Begehren / Desire Lyrics
Merlin, MorganaBegehren / Desire
Merlin:Hell und grazil zieht das Feuer die Motte an
Sie fliegt verführt in den eigenen Tod
Süß dringt der Duft aus den Tiefen des Bienenstocks
Wo jedem Dieb Schmerz und Todespein droht
Ja, die Sehnsucht bringt nichts als Verhängnis ein
Schafft meist Qualen und Leid
Stürzt uns blind in die ärgste Bedrängnis
Dabei weiß doch jeder Bescheid
Hunger, Habgier sind die Qualen
Denen allzu viel Übel und Elend entspringt
So wird Begehren uns verzehren
Und sein Feuer verbrennt unsern Leib und Verstand
Morgana:
Ein Kind jammert laut und es ruft nach der Mutter
Es braucht ihre Milch, ihre Nähe noch mehr
Der Drang, der es treibt, seine Sehnsucht nach Nähe
Wird oft später Fluch und verletzt uns so sehr
Das Verlangen beherrscht uns in Ewigkeit
Gibt uns nie wieder frei
Wenn sich jemand auch scheinbar von ihm befreit
Bleibt es doch nur Heuchelei
Merlin & Morgana:
Hunger, Habgier sind die Qualen
Denen allzu viel Übel und Elend entspringt
So wird Begehren uns verzehren
Und sein Feuer verbrennt unsern Leib und Verstand
Morgana:
Oft wird Sehnsucht fatales Verhängnis und
Bringt uns Qualen und Leid
Stürzt uns blind in die ärgste Bedrängnis
Dabei weiß doch etwas in uns längst Bescheid
Merlin & Morgana:
Zu viel Begehren kann verzehren
Und sein Feuer verbrennt unsern Leib und Verstand
Morgana: Hunger
Merlin: Habgier
Morgana: Sehnsucht
Merlin: Frevel
Merlin & Morgana: Die Begierde vernichtet den mächtigsten Mann
ENGLISH LYRICS:
Merlin:
Bright and graceful, the fire draws the moth,
It flies, seduced, into its own death.
Sweet is the scent from the depths of the beehive,
Where pain and death await every thief.
Yes, longing brings nothing but disaster,
Often creating torment and suffering,
Plunges us blindly into the worst distress,
Even though everyone knows better.
Hunger, greed are the torments,
From which too much evil and misery spring.
Thus, desire will consume us,
And its fire will burn our bodies and minds.
Morgana:
A child cries loudly, calling for its mother,
It needs her milk, her closeness even more.
The drive that pushes it, its longing for closeness,
Often becomes a curse and hurts us deeply.
Desire rules us forever,
Never sets us free.
Even if someone seems to escape it,
It remains mere hypocrisy.
Merlin & Morgana:
Hunger, greed are the torments,
From which too much evil and misery spring.
Thus, desire will consume us,
And its fire will burn our bodies and minds.
Morgana:
Often longing becomes fatal doom,
Bringing us torment and suffering,
Plunges us blindly into the worst distress,
Though something within us always knows better.
Merlin & Morgana:
Too much desire can consume us,
And its fire will burn our bodies and minds.
Morgana: Hunger
Merlin: Greed
Morgana: Longing
Merlin: Sin
Merlin & Morgana: Desire destroys even the mightiest man.
Song Overview
Review and Highlights
Quick summary
- Work: Artus - Excalibur (world premiere: March 15, 2014, Theater St. Gallen)
- Song role: Merlin and Morgana duet that warns how desire mutates into cruelty
- Who sings on the 2014 album: Thomas Borchert (Merlin) and Sabrina Weckerlin (Morgana)
- Sound: theatrical pop-rock with a hard, sermon-like pulse and a snarling counter-voice
- Album context: track appears on the 2014 release Artus Excalibur - Das Musical
Artus - Excalibur (2014) - stage musical - non-diegetic. This is one of those numbers that does not just fill space between plot points. It explains the oxygen of the story. Merlin tries to define the danger in advance. Morgana answers like someone who has already decided that danger is useful.
