☝️ Key Points
- The song lyrics are about an artist who wants to paint outdoors in nature.
- He discovers a cow at the edge of the forest and sees it as a masterpiece worth painting.
- The artist starts painting the background of the forest, but when he takes a final look at his work, the cow has suddenly disappeared.
- The artist continues to wait for a cow to pass by and complete his painting, but the world is so fickle that our imagined images rarely or never come true.
- The song lyrics express the artist's disappointment as his painting is not completed as planned, and show the irony of life that unforeseen obstacles can thwart our plans.
Interpretation
The song lyrics "Chue am Waldrand" by
Mani Matter is about an artist who wants to paint outdoors. He is looking for a sweet motif and discovers a cow at the edge of the forest. He immediately realizes that this is a masterpiece worth painting.
The artist stands up and starts painting the background of the forest, with a hill and a bit of sky to the right. Then he paints the grass with many flowers and finally comes to the main thing, which is the cow. He skillfully uses different shades of brown and starts painting. But when he takes a last look at his work, the cow has suddenly disappeared.
The mischievous animal has run out of his painting and no one knows what scared it away. It hasn't come back, even when the artist called and waved. A white spot remains on the canvas.
After many Sundays, the artist is still sitting in his place, waiting in front of his easel. He still hopes that a cow will come by and complete his painting. But the world is so perfidious that rarely or never do the images we have imagined come true. Thus, this banal cow has also destroyed the beginning of a masterpiece.
The song lyrics express the disappointment of the artist when his painting is not completed as planned. They also show the irony of life, that sometimes we encounter unforeseen obstacles that thwart our plans.