The Most Beautiful Song

There were two simple notes
but one grand symphony--
that's how we found each other,
and together we made
a most beautiful song.

So soft and so quiet
and chosen with love,
but what would the song sound like
if one note all at once

were gone?

I breathe in, and I breathe out;
I let my eyes open and close;
and I hear all the singing
and all of the music:
none of it sounds like you.

It pops and spits,
it bends and breaks,
it howls and hisses,
burns and stings.

And everything's fine,
though the world's going wrong,
because it just keeps on turning without you,
yes, it does keep on turning without you.

I breathe in, then I breathe out;
I let my eyes open and close;
and I hear all the singing
and all of the music:
none it sounds like you.
No, not at all like you.

And so on days like these days--
one like today, when I feel so alone--
while I am singing here for so many people,
my only wish is that you would be there.

There are two simple notes,
here in my fantasy,
and together they make
the most beautiful song.
Yes, we're still the most beautiful song.

Words and music by Anna Depenbusch
Translated by Frank Beck

One of my favorite songs from the singer/songwriter's latest album, Das Alphabet der Anne Depenbusch. As Karla Letterman says in her article about an April 2018 concert, 'Anna Depenbusch walks out on stage, takes a seat at the grand piano, gets started--and you're in the middle. In the middle of life.'

• VIDEO: Anna Depenbusch sings the song for TV Noir
• VIDEO: Depenbusch sings 'Stadt Land Fluss' (with translation)
• The song's German lyrics
• Karla Letterman on a Depenbusch concert in April 2018 (in German)
• My 2015 profile of Anna Depenbusch

Dance with Me

It is still, so still--
not one more loud cry.
Forget it, let go now, it's over and done.

Come dance with me, just like we were in love,
though I know in the morning no morning will be.
Yes, hold me tight, just like we were in love,
before the last of our love fades away;
yes, before the last of our love fades away--

before a November lays our summer low;
yes, before the wind takes me and I have to go.

It is still, so still--
each word is a lie,
spoken and broken on the same Sunday night.

Come dance with me, just like we were in love,
though I know in the morning no morning will be.
Yes, hold me tight, just like we were in love,
before the last of our love fades away;
yes, before the last of our love fades away.

Leave me your shirt, sailor, and I'll think of you
far out, far out on the high seas.
I'll give you my heart, or you'll forget about me,
until we two meet again.

I'll take your shirt, sailor, and I'll think of you,
far out, far out on the high seas.
I'll give you my heart, or you'll forget about me,
until we two meet again.

Day by day I stand on the pier,
with every ship that passes I dream on.
Now you are there, but no longer mine:
my little sister's on your arm.

So go to sea, and go to hell--
set your sails straight away.
I won't be shedding tears anymore.

Don't give a damn about your roses,
if they have to sting so much,
and all I really love of sailors is the sea!

"Tanz mit mir" - Words and music by Anna Depenbusch
Translated by Frank Beck

Anna Depenbusch is one of today's most inventive singer/songwriters. Who else would write a song like this? I love the way it moves from desolation to self-assertion, as the rejected woman gives her sailor an earful in the last few lines.

• VIDEO: Anna's 2011 performance in Hamburg's Lausch Lounge

• VIDEO: Anna performs the song to kick-off her 2013 Bauhaus telecast

• The song's lyrics in German

• Hear more of Anna Depenbusch's music on iTunes

• My profile of Anna Depenbusch

Somewhere else is higher

Come swim farther, don't hold back;
somewhere else is higher--
you must onward swim,

always onward swim.

Come swim farther, don’t hold back,

you could lose direction -

you must onward swim,

always onward swim.

Come swim farther, don’t hold back, 

straight up from the bottom -

you must onward swim,

always onward swim.

Come swim farther, don’t hold back,

where the winds are raging - 

you must onward swim,

simply onward swim.

First through black, then through grey,

then one thousand meters slowly through blue,

and you’ll see the turquoise shimmer.

Come swim farther, don’t hold back;

somewhere else is higher -

you must onward swim,

always onward swim.

Come swim farther, don’t hold back,

soon you will be lifted -

you must onward swim,

swim a little farther.

First through fire, then through ice,

through all that was - one final test -

and then at last all is bright and clear.

Come swim farther;

come swim farther;

come swim farther;

come swim farther.
Come.

"Irgendwo ist oben" - Words and music by Anna Depenbusch
Translated by Frank Beck

This is a very different side of Anna Depenbusch's music making. She cooked up this incantatory appeal to live more fully, more deeply by working collaboratively with her band. I love the way the entire lyric is built around one extended metaphor, and I love the intensity of her delivery. I also love songwriting that's this daring and ambitious--and that works.

