"Ohne dich" ( "Without You") is a song by German

Neue Deutsche Härte (; "New German Hardness", sometimes abbreviated as NDH), also known as dance-metal, is a crossover style drawing from Neue Deutsche Welle, alternative metal, groove metal, electro-industrial and techno. It developed in Germany and Austria d ...

band

Rammstein Rammstein (, "ramming stone") is a German band formed in Berlin in 1994. The band's lineup—consisting of lead vocalist Till Lindemann, lead guitarist Richard Kruspe, rhythm guitarist Paul Landers, bassist Oliver Riedel, drummer Christoph ...

. It was released on 22 November 2004 as the third single from their fourth studio album, ''

Reise, Reise ''Reise, Reise'' (; a German '' military wake-up call'', literally "(a)rise, (a)rise") is the fourth studio album by Neue Deutsche Härte band Rammstein. It was released on 27 September 2004 through Universal Music in Germany and followed shor ...

'' (2004).

Composition

"Ohne dich" can be seen as expressing mourning over the loss of a loved person. It follows a slow, even romantic ballad style. The central motif is "Without you, I cannot be..., With you, I am alone also...". This song also features how death is not just mourning but a bond between the people that are there at the funeral. It's not all about death, it's about the remembrance of this person and how they brought everyone closer. The visuals play off what are called Heimatfilms and the reference to the birds no longer singing ("Und die Vögel singen nicht mehr") could refer also to the

Wandervogel ''Wandervogel'' (plural: ''Wandervögel''; English: "Wandering Bird") is the name adopted by a popular movement of German youth groups from 1896 to 1933, who protested against industrialization by going to hike in the country and commune with na ...

with a nostalgic feeling of loss of the freedom they embodied, which was manifested with ballads and nature wandering.

Live story

The song debuted live in its beta version in 2000, in a concert just for members of the fan club. After that, it was dropped during the 2001–02 Mutter tour. It returned to the setlists for the 2004–05 Reise, Reise tour, in which it was played in almost every concert, exceptions being festivals. Usually, sparks would rain over Till Lindemann during the final chorus. In those of the live shows that

Apocalyptica Apocalyptica is a Finnish symphonic metal band from Helsinki, formed in 1993. The band is currently composed of three classically trained cellists Eicca Toppinen, Paavo Lötjönen, and Perttu Kivilaakso. Originally a Classical music, classical- ...

was the support act, they played the

cellos The violoncello ( , ), commonly abbreviated as cello ( ), is a middle pitched bowed (sometimes plucked and occasionally hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually tuned in perfect fifths: from low to high, ...

in the song. The song wasn't played in the ''Liebe ist für alle da'' tour, but it reappeared for the Made In Germany 1995–2011 tour, Download festival 2013 and the European Stadium Tour 2019.

Video

The video was filmed in the Kaun Valley and on the Großglockner in Austria. It shows the band climbing in the mountains when lead vocalist

Till Lindemann Till Lindemann (; born 4 January 1963) is a German singer and songwriter. He is the lead vocalist and lyricist of Neue Deutsche Härte band Rammstein and solo project Lindemann (band), Lindemann. Rammstein has sold over 25 million records worldw ...

falls and gets badly hurt. In the night, while the band sits in the tent, Lindemann looks longingly out of the tent up to the mountain's peak as

gangrene Gangrene is a type of tissue death caused by a lack of blood supply. Symptoms may include a change in skin color to red or black, numbness, swelling, pain, skin breakdown, and coolness. The feet and hands are most commonly affected. If the ga ...

eats away at his injured leg. The band members eat and rest while bassist

Oliver Riedel Oliver "Ollie" Riedel (born 11 April 1971) is a German musician, best known as one of the founders and the bassist of band Rammstein. Early life Riedel was born in Schwerin on 11 April 1971. Growing up, he had relatively good relationships wi ...

engraves their names on a pan's lid to leave as a testimony of their presence on the mountain, as others have done. The next day, the band starts to climb the mountain again, carrying Lindemann. In the end, they reach the mountain peak; Lindemann takes a look around and dies satisfied.

Track listing

;CD Maxi-Single # Ohne dich (Album Edit) – 4:31 # Ohne dich (Mina Harker's Version)

Remix A remix, also sometimes called reorchestration or rework, is a piece of media which has been altered or contorted from its original state by adding, removing, or changing pieces of the item. A song, piece of artwork, book, poem, or photograph ca ...

by Laibach – 4:09 # Ohne dich (Sacred Mix) Remix by Sven Helbig – 4:34 # Ohne dich (

Schiller Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller (, short: ; 10 November 17599 May 1805) was a German playwright, poet, philosopher and historian. Schiller is considered by most Germans to be Germany's most important classical playwright. He was born i ...

Mix) – 5:22 # Ohne dich ( Under Byen Remix) – 5:48 # Ohne dich (

Beta Version The software release life cycle is the process of developing, testing, and distributing a software product (e.g., an operating system). It typically consists of several stages, such as pre-alpha, alpha, beta, and release candidate, before the fi ...

) – 4:23 ;CD Single # Ohne dich (Album Edit) – 4:31 # Ohne dich (Mina Harker's Version) Remix by Laibach – 4:09

Charts

Certifications

References

{{Authority control 2004 singles Rammstein songs 2004 songs Songs written by Richard Z. Kruspe Songs written by Paul Landers Songs written by Till Lindemann Songs written by Christian Lorenz Songs written by Oliver Riedel Songs written by Christoph Schneider