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Sing and learn German: How to use lyrics to become fluent

sing and learn german fluent

Fluency doesn’t need you to be stuck 3 to 4 hours reading a book you don’t even understand completely.

If you want to learn German, try singing and repeating German lyrics.

You might even love how many popular songs made in English has a German version.

Learn your target language (German) with some of our song suggestions on the list in this article.

Why sing to learn languages?

Music connects people and when it comes to language learning, we’ve witnessed how popular foreign languages have been in the minds of the young ones.

Think of how Japanese, Korean, and even Romanian songs (Dragostea Din Tei AKA Numa Numa) got popular because of how much an ear worm their songs are.

If you have a passion for songs like me, you’ll get invested in the lyrics. For me, a great complex song is one filled with different arpeggios imbued with lyrics that go through your heart and mind.

Lyrics are important for anyone to fully feel connected to a song. Especially for the German language, there are lots of connections between bands that talk about the rich history of Germany and the society today.

There are also feel-good pop songs or jazz songs that will help you enjoy your day while learning and studying the grammar rules.

You can even take advantage of German radio stations to listen to in your car or while working to learn German.

Which song genres do Germans love?

Without a doubt, rock has the biggest influence in Germany. It is mostly bands or solo artists that Germans love to dance to and listen to with their friends and family.

Yet, Germans have different kinds of tastes when it comes to music.

There were pop songs like Nena’s 99 Luftballons recognized worldwide or Rock Me Amadeus by Falco that both even charted high on the Billboards.

Believe it or not, 99 Luftballons was 2nd, and Rock Me Amadeus ranked first on this American music chart.

Germans also have their influential songs that stirred up many hearts of the people.

You can find an antiwar protest song, a nationalistic song, and even a song for those who are grieving for their families.

Songs are magical and the genre to learning your target language like German has different options to enhance your vocabulary and improve your way of speaking.

Sing and learn German songs at varying language levels

Much as we can say, hearing and repeating is easier than understanding what a song means.

Luckily, there are many websites that you can search online for the correct German lyrics of your favorite German musicians.

It doesn’t always need to be a children’s song that you listen to if you’re a beginner.

There are many songs that are in the formal language or might be too complex if you read them aloud.

But, through the help of music, melody, and singing to learn German, you can understand these German tunes without the help of an English translation.

Here are some amazing German songs that you can find yourself studying for their sentence structure and their grammar style:

Du Hast (You Have/You Hate) – Rammstein

Rammstein, the German heavy metal gods, must be on any list of German music.

With that said, you should first listen to their song “Du hast”.

Strikingly, this song has a double meaning, and even if it looks very simplistic of has common phrases, you might need to have at least an intermediate German level to understand the whole message.

The word du hast in this song plays around the two terms du hast = you have and du hasst  = you hate which sounds similar if you say it.

Du Hast” delves into the pitfalls of marriage, as well as the resulting separation and anger after a long-term partnership.

According to the band, it will feel like the song lacks meaning and depth if they made an English translation of this song.

Here are the lyrics for you to try and understand what it means. Tell us what you think in the comments!

Du
Du hast
Du hast mich

Du
Du hast
Du hast mich

Du
Du hast
Du hast mich

Du
Du hast
Du hast mich

Du
Du hast
Du hast mich
Du hast mich
Du hast mich gefragt
Du hast mich gefragt
Du hast mich gefragt und ich hab nichts gesagt

Willst du bis der Tod euch scheidet
Treu ihr sein für alle tagen

Nein,
Nein

Willst du bis der Tod euch scheidet
Treu ihr sein für alle tagen

Nein,
Nein

Du
Du hast
Du hast mich

Du
Du hast
Du hast mich

Du
Du hast
Du hast mich
Du hast mich
Du hast mich gefragt
Du hast mich gefragt
Du hast mich gefragt und ich hab nichts gesagt

Willst du bis der Tod euch scheidet
Treu ihr sein für alle tage

Nein,
Nein

Willst du bis zum Tod der scheide
Sie lieben auch in schlechten tagen

Nein,
Nein

Willst du bis der Tod euch scheidet
Treu ihr sein

Nein,
Nein

99 Luftballons (99 Red Balloons) – Nena

99 Luftballons by Nena might probably the most well-known rock pop song that has an English version.

It’s a very catchy song with a fun video and some might even think it’s a happy-go-lucky song.

