Song Lyrics in German and English
Udo Lindenberg: “Generalsekretär” (English)
NOTE: This literal English translation of the German song lyrics is provided for educational use only. No infringement of copyright is implied or intended. - Also see the original German version of these lyrics.
SONG BACKGROUND
After becoming a rock icon in Germany in the 1970s, Udo Lindenberg began to get more involved in East-West politics in the 1980s. In 1983 the East German government had apparently listened to his musical plea ("Sonderzug nach Pankow") and permitted him to give a brief concert in East Berlin (along with Harry Belafonte) in October. Despite numerous later attempts by Udo to break the ice, he was never invited back (until after the Wall came down). This song reflects one of his attempts at reconciliation with East Germany's Secretary General, Erich Honecker. In 1987 Udo sent "Honey" a leather jacket (Lederjacke) as a gift. More...
Lindenberg produced a (partly animated) music video of this song with a Honecker stand-in playing air guitar.
Generalsekretär - Secretary General
Line-by-line literal English translation by Hyde Flippo
See the notes marked in ( ).
I go over seven mountains and over seven bridges
and then take a short hop through the minefield
and then I'm there - in the young world.
And then I come speeding with a Trabant (1)
driving into the capital city;
and there's Erich with the leather jacket on!
And I think: What now
It's a real "Honey"-moon (2)
from Rügen to the Thuringian Forest (3)
and into every little beer a glass (of) Nost flows.
And they celebrate their chief of state
for whom all have fallen mercilessly - (4)
And that's Erich with the leather jacket on!
There once was a secretary general
who loved rock 'n' roll so much
Guitars instead of shooting
and laid back
just like a rocker.
The Staatsratsmeister spoke to the Central Committee: (5)
Nothing will be
as it once was!
From morning until night you could hear the Schalmei (6)
and then I yell it out
the Indian yell!
ooh uh, ooh uh...
Ay
just think about earlier times:
German Nazi horror
absolutely brutal
idiotic nation of warriors with concentration camps from Paris to the Urals.
Honey says: From German soil no more war,
only peace can come,
whether we're standing on this side or that side of the Wall.
- And that has to go too. -
There once was a secretary general
who loved rock 'n' roll so much...
NOTES
- A Trabant was the standard East German car, known for its two-cycle engine and lack of power.
- Erich Honecker's nickname was "Honni" or "Honey." So "honeymoon" here is a play on that name.
- Roughly from the north (the island of Rügen) to the south (Thuringian Forest) of the GDR (DDR).
- The original line "auf den sie ja nun alle gnadenlos abfahr'n" is a pun on "abfahren" (to leave, depart). The idiomatic expression "auf jemanden abfahren" means "to go for/fall for somebody."
- The German term "Staatsratsmeister" (more correctly "Staatsratsvorsitzender") refers to the "head of state" of the DDR, i.e., Honecker. The "ZK" was the abbreviation for "Zentralkomitee" (Central Committee).
- A "Schalmei" is a reed instrument that Honecker gave to Lindenberg as a gift.
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