*RTH* DIE KRUPPS – To the hilt

Frodo schreef:ik vind het origineel ruim beter

Op SongMeanings schreef:This song is about a soldier who has recently been deployed to war with another country, and has returned to his land mentally disabled. The Arabic-inspired chimes along with the music, along with the date of the release and world events occurring during that time frame all hint that the country is most likely Iraq or Afghanistan.

The singer clearly seems to have suffered from PTSD or other mental disabilities such as tourettes syndrome as a result of his actions in the war. If the original Die Krupps music video is watched; one can clearly see that the "Burn their bridges" chorus is shouted at the singer by an old man; indicating that his actions were forced upon him by pressure of higher ranked officers.

In addition to the shouting officer in the video, there are other factors that help one realize that these actions that led to his mental disabilities are forced upon him. The first and most important is that the singer changes his voice when shouting "Burn their bridges!", indicating that someone else could be commanding him. In addition to a voice change; the singer talks about himself in first person, but when the chorus is presented, he's shouting it in third person. This can be incorrectly interpreted as him being the official shouting; but further analysis proves otherwise (see next factor).

The last factor is that the soldier seems to be a foot soldier in that it's the first time he's interacted with the people he already heard so much about (presumably since 9/11 and in training), and he finds a level of acceptance in saying "I understand, we're all strangers in a foreign land". This leads to a safe assumption that he is not an official himself but rather a person who saw the similarities Arabs and Muslims and the West; which is why his actions could have led to mental issues due to the guilt/regret.

Upon returning to his own country he is outcast because of his mental issues or his changed culture due to his time spent in those countries. This is a very common issue in the United States and the UK today; this song addresses the root of those reasons.