• VIDEO: Anna Depenbusch sings "Irgendwo ist oben" at Bauhaus (24:30 on the YouTube video)
• The song's lyrics in German
• Anna Depenbusch on iTunes
• My profile of Anna Depenbusch

Take me back

If you've been worried, don't ask me where I was.
I know that you've been waiting, but now I've come back home.
And, if you still want me, I will stay right here --

that is, if you can believe me.

For an eternity now I've been thinking,

day and night for weeks.
There's something that I've brought you,

something I hope you'll take.
Here is my heart -- I want to give it to you.
If it's true that you still want me, 

I'll put it straight into your hands.

I am so sorry that I could ever have thought
it was over and done with--that I no longer cared.
But it isn't so, and, baby, please don't forget
that I want you so much.

Yes, it's true I'm attracted to other men's houses;
it's true I've made promises I haven't kept.
Like a child, I can't pass up one single thrill
for fear of something that I might have missed.
But now I've come back home, and I want you so much.

I'm so sorry that I could ever have thought
it was over and done--that I no longer cared.
But it isn't so, and, baby, please don't forget
that I want you so much.

Come here, come take me back.
Come here, come take me back.
Come here.
Come take me back.

"Nimm mich zurück"
Words and music by Anna Depenbusch
Translated by Frank Beck

• VIDEO: Anna Depenbusch sings "Nimm mich zuruck"
• The song's lyrics in German
• More Anna Depenbusch songs
• My profile of Anna Depenbusch

Summer of paper

I build myself a summer
of shiny colored paper;
I set it up in winter
before all the windows freeze.

And everyone can see it,
there inside the door,
and for those still out in snow
I make gloves of paper, too--

for the feeling burns on the skin,
just as it was and so familiar.

Hello, hello.
I'm awake, but you're on your way;
gone off into hiding somewhere overnight.
And, so I won't freeze here without you,
I build myself a summer of paper.

I go down to a lighthouse
that stands on the beach,
and light up every lamp
just so you can find me.

I don't know where you were
or where you'll go tomorrow,
but I know that, when you're here,
it's clear to me as day
that you can make my head spin--

for the feeling burns on the skin
just as it was and so familiar.

Hello, hello.
I'm awake, but you're on your way;
gone off into hiding somewhere overnight.
And, so I won't freeze here without you,
I build myself a summer of paper.

When the world gently lies down to sleep
and we all come to rest,
while the winter so slowly goes by,
I just close both of my eyes
against all the rain, storm and thunder--

I build myself my summer
made out of colored paper,
then I take it to the streets,
so that none of us will freeze.
Hello, hello.

"Sommer aus Papier" - Words and music by Anna Depenbusch; translation by Frank Beck

Anna Depenbusch wrote one of her catchiest melodies for this celebration of the vital role songs play in all our lives, no matter what language we sing them in. It's the title track for her album of the same name, which Sony promoted with a playful online video. Nice work!

• VIDEO: "Sommer aus Papier" music video

• VIDEO: Depenbusch discusses the song on Hamburg TV

• The song's German lyrics

• AUDIO: Anna Depenbusch on iTunes

• My profile of Anna Depenbusch

Home

Anna Depenbusch

My home here and me
are like shadows and light, bound together.
My home here and me
are now tied up for good this time.

I have cursed it so often
and tried to deny--
then shunned it again
every time that I missed it.

I've belonged here so long,
whether I like it or not.
I've belonged here so long--
yes, I have little choice,
and it's got me,
no matter where I am.

My home drowns its sorrows
in wandering that goes on forever.
My home has such scars
that they're all here for good this time.

Never before have I seen that it's beautiful.
It always drives me far into the distance,
but I have stayed true to it every time.

I've belonged here so long,
whether I like it or not.
I've belonged here so long--
yes, I have little choice,
and it's got me,
no matter where I am.

I have little choice.
It's got me--
once and for all.

"Heimat" - Words and music by Anna Depenbusch
Translated by Frank Beck

This is one of the the songs that first attracted me to Anna Depenbusch's work. Set to a warm, jazz-inflected melody, the lyrics express both affection and resignation, holding those seemingly contradictory emotions in suspension so that neither invalidates the other.

• VIDEO: Anna Depenbusch sings "Heimat"
• Lyrics in German
• Anna Depenbusch on iTunes
• My profile of Anna Depenbusch

Photograph by Frank Dietrich