BEIDWERK· Wien
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Album · track 14 · lyrics

Ka Sperrstund

No Closing Time · in German and in English

← the album

STAMM (Wolfgang) sings, defiant and tired, the bar owner who won't lock up; ECHT answers in the second half of the bridge, half spoken; spoken opener "Closing time? Not here."; 148 bpm.

German · as sung

[Intro, spoken]

0:00Sperrstund? Net bei mir.

[Verse 1]

0:24Sessel auf'm Tisch, des Licht is scho halb aus,

0:29alle gangan, jetzt hopp, nur i steh no im Haus.

0:36Des gleiche Glas, der gleiche Fetzen, die gleiche Wut seit neunaneinzig,

0:43i dreh die Musik so laut auf, dass ma die Zeit net vergehn hört.

[Pre-chorus]

0:50Sie sagen: Wolfgang, lass es sein. Lass es sein.

0:56Sie sagen: Wolfgang, sperr scho zua. Sperr scho zua.

[Chorus]

1:03Ka Sperrstund! Net heut, net nie.

1:09Du hast es nie verkauft, den Schlüssel ab, aber mi kriagst net.

1:15Ka Sperrstund! I steh da bis in Ewigkeit,

1:21i bin des letzte Licht in der Stadt, und i geh net ham.

[Verse 2]

1:30Mei bester Haberer hat unterschrieben mit Gold,

1:35der hat a Haus am Berg, i hab a Beisl und (unclear: Schuld?),

1:39alle seine, alle san jetzt g'scheit,

1:42nur i bin der Narr, der no schreit in die Bildschirm und die Welt.

[Pre-chorus]

1:46Sie sagen: Wolfgang, lass es sein. Lass es sein.

1:52Sie sagen: Wolfgang, du bist zua. Du bist zua.

[Chorus]

1:57Ka Sperrstund! Net heut, net nie.

2:03Du hast es nie verkauft, den Schlüssel, aber mi kriagst net.

2:10Ka Sperrstund! I steh da bis in Ewigkeit,

2:15i bin des letzte Licht in der Stadt, und i geh net ham.

[Bridge, STAMM]

2:23Siebenazwanzg Jahr nur Lärm, damit die Stille draußen bleibt,

2:29siebenazwanzg Jahr nur Na, und ka einziger Zweifel.

2:35Aber Gott, i bin so müd, Gott, mir is so kalt.

2:38Was bringt's, dass i recht g'habt hab, wenn i ganz allan steh?

[Bridge, ECHT]

2:45ECHT: Wo i herkomm, hat keiner mehr Na gesagt.

2:53ECHT: Ka einziger. Nur du.

3:00ECHT: Deswegen bin i da.

[Last chorus]

3:03Dann schenk uns ein, ganz langsam, die Nacht is wieder jung.

3:22 … die Zukunft.

3:29Ka Schmerz … … nix.

3:37Du hast es nie verkauft, den Schlüssel ab,

3:44aber uns kriagst net! Aber uns kriagst net!

English · to sing

[Intro, spoken]
Closing time? Not here.

[Verse 1]
Chairs up on the tables, and the lights half out,
all of them gone, go on, just me still in the house.
The same old glass, the same old rag, the same old fury since ninety-nine,
I turn the music up so loud you can't hear the time go by.

[Pre-chorus]
They tell me: Wolfgang, let it go. Let it go.
They tell me: Wolfgang, lock it up. Lock it up.

[Chorus]
No closing time! Not tonight, not ever.
You never sold it, hand the key in, but you won't get me.
No closing time! I'm standing here till kingdom come,
I'm the last light in the city, and I won't go home.

[Verse 2]
My best mate went and signed his name in solid gold,
he got a hilltop house, I got a dive and debts untold,
all his lot, they've all gone sensible now,
only I'm the fool still shouting at the screens and the world.

[Pre-chorus]
They tell me: Wolfgang, let it go. Let it go.
They tell me: Wolfgang, you're so locked. You're so locked.

[Chorus]
No closing time! Not tonight, not ever.
You never sold it, hand the key in, but you won't get me.
No closing time! I'm standing here till kingdom come,
I'm the last light in the city, and I won't go home.

[Bridge, STAMM]
Twenty-seven years of racket, just to keep the silence out,
twenty-seven years of no, and not a single doubt.
But oh God, I'm so tired now, God, I'm so cold.
What's the good of being right when I'm standing all alone?

[Bridge, ECHT]
Where I come from, nobody said no any more.
Not a single one. Just you.
That's the reason I'm here.

[Last chorus]
Then pour us one, nice and slowly, the night is young again.
Let the future wait outside.
No pain … means … nothing.
You never sold it, hand the key in,
but you won't get us! But you won't get us!

The Viennese words

Wienerisch English Why
Sperrstund / Ka Sperrstund closing time / No Closing Time Fixed across the album; the pub word everyone knows, and the hook.
net / ned / ka not / no Plain negatives; "Not here", "Not tonight, not ever" keep the bite.
hopp go on The shooing word at the end of the night; "go on" is what a landlord says to the last drinkers.
Fetzen rag The bar cloth; "the same old rag" also hints at the same old worn-out thing.
neunaneinzig ninety-nine The year kept as '99, sung the way a regular would say it.
sperr scho zua lock it up Literal and natural; sets up the pun in the second pre-chorus.
du bist zua you're so locked "zua" means both "closed" and "drunk"; Irish/British "locked" means both too, so the pun survives.
Haberer best mate Fixed across the album.
Beisl dive Fixed across the album; one hard syllable on the beat.
g'scheit sensible "g'scheit" is "smart, reasonable", with a sneer here; "gone sensible" carries the sneer.
Na no The Viennese "no"; kept as a plain, hard "no" because it is the whole point of the bridge.
(geh net) ham (won't go) home "ham" is Viennese "heim"; "home" also half-rhymes with "kingdom come".
bis in Ewigkeit till kingdom come Pub-English for forever, with the swagger of the German.
kriagst (net) (you) won't get "kriagen" = to get; "you won't get me" is the defiant street phrasing.
schenk uns ein pour us one The barman's "pour us one", "us" in the British sense too.