Well in fact, 99 Luftballons talk about the effect of war in Germany and the issue between East and West Germany.

There are many irregular verbs and parallelism with verb endings that come into play in this song.

You’ll also notice the rhyming as seen in the many war vocabulary words in the lyrics.

Hast du etwas Zeit für mich?
Dann singe ich ein Lied für dich
Von 99 Luftballons
Auf ihrem Weg zum Horizont
Denkst du vielleicht grad an mich?
Dann singe ich ein Lied für dich
Von 99 Luftballons
Und, dass sowas von sowas kommt

99 Luftballons
Auf ihrem Weg zum Horizont
Hielt man für Ufos aus dem All
Darum schickte ein General
‘ne Fliegerstaffel hinterher
Alarm zu geben, wenn’s so wär
Dabei war’n dort am Horizont
Nur 99 Luftballons

99 Düsenflieger
Jeder war ein großer Krieger
Hielten sich für Captain Kirk
Es gab ein großes Feuerwerk
Die Nachbarn haben nichts gerafft
Und fühlten sich gleich angemacht
Dabei schoss man am Horizont
Auf 99 Luftballons

99 Kriegsminister
Streichholz und Benzinkanister
Hielten sich für schlaue Leute
Witterten schon fette Beute
Riefen, „Krieg!“, und wollten Macht
Mann, wer hätte das gedacht?
Dass es einmal so weit kommt
Wegen 99 Luftballons

Wegen 99 Luftballons
99 Luftballons

99 Jahre Krieg
Ließen keinen Platz für Sieger
Kriegsminister gibt’s nicht mehr
Und auch keine Düsenflieger
Heute zieh’ ich meine Runden
Seh’ die Welt in Trümmern liegen
Hab’ ‘n Luftballon gefunden
Denk’ an dich und lass’ ihn fliegen

Guten morgen Freiheit (Good Morning, Freedom) – Yvonne Catterfeld

Guten Morgen Freiheit or Good Morning, Freedom by Yvonne Catterfeld is another recent popular song that Germans love.

The song expresses the singer’s wish not to see a wonderful evening come to an end.

She only unwillingly greets the rising light, despite the fact that the melody itself is highly upbeat.

The song can also benefit language learners who are studying relative and dependent clauses because of its somewhat more complex syntax.

However, the song’s common language and high amount of repetition keep it from going over your head if you’re a beginner German level student.

Hab’ meine Fragen abgeheftet nach Sinn
Und auf dem Ordnerrücken steht einmal quer, wer ich nicht bin
Hab’ alle alten Fotos eingeklebt
Nach Zeit und Gesicht, relevant oder nicht
Hab’ mit alten Dingen aufgeräumt
Und alle Sorgen untern Teppich gekehrt
Und die Schrammen auf der Seele hab’ ich poliert
Damit mein Spiegelbild mir zeigt, dass ich leb’
Guten Morgen Freiheit
Es tut so gut dich wieder mal zu sehen

Guten Morgen Freiheit
Komm doch rein, du musst nicht draußen stehen, hey
Wir reißen alle Fenster auf
Sonne rein und Alltag raus
Guten Morgen Freiheit
Fühl dich einfach wie zuhaus

