Rosenrot (song) explained

Rosenrot
Cover:Rosenrot_single.jpg
Type:single
Artist:Rammstein
Album:Rosenrot
Released:16 December 2005
Recorded:El Cortijo Studio, Málaga, 2003
Genre:Neue Deutsche Härte, industrial metal
Length:4:24
Label:Motor (Part of UMG)
Producer:
Prev Title:Benzin
Prev Year:2005
Next Title:Mann gegen Mann
Next Year:2006

"Rosenrot" (German for "Rose-red") is a song by German industrial metal band Rammstein. It was released on 16 December 2005, as the second single from the band's album of the same name.

The song was highly anticipated by fans of Rammstein, as it was first hailed in February 2004 to be the first single from the band's fourth studio album, Reise, Reise (the song "Mein Teil" took the honour instead).

Content

The lyrics tell of a man who is asked by his lover to retrieve a rose from a mountain, and falls to his death.

The lyrics contain elements from Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's poem "Heidenröslein" (while his poem "Erlkönig" similarly inspired the Reise, Reise track, "Dalai Lama"), and the story "Schneeweißchen und Rosenrot," from the Brothers Grimm. Till also seldom uses his trademark rolled R's in the song, uniquely among the band's discography.

The song features riffs used previously in "Stein um Stein".

Music video

The video was filmed at Măgura (near Brașov), Romania, and portrays the band as travelling monks who have come to a small village. The main story of the video shows one of the monks (played by vocalist Till Lindemann) falling in love with one of the local girls (played by then-14 year old Romanian model Cătălina Lavric), whom he meets during a feast. At her request, he enters her house and murders her parents. As he leaves the house, the girl briefly smiles at him before she alarms the villagers, who grab him and burn him at the stake. These scenes are intercut with the other monks, played by the band's other members, engaging in self-flagellation as an act of contrition. In the end, the remaining five monks leave the village.

Track listing

  1. "Rosenrot (Single Edit)" – 3:47
  2. "Rosenrot (The Tweaker Remix)" by Chris Vrenna – 4:34
  3. "Rosenrot (Northern Lite Remix)" by Northern Lite – 4:45
  4. "Rosenrot (3am At Cosy Remix)" by Jagz Kooner – 4:50