The hook is its split personality. Merlin sings in images that feel like old folklore - moths, fire, honey, theft - as if he is reading the kingdom a cautionary tale. Morgana turns the warning into appetite. That tug-of-war gives the scene bite: not a lecture, not a confession, but a philosophical brawl dressed up as a song. According to Apple Music track listings, the piece sits late enough in the running order to feel like a hinge, right as the show stops flirting with temptation and starts paying the bill for it.
Creation History
Artus - Excalibur was written with music by Frank Wildhorn, lyrics by Robin Lerner, and a German translation credited to Nina Schneider for the St. Gallen premiere production. The cast and creative credits of that premiere connect directly to the studio release, where Borchert and Weckerlin are paired on this track. The official audio upload distributed via Rebeat Digital matches the album credit and label information shown on major streaming services.
Song Meaning and Annotations
Plot
In the musical, Merlin functions as the moral weather report. He can feel the storm forming before the court admits it exists. Morgana, by contrast, moves through the story like a lit match in a library. "Begehren" belongs to that collision: the mentor voice trying to stop history, and the rival voice trying to speed it up. Even if you do not pin it to one literal action beat, the number frames what is coming: hunger, ambition, and the way a private craving turns into public ruin.
Song Meaning
The meaning is a warning with teeth. Desire is not painted as romance. It is painted as a force that seduces, then devours. Merlin argues that everyone knows the pattern. Morgana argues that knowing the pattern does not stop anyone, and that is the point. The mood is darkly energized: the rhythm pushes forward like footsteps in a corridor, while the lyric keeps naming the same trap from different angles.
Annotations
"Hell und grazil zieht das Feuer die Motte an"
Merlin chooses the simplest image: attraction that looks pretty until it is fatal. It is a neat bit of stagecraft because you can hear the danger before you see it in the plot.
"Sues dringt der Duft aus den Tiefen des Bienenstocks"
That honey image does double work. It is seduction, but also theft. Wanting something is one thing. Taking it is another. The song keeps sliding between those two like it is deliberately blurring the line.
"Hunger, Habgier ... Sehnsucht ... Frevel"
The list feels like an inventory of sins, but the pacing makes it feel practical, almost like a checklist. Morgana is not shocked by the words. She is comfortable living among them.
Musical and thematic notes
Driving rhythm: a firm, marching undercurrent that makes the moral argument feel like a pursuit. The beat is not relaxed enough for daydreaming.
Style fusion: pop-rock bite with theatre diction, built for clear narrative delivery rather than vocal decoration.
Emotional arc: Merlin frames the trap, Morgana inhabits it, and the number ends with the sense that the warning arrived too late.
Technical Information (Quick Facts)
- Song: Begehren (alternate title: Desire)
- Artist: Thomas Borchert and Sabrina Weckerlin
- Featured: Duet (Merlin; Morgana)
- Composer: Frank Wildhorn
- Lyricist: Robin Lerner
- Book: Ivan Menchell
- German translation: Nina Schneider
- Arrangements and orchestrations: Koen Schoots
- Release Date: April 4, 2014
- Genre: Musical theatre; pop-rock
- Instruments: band and orchestral layers, ensemble support in the arrangement
- Label: HitSquad Records
- Mood: ominous, confrontational, cautionary
- Length: 3:30
- Track #: 9 (on Artus Excalibur - Das Musical)
- Language: German
- Music style: warning-chorus writing with contrasting character colors
- Poetic meter: accentual phrasing, speech-led in the verse and tightened in repeated hooks
Frequently Asked Questions
- Who sings "Begehren" in Artus - Excalibur?
- The number is credited to Thomas Borchert and Sabrina Weckerlin on the 2014 album, reflecting Merlin and Morgana as the core voices.
- Is it a romance song?
- No. The text treats desire as a trap, not a love letter, using cautionary images rather than tender detail.
- What is the central metaphor of the opening?
- Merlin compares attraction to a moth drawn to flame: beautiful motion, fatal result.
- Why does the lyric list impulses like hunger and greed?
