Georg Trakl and L ’ ame Immortelle 99
Uber nachtlich dunkle Fluten Sing ich meine traurigen Lieder , Lieder , die wie Wunden bluten . Doch kein Herz tragt sie mir wieder Durch das Dunkel her .
Nur die nachtlich dunklen Fluten Rauschen , schluchzen meine Lieder , Lieder , die von Wunden bluten , Tragen an mein Herz sie wieder Durch das Dunkel her . ( Trakl 76 )
[ Over dark nightly floods I sing my sad songs , Songs that bleed like wounds . But no heart brings them back to me Through the dark .
Only the nightly dark floods Are roaring , my songs sobbing , Songs that bleed from wounds , Bring them back to my heart Through the dark .] ( Trakl 76 , translation by authors )
One track of L ’ ame Immortelle ’ s first album sets “ Nachtlied ” to music . In addition to its subject matter , the band might have chosen this poem because Trakl does not yet reject the voice of a poetic ego here as he did in most of his later poems . 2 This enables Thomas Rainer ( who stated in an interview that his favorite book is a collection of Trakl ’ s poems ) to shout out his own frustration and suffering from feelings of loneliness and alienation , simply by identifying with this poetic ego .
Although aware of Roland Barthes ’ observation that language manages very badly “ when it has to interpret music ” ( quoted in Gunn 33 ) since its sensual character defies any essential correspondence between sound and sign , we may try to describe what we hear when we listen to “ Nachtlied .” However , it must be remembered that other listeners might hear and describe it differently .
The instruments used are computer-generated : violin , acoustic guitar , electric bass , and a snare drum sound . However , it is important to note that the music is secondary to the text . Different from some rock music where one can hardly hear the text , here , the music only frames the text . The interpretation of the poem begins with otherwordly sounding voices and a pulsing electronic sound that becomes louder , then softer again — the studio manipulation is evident . It provides a backdrop for the first four lines of the poem spoken by