79 minutes, 54 seconds

X Marks the Pedwalk
Experiences (CD 2 of 2)

I speak a little French. I took it all through high school and my first year of college, and even though that seems like (and, um, actually is) a long time ago, I was surprised at how much I'd managed to retain when we went to Paris for a vacation a few years ago. I felt sophisticated. Worldly. Dashing. But who was I kidding? Whatever cobwebby words and phrases I was able to pull out of my ass ended up not being sufficient to hold a conversation--hell, I could barely ask directions and order food.

So naturally, I came home and began writing song lyrics in French.

No, not really. But why not? European electronic bands (particularly the Germans) seem to do it all the time. No doubt their English is better than my French (and certainly better than my German), but we're talking about lyrics here--poetry, when they're done right. Sure, the words are supposed to flow with the music, but shouldn't they also mean something?

X Marks the Pedwalk is a really good example. André Schmechta (a.k.a. Sevren Ni-Arb) is German, and I'm sure his English is really great. I imagine him having no trouble at all buying a train ticket at Grand Central Station or even making his breakfast order more or less understood at a Waffle House somewhere outside Charlotte. ("I am a Bert's Chili having, mit onions und cheese.") But his song lyrics? It's like he's working from one of those magnetic poetry sets, and it's missing a bunch of key pieces. Here's a sample, from the song "Drawback":

I locate a place that will mirror my face
And inquire into the mash of myself
There's a wish-wash in my head
A wit in my mind
I don't think that's real a drawback of time

Here's another head-scratcher, this time from "The Trap":

Try more a hand can hold
The taste of self-confidence so far
But don't realize
You remove to wrap--the trap

Don't get me wrong--I really enjoy XMTP's music. They started out as a Skinny Puppy clone and evolved into a poppier but more interesting outfit later in their career. The propulsive synth sequences move elegantly with the programmed beats, and Ni-Arb has a distinctive voice that works well without too much distortion. So what's with the pidgin English lyrics? Why not sing in his native German and make himself sound at least halfway coherent to the people who, after all, make up the bulk of his audience--namely, drugged-out gothy club kids in Frankfurt? Furthermore, bands like Rammstein and Einstürzende Neubauten both did well auf Deutsch, even in the U.S. market.

This got me to thinking about a larger question. Is English, already perhaps the lingua franca of European diplomacy, now also the common denominator of song lyrics for industrial bands? Does it help your sales in the Portuguese record shops if you sing in English as opposed to German? Are club kids in Bratislava actually singing along to lines like "I sweep my rising quiet for imposing lights"? What the hell does that even mean? (And are there even club kids in Bratislava?)

Harumph. If you're taking the trouble to write lyrics and you're not a fluent English speaker, please write them in your native language. If you must, provide an English translation in the CD booklet. Really, we can handle the German--half the time your voice is so distorted anyway that we wouldn't be able to make out the words no matter what language you used. So say what you mean, and mean what you say. Gute Nacht, und gutes Glueck.

Also today:

79:51 Clear Stream Temple, XVI
79:31 BlutEngel, Angel Dust
79:30 Laibach, Recapitulacija 1980-84
79:29 In Strict Confidence, Face the Fear (CD 1 of 2)