How Did I Die? Lyrics

I was in a crater
pockmarked fields on either side
I was meant to be all safe
How did I die?
How did I die?
or didn't I?

Un sursaut, une crispation, (Startled, clenching)
mon corps soudain (my body suddenly)
comme voulant s'engloutir (wanting to be swallowed)
dans la terre (by the earth.)

How did I die?
How did I die?
or didn't I?
Didn't I die at all?

I fell into a ditch
inside an A7V... (A7V was a German tank)
on the end facing
Mephisto is it's name
How did I die?
How did I die?
or didn't I?

Ein schwarzes Biest (a black beast)
ein Splitterregen (a rain of shrapnel)
über den Bäumen zerspringt (shatters above the trees)
und niedergeht (and descends)
How did I die?
How did I die?
or didn't I?
Didn't I die at all?

Now there is only that sinister brown belt, a strip of murdered Nature. It seems to belong to another world. Every sign of humanity has been swept away. The woods and roads have vanished like chalk wiped from a board; of the villages nothing remains but gray smears where stone walls have tumbled together. A confused mass of troubled earth. Columns of muddy smoke spurt up continually as high explosives tear deeper into this ulcered area.
How did I die?
I fell from the sky
or didn't I?

I filled my mouth with water
so the bullet could succeed
How did I die?
How did I die?
Did I die by my own hand?
or didn't I?
How did I die?
Or didn't I die at all?

How did we die?
or didn't we?
didn't we die at all?
We didn't die
We didn't die
We are back with a different song
We didn't die
We didn't die
We're just singing a different song
we are back with a change of weather
ein anderer Wind, ein neues Lied (a different wind, a new song)

We didn't die
We didn't die
We give you a different song
okookookookooskrookookookookoo
the difference is in the song
okookookookooskrookookookookoo
— difference makes the song
We didn't die
We didn't die
We didn't die
We didn't die