Du hast

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"Du hast"
Song

"Du hast" (German, "You have") (The song is a play on words, have and hate, which are very similar in German) is a song by German rock band Rammstein. It was released as the second single from their second album Sehnsucht. The song is also arguably the band's most well known song, with "Feuer frei!" also being said to be their most well known song. It has appeared on numerous soundtracks for films, most notably The Matrix: Music from the Motion Picture, and is featured in the video game Guitar Hero 5, and the upcoming music video game Rock Band 3.

The main guitar riff of the song shows a strong resemblance to Ministry's song "Just One Fix"; the band themselves have stated Ministry as one of their primary influences.

Overview

There are two versions of the song: the original song, which is completely in German, and a partial translation to English. In the second version, the first chorus and the verses are in English and the last chorus is in German. The lyrics to the English version are not a direct translation due to the use of a homonym between the German verbs to have, haben, and to hate, hassen, in the original song. The verbs haben and hassen sound exactly the same when conjugated for 'you' (hast and hasst). Due to an inability to retain the homophone while translating, the English version was changed from 'Du hast,' meaning 'you have,' to 'Du hasst,' meaning 'you hate.'

The whole song is a play on German wedding vows.

The refrain ("Willst du, bis der Tod euch scheide, treu ihr sein für alle Tage?") translates to "Do you[singular] want, until Death separates you[plural], to be faithful to her forever?" Instead of answering with 'ja' ('yes'), the singer says 'nein' ('no'), finally breaking his silence earlier in the song: "Du hast mich gefragt, und ich hab' nichts gesagt." This is in present perfect and literally means "You have asked me, and I have said nothing," but is usually translated to past tense, "You asked me, and I said nothing."

Music video

The video, inspired by the 1992 film Reservoir Dogs, begins with Christoph Schneider and actress Astrid Meyerfeldt arriving in a soviet car "Volga" GAZ-21 near a desolate nondescript small warehouse in the countryside. Schneider reaches into the backseat to get a bag and takes out a handgun, tucking it into the back of his pants as he walks into the building. Inside, the rest of the band are standing around wearing Cupid masks, cut off below the nose. The band take off their masks seeming pleased to see Schneider and start drinking, but the mood turns negative as evidenced by Lindemann hitting Schneider's character from a camera view. A shot showing a syringe being administered seems to be the reason for slurred views of the bands faces, all emphasizing the song chorus to the face of Schneider's character, presumed to be lying on the ground. A match is lit, lighting up a gasoline trail and an upstanding human figure is engulfed in flames. The entire band then walks outside, including Schneider completely unscathed as seen by Meyerfeldt waiting by the car. Schneider glances at Meyerfeldt, checks his watch and the car explodes behind the band walking in a line, unfazed by the explosion and not even looking behind.

Live performances

The first known performance of the song dates from 9 April 1997 in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Over the years, several stunts have been used during the live performances of "Du hast", ranging from the dildo used in "Bück dich", to the bow used in "Du riechst so gut". In their Reise, Reise and Liebe Ist Fur Alle Da tour, flames shoot several feet into the air and Till Lindemann shot with a different bow into the air, "starting" a chain reaction that fired rockets over the audience. Being a fan favorite, it has been played in almost every concert to date since its initial performance.

Track listing

All tracks are written by Rammstein

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Du hast (Single Version)"	3:54
2.	"Bück dich (Album Version)"	3:21
3.	"Du hast (Remix by Jacob Hellner)"	6:44
4.	"Du hast (Remix by Clawfinger)"	5:23

The UK version of the single does not include "Bück dich".

Covers

• Heavy metal band Black Warrant covered the song in which appeared on their 2006 release Recover II.
• Ukrainian pop singer Verka Serduchka covered the song in 2007 for the Ukranian TV.
• Hannibal performed "Du hast" live at the first Scorpions Festival 2007 (18 June 2007) at Karaiskaki Stadium, Piraeus, Athens.
• Turkish rap rock band Manga performed the song live in Istanbul in 2006.
• Battery did a cover of the song, which is found on the Feuer Frei! single.

Chart performance

"Du hast" hit #20 on the Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks chart in the United States. It is the highest charting German language song in the history of that chart.

Chart (1997)	Peak position
German Singles Chart	5
Austrian Singles Chart	10
Swiss Singles Chart	33
UK Singles Chart	186
US Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks	20

External links

• Official Video
• Official lyrics