Ich wünsch’ mir nur uns zwei
I’m only wishing for the two of us – "Julia" by JEREMIAS
It’s hard to go wrong with a classic love song, and that’s exactly what you’ll find in “Julia” by the Hanover-based indie pop band JEREMIAS.
I love almost everything about this song – the simple but beautiful piano accompaniment, the black-and-white single-shot music video, the earnestness and Ehrlichkeit (honesty) of the lyrics.
In addition to giving us a few new romantic vocabulary words, the song also provides an example of how to express a wish or desire in German.
Du wünschst dir den Frühling
You are wishing for the springtime
Ich wünsch’ mir nur uns zwei
I am only wishing for the two of us
Julia, kommst du noch vorbei?
Julia, are you still coming over?
When we use the German verb sich wünschen (to wish) to say that we are wishing for something (or that someone else is wishing for something), the verb is used together with a reflexive pronoun in the dative case.
Du wünschst dir den Frühling
You are wishing for the springtimeIch wünsche mir nur uns zwei
I am only wishing for the two of us
Note that in both cases, the reflexive pronoun in dative appears directly after the conjugated form of the verb wünschen and before a direct object in the accusative case, what the person is wishing for – the springtime, or the two of them.
You can read more about expressing wishes in German at Deutsche Welle.
And as a side note: did you notice that this relatively short song includes three German numbers?
Ich wünsche mir nur uns zwei
I am only wishing for the two of usIch hab’ Träume, die reichen safe für drei
I have dreams that are enough for threeVier Jahre ohne Pause
Four years without a break
Here are a few additional words from “Julia” to add to your vocabulary list:
hell – light / bright
laut – loud
manchmal – sometimes
die Pause – the break
der Freund / die Freunden – the friend / the friends
warten – to wait
glauben – to believe
sich wünschen – to wish for something
der Frühling – the springtime
nur – only
vorbeikommen – to come by / to come over
noch – still
der Traum / die Träume – the dream / the dreams
reichen – to be enough / to be sufficient
teilen – to share
leicht – easy
hoffen – to hope