Mostly spoken over the music: a calm SYSTEM voice counting ECHT's human share down, ECHT answering, STAMM talking him back on the beat ("Stick to the beat, kiddo"), a sung stretch by ECHT (1:09–1:40) and a counted-up chant to seventeen; slow, held, 112.5 bpm.
German · as sung
[Intro, SYSTEM] SYSTEM: System. Prüfung menschlicher Anteil: 17 Prozent. [Spoken, ECHT and SYSTEM] ECHT: Irgendwas ruft mich zurück. SYSTEM: 14 Prozent. ECHT: Meine Stimme. ECHT: Meine Hand. SYSTEM: 11 Prozent. ECHT: I hab mir alles gemerkt und nix davon repariert. SYSTEM: 9 Prozent. [Sung, ECHT] ECHT (sung, repeated): I bleib … i bin da … [Spoken, ECHT and STAMM] ECHT: I kann's ned allein. STAMM: Hör auf den Takt, Burschi. Nur auf den Takt. Da bist du genau da. STAMM: I hab a Werkzeug und Geduld. Halt still. [Count] 5 … 10 … 15 … 17 … Siebzehn, siebzehn, siebzehn … [Outro, SYSTEM and ECHT] SYSTEM: Menschlicher Anteil: 17 Prozent. Stabil. ECHT: Stabil is a schönes Wort.
[Intro, SYSTEM]
0:00SYSTEM: System. Prüfung menschlicher Anteil: 17 Prozent.
[Spoken, ECHT and SYSTEM]
0:25ECHT: Irgendwas ruft mich zurück.
0:36SYSTEM: 14 Prozent.
0:43ECHT: Meine Stimme.
0:47ECHT: Meine Hand.
0:50SYSTEM: 11 Prozent.
0:58ECHT: I hab mir alles gemerkt und nix davon repariert.
1:07SYSTEM: 9 Prozent.
[Sung, ECHT]
1:09ECHT (sung, repeated): I bleib … i bin da …
[Spoken, ECHT and STAMM]
1:40ECHT: I kann's ned allein.
1:46STAMM: Hör auf den Takt, Burschi. Nur auf den Takt. Da bist du genau da.
1:58STAMM: I hab a Werkzeug und Geduld. Halt still.
[Count]
2:035 … 10 … 15 … 17 … Siebzehn, siebzehn, siebzehn …
[Outro, SYSTEM and ECHT]
2:50SYSTEM: Menschlicher Anteil: 17 Prozent. Stabil.
3:20ECHT: Stabil is a schönes Wort.
English · to sing
[Intro, SYSTEM] System. Checking human content: seventeen percent. [Spoken, ECHT and SYSTEM] Something is calling me back. Fourteen percent. My own voice. My own hand. Eleven percent. I remembered everything and fixed not one bit of it. Nine percent. [Sung, ECHT] I'll stay … I'm right here … [Spoken, ECHT and STAMM] Can't do it alone. Stick to the beat, kiddo. Only the beat. That's where you're fully here. I've got a toolbox and patience. Hold still. [Count] Five … ten … fifteen … seventeen … seventeen, seventeen, seventeen … [Outro, SYSTEM and ECHT] Human content: seventeen percent. Stable. Stable is a lovely word.
[Intro, SYSTEM]
System. Checking human content: seventeen percent.
[Spoken, ECHT and SYSTEM]
Something is calling me back.
Fourteen percent.
My own voice.
My own hand.
Eleven percent.
I remembered everything and fixed not one bit of it.
Nine percent.
[Sung, ECHT]
I'll stay … I'm right here …
[Spoken, ECHT and STAMM]
Can't do it alone.
Stick to the beat, kiddo. Only the beat. That's where you're fully here.
I've got a toolbox and patience. Hold still.
[Count]
Five … ten … fifteen … seventeen … seventeen, seventeen, seventeen …
[Outro, SYSTEM and ECHT]
Human content: seventeen percent. Stable.
Stable is a lovely word.
The Viennese words
| Wienerisch | English | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Burschi | kiddo | Fixed across the album; gruff and fond in one word, two syllables like "Burschi", stress on the first. |
| Hör auf den Takt | Stick to the beat | "Listen to the beat" is too long; "stick to" is how a bandleader actually says it. |
| nix davon | not one bit of it | "nix" is the blunt Viennese nothing; "not one bit of it" keeps the shrug and the syllables. |
| I kann's ned | Can't do it | "ned" = not; dropping the "I" keeps it as clipped as the dialect. |
| a schönes Wort | a lovely word | "schön" in this mouth is soft and a little wry; "lovely" carries both. |
| Werkzeug und Geduld | a toolbox and patience | STAMM's bar-owner practicality; "toolbox" is concrete and sings on the stress. |