Das Schützenfest by Faith No More: Great B-Sides

Faith No More have covered a lot of ground over their career – in particular, 1995’s King for a Day… Fool for a Lifetime utilises a different genre for every track. Mike Patton is one of the most talented vocalists in rock music, with a range of six octaves. Impressively, he’s able to make even this throwaway polka in pidgin German engaging.

The polka isn’t common in Western pop music – “Weird” Al Yankovic is a famous exponent, and They Might Be Giants dabble with the accordion. ‘Das Schützenfest’ translates as The Shooting Fest, and this charming vignette unfolds at a shooting competition. In reportedly hideous German, Patton describes his lover’s armpit as smelling like a summer morning.

*Angel Dust* brings back happy memories of Clinton’s inauguration year. Make your own https://billclintonswag.com/

Such ruminations aren’t unusual for Patton – when asked about his lyrics, he once said: “They come from my head, my ass, my toilet, my pillow, places like that.”

‘Das Schützenfest’ was featured on the EP Songs to Make Love To, led by Faith No More’s faithful cover of the Commodores’ ‘Easy’. It was later to added the deluxe version of Angel Dust. It’s clearly not a major song in the Faith No More catalogue, but it’s an amusing dabble into exotic territory.

Das Schützenfest

Lyrics in English and German

We then met
Wir trafen dann
For the open marksman festival
Zum offen Schützenfest
It looks to me
Für mich sieht sie aus
Like Heino’s sister
Wie Heinos Schwester
Black is the hazelnut,
Schwarzbraun ist die Haselnuß,
Her hair was tanned
Schwarzgebräunt ist war ihr Haar
Oh my Bavarian girl, just go there
Oh mein Bayerisches Mädchen, tage bloss hin
Knowing, lie down too
Hervor weissen, leg dich auch hin
We don’t shit with that
Wir scheißen eben nicht mit dem
The rifle festival, never seen again
Das Schützenfest, niemals mehr gesehen
We make love
Wir machen Liebe
In the pig trough
Im Schweinetrog
My pants burst
Meine Hosen platzen
On my doodle tail
Auf mein Dudelschwanz
You thought I was a dandy and
Sie dachte ich war ein Dandy und
Her calves were like pork knuckles
Ihre wade waren wie Eisbein
Oh girl, just go there
Oh Mädchen, tage bloss hin
Knowing, lie down too
Hervor weissen, leg dich auch hin
We don’t shit with that
Wir scheißen eben nicht mit dem
The rifle festival, never seen again
Das Schützenfest, niemals mehr gesehen
Oh doorbell yes yes dog dog away
Oh Klingel ja ja hund hund weg
Dog gone, asshole dog gone
Hund weg, arschloch hund weg
It made my heart a white sausage
Sie machte aus meinem Herz, eine weisse Wurst
She dances ute-ut and Schuhplattler
Sie tanzt ute-ut und Schuheplattler
Armpit was fresh and smelled like
Achselhöhle war frisch und duften wie
Summer morning, summer morning
Sommermorgen, Sommermorgen
Great
Super
Oh girl, hurt me
Oh Mädchen, tat mir ans
Superlochwel her bra
Superlochwel ihren BH
Weekend, but shit not with that
Wochenende, Scheiße aber nicht mit der
The Schützenfest never seen again
Das Schützenfest niemals mehr gesehen
Never seen it again
Niemals mehr gesehen

Faith No More Album Reviews
Great B-Sides

9 Comments

badfinger20

April 26, 2020 / 10:04 am Reply

If someone would have told me I would listen to a polka 3 times in a row…I would have said they were crazy. It IS engaging. It is an interesting concept to make an album also.
- Aphoristical
  
  April 26, 2020 / 1:33 pm Reply
  
  That’s dedicated listening – it’s kind of a throwaway that Patton’s vocal ability elevates into pretty good territory.
  - badfinger20
    
    April 26, 2020 / 1:43 pm Reply
    
    It’s not everyday you hear a polka that you want to take a second/third listen to. It is interesting…lead Tuba
    I wouldn’t take it as far as polka….but I would like to hear someone make an album by decades….a fifties track, a sixties track…
    Maybe there is one already I don’t know.
    - Aphoristical
      
      April 26, 2020 / 1:46 pm Reply
      
      Have you heard Josh Rouse – he made a pretty good concept album called 1972 that sounded like Carole King and Curtis Mayfield.
      - badfinger20
        
        April 26, 2020 / 1:48 pm
        
        Not that I remember but I will check it out. It sounds familiar but I will look up some tracks. Did you feature him before?
      - Aphoristical
        
        April 26, 2020 / 6:33 pm
        
        I haven’t really posted about him for a long time, I don’t think? His best stuff is really early in the 21st century. I like Comeback (Light Therapy) – it sounds like it’s about a girl, but it’s actually about the sun.
mikeladano

April 26, 2020 / 10:57 am Reply

Ah hell I love this one!
stephen1001

April 26, 2020 / 1:24 pm Reply

I guess it did come out around the time Chinese Democracy was getting started!
- Aphoristical
  
  April 26, 2020 / 1:26 pm Reply
  
  I figured Clinton would like albums with links to Democracy.