Was bleibt denn
Language: German (Deutsch)
Und was bleibt denn an dem Leben
Wenn es alles ging zu Funken,
Wenn die Ehre mit dem Streben
Alles ist im Quark versunken.
Und doch kann dich nichts vernichten,
Wenn, Vergänglichen zum Trotze,
Willst dein Sehnen ewig richten
Erst zur Flasche, dann zur Fotze.
Text Authorship:
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (Gary Bachlund) , "What remains then", copyright © 1989, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [
Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2007-05-13
Line count: 8
Word count: 45
What remains then
Language: English after the German (Deutsch)
So what remains then of life,
when all goes up in smoke,
when all honor and ambition
are sunken into the rubbish heap.
But you are proof against everything,
if, defying change and decay,
if you always focus your aspirations
on the bottle, and then the cunt.
Translator's note: Brecht suggests that "Crude thinking is the
thinking of great men." In the case of Goethe's linguistic choice the
German equivalent of "cunt," rather than other words indicating male
interest in the feminine sex, he exhibits exactly what Brecht alleges,
from which one may conclude the observation is often correct.
Text Authorship:
Based on:
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [
Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2009-03-11
Line count: 8
Word count: 47
