Bureaucracy | A sweet little crab and a kangaroo

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by Hans Bötticher (1883 - 1934), as Joachim Ringelnatz

Translation © by Gary Bachlund (b. 1947)

Ein Taschenkrebs und ein Känguruh

Language: German (Deutsch)

Our translations: ENG

Ein Taschenkrebs und ein Känguruh,
Die wollten sich ehelichen.
Das Standesamt gab es nicht zu,
Weil beide einander nicht glichen.

Da riefen sie zornig: "Verflucht und verdammt
Sei dieser Bürokratismus!"
Und hingen sich auf vor dem Standesamt
An einem Türmechanismus

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Text Authorship:

by Hans Bötticher (1883 - 1934), as Joachim Ringelnatz, no title, appears in Die Schnupftabacksdose - Stumpfsinn in Versen, first published 1912 [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 Gary Bachlund (b. 1947), "Bürokratismus", 2009 [ medium voice and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]

Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):

ENG English (Gary Bachlund) , "Bureaucracy", copyright © 2009, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2009-03-17
Line count: 8
Word count: 40

Bureaucracy

Language: English after the German (Deutsch)

A sweet little crab and a kangaroo,
Wanted to wed like me or you.
City Hall said this was not allowed,
"You're not alike," judged the legal crowd.

They cried out angrily: "Cursed and damned!
The bureaucracy simply will not understand!"
They hung themselves at the City Hall door,
A municipal remembrance, evermore.

Text Authorship:

by Gary Bachlund (b. 1947), "Bureaucracy", copyright © 2009, (re)printed on this website with kind permission [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]

Based on:

a text in German (Deutsch) by Hans Bötticher (1883 - 1934), as Joachim Ringelnatz, no title, appears in Die Schnupftabacksdose - Stumpfsinn in Versen, first published 1912
- Go to the text page.

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2009-03-17
Line count: 8
Word count: 53