Kraftwerk "Spiegelsaal"/"Hall of Mirrors": French translation

“Salle de miroirs”

Un jeune homme est entré dans une salle de miroirs.

Où il a découvert sa propre réflexion. 

Parfois il voyait son vrai visage.

Et parfois il voyait quelqu’un étrange.

Même les vedettes les plus grandes

Découvrent eux-mêmes dans un miroir.

Parfois il aimait sa réflexion.

Mais ensuite il voyait une illusion.

Même les vedettes les plus grandes

Détestent eux-mêmes dans un miroir. 

Il a créé une personne dont il voulait être

Et s’est changé en une nouvelle identité.

Même les vedettes les plus grandes

Changent eux-mêmes dans un miroir.

L’artiste habite dans un miroir

Avec les échos de lui-même.

Même les vedettes les plus grandes

Vivent leurs vies dans un miroir.

Même les vedettes les plus grandes

Se font plus beaux dans un miroir. 

The lyrics of “Spiegelsaal”/”Hall of Mirrors” cleverly unite three themes. 

First, it’s the ancient Greek myth of Narcissus, a boy who fell in love with his own reflection he saw in the water and died staring into it, unable to touch the beautiful mirror image of himself. 

Then it’s the Galerie des Glaces (Spiegelsaal in German, Hall of Mirrors in English), a gallery in the Palace of Versailles in France where important historical events took place – the establishing of the German Empire was proclaimed there in 1871 and the Treaty of Versailles was signed in 1919, signifying the end of the World War I. The Hall of Mirrors saw both the triumph and the failure of Germany.

The third thread is the group’s own experience of their growing popularity in the mid-70s that made them so uneasy they tried to conceal their true selves behind fake personas like dummies. 

While the single “Showroom Dummies” was fairly sinister and explored the same theme as “Hall of Mirrors”, its accessible repetitive electronic pop had nothing on the icy chill of “Hall of Mirrors”. 

Uncharacteristically verbose, “Hall of Mirrors” is easily the most philosophical text by Kraftwerk. Its pretentious lyrics (“the artist is living in the mirror”) sound more like a spoken words poem than a pop song and the track’s subject matter is unusually elevated for pop music. 

Funny thing is, if any other band attempted to describe their artistic mission like Kraftwerk did here, they’d likely end up with a ridiculously pompous result* – but “Hall of Mirrors” feels solemn because these guys weren’t faking it, in their “electronic lifestyle” they lived and breathed avant-garde and even high art every day. In fact, it sounds so truthful that I’d bet it’s this song that prompted Pascal Bussy in his “Man, Machine and Music” to write that fantastical story about a room covered in mirrors in Ralf Hütter’s home. 

*Depeche Mode’s “Sacred” comes to mind, and it’s not ridiculous, though.