Quälen translates to "to torment" or "to torture". It's a strong and evocative verb that immediately grabs attention, as it's not a word you typically associate with hearts in everyday conversation.
In "Links 2 3 4", Rammstein uses quälen in the line "Kann man Herzen quälen?" (Can one torment hearts?). This question, alongside others like "Kann man Herzen brechen?" (Can one break hearts?), explores the vulnerability and resilience of the heart, setting a powerful and thought-provoking tone for the song's deeper political and social commentary.
Feel the stomp of boots and pounding drums, yet listen closely: Rammstein’s “Links 2 3 4” is not a salute to authoritarianism but a cheeky declaration of where the band’s heart truly lies. The title echoes the classic German marching order “Links, zwei, drei, vier” (“Left, two, three, four”), and the music marches forward with military precision. By repeating the word links (“left”) like a drill sergeant, Rammstein flips a militaristic image on its head, proudly announcing a left-wing stance after years of critics accusing them of right-wing sympathies.
The lyrics play with the German expression “das Herz am rechten Fleck haben” (to have one’s heart in the right place). The singer says people want his heart “am rechten Fleck,” yet when he looks down, it beats “links” — both physically on the left side of the chest and politically on the left side of the spectrum. Questions like “Kann man Herzen brechen?” (“Can you break hearts?”) and “Kann ein Herz aus Stein sein?” (“Can a heart be made of stone?”) remind listeners that human emotion, not blind obedience, drives the song. In short, “Links 2 3 4” marches with iron-clad riffs while waving a banner for solidarity, openness, and an unmistakably left-leaning spirit.
Six men from East Germany who have never swapped a member: Rammstein came together in Berlin in 1994 with Till Lindemann singing, Richard Kruspe and Paul Landers on guitars, Oliver Riedel on bass, Christoph Schneider on drums and Christian "Flake" Lorenz on keyboards. Landers, Lorenz and Schneider came out of the East Berlin punk band Feeling B. Their debut Herzeleid (1995) pushed the German music press into coining a genre name for it, Neue Deutsche Härte.
They sing in German, roll every R, and set fire to a good deal of the stage. Sehnsucht (1997) carried "Du hast" and "Engel" abroad and every album since has gone to number one in Germany, among them Mutter, Reise, Reise and Zeit (2022), while "Sonne", "Ich will", "Amerika" and the 2019 chart topper "Deutschland" fill out the setlist. Germany's youth media board put Liebe ist für alle da on its restricted index in 2009 over the track "Ich tu dir weh"; a Cologne court overturned that in 2010. Their stadium tour ended in Gelsenkirchen in July 2024 after 135 shows, and they have not been back on the road since.