Und am Ende der Straße steht ein Haus am See
And on the end of the street there’s house by the lake – "Haus am See" by Peter Fox
In his 2008 song “Haus am See” (“House by the Lake”), German Reggae-Pop singer Peter Fox imagines a bigger and better life beyond his boring hometown, where he already knows every face, house, and store (and even knows the local pigeons by name).
He can already envision a future walking through unknown streets, making a fortune and name for himself, and eventually coming back home to settle down with a family in a traumhaftes (dreamlike) house by the lake.
From a language standpoint, “Haus am See” gives us a long list of interesting separable verbs, and provides us with multiple examples of contractions in German.
Und am Ende der Straße steht ein Haus am See
And on the end of the street there is a house by the lake
Orangenbaumblätter liegen auf dem Weg
Orange tree leaves lie on the path
Ich hab 20 Kinder, meine Frau ist schön
I have 20 children, my wife is beautiful
Alle kommen vorbei, ich brauch nie rauszugehen
Everyone comes over, I never have to go out
(Im Traum gesehen, das Haus am See)
(Seen in a dream, the house by the lake)
You’re likely familiar with the concept of contractions in English, where two words are condensed into one with the help of an apostrophe:
It’s (it is) Monday.
She’s (she is) running late.
I can’t (cannot) find my shoes.
Don’t (do not) forget to turn off the light.
Contractions appear in German too, though in a slightly different fashion. German contractions most often consist of a preposition + a definite article, and contain no apostrophes:
Wir sind am (an + dem) Strand.
We are at the beach.Sie gehen ins (in + das) Kino.
They are going to the movie theater.Sie freut sich, zur (zu + der) Schule zu gehen.
She is excited to go to school.
In my experience, contractions in German aren’t quite as informal in usage as they are in English, and they seem to be a bit more widely used. However, they are still optional, and would likely not be seen in highly formal writing.
The lines of “Haus am See” contain quite a few German contractions:
Kenn jede Taube hier beim (bei + dem) Namen…
(I) know every pigeon here by name…Ein Frauenchor am (an + dem) Straßenrand, der für mich singt…
A choir of women on the side of the road, that sings for me…Ich lehne mich zurück und guck ins (in + das) tiefe Blau…
I lean back and look into the deep blue…Und am (an + dem) Ende der Straße steht ein Haus am (an + dem) See…
And on the end of the street is a house by the lake…Im (in + einem) Traum gesehen, das Haus am (an + dem) See…
Seen in a dream, the house by the lake…Alles gewinnen beim (bei + dem) Spiel mit gezinkten Karten…
Win everything at the game with rigged cards…Doch irgendwann werd ich vom (von + dem) Glück verfolgt…
But someday I’ll be followed by luck…Hab taube Ohren, ‘n weißen Bart und sitz im (in + dem) Garten…
(I) have deaf ears, a white beard, and sit in the garden…
Did I miss any? You can find a more comprehensive list and more information about contractions in German in this article from FluentU.
Here are a few additional words from “Haus am See” to add to your vocabulary list:
geboren – born (past participle of “gebären”, to give birth
laufen – to walk
die Straße / die Straßen – the street / the streets
das Gesicht / die Gesichter – the face / the faces
die Taube – the pigeon / dove
der Name – the name
warten – to wait
vorbeifliegen – to fly by
der Straßenrand – the side of the road
zurücklehnen – to lean back
das Ende – the end
das Haus – the house
der See – the lake
die Orangenbaumblätter – the orange tree leaves
liegen – (to lay / lie)
der Weg – the way / path
schön – beautiful
vorbeikommen – to come by
rausgehen – to go out
der Traum – the dream
suchen – to search
gewinnen – to win
verlieren – to lose
ausgraben – to dig out
einladen – to invite
die Verwandten – the relatives
feiern – to celebrate / party
der Mond – the moon
begraben – to bury
der Bart – the beard
die Enkel – the grandchilden
erwarten – to expect