Benzin

"Benzin" (German, in English: Gasoline) is a song by German industrial metal band Rammstein, released as the first single from their album Rosenrot.

In Germany, gasoline is called Benzin (which is derived from the chemical mixture benzine). Till has confirmed in an interview that the song Benzin is about the rising gas prices.[1] The song uses the word "Gasolin", however the word does not exist in the German language, but it is an English word made German. There was, however, a German chain of gas stations called "Gasolin."

Benzin was Rammstein's first number one single, getting to number one in Finland after its release in 2005.

Music video

In the video, Rammstein are firefighters. They have not had a call for a long time, and are thus very ill-equipped for dealing with an emergency. They enter a huge, eight-lane-wide fire-engine, and set off on their journey, not taking any notice of the damage they are causing, or the people they are killing. They plow through high-voltage power-lines, trains, trees and normal road vehicles; despite this, the truck remains unscratched. During the journey, the scene changes to a fantasy by guitarist Paul H. Landers, during which he saves a "damsel-in-distress" from a burning building. During this fantasy, the band members are playing Benzin in the background amongst the smoke. The scene returns to the Fire-engine, plowing through traffic and buildings before it overturns and sends the band-members crashing through the windscreen. As Till comes round, a man points to the top of a nearby building. It dawns on them that they have crashed right outside the emergency. They scramble to get a safety trampoline out for the jumper, who happens to be Christian "Flake" Lorenz. The trampoline rips just as he jumps, and thus, despite all that carnage and destruction, his bandmates completely fail to save his life.

Live performances

The song was first played live in the Reise, Reise tour on June 23, 2005 in Berlin's Wuhlheide [2], months before its release. It replaced Moskau on the setlist. Benzin was played on the next two nights, lyrics changing a little bit even from one night to the next. Theatrical flames shot twenty meters into the air during those live performances. It was then played in the non-festival concerts until the end of the tour, but this time without any pyrotechnics. However, as of the Liebe Ist Für Alle Da tour, Benzin has returned to being performed with pyrotechnics, including a flamethrower disguised as a petrol pump. By the end of the song Till Lindemann uses it to set a 'fan' on fire, who runs through the stage until the song is over.

Track listing

All songs by Rammstein.

1. Benzin - 3:47
2. Benzin (Combustion Remix) by Meshuggah - 5:05
3. Benzin (Smallstars Remix) by Ad Rock - 3:45
4. Benzin (Kerosinii Remix) by Apocalyptica - 3:48