Rammstein "Stripped (Single & Video)"

Neue Deutsche Härte band Rammstein recorded a cover of "Stripped" for the 1998 Depeche Mode tribute album For the Masses. This version cut the line "Let me see you stripped down to the bone" to "Let me see you stripped" because of singer Till Lindemann's difficulty singing "down to the bone" in a manner that fit with the rest of the song (the entire line is restored in the "Heavy Mental Mix" by Charlie Clouser). Released as a single on 28 July 1998, it reached number 14 on the German single charts. The song also appears as the twelfth track on some special editions of the band's sophomore release, Sehnsucht (1997). It was also the band's first song done entirely in English.

The video for the song incorporated footage from Olympia, a documentary film on the 1936 Summer Olympics directed by Leni Riefenstahl. Following the Second World War Riefenstahl was classified as a Nazi sympathizer by postwar authorities; the choice to use footage from a film by her led to threats against the band. Members of the band praised Riefenstahl's filmmaking abilities and aesthetic choices in a 2011 documentary of the making of the video, particularly the imagery of the athletes, while simultaneously disassociating themselves from Riefenstahl's political views. Members of Depeche Mode, especially Dave Gahan, responded positively to the cover, since it was so different from any other versions of Depeche Mode's work.

Track listing

1. "Stripped" – 4:25
2. "Stripped (Psilonaut Mix by Johan Edlund-Tiamat)" – 4:28
3. "Stripped (Heavy Mental Mix by Charlie Clouser)" – 5:12
4. "Stripped (Tribute to Düsseldorf Mix by Charlie Clouser)" – 5:10
5. "Stripped (FKK Mix by Günter Schulz-KMFDM)" – 4:35
6. "Wollt ihr das bett in Flammen sehen? (Live Arena, Berlin '96)" [Video] – 5:01