Accept Lyrics, Eesh...

Dunno if this has been discussed already, but can we talk about Accept's lyrics? I'm talking old-school here. Nothing wrong with the Tornillo era. But holy crap, what a weird band when it comes to writing. Forget the homo-eroticism, that's been analyzed to death and already cleared up with the band. I'm talking about the awkward phrasing and almost stream-of-consciousness that's on display. Two examples:

Hey you, come here. I show you something. There is what it takes for you. Mmm, you better follow -Midnight Mover

I feel like a need a f*cking decoder ring to make sense of this line. The song is about a man whore, I suppose, but what a surreal way to kick things off. It's like running into a drunk on the corner of Belmont & M.
Someone explain, please.

Late at night in the park, I feel it okay F*ck it, all of Head over Heels.

This is actually one of my most-listened-to Accept songs. Great riff, and Udo is something fierce. But the lyrical content is out of synch and mind. No meter, little sense of rhyme, but whatever, right? There's no rules in rock n roll, so screw meter and rhyme, I'm cool with that. It is a bit cryptic--an orgy? Public masturbation? Public sex as masturbation fuel? Guess it goes on in Germany all the time. But what is slipping in the dark? Who's head over heels with what? What is Udo treating so hard? Why is there silence here, more than all the noise? The highlight of the song is early on, "for heaven's sake, what's going on?" That sounds like something I've heard my mom say since I was a kid. For a song about gratuitous debauchery, you'd think the lyric would be "for F*ck's sake, what the hell am I seeing (remember, meter and rhyme...)?" But no, Udo's an old mammy with sensitive eyes.

I know Wolf's wife wrote most the lyrics at the time, but they're just the worst I've ever heard. It doesn't stop at these two songs; Balls to the Wall is some goofy shit, albeit tongue in cheek, and Screaming for a Love Bite? No wonder a lot of conservative groups didn't get these guys. Tell me what you think. Or, for heaven's sake, what you know.

I don't get Accept's 80's imagery and lyrics in the context of what they have said in interviews. It all seems very homo-erotic (nothing wrong with that) but the band have said otherwise so it's confusing.

I just enjoy the music, I don't think that they will ever blow me away with the lyrics.

Write a letter! What's the matter? You'll feel better! Write a letter! Which of course with a German accent comes out as "write a lett-uh, what za matt-uh, you'll feel bett-uh, write a lett-uh".

Good song but I absolutely cannot stop from cracking up hysterically every time I hear it.

I completely forgot about that one. "Don't think it's old fashioned to take one's heart!" How sweet of them; my marriage is saved because of heavy metal yeah!

It's funny to compare lyrics like these to what the Scorpions and Priest were writing back then.

I thought Gaby Hauke aka Deaffy aka Wolf's wife wrote most of their lyrics in mid 80's. Keep also in mind that on early albums they simply used phrases they knew. And it's great that being Russian helps easily not to focus on lyrics

One must remember that English wasn't even a second language for these guys. Even movies and tv-series gets get dubbed in Germany, so they had very little exposure to English growing up. Probably only through music. Then trying to translate things make the engrish version of a lyric seem extra weird.

As was mentioned previously, Wolf's wife wrote all the lyrics and the band knew very little English. Thus you get songs written from the viewpoint of a woman, sung by a group of men, in language they don't speak. Let hilarity ensue!

kmorg wrote:

One must remember that English wasn't even a second language for these guys. Even movies and tv-series gets get dubbed in Germany, so they had very little exposure to English growing up. Probably only through music. Then trying to translate things make the engrish version of a lyric seem extra weird.

That's what I was going to say. English was not their first language. Some of the Scorpions lyrics were quite odd as well in the early years.

Witchfinder wrote:

As was mentioned previously, Wolf's wife wrote all the lyrics and the band knew very little English. Thus you get songs written from the viewpoint of a woman, sung by a group of men, in language they don't speak. Let hilarity ensue!

I always pictured Wifey writing down this homo-erotic sounding gibberish as a practical joke and handing it to the band chuckling to herself. "Heh heh heh, they'll be singing this in front of thousands of people and have no clue what they're saying."

Fat Freddy wrote:

Witchfinder wrote:

As was mentioned previously, Wolf's wife wrote all the lyrics and the band knew very little English. Thus you get songs written from the viewpoint of a woman, sung by a group of men, in language they don't speak. Let hilarity ensue!

I always pictured Wifey writing down this homo-erotic sounding gibberish as a practical joke and handing it to the band chuckling to herself. "Heh heh heh, they'll be singing this in front of thousands of people and have no clue what they're saying."

