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Meine Herren, mit siebzehn Jahren Kam ich auf den Liebesmarkt Und ich habe viel erfahren. Böses gab es viel, Doch das war das Spiel. Aber manches hab ich doch verargt. (Schließlich bin ich ja auch ein Mensch.) Gott sei Dank geht alles schnell vorüber, Auch die Liebe und der Kummer sogar. Wo sind die Tränen von gestern abend? Wo ist der Schnee vom vergangenen Jahr? Freilich geht man mit den Jahren Leichter auf den Liebesmarkt Und umarmt sie dort in Scharen. Aber das Gefühl Wird erstaunlich kühl, Wenn man damit allzuwenig kargt. (Schließlich geht ja jeder [Vorrat]1 zu Ende.) Gott sei Dank geht alles schnell vorüber, Auch die Liebe und der Kummer sogar. Wo sind die Tränen von gestern abend? Wo ist der Schnee vom vergangenen Jahr? Und auch wenn man gut das Handeln Lernte auf der Liebesmess': Lust in Kleingeld zu verwandeln Wird doch niemals leicht. [Nun]2, es wird erreicht. Doch man wird auch älter unterdes. (Schließlich bleibt man ja nicht immer siebzehn.) Gott sei Dank geht alles schnell vorüber, Auch die Liebe und der Kummer sogar. Wo sind die Tränen von gestern abend? Wo ist der Schnee vom vergangenen Jahr?
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Please note: this text, provided here for educational and research use, is in the public domain in Canada, but it may still be copyright in other legal jurisdictions. The LiederNet Archive makes no guarantee that the above text is public domain in your country. Please consult your country's copyright statutes or a qualified IP attorney to verify whether a certain text is in the public domain in your country or if downloading or distributing a copy constitutes fair use. The LiederNet Archive assumes no legal responsibility or liability for the copyright compliance of third parties.
View original text (without footnotes)Confirmed with Die Gedichte von Bertolt Brecht in einem Band, neunte Auflage, Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp Verlag, 1997, pages 1166-1168.
1 Eisler: "Vorat mal"2 Eisler: "Ach"
Text Authorship:
- by Bertolt Brecht (1898 - 1956), title 1: "Lied des Freudenmädchens", title 2: "Nannas Lied" [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Hanns Eisler (1898 - 1962), "Lied der Nanna" [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Kurt Weill (1900 - 1950), "Nanna's Lied", 1929 [ voice, piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- CAT Catalan (Català) (Anna Brull Piñol) , copyright © 2010, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ENG English (Sean Phillip Mabrey) , "Nanna's Song", copyright © 2004, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ENG English (Sharon Krebs) , copyright © 2025, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Sharon Krebs [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 33
Word count: 195
Gentlemen, at the age of seventeen I arrived on the love-market And I have experienced many things. There was much evil, Yet that was the game. But some things I did take amiss. (In the end I, too, am a human being.) Thank God, everything passes quickly, Love, too, and even misery. Where are the tears of yesterday evening? Where is the snow of yesteryear? To be sure, as the years pass, one Finds it easier to go onto love-market And one embraces them there in droves. But one's feelings Grow astonishingly cool When one is not stingy enough with them. (For [eventually every reserve is depleted]1.) Thank God, everything passes quickly, Love, too, and even misery. Where are the tears of yesterday evening? Where is the snow of yesteryear? And even if one learned well how To drive a bargain at the love-fair: Changing passion into small change Never becomes easy. [Well]2, one manages it. But one grows older, too, in the meantime. (After all, one does not stay seventeen forever.) Thank God, everything passes quickly, Love, too, and even misery. Where are the tears of yesterday evening? Where is the snow of yesteryear?
About the headline (FAQ)
View original text (without footnotes)Translations of titles:
"Lied der Nanna" = "Song of Nanna"
"Lied des Freudenmädchens" = "Song of the prostitute"
"Nannas Lied" = "Nanna's song"
2 Eisler: "Ah"
Text Authorship:
- Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © 2025 by Sharon Krebs, (re)printed on this website with kind permission. To reprint and distribute this author's work for concert programs, CD booklets, etc., you may ask the copyright-holder(s) directly or ask us; we are authorized to grant permission on their behalf. Please provide the translator's name when contacting us.
Contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net
Based on:
- a text in German (Deutsch) by Bertolt Brecht (1898 - 1956), title 1: "Lied des Freudenmädchens", title 2: "Nannas Lied"
This text was added to the website: 2025-02-03
Line count: 33
Word count: 199