Sau literally translates to "sow" (a female pig) or "pig". While it can be used in a literal sense, in German slang, it often functions as a mild expletive or a playful, self-deprecating term.
In this song, LaFee sings, "Manchmal Engel, manchmal Sau" (Sometimes an angel, sometimes a pig). She uses Sau to express the duality of her personality, embracing her less angelic, perhaps more rebellious or mischievous side. It's an engaging word because it's unexpected and reveals a raw, honest self-description, making it memorable and enticing for learners.
Ever felt like you're a walking contradiction? German pop-rocker LaFee gets it. This song is all about embracing every single complicated part of yourself. One minute she's pleading, "Bitte halt mich ganz fest" (Please hold me tight), and the next she's pushing you away with, "Bitte lass mich jetzt los" (Please let me go now). She knows she's a lot to handle, admitting she's "ganz einfach kompliziert" (simply complicated) and hard to understand. It's a bold statement about not wanting to be just one thing for other people.
LaFee throws out a whole list of opposites to describe herself in the chorus: she's a "Mädchen" (girl) and a "Frau" (woman), an "Engel" (angel) and a "Sau" (a pig/bitch), "heiss" (hot) and "eiskalt" (ice-cold). It's a challenge to anyone who wants to be with her: "Willst Du alles oder nichts?" (Do you want all or nothing?). You have to take all of her, the good and the bad. The song's final, repeated line says it all: "Ich bin ich" (I am me).
LaFee is the stage name of Christina Klein, a pop singer from Germany who broke through as a teenager in the mid-2000s. She got her start on the Austrian television talent show Kiddy Contest, and producer Bob Arnz signed her not long after, shaping the gothic-tinged pop-rock sound of her earliest records.
Her self-titled debut and its follow-up, Jetzt erst recht, both went to number one in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, and singles like Virus and Heul doch turned her into one of the biggest teen-pop stars in German-speaking Europe. She later moved her music toward a more mainstream pop sound, took on acting roles on the German soap Alles was zählt, and returned to the charts in 2021 with the album Zurück in die Zukunft.