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© Copyright 1998, Jim Loy
Franz Schubert is the "Father of Song." He wrote many lieder (about 600 of them). And these lieder essentially defined what a song is. Many of these are very good. One is called The Trout. This song, and especially the subsequent Trout Quintet, based on the main melody of the song, are among the great achievements of the human race.
But the words to The Trout are rotten. I am lucky that my German is not very good. The song sounds good to me. The song tells how the narrator has been trying to catch this wily trout. But the trout sees him on the bank, and is too smart to bite the hook. So the narrator stirs up the water, muddying it, so the fish can't see him. And the narrator catches the trout.
Does that work? It sounds stupid, to me.
Schubert did set many songs to great German poetry. But, his friends wrote the words to many other of his songs. From what I hear, most of these lyrics run from poor to mediocre.
Schubert died at the age of 31. He is most famous for his Unfinished Symphony, which he left unfinished long before his death.