This is very possible, as I don't think they sound as if they are written from the female perspective at all, it's just plain homo-erotic.

Language barrier aside, the cover of Balls to the Wall. Sheesh!

Quote :

I feel like a need a f*cking decoder ring to make sense of this line.

Quote :

Thus you get songs written from the viewpoint of a woman, sung by a group of men, in language they don't speak. Let hilarity ensue!

Quote :

I always pictured Wifey writing down this homo-erotic sounding gibberish as a practical joke and handing it to the band chuckling to herself. "Heh heh heh, they'll be singing this in front of thousands of people and have no clue what they're saying."

Funniest thread I've perused in a while! Thx guys, made my morning.

Fat Freddy wrote:

Witchfinder wrote:

As was mentioned previously, Wolf's wife wrote all the lyrics and the band knew very little English. Thus you get songs written from the viewpoint of a woman, sung by a group of men, in language they don't speak. Let hilarity ensue!

I always pictured Wifey writing down this homo-erotic sounding gibberish as a practical joke and handing it to the band chuckling to herself. "Heh heh heh, they'll be singing this in front of thousands of people and have no clue what they're saying."

never trust the translator!

Witchfinder wrote:

As was mentioned previously, Wolf's wife wrote all the lyrics and the band knew very little English. Thus you get songs written from the viewpoint of a woman, sung by a group of men, in language they don't speak. Let hilarity ensue!

There you go! I am sure Wolf's wife was trying to write the lyrics from a man's point of view.

I'm in the minority that LOVES the Balls artwork. And Heaven & Hell.

So TIL Accept wasn't very good with English, which makes sense. I've only seen interviews with Wolf, and recent at that, where his mastery of the language is almost flawless. Just watched a video of Udo from a year ago and I see what you guys mean. Still, it's funny stuff!

Wolf has lived in the U.S. for quite a few years now so I would imagine that his English skills have improved.

Nothing beats Sodom in the bad-early-lyrics-of-Germans category..


"..souls like hell, where demons make a toy.."

"....masturbate to kill myself.."

"We are all suicide, without brain"

Orion Crystal Ice wrote:

Nothing beats Sodom in the bad-early-lyrics-of-Germans category..


"..souls like hell, where demons make a toy.."

"....masturbate to kill myself.."

"We are all suicide, without brain"

Yeah, the only way to get worse than that would be to check out the "Engrish" lyrics by some of the Brazilian/South American bands (i.e. Sarcofago, MX, Necrosis, The Mist, etc.)

Orion Crystal Ice wrote:

Nothing beats Sodom in the bad-early-lyrics-of-Germans category..


"..souls like hell, where demons make a toy.."

"....masturbate to kill myself.."

"We are all suicide, without brain"

Yeah, but man, when I was a kid? That toy was the shit. Beware the toy.

It's a lot like those instructions that have been translated directly into English from Chinese on any given product. Hilarious!

corplhicks wrote:

I'm in the minority that LOVES the Balls artwork. And Heaven & Hell.

So TIL Accept wasn't very good with English, which makes sense. I've only seen interviews with Wolf, and recent at that, where his mastery of the language is almost flawless. Just watched a video of Udo from a year ago and I see what you guys mean. Still, it's funny stuff!

The album sold well in spite of the cover!

That cover is actually how I got into Accept. I was pissed off with some cash in hand at the new nearby Wal Mart. I wanted the scariest looking CD I could find. Saw Balls. "Who is that thing and why is holding...I don't even...SOLD." Changed my life forever, man.

corplhicks wrote:

That cover is actually how I got into Accept. I was pissed off with some cash in hand at the new nearby Wal Mart. I wanted the scariest looking CD I could find. Saw Balls. "Who is that thing and why is holding...I don't even...SOLD." Changed my life forever, man.

We all loved the album, hated the cover back in the day.

kmorg wrote:

One must remember that English wasn't even a second language for these guys. Even movies and tv-series gets get dubbed in Germany, so they had very little exposure to English growing up. Probably only through music. Then trying to translate things make the engrish version of a lyric seem extra weird.

Yeah, it's rather pointless analyzing weird lyrics sung in English by bands whose first language, and many times second language, is not English.

Not pointless... Hilarious!

I think what the fascination here is that--even knowing they spoke little English back in the day--I've not seen more strangely crude and incoherent lyrics from a foreign band, Scorpions and Sodom included. So it's both funny and relevant to the band's thematic approach.