Oh oh oh oh
Oh oh oh oh

Hab’ alle Löcher in den Taschen geflickt
Und all die halbvollen, halbleeren Gläser ausgekippt
Sie bis oben voll gegossen mit Glück
Meine Krone geputzt und wieder gerade gerückt
Zweifel in den Schrank gesperrt
Die Hoffnung fest zusammengeschraubt
Hab’ mein Herz mal richtig ausgeklopft
Und es befreit von all den Flecken und Staub

Guten Morgen Freiheit
Es tut so gut dich wieder mal zu sehen
Guten Morgen Freiheit
Komm doch rein, du musst nicht draußen stehen, hey
Wir reißen alle Fenster auf
Sonne rein und Alltag raus
Guten Morgen Freiheit
Fühl dich einfach wie zuhaus

Oh oh oh oh
Oh oh oh oh

Und neulich hab’ ich umgeräumt
Alles nochmal in Schutt und Asche gelegt
Manche Kratzer kriegt man nie mehr raus
Tut mir leid, das kann passieren, wenn man lebt
Guten Morgen Freiheit
Es tut so gut dich wieder mal zu sehen

Guten Morgen Freiheit
Komm doch rein, du musst nicht draußen stehen, hey
Wir reißen alle Fenster auf
Sonne rein und Alltag raus
Guten Morgen Freiheit
Fühl dich einfach wie zuhaus

Der Weg (The Way) – Herbert Grönemeyer

Herbert Grönemeyer, a German singer-songwriter, recently lost both his brother and his wife. Der Weg (The Way) is dedicated to his family.

The chorus in the final song truly gets under your skin: “You flooded each room with brightness, turned every despair around (…) life is unjust.”

The lyrics have deeper meanings of sorrow, longingness, and love for family.

Ich kann nicht mehr seh’n, trau’ nicht mehr meinen Augen,
Kann kaum noch glauben – Gefühle haben sich gedreht.
Ich bin viel zu träge, um aufzugeben.
Es wär’ auch zu früh, weil immer was geht.

Wir waren verschwor’n, wären für einander gestorben,
Haben den Regen gebogen, uns Vertrauen gelieh’n.
Wir haben versucht, auf der Schussfahrt zu wenden.
Nichts war zu spät, aber vieles zu früh.

Wir haben uns geschoben durch alle Gezeiten,
Haben uns verzettelt, uns verzweifelt geliebt.
Wir haben die Wahrheit, so gut es ging, verlogen.
Es war ein Stück vom Himmel, dass es dich gibt.

Du hast jeden Raum mit Sonne geflutet,
Hast jeden Verdruss ins Gegenteil verkehrt.
Nordisch nobel – deine sanftmütige Güte,
Dein unbändiger Stolz… Das Leben ist nicht fair.

Den Film getanzt in einem silbernen Raum.
Vom goldnen Balkon die Unendlichkeit bestaunt.
Heillos versunken, trunken, und alles war erlaubt.
Zusammen im Zeitraffer. Mittsommernachtstraum.

Dein sicherer Gang, deine wahren Gedichte,
Deine heitere Würde, dein unerschütterliches Geschick.
Du hast der Fügung deine Stirn geboten.
Hast ihn nie verraten, deinen Plan vom Glück,
Deinen Plan vom Glück.

Ich gehe nicht weg, hab’ meine Frist verlängert.
Neue Zeitreise, offene Welt.
Habe dich sicher in meiner Seele.
Ich trag’ dich bei mir, bis der Vorhang fällt.
Ich trag’ dich bei mir, bis der Vorhang fällt

Have other German songs to recommend?

Are you familiar with the songs we’ve mentioned? Probably if you’re a beginner, it might be easier to listen to a children’s nursery rhymes and songs, it won’t hurt to try anyway!

The English translation for these songs is readily available by searching any online lyrics platform or from the YouTube subtitle closed captions.

But if you like a challenge, try to sing and learn German from our list today. You probably will learn new vocabulary and specific terms for different topics.

Have fun and don’t forget to repeat words from the lyrics and study the verb tenses, declensions, and conjugation patterns too!

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