On the wing: German pop music

Showing posts with label German pop music. Show all posts

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.'

Stadt Land Fluss

Anna Depenbusch

Now I'm here, then I'm there:

My suitcase always packed to go,

So nothing holds me anywhere,

And there is nowhere I'm at home.

I need the rails beneath my feet,

The gentle rattle of the doors.

Solid ground no longer helps me;

My life keeps rolling like a train.

Stadt Land Fluss:

To there and back;

From inside to outside

And then inside out.

Stadt Land Fluss:

To there and back;

The world's a blur

Till I know where I am.

Every mile makes it easy

Both to forget and to forgive.

All the old ways I've abandoned;

There's no more baggage--I'm alone.

People say I need a goal:

Trust yourself and your gut feeling.

But what if nothing's in there

Because your only goal is you?

It comes and goes just as it wants to;

Only in motion is it still.

Stadt Land Fluss:

To there and back;

From inside to outside

And then inside out.

Stadt Land Fluss:

To there and back;

The world's a blur

Till I know where I am.

Between Hamburg and Berlin,

Between Munich and Schwerin,

Between Bremen, Cologne and Stuttgart,

Between Freiburg, Mainz and Puttgarden,

Between Oder, Elbe, Rhine,

Somewhere there I'll be, right now.

Shadows flicker on the curtains;

Leaves fly by but stay in place.

Walls of houses, lines of traffic;

Joni Mitchell paints the landscape blue.

Mirrored pictures in the windows;
I let my thoughts rise like a kite.

That's goodbye, in my own fashion.
In all your travels, remember me.

Stadt Land Fluss:

To there and back;

From inside to outside

And then inside out.

Stadt Land Fluss:

To there and back;

The world's a blur

Till I know where I am.

Words and music by Anna Depenbusch
Translated by Frank Beck

One of my favorite songs from Anna Depenbusch's new album, Das Alphabet der Anna Depenbusch. She's a songwriter with the knack of presenting life's contradictions, without trying to smooth them out.

The phrase 'Stadt Land Fluss' refers to a popular German game, often played in a car, in which one person names a letter of the alphabet and players compete to see how many cities, countries and rivers starting with that letter they can name in a specified amount of time. As such, the phrase is untranslatable. See the first link below for a live performance of the song from Darmstadt in April 2017.

Anna Depenbusch in concert--Darmstadt, April 2017 (Photo: Thomas Bieg)

Tim loves Tina

Anna Depenbusch

Tim loves Tina, but Tina loves Klaus.

Klaus goes to work down in China
and leaves poor Tina at home.

And Tim just can't think what to do,
because Tina still doesn't like him,

and so he takes to vodka
and drinks the whole day long.

That's how love comes, that's how love goes.

It hurts and burns; yes, love does what it promises.

Ron loves his dear Ronja, just as Ronja loves Ron,

but Ron sometimes still sleeps with Sonja, and Ronja hasn't a clue.

But, with great skill and some luck too, Ron doesn't break his neck.

No, Ron is so smart, he makes Ronja his wife, with Sonja a friend on the side.

That's how love comes, that's how it goes.

It hurts and burns; yes, love does what it promises.

Paul loves Peter, but Peter he loves me.

Paul hopes that sooner or later dear Peter will just come around.

But Peter loves women, and I am his dream. I'm his whole reason to be.

He wants to have kids, since we are a pair, but I want a child from Tim.

Tim loves Tina, but Tina loves Klaus.

We laugh, and we suffer;

we leave and we stay;

we live, and we learn from it all.

This love song of mine is done.

"Tim liebt Tina" - Words and music by Anna Depenbusch
Translated by Frank Beck

Remember when the McGarrigle Sisters sweetly sang, "It's only love, and it's only love/that can wreck a human being and turn him inside out"? There's only one songwriter I know today who writes in the same wry, wise, tender way. The surprising thing is that she writes in German.

If you come home to me

Anna Depenbusch performing in Munich in 2013

If you come home to me,

honey, things will be different.

I promise you that I will change--

but right now, please don’t leave me alone.

If you come home to me, we’ll take it from the top,

and tonight, at the door, I will a leave a light on.

Yes, I know that I've really screwed up.

That silly little thing about your Porsche – you know I'm so sorry.

I also understand by going off with that guy

I took things a few steps too far.

If you come home to me, we’ll take it from the top,

And tonight, at the door, I will a leave a light on.

I’m losing my mind, a little more with each day.

Since you’re gone every breath is an effort.

The craziest thoughts are hunting me down;

I wonder how I could ever have been so damn dumb and stupid.

If you come home to me, we’ll take it from the top,

And tonight, at the door, I will a leave a light on.

Because I am your mouse; I'm your puppy, your precious crystal;

I’m your fate, I'm your darling, your sweet nightingale.

And you are my hero, my brave knight and ivory tower;

you're my parachute, my compass, my beacon in the storm.

If you come home to me, I give my word on it--

I won’t smoke anymore; I won’t take you for stupid

and run drunk in the dark to the arms of strange men.

