GERMANY, GERMANY (Behind the Track)

Germany, Germany took a long time to write
And right before we needed to pack up our instruments to go to the studio
We solved the mystery and came up with an arrangement of the song
That suited everybody and turned out really good

We've tried everything, we've had so many different arrangements
But what the song's been missing was the impact of the whole band
So once we got that right, everything was fine
And we were ready to go to the studio

As a kid, I never had identified myself as a German
Or thought about my nationality in any kind of way
It simply didn't matter where I was from
And my parents raised me as an open-minded little fellow
My dad worked with a lot of people from all over the place
And they came by for dinner every once in a while
And it never mattered where they were from

But when I moved to Austria and went to school there
I was confronted with being the German kid every day
It started when I was ten years old
And I was excluded from groups and getting the feeling of not belonging there
And it took on from there 'til I had finished school and moved to Munich
It never left my mind

Nationalities are a weird thing
I mean you can't choose where you born and raised, but in 2021
People still reduce other people to their nationality
Gender, race, religion or whatsoever

Let's face it, this is bullshit
For me experiencing that in school taught me something
That the actual lessons couldn't teach me at all
Despite what I've experienced, my optimism was still way too big
To get disturbed by mean comments by some idiots

So, when I was 16, I thought that such a thing-
I felt like racism was something ancient
Something that is over
Something that books talk about to teach us about history
Shouldn't we know it better?

Oh well, growing up a little more, my optimism got a pretty rough reality check
I felt like racism was something ancient
Something that is over
Something that books talk about to teach us about history
Shouldn't we know it better?

Oh well, growing up a little more, my optimism got a pretty rough reality check
I believe humanity can overcome racism
It's pretty optimistic and has a long way to go
But realizing that at least in the theory
There's an actual chance of living in a world without racism
'Cause it is something made by humankind
And it can also be stopped by humankind, keeps me motivated