USA-A-U USA God bless America!
USA-A-U USA bevor uns einer ruft (sind wir schon da)
USA-A-U USA God bless America!
USA-A-U USA bevor uns einer ruft (sind wir schon da)
Banjo, Banjo!
Literal
Literal
Banjo, Banjo!
We have lost almost every way
But we’re the ones destined to bring order
And whoever doesn’t drink cola and eat burgers is in every case a bloody fucking terrorist
First it’s the Indians’ turn to go
We sent them to Manitou there they can chew pemmikan
It doesn’t matter if they’re the KKK with Texas hats
Where ever we are, everything is good
USA-A-U USA God bless America!
USA-A-U USA before somebody calls us (we’re already there)
USA-A-U USA God bless America!
USA ao USA before somebody calls us (we’re already there)
Banjo, Banjo!
In Vietnam it didn’t go tamely
We also drove sadly away from Cuba and Korea
But during Operation Desert Storm and in Hiroshima
There was an explosive atmosphere - Made in USA
It’s not about power, oil, or money for us
We just want one thing: that is – the entire world
Then we’ll build a Disneyland everywhere
And sing: “Mickey Mouse for President”
USA-A-U USA God bless America!
USA-A-U USA before we get the call (we’re already there)
USA-A-U USA God bless America!
USA-A-U USA before we get the call (we’re already there)
Now play it again Uncle Sam!
Banjo!
In the good old times of the modern world
There stands Uncle Tom in the cotton field
Where he raps the country charts to death for us
And next he’ll own all of Hollywood
Because of that, we’ll take him with to Iraq
And there we’ll play “Cudgel in the Sack” together
We enforce democracy as the law
And the best way to do this is with torture
Banjo, Banjo!
USA-A-U USA God bless America!
USA-A-U USA before somebody calls us (we’re already there)
USA-A-U USA God bless America!
USA ao USA before somebody calls us (we’re already there)
Banjo, Banjo!
Stylistic
Stylistic
Banjo, Banjo!
We sure did lose almost every single war
But we’re still the ones s'posed to bring order
So whoever doesn’t tear up a Burger and Coke is a goddamn-fucking-terrorist
First it was them Indians’ turn to go
We sent them to the spirit world where they can chew pemmican
It ain’t matter if they’re the KKK wearing cowboy hats
Because wherever we are, it’ll turn out right
USA-A-U USA God bless America!
USA-A-U USA before somebody calls us (we’re already there)
USA-A-U USA God bless America!
USA-A-U USA before somebody calls us (we’re already there)
Banjo, Banjo!
In Vietnam things got stirred up
We also left Cuba and Korea with our tail between our legs
But during Operation Desert Storm and in Hiroshima
There was an explosive feeling - Made in USA
For us, it ain’t about power, “ool,” or dough
We just want one thing: the entire world
Then we’ll build a Disneyland in every state
While we sing: “Mickey Mouse for President”
USA-A-U USA God bless America!
USA-A-U USA before we get the call (we’re already there)
USA-A-U USA God bless America!
USA-A-U USA before we get the call (we’re already there)
Now play it again Uncle Sam!
Banjo!
In the good ole’ times of the New World
Uncle Tom’s living high in the cotton field
Where he raps the country charts to death for us
And next he’ll own all of Hollywood
Because of that, we’ll take him o’er yonder to Iraq
And there we’ll all play “Cudgel in the Sack”
We’ll enforce democracy as the law
which works best using torture
USA-A-U USA God bless America!
USA-A-U USA before we get the call (we’re already there)
USA-A-U USA God bless America!
USA-A-U USA before we get the call (we’re already there)
Banjo, Banjo!
Page updated
Report abuse