- It turns temptation into a catalogue, suggesting the kingdom is not threatened by one mistake but by a whole mindset.
- What is Morgana doing dramatically in the duet?
- She does not deny the danger. She normalizes it, which frames her as someone who can weaponize other peoples wants.
- Where can it sit in staging terms?
- It plays well as a shadow-scene: two figures arguing across the same beat while the court stays unaware.
- How long is the track on major streaming listings?
- Apple Music lists it at 3:30.
- Does the song have an official English recording?
- The English title is commonly used as an alternate name in listings, while the documented 2014 release is in German.
- Is there a separate singles-chart history for the track?
- Not widely documented. The more reported milestone concerns the album release performance rather than an individual single run.
Awards and Chart Positions
There is no broadly published, separate singles-chart run for this track. The well-covered chart note is tied to the concept/cast release itself: theatre press reported the Artus - Excalibur recording hitting No. 1 on German Amazon and iTunes charts at launch in early April 2014.
| Item | Metric | Date | Scope |
|---|---|---|---|
| Artus - Excalibur (concept/cast recording) | No. 1 on German Amazon and iTunes (reported) | April 3, 2014 | Platform charts (album), not an official national singles chart |
Additional Info
The cast pairing is the real spark. Borchert brings the authority of a warning voice. Weckerlin brings the thrill of someone who hears the warning and keeps walking anyway. That is why the number sticks: it is not a sermon from on high. It is a duel of worldviews, and Camelot is the collateral.
Key Contributors
| Entity | Type | Relationship (S-V-O) |
|---|---|---|
| Frank Wildhorn | Person | Wildhorn composed Artus - Excalibur. |
| Robin Lerner | Person | Lerner wrote lyrics for Artus - Excalibur. |
| Ivan Menchell | Person | Menchell wrote the book for Artus - Excalibur. |
| Nina Schneider | Person | Schneider translated the musical into German for the St. Gallen production. |
| Koen Schoots | Person | Schoots created the arrangements and orchestrations for the production build. |
| Thomas Borchert | Person | Borchert originated Merlin in the St. Gallen premiere cast and recorded the track. |
| Sabrina Weckerlin | Person | Weckerlin originated Morgana in the St. Gallen premiere cast and recorded the track. |
| Theater St. Gallen | Organization | Theater St. Gallen premiered Artus - Excalibur on March 15, 2014. |
| HitSquad Records | Organization | HitSquad Records released the 2014 album containing the track. |
| Rebeat Digital GmbH | Organization | Rebeat Digital GmbH is credited on the official audio distribution to YouTube. |
How to Sing Begehren
Practice tools disagree on the exact tempo and key because they analyze different uploads. One common chord-analysis listing tags the subtitled video at about 130 BPM in D minor. Use that as a practical starting point, then prioritize text clarity. This is an argument in music, not a floating ballad.
- Tempo: Speak the text in rhythm first, then lock into a firm pulse (around 130 BPM as a rehearsal anchor).
- Diction: Keep consonants crisp on the warning images (Motte, Tod, Bienenstock). You are painting pictures fast.
- Breathing: Plan breaths at the ends of image lines. The verse can feel like a run-on sentence if you do not mark it.
- Flow and rhythm: Merlin should sound steady, like a narrator with authority. Morgana can lean sharper, slightly ahead of the beat at times, like impatience.
- Accents: Stress the nouns in the list moments (Hunger, Habgier, Sehnsucht). The catalogue has to land as a punch.
- Blend: When the voices converge, match vowel shape so the warning feels unified even when the characters are not.
- Mic and dynamics: Keep the loudest warnings focused rather than shouted. Intensity comes from precision.
- Pitfalls: Do not oversell the menace. Let the imagery do the work, and let the rhythm carry the threat.
Sources
Sources: Apple Music track listing, YouTube (Provided to YouTube by Rebeat Digital GmbH), LyricTranslate song page, Wikipedia (Artus-Excalibur credits and premiere), Playbill (album chart report), Discogs master listing, Chordify tempo and key analysis