Die Unstillbare Gier (From Tanz Der Vampire) English translation
von Jan Ammann

Finally night, no stars to see
The moon hides
Because it dreads me
No light in the sea of worlds
No false ray of hope
Only silence. And in me
The shadow images of my torment

The grain was golden and the sky clear
1617, when it was summer
We lay in the whispering grass
Her hand on my skin was tender and warm
She didn't suspect that I was lost
I still believed that I would win
But on that day it happened for the first time
She died in my arms

As always when I reached for life
Nothing remained in my hand
I want to be flame and become ashes
And yet have never burned


I want to rise higher and higher
And sink ever deeper into nothingness
I want to be an angel or a devil
And am nothing but a creature
That always wants what it cannot get

If there was only a moment of happiness for me
I would accept eternal suffering
But all hope is in vain
Because the hunger never stops

One day, when the earth dies
And the last human with it
Nothing will remain, but the desolate desert
Of an insatiable greed

All that will remain is the great emptiness
Of an insatiable greed

The pastor's daughter let me in at night
1730 after the May devotions
With her heart's blood I wrote a poem
On her pale skin
And the emperor's page from Napoleon's entourage
1813 he stood before the castle
That his sorrow didn't break my heart
I cannot forgive myself


But always, when I reach for life
I feel it breaking
I want to understand the world and know everything
And don't even know myself

I want to be free and freer
And can't get rid of my chains
I want to be a saint or a criminal
And am nothing but a creature
That gets and lies
And must tear apart whatever it loves

Everyone believes that everything will get better one day
So they accept the suffering
I want to finally be satisfied once
But the hunger never stops

Some believe in humanity
And some in money and fame
Some believe in art and science
In love and heroism
Many believe in gods
Of various kinds
In miracles and signs
In heaven and hell
In sin and virtue
And in the Bible and breviary

But the true power
That governs us
Is the shameful
Endless
Devouring
Destructive
And eternally insatiable greed
To you mortals of tomorrow
I prophesy today and here
Before the next millennia begins
The only god everyone will serve
Is the insatiable greed