“Klavier” is my favorite song on the CD. It's about the passion and madness of a murderer. I worked on the lyrics for two years. It began as a harmless romantic love poem to a piano teacher and then developed into the grotesque and surreal.
In 1997, the song's performance would start off with a short synth intro before Till would start singing the first verse. His singing tempo and style would be very slow and timid, while it would become a lot more powerful during the chorus. Schneider would carefully hit the hi-hats of his drum set during the verses, while Olli, Richard and Paul would be playing in a crouched position during this time. All of them would stand up during the first chorus, get back down during the second verse and remain standing normally after the second chorus. After Till sang the line "sie spielt für mich allein" of the second chorus, a break would follow and two green fires would get ignited at the back of the stage, while two red ones would be ignited at the front.
In 1998, the song would only be played three times in August. On 22 and 23 August, Till would start the song off by picking up his microphone stand and slinging it away. The manner of performance stayed the same as the previous year, but at these dates, there would be numerous female fans stationed on three levels of a backstage catwalk. During the song's performance, these women would all be holding small spotlights, which they aimed at Till during the first verse. The spotlights no longer get used after this point of the performance. There were also no colored flames ignited during the break in the song.
In 1999, the performance would once again remain mostly the same. The fires from 1997 returned during the break, although now all four of them would be green. Till would now also wear the robe previously used in Tier during the entire performance. The robe would not get "used" during this song, but rather during the intro of the next song on the setlist, Stripped.
Lyrics
Sie sagen zu mir
schließ auf diese Tür
die Neugier wird zum Schrei
was wohl dahinter sei
hinter dieser Tür
steht ein Klavier
die Tasten sind staubig
die Saiten sind verstimmt
hinter dieser Tür
sitzt sie am Klavier
doch sie spielt nicht mehr
ach das ist so lang her
Dort am Klavier
lauschte ich ihr
und wenn ihr Spiel begann
hielt ich den Atem an
Sie sagte zu mir
ich bleib immer bei dir
doch es hatte nur den Schein
sie spielt für mich allein
Ich goß ihr Blut
in das Feuer meiner Wut
ich verschloß die Tür
man fragte nach ihr
Dort am Klavier
lauschte ich ihr
und wenn ihr Spiel begann
hielt ich den Atem an
Dort am Klavier
stand ich bei ihr
es hatte den Schein
sie spielt für mich allein
Geöffnet ist die Tür
ei wie sie schreien
ich höre die Mutter flehen
der Vater schlägt auf mich ein
man löst sie vom Klavier
und niemand glaubt mir hier
das ich todkrank
von Kummer und Gestank
Dort am Klavier
lauschte ich ihr
und wenn ihr Spiel begann
hielt ich den Atem an
Dort am Klavier
lauschte sie mir
und als mein Spiel begann
hielt sie den Atem an
(Official English translation by Rob Hoare)
They say to me
Open this door
Curiosity screams
Whatever could it be
Back behind that door
A piano
The keys are all dusty
The strings are all untuned
Back behind that door
At the piano
But she plays no more
It is so long ago
On the piano
She's who I hear
She began to play
She took my breath away
She said to me too
That I'll stay with you
But it just seemed to be
She played alone for me
I poured her blood
On the fire of my rage
I locked up her shrine
They questioned in time
At the piano
She's who I hear
She began to play
She took my breath away
At the piano
I stand by her
But it just seemed to be
She played alone for me
They opened up the door
And how they cried
I heard her mother plea
The father struck out at me
They tore her from her chair
No one believed me there
I was so insane
With the stench and the pain
At the piano
She's who I hear
She began to play
She took my breath away
At the piano
She's who I hear
As I began to play
I took her breath away
