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Till interview - Szene 16-Nov-02

by Beate Willer

Rammstein's singer with a knife in the heart
Till Lindemann – “Messer”

"The whole ballroom smells her, the scent creeps into my heart." In this was a love poem could begin. Theoretically. In practise the line of verse comes from Till Lindemann. And the poetry of the Rammstein front man sounds just as dark as those of his Band.

It’s no wonder then that the poem " Tänzerin (2)" ends as follows: "...all of a sudden, the dancer fell, and immediately the dancer was dead, the beauty broke her neck, and my brief blissful sight".

"I cannot just compose anything life-affirming", explain Till Lindemann. "The verses are a therapeutic journey for me, otherwise perhaps I would have been just another forlorn mass murderer." Fortunately, a publishing house was found in time, a poetry book "Messer" has been published by Eichborn (price: 29.90 Euro). In any case, Lindemann’s mother case was enlightened whilst reading. "With you it’s gone distorted", she cites of her son.

The topic of loneliness stretches like a red thread through the book. "Messer" is illustrated with photos, which show Till Lindemann in a flesh-coloured costume between naked shop window dolls. "The pictures express enormous peace, a tranquillity, that I have often wished for myself,” says Lindemann.

So one must dig deep, the Poet knows that real life is not so nice to report on. "You only have to travel on the u-bahn at six in the morning. The crammed together, sad figures speak volumes!"

Also for the Rammstein frontman, love is only a fleeting Intermezzo-feeling and therefore not worthy to speak of. Only death is real. Lindemann: "It is terrible that the thought of death is removed from us. Since living in the city, my daughter can’t look at a dead Christmas Carp, without crying."

The time for tears should be at the latest in the Spring 2003. Then Till Lindemann and the Pyro-designer Gert Hof (He selected the poems for "Messer") want to publish a book of entertaining stories from animal life. Title: " Ziegenhals und Doppelbär“ (Goat neck and Double bear).

© 2005 Sue Lindemann