After a long break in creativity, the Ramstein group released an album with the name of the group itself. Each composition evoked different emotions among the fans, but one thing is for sure – this album is admirable. This time we will analyze what the Ruppe song from this album is about.
The song Puppe stands apart in the new disc, where Lindemann’s vocals seem really creepy, and the theme of children’s fears is touched upon by rumbling guitars.
It is based on Lindermann’s poem Wenn Mutti spät zur Arbeit geht (“When Mommy Leaves Late for Work”).
In the plot of the composition, the mother became a sister who, apparently, is engaged in prostitution (“When the sister is busy with work, a red light is on in her window” / “They come and go, sometimes two at a time”). She locks the child hero in his room and works in the next one.
Puppe is a doll whose head is torn off by a child, experiencing what is happening to his sister.
In just a few verses of the composition, a puppet world with the “red lanterns” of Amsterdam in a horror theme appears.
If at the beginning of the composition we hear Lindemann’s submissive “childish” voice, then at the end, seeing how his sister is severely beaten, the hero bursts into tears. According to some indications, he kills his sister’s abuser, although it is difficult to say for sure what exactly happened.
The meaning of the song «Puppe» by Rammstein
In general, the whole song is performed from the perspective of a little boy. In the first verse, he talks about his sister when he sometimes locks him in a room, especially when she has to work. This is due to the fact that his sister’s work is located right at her house. While it is difficult to say what exactly the girl is doing.
But the transition clearly directs and makes it clear that little attention is paid to the boy. We are not talking about parents at all, only the sister brings up this hero of the song. The boy shares that he has to take some kind of medication that causes an uncomfortable feeling that he has to hide under the bed.
In the second verse, the child continues to talk about the work of his sister: someone constantly comes to visit her, sometimes they come together. And the sister screams during these meetings. There are some guesses about how exactly the girl earns a living.
Finally, there is a chorus in which the child shares how exactly he struggles with a bad mood. He breaks down on his toy – a doll. He tears off her head and bites her neck, only after that the main character, a little boy, gets better. It can be concluded that he does this quite often.
In the third verse, the story of the protagonist’s sister ends sadly: one of her guests beats her to death. And the child watched this through the keyhole, into which the red light shines. The red color can be a symbol of blood, the murder that the child saw. Because of what he saw at such a young age, the boy may begin to perceive the whole world around him in red for a while, especially considering the psyche, damaged by the constant taking of some kind of medicine. These pills make the boy afraid of the world around him, hiding under the bed until dark, that is, until the sun sets.
However, most likely, the red color in this context indicates the profession of the protagonist’s sister. It is customary to designate girls-priestesses of love with red lanterns. Then the guests, who sometimes come not one at a time, and the fact that the girl has to lock her younger brother in the room while she herself works – all this becomes clear and quite logical.
In the last verse, after the main character saw the death of his older sister, he says that he felt better, he felt the freedom that he most likely lacked before. He still tears off the doll’s head and bites her neck, but now this action is not just a way to escape reality and suppress feelings in himself, this process really gives him pleasure.
In general, the song is about a child who receives little attention. It doesn’t matter who his sister works for. It is clear that, due to her profession, she cannot pay due attention to him, but this line is introduced only in order to show as clearly as possible how difficult and ugly the life of this lonely boy is. The meaning of Puppe’s song is not a call to pay attention to children, but rather just a sketch of the life of children, which they should not live under any circumstances.
