Ute Lemper and Cabaret




"Wir wollen alle wieder Kinder sein!"

Ach, was warn wir Deutschen doch, so gierig nach dem Blut! Hei! 
Jedem gräßlich vor dem wilden Mannesmut! 
Donnerhall und Wogenprall! So gingn wir auf den Strich! 
Ja, wir sind das Hunnenvölkchen, anders tun wir's nich! 
Gott, zur Aeit der Kieler Wochen warn air noch so friedlich; 
und die größte Kielerei, diewar direkt gemütlich! 
Dann gab's plötzlich einen Krach! Und der Furor wurde wach! 
Aber heute sind wir wieder Kinder sein, 
so lieb und harmlos wie vorm großen Krieg! 
Wir wollen nicht mehr die alten Sünder sein, 
wir wollen würdig wie der Himmel blau, 
ein Leben wie im Paradiese! 
Wir wollen alle wieder Kinder sein 
und wollen uns tummeln auf der grünen Wiese!

"Oh, how we wish that we were kids again"

Not so long ago we Germans thirsted after blood 
We had half the world in trenches crawling through the mud 
Victory was in our reach as we launched U-boat fleets 
Back at home our women starved or else they worked the streets 
From Attila on we've had a steady line of heroes 
So how come we got stuck this time with a bunch of zeroes 
Then a naval mutiny made it clear for all to see 
the status quo just had to go in Germany 
Oh, how we wish that we were kids again 
how pure we were back then when we were young 
Back then we played at war on soft green grass 
We fought with make-believe, not poison gas 
And now that we have seen the face of war 
we're not the same men that we were before 
and we can say without hypocrisy 
now we want the world to be safe for democracy



These are both the German and English (not an exact translation) versions of one of Ute Lemper's hits. She is a modern cabaret performer, but her songs are the traditional songs from the beginning of the century. She represents the nostalgic side of cabaret, but she is wisely nostalgic. The song "Wir Wollen Alles Wieder Kinder Sein" warns Germany about the dangers of being blindly nostalgic, about romanticizing the past. She keeps many of the crucial and archetypal cabaret songs alive, preserving their messages and also reminds us all how history can repeat itself.