If you come home, everything will be different

If you come home, I swear that I’ll be your girl.

If you come home, I’ll kick the others right out the door.

But when will you come home to me?

When will you come back?

"Wenn du nach Hause kommst" - Words and music by Anna Depenbusch; translation by Frank Beck

This song is a particular favorite of mine; it's a brilliant portrait of a person who--like all of us, at times--can't quite see the untenable position she's in. Anna's performance (in a small studio for a 2011 webcast) makes the whole situation perfectly believable--if not forgivable.

Abandon ship

Anna Depenbusch

The high has gone by,

but the rocking keeps going.

In the hallway at quarter to three,

the light comes on again.

I just cannot stand it; no, I cannot stand it--

that you love her,

that you lay down your heart at her feet,

that you bring her the stars down from heaven

because she makes you feel so alive.

I just cannot stand it; no, I cannot stand it--

that you love her.

I’m rocking back and forth, I keep rocking back and forth.

I’m rocking and rocking.

I’m rocking back and forth, as a ship goes back and forth--

I’m rocking and rocking.

One thousand times, and one too many,

one time too long,

one time too deep--

that look so enraptured,

it was much too knowing

before you let go of me,

turned yourself round and left.

I just cannot stand it; no, I cannot stand it,

that you love her,

that you lay down your heart at her feet,

that you bring the damn stars down from the heavens for her

because she makes you feel so immortal.

Hey Kapitan, we’re taking on water!

Hey Kapitan, time to abandon ship!

"Kommando Untergang" - Words and music by Anna Depenbusch; translation by Frank Beck

Many of Anna Depenbusch's songs are humorous, but this one is dark and soulful, and I love it. It comes from her 2011 album, Die Mathematik der Anna Depenbusch. The performance is from a late-night TV program in Hamburg. As usual, the show's host, Ina Muller, sings along.

Benjamin

Anna Depenbusch

Benjamin from next door and me,

at one point we were inseparable,

but that was all a fleeting thing.

There is not really much to tell about our story.

I had come home late and just ordered pizza.

In the hall at eight o’clock, he introduced himself.

He was new here in town,

had just moved in yesterday - next to me.

So we unpacked his boxes

and sat together that night and ate pizza.

All that was already some weeks ago.

At first we were in love and then we weren’t.

It came from the common delusion

that we saw with each other’s eyes.

I find it’s not bad that we are still neighbors.

It’s even practical when I’m on holiday,

for the mail and the flowers and the newspaper boy.

No one’s robbed me, and yet I mind.

I hear when he visits at night through the wall.

Benjamin.

What can I do now? Tell them "you’re welcome" ?

I can’t even sleep when I hear those two there.

Who was it made this house out of papier-mache?

I mean, yes, it is great when you’re in love,

but pretty stupid just lying beside it.

So I take myself out to the terrace

and sleep on concrete where the night is so starry

and it’s all just so wonderful -

like the thought of the loving couple next door.

Benjamin.

All that was already some weeks ago.

At first they were in love, but then they weren’t.

It came from the common delusion

that they saw with each other’s eyes.

Now the wall next door is silent,

and here with me, for some days, lies

a new young man, and he's called

Jan.

Words and music by Anna Depenbusch
Translated by Frank Beck

One of the things I like most about Anna Depenbusch's writing them is the way she mixes humor and pathos. "Benjamin" is from her most recent album, Sommer aus Papier (Summer of paper), released in 2012. Depenbusch was said to be working on a new album this winter.

You touched my heart, my dear

Helene Fischer

Your letter came. I wanted just to be alone.

The same old game, and it was all one dream too much.

But I looked into your eyes, and nothing was as it had been.

Something deep in me began to happen.

You touched my heart, my dear;

I felt it in a flash.

Inside that magic night I lost my way.

You touched my heart, my dear,

seduced me tenderly,

and there was nothing I could do.

So good to me, just the fragrance of your skin.

With every word, you took my anxious tears away.

Such a sea of fantasy--so much caring, so much love.

We were like a rock in the storm of time.

You touched my heart, my dear;

I felt it in a flash.

Inside that magic night I lost my way.

You touched my heart, my dear,

seduced me sweet and slow,

and there was nothing I could do.

Deep down in my soul, something happened there;

only those who love might understand.

You touched my heart, my dear;

I felt it in a flash.

Inside that magic night I lost my way.

You touched my heart, my dear,

seduced me tenderly,

and there was nothing I could do.

"Du hast mein Herz beruhrt" - Words and music by Jean Frankfurter; translation by Frank Beck

This is my translation of one of the many great lyrics that legendary German songwriter Jean Frankfurter has written for Helene Fischer.

On the wing

The Most Beautiful Song

Stadt Land Fluss

Tim loves Tina

If you come home to me

Abandon ship

Benjamin

You touched my heart, my dear

More favorite lyrics in translation

New and selected poems

Selected translations

Reviews and articles

My blog, "On the wing"

Other recent writing and photographs