Song Meaning

Nina Hagen’s “Fisch im Wasser” isn’t just a quirky krautrock track; it's a primal scream for autonomy, cloaked in watery metaphor. The desire to be a "Fisch im Wasser" (fish in the water) in a "flaschengrünen, tiefen See" (bottle-green, deep lake) speaks to a yearning for a space of profound isolation and self-sufficiency. It's a rejection of terrestrial constraints, a shedding of societal expectations in favor of a liquid, self-contained existence. The repeated line, “Sie will mit Wasser sich besaufen / Und paar Blasen blubbern lassen” (She wants to get drunk on water / And let a few bubbles bubble), is particularly telling. It's not about hedonistic escape through conventional means, but rather a subversive act of finding intoxication and release in the very substance of her desired environment. The repeated wish "Was sie dann will / Das ist mit Neptun schweigen / Und in Ruhe tun, was sie sonst nie tut / Was sie sonst nicht kann und soll" (What she wants then / Is to be silent with Neptune / And in peace do what she otherwise never does / What she otherwise cannot and should not) suggests a deeper, more profound longing. Neptune, the Roman god of the sea, represents the subconscious, the untamed, and the depths of the human psyche. To be silent with Neptune is to commune with one's own inner world, to access a realm of forbidden desires and unrealized potential. It’s a space where she can finally act outside the bounds of societal norms and expectations. The song's unsettling climax, the reversed lyrics, amplifies the sense of disorientation and rebellion. It's as if Hagen is dismantling language itself, mirroring the protagonist's desire to dismantle the structures that confine her. This isn't merely a song about wanting to be a fish; it's about wanting to be free, unburdened by the weight of expectation, and fully immersed in the uncharted waters of one's own being. The "Fisch im Wasser" becomes a symbol of radical self-acceptance, a defiant embrace of the unconventional, and a potent reminder that true liberation lies in the depths of our own inner ocean.