There is a German lullaby with the line "tomorrow morning, if God wants, you will wake up again" and quite a number of kids worried "what if He doesn't?"
this post was submitted on 22 Nov 2025
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That's honestly a terrifying idea to put in a kid's brain before they go to sleep.
The concept of most religions is absolute obedience and absence of curiosity. This " terrifying idea" is an excellent tool to form the needed mindset.
He said it was German
have you had kids? "and if you die before you sleep AND YOU BETTER SLEEP YOU LITTLE SHITS i pray the lord take your soul (because no one else wants it. i can tell)" is a fairly common sleep-deprived emotion
Isn't that a thing in English, too?
Now I lay me down to sleep and pray the Lord my soul to keep,
And if I die before I wake, I pray the Lord my soul to take.
Still pretty messed up.
That's pretty metal, heh
That's why Metallica put it in their song "Enter Sandman", which Motörhead later covered (I'm only saying that because I like the Motorhead version better)
That was the reference I was making, yeah
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Literally. Metallica used this in their Enter the Sandman song.
Used to say that as a kid. Catholicism is a fear thing. I don't think much of it. I don't think it's particularly bad, just hey, if I choke on air tonight, bring me to the promised land! Unfortunately, this is it.
This is even darker! The one I quoted is arguably just a filler to get enough syllables for the line. Depending on your image of God, it's just "of cause he does". Your version elaborates on the idea much more
@lugal @EfreetSK child mortality rates were pretty fucking high in earlier times. Around the time the original poem was published 40-50% of children under 15 died.
Only vaccines and modern medicine put this down to 4.2% globally in 2022, with the most developed countries reaching 0.3%
That is to say... that poem had a point.
yup. childhood mortality was so high that average lifespan was 40-ish years, but life expectancy at age 20 would be 60-70 years old.
This seems to be a mistranslation, because in German, “wenn” can mean both “if” and “when”, but it’s actually closer to “when”. If you really mean “if”, you use “falls” instead of “wenn”.
So the intended meaning is in fact "tomorrow morning, when God wants it (ie. at the time God wants it), you will wake up again"
I honestly never thought about it that way. It wasn't sung to me when I was little and I only know it from people who misunderstood it. But it's not closer to "when". It's the default for both. You can disambiguate it to "falls" or "sobald" but "wenn" is in both contexts the most common word.
I can’t argue with that, because the German “wenn” is definitely more ambiguous than the English “when”, but since it’s a lullaby, you kinda have to assume that perhaps it’s leaning more on the positive side, because who on earth would want their baby to die in their sleep?
If Germans really were this cruel, they would have been wiped off the face of the earth a long time ago.
because who on earth would want their baby to die in their sleep?
actually, this exact thought was really calming to me when i was a kid (yes, the song was sung to me too):
if i die, at least i die in my sleep, where i wouldn't really be aware of it anyways, so i don't have to care about it. it's like, every human has to die sometime, but at least it can be in your sleep. and there's nothing you can do about it either, so you don't have to worry about it.
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i don't see in the slightest how that is related to the post?
It's taking a song to an unintended implication. "All I want for Christmas is you" implies how important you are, not that you aren't much. And the German lullaby implies that God will wake you up, not that he might decide not to. Another commenter pointed out that "if" could also be "when" so God will wake you when he sees fit.
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why is it that germany produces the wierdest stuff for kids like isnt there a kids show thats just a grumpy bread loaf wishing he could die?
Bernd das Brot doesn't want to die. He just wants to be left alone and likes ingrain wallpaper
I grew up during the Cold War, close enough to NYC that if it was bombed, I’d be fried. So this sentiment definitely had real meaning as a kid.
Nerd!
(I am too, so.... Uhh... Hi)
Thanks, first thing to pop into my mind.
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This is how your brain works when you've got low self esteem
It's also a humorous take if you have healthy self-esteem.
Though you do make a good point.
You're not wrong it's absolutely still funny
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Some people are a lot, I don't want them.
If she wants everyone hearing the song, and she thinks that's not a lot, there might be no boundary to her greed
M'ar'ia Careigh the Greedy, Patron goddess of Song and Pagan Gifting.
Derives her power from retail worship, and every year becomes stronger and stronger.
Soon her greed threatens to devour not just the Turkey, but All Hallows Eve
She thinks you are not many things. She just wants one thing.
It is a comment on complexity+quantity of what she wants, not significance.
Gosh!
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That's encouraging.
All of my exes told me I was a lot, shortly before dumping me.
She doesn't want a lot for Christmas.
Except poor people to stop complaining about the economic crisis preventing them from buying Sephora bullshit and protesting capitalism.
For anyone looking for refuge: LIDL doesn't play music in their stores. No one knows why, but enjoy it
They do in Spain. Rot-tot-tot-tom. Rot-tot-tot-tom.
Aw. Sorry.
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I'm not a lot.
I'm Kenough.
But if anyone of us showed up to her house wrapped I bet she’d say different
I mean, fair.
She's right tho...
She's trying to be cute and sarcastic.
SHE'S DEFROSTING AGAIN!!!
Don't listen to her Santa! All I want for Christmas is tits! And world pace and for ruzzian to become a nation of underwater basket weevers thar follows international laws including staying in their country and not invading others. But don't forget! Tits please!
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