Mein Teil

"Mein Teil"
Single by Rammstein
from the album Reise, Reise
Released	26 July 2004
Format	CD
Recorded	El Cortijo Studio, Málaga, 2003
Genre	Neue Deutsche Härte Industrial metal
Length	4:52
Label	Motor Music
Producer	Jacob Hellner, Rammstein
Rammstein singles chronology
"Feuer frei!" (2002) "Mein Teil" (2004) "Amerika" (2004)

"Mein Teil" (German: "My part") is the first single by the German industrial metal band Rammstein from their fourth album Reise, Reise. The song is inspired by the case of Armin Meiwes and Bernd Jürgen Armando Brandes. In March 2001, in Rotenburg an der Fulda, the two men aged in their 40s met each other, cut off and cooked Brandes' penis and consumed it together. Afterwards, Meiwes killed Brandes—with Brandes' consent—and ate his remains. As a result, Meiwes was sentenced to eight-and-a-half years in jail for manslaughter, but was later charged with murder and sentenced to life imprisonment. A prominent phrase in the song is "Denn du bist was du isst und ihr wisst was es ist" ("Because you are what you eat and you (plural) know what it is").

According to Rammstein's bassist Oliver Riedel, the song came about after "one of our members brought a newspaper to rehearsal and it had a story about the cannibal guy in it. We were fascinated, shocked and amused at the same time." Vocalist Till Lindemann stated, "It's so sick that it becomes fascinating and there just has to be a song about it".^[1]

"Mein Teil" attracted controversy in Germany; the media dubbed it the "Kannibalensong" (cannibal song), which helped to boost it to second place in the German music charts after its release in early August 2004. Remixes of the song were done by Arthur Baker and the Pet Shop Boys.

At the beginning of the song in the video, the phrase "Suche gut gebauten Achtzehn- bis Dreißigjährigen zum Schlachten – Der Metzgermeister" ("Looking for a well built 18 to 30 year old to be slaughtered - The Master Butcher") is spoken, voiced by Ollie, although the album version of the song does not have this beginning. The quote is taken from an online post by Armin Meiwes.

"Mein Teil" was nominated for Best Metal Performance at the 48th Grammy Awards, but lost to Slipknot's Before I Forget.^[2]

Live history

It debuted in three consecutive concerts for members of the fan club, in October 2004. This song is one of the most notable live performances of the 2004–2005 Reise, Reise tour. From the central backstage access, Till Lindemann appears pulling a giant cooking pot. He is dressed as a blood-stained chef holding a microphone with a large butcher's knife attached to the end. Keyboardist Christian "Flake" Lorenz appears in the pot, with metal cylinders attached to his arms and legs, and plays the keyboard during the song. After the second chorus, Till takes a flamethrower and roasts the bottom of the pot, "cooking" Flake. Flake escapes from the pot and starts running around the stage with flames erupting from his arms and legs, while chased by a knife-wielding Till. When asked about what it is like to perform this, Flake said: "It's fine. It is only pain. Although you can't breathe in because then you will inhale the flames and die." Due to all of the theatrical performance, the song usually extended to 6 or 7 minutes when played live. It was played at every concert of the Reise, Reise tour, but was dropped on the Liebe ist fur Alle Da tour, a move which irritated many fans. However, it returned to playlist for the Latin American leg of the tour in 2010, the Auckland and Perth legs of the Big Day Out festival and the South African leg of the tour in 2011, all replacing "Ich tu dir weh".

Music video

The controversy over Mein Teil prompted MTV Germany to restrict the airing of the music video to after 11 PM. The video shows a cross dressed Doom Schneider dressed as Armin Meiwes's mother, Till being fellated by an angel before he eats her wings and kills her; Flake performing ballet in a hallucinatory state; Paul shaking, screaming violently and wandering around the set in a frantic and crazed state; Richard violently fighting with his doppelgänger; Ollie writhing on the floor in painful spasms with his skin covered in white powder; the whole band (excluding Schneider) fighting in a mudpit; and five of the band members crawling out of the Deutsche Oper U-Bahn (subway) station while held on leashes carried by Doom Schneider.

Charts

Chart (2004)	Peak position
Austrian Singles Chart[3]	6
Danish Singles Chart[4]	6
Finnish Singles Chart[5]	2
French Singles Chart[6]	28
German Singles Chart[7]	2
Swedish Singles Chart[8]	8
Swiss Singles Chart[9]	11
UK Rock Chart	1
UK Singles Chart[10]	61

Track listing

5" CD Single

1. Mein Teil (Single Version) – 4:23
2. Mein Teil (You Are What You Eat Edit) Remix by Pet Shop Boys – 4:07
3. Mein Teil (Return to New York Buffet Mix) Remix by Arthur Baker – 7:22
4. Mein Teil (There Are No Guitars on This Mix) Remix by Pet Shop Boys – 7:20

• The Australian edition also features the Mein Teil video.

3" CD Single

1. Mein Teil (Single Version) – 4:23
2. Mein Teil (You Are What You Eat Edit) Remix by Pet Shop Boys – 4:07

• Also released as a 2-track 5" CD single.

2 x 12" Vinyl Single (limited to 1000 copies)

1. Mein Teil (You Are What You Eat Mix) Remix by Pet Shop Boys – 6:45
2. Mein Teil (You Are What You Eat Instrumental Mix) Remix by Pet Shop Boys – 7:00
3. Mein Teil (The Return to New York Buffet Mix) Remix by Arthur Baker – 7:22
4. Mein Teil (The Return to New York Buffet Instrumental Mix) Remix by Arthur Baker – 7:23

Notes

1. ^ Agence France-Presse (29 August 2004). German rock band's 'part' song tells of cannibals' repast. Taipei Times. Accessed 2 July 2009.
2. ^ 48th Grammy Awards - 2006. Rock on the Net. Accessed 2 July 2009.
3. ^ [1]
4. ^ [2]
5. ^ Suomen virallinen lista
6. ^ [3]
7. ^ [4]
8. ^ Swedish Singles Chart
9. ^ [5]
10. ^ UK Singles Chart

References

1. "Strange tastes", Sunday Herald Sun (Melbourne, Australia), October 24, 2004
2. "German cannibal inspires hard rockers Rammstein to new hit", Agence France Presse, August 27, 2004
3. "Shock'n'roll Circus", The Times (London), January 29, 2005