Joachim Witt – Die Rückkehr [German to English translation]

This is one of those songs that could be translated many ways. This is my way of translating it. To understand some other ways, you could translate the German “Fremde” as either “unknown” or “foreign”. My choice of unknown is because it’s what I’m used to as someone from an Eastern European origin. But I have seen a translation by a Western person who made the choice of going beyond either and choose “world”. Similarly, the German “Himmel” could be translated as either “sky” or “heaven” in English. In the other translation found online the choice of sky was made, instead of my choice of heaven. In this case, it does have to be said that it is not actually correct to use sky. In the English language, you would actually use the metaphor “you are the sun in my sky” while saying what’s said in German.

The difficult part of subtitling in another language is that you will have only a limited amount of characters to use, as it needs to be able to be read in the same time as the original text is said or sung. A text translation gives a lot more flexibility compared to subtitles. It’s why sometimes subtitles can seem incorrect, as you might need to shorten it or are unable to translate it in a proper way. The hard part of a text translation is that you will have far less excuses for any sort of mistake. With text translations there’s a standard of perfection, which is not there for subtitles.

Music video with English subtitles

English translation

I searched for my happiness in the unknown
But then it was over
Inspiration was at the end
A gift for us two
Many people and lands
Passed me by

You are my angel
On the shield of my world
You are my heaven
that holds our hands tight

All my fear has vanished
All the tears were set free
I was also dragged across mountains
And I’m ready for anything
Many people and lands
Passed me by

You are my angel
On the shield of my world
You are my heaven
that holds our hands tight

You are my angel
On the shield of my world
You are my heaven
that holds our hands tight

You are my angel
On the shield of my world
You are my heaven
that holds our hands tight

Original German lyrics

Suchte mein Glück in der Fremde
Doch dann war es vorbei
Inspiration war am Ende
Ein Geschenk für uns zwei
Viele Menschen und Länder
Zogen an mir vorbei

Du bist mein Engel
Auf dem Schild meiner Welt
Du bist mein Himmel
Der unsere Hände festhält
All meine Angst ist verflogen
All die Tränen befreit
Bin auch über Berge gezogen
Und zu allem bereit
Viele Menschen und Länder
Zogen an mir vorbei

Du bist mein Engel
Auf dem Schild meiner Welt
Du bist mein Himmel
Der unsere Hände festhält

Du bist mein Engel
Auf dem Schild meiner Welt
Du bist mein Himmel
Der unsere Hände festhält

Du bist mein Engel
Auf dem Schild meiner Welt
Du bist mein Himmel
Der unsere Hände festhält

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Vladislav Dovganyuk-Krym

I am 17 years old. I was born in Russia and raised in Germany, Ukraine, and Poland. I currently reside in Poland. My beliefs revolve around Christianity, veganism, political anarchism, and pacifism. In my personal life, I am still a student and serve as the daily babysitter for three Ukrainian refugee children.

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