Mann gegen Mann

"Mann gegen Mann"
Single by Rammstein
from the album Rosenrot
Released 3 March 2006
Format CD
Recorded Teldex Studio, Berlin, 2005
Genre Neue Deutsche Härte, industrial metal
Length 3:51
Label Motor (Part of UMG)
Writer(s) Richard Z. Kruspe, Paul Landers, Till Lindemann, Christian Lorenz, Oliver Riedel, Christoph Schneider
Producer(s) Jacob Hellner and Rammstein
Rammstein singles chronology
"Rosenrot"
(2005)		 "Mann gegen Mann"
(2006)		 "Pussy"
(2009)

"Mann gegen Mann" ("Man against Man") is a song from the German band Rammstein. This song was released in March 2006, and was the third and final single from Rammstein's album, Rosenrot. The song portrays a man with strong, repressed homosexual desires, and it is the first Rammstein music video to have nudity since the music video for their cover of Depeche Mode's "Stripped", and it is the second track on "Rosenrot". This song and its accompanying music video were never aired in the United States due to the subject of homosexuality being very controversial.

Music video

The video premiered on 2 February 2006, on MTV Germany and was directed by Jonas Åkerlund. The video quite clearly conveys images of a homosexual nature. The band members in the video are almost entirely naked, aside from frontman Till Lindemann. Till is dressed in long black hair extensions, and feminine high heeled boots that go part way up his thighs. He also wears a set of black latex briefs. The rest of the band members wear only black army boots, and their instruments cover their genitals. The video alternates between shots of the band playing in an open room and a writhing group of naked, muscular, oiled men.

During the bridge of the song, the band is being rained on, and a frenzied Till screams the lyric "Schwuler-Ah!" as a forked tongue begins to flick from his mouth. The tempo of the song changes to a melodic pace, as the band members then appear with the oiled naked men, and are carried over them. Till has become a demon, and the hands and the arms of naked men reach up towards him; and the song's tempo changes again to the frenzied pace. The group of men with the band members begin to wrestle and fight with one another as it rains on them. Screaming "Schwuler" again, Till starts to rip his long black hair out as the song closes.

Pronunciations

Till's pronunciation of “Schwuler” emphasizes the "ER" into an "A" sound. Pronounced as “Schwulah”, in comparison to English, the pronunciation itself would be similar to the pronunciation of "Player" as "Playa" in the American English dialect known as African American Vernacular English or ebonics. However, in the German language, the "ER" ( pronounced:/əʁ/), has a regular allophone [ɐ̯], making this theory unlikely, as it is not emphatic but regular in speech with any words ending the same way.

The German word Schwuler is the equivalent to "gay" in English and although Till's pronunciation is the normal way German native speakers pronounce it in day to day speech (and all words ending in 'er'), some people have concluded that it is deliberate and intended to be translated as a derogatory term, and would translate more as the equivalent to the American derogatory term for a homosexual man, “faggot”.[1]

Track listings

2-track UK CD single

  1. "Mann gegen Mann" – 3:52
  2. "Rosenrot" (The Tweaker Remix) by Chris Vrenna – 4:34

Enhanced CD single

  1. "Mann gegen Mann" – 3:51
  2. "Mann gegen Mann" (Popular Music Mix) by Vince Clarke – 4:06
  3. "Mann gegen Mann" (Musensohn Remix) by Sven Helbig – 3:12
  4. "Ich will" (live video at Festival de Nimes) – 4:02

Australian version

  1. "Mann gegen Mann" – 3:52
  2. "Mann gegen Mann" (Popular Music Mix) by Vince Clarke – 4:06
  3. "Mann gegen Mann" (Musensohn Remix) by Sven Helbig – 3:12
  4. "Mann gegen Mann" (Type O Remix) by Josh Silver – 3:59

12" vinyl single

  1. "Mann gegen Mann" – 3:52
  2. "Rosenrot" (3am at Cosey Remix) by Jagz Kooner – 4:50

2-track promo CD

  1. "Mann gegen Mann" (Futurist Remix) by Alec Empire – 3:53
  2. "Mann gegen Mann" (Popular Music Mix) by Vince Clarke – 4:06

12" promo vinyl

  1. "Mann gegen Mann" (Futurist Remix) by Alec Empire – 3:53
  2. "Mann gegen Mann" (Popular Music Mix) by Vince Clarke – 4:06

Charts

Chart (2006) Peak
position
Germany (Media Control AG) 20
UK Singles (The Official Charts Company)[2] 59
Venezuela Pop Rock (Record Report)[3] 1

References

  1. ↑ "Rammstein Mann gegen Mann lyric with English translation". affenknecht.com. Retrieved 2012-04-13.
  2. ↑ Zywietz, Tobias. "Chart Log UK: The Rabble Army - RZA". Zobbel. Retrieved 2011-01-05.
  3. ↑ "Pop Rock" (in Spanish). Record Report. 2006-07-15. Archived from the original on 2006-07-16.
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