Showing posts with label Hamburg. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Hamburg. 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.'


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Throw It Overboard


What’s going on inside this house?
Everything is in the way.
I can’t catch my breath here;
I need room to think.
I have doubts about it all,
and they're like Post-Its, sticking to my skin.
Come over to the window: we must—

Out, out, out—throw it overboard.
I must be light, light, light—throw it overboard.
Clear the ship, 'ahoy' to freedom—throw it overboard.
This dress of lead is not for me.
It’s not for me. No, it’s not for me.

Perhaps this is a test of how many tons of stress
can be laid across my shoulders before I lie down.
Well, today I will last longer, but I'll see you later:
let's cut loose and raise the anchor—

Out, out, out—throw it overboard.
I must be light, light, light—throw it overboard.
Clear the ship, 'ahoy' to freedom—throw it overboard.
This dress of lead is not for me.

Don't call me anymore, and don't send mail;
My laptop's in the trash; my cell phone's in the loo.
I'm just surfing down here, naked at the beach.
You've got a lousy network, and you're—

Just burnt out—throw it overboard.
I must be light, light, light—throw it overboard.
Clear the ship, “ahoy” to freedom—throw it overboard.
This dress of lead is not for me.
It’s not for me. No, it’s not for me.

Do I really need this car? (No)
Or these faucets made of gold? (No)
Do I need all these books? (No)
The alarm out in the hall? (No)
Do I need this sofa? (No)
And all these chic new shoes? (No)
Do I need to have white apples
On my chic new watch? (N0)
Do I need all this stuff? (N0)
And these bags made just for sports? (No)
I'm not into heavy haulage: we must--

Out, out, out—throw it overboard.
I must be light, light, light—throw it overboard.
Clear the ship, 'ahoy' to freedom—throw it overboard.
This dress of lead is not for me.
It’s not for me. No, it’s not for me.

I must be light, light, light—throw it overboard.
I must be light, light, light.

'Alles uber Bord'—Word and music by Anna Depenbusch
Translated by Frank Beck

 I've just received a copy of Anna Depenbusch's new album, Das Alphabet der Anna Depenbusch (Sony/Columbia), her first new recording in nearly five years--and it's been well worth the wait. Depenbusch's music combines pop and French chanson, with a little Kurt Weill mixed in. What's surprising to me is how much that combination of genres still has to say to us in 2017. I'll post translations of some other lyrics from the album as I do them.




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Astronaut


Quiet and mute, you go on your journey,
And, weightless, draw circles across the deep blue.
You look in the distance and need only the stars;
astronauts are so happy, just being alone.

 And, if everything here tonight should just explode,
what is it that you've really risked?
Was there nothing to lose? Really, no one to lose?
To you it's all the same--the people banal,
and this whole stupid, little world's second best.

 You torment yourself, you roll in your bed;
you don't sleep anymore, don't even eat.
You're so stuck as you tumble through space and through time,
because nothing can hold you, nothing delights you,
so nothing can ever be missed.
How did your heart ever get so worn out?

 Among the planets you play Blind Man's Bluff--
so indescribable the light and the views--
you go chasing rockets and bright shooting stars,
but it's life down here you never see.

 So you look in the distance, you need only the stars;
astronauts are so happy just being alone.
You dream of adventures with monsters so mean,
aliens and dragons and, oh, so much more:
astronauts really have to be brave!

 And, if everything here tonight should just explode,
you have nothing to lose,
to you it's all the same--
the people banal,
and, since nothing quite matters,
you feel so abandoned
and as dark and as cold as the moon.

 Words and music by Anna Depenbusch
Translated by Frank Beck


'Astronaut' comes from the 2011 album, Die Mathematik der Anna Depenbusch

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Angel


I know exactly where you are;
I know exactly where you'll go,
where you come from, where you were--
know what you're thinking
even though you don't say it.

 I know exactly what you've dreamt:
why does the best part always
slip through your fingers?
See, I know you, I hold you in my arms,
and you do not even know my name.

 I am an angel sent onto your path,
just an angel, thinking softly of you.
You don't need to know how my heart relies on you--
it would just make you miss me someday.

 I know all the games that you play;
I know when you lie and who you've just loved.
Here in this world you often feel so alone,
but, believe me, you do not need to be.

 I am an angel sent onto your path,
just an angel, thinking softly of you.
You don't need to know how my heart relies on you--
it would just make you miss me someday.

 Angels don't have any worries;
angels keep themselves well hidden.
Angels will watch over you,
for angels have no need of sleep.

 Words and music by Anna Depenbusch
Translated by Frank Beck


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Tango

Anna Depenbusch sings "Tango" in Hamburg in 2011
You do not need to tell me;
I've known it for so long.
Should frame it like a picture--
the feeling is that strong.

 It's shining in your eyes there;
my knees are weak, and yet
believe me when I tell you
that look I won't forget.

 You haven't really found me;
I didn't search as well.
When I'm in love with someone
I know it from the smell.

 Don't want to wait much longer--
no more I need to know.
I've guessed it all already;
give me the final blow.

 So kiss me now like never before;
sing a sweet song in my ear;
love me till the morning comes,
then fly me over the horizon.

 Bite me firmly on the neck;
rip my best dress off my back;
lick my hurt and pain away,
then break my heart in two.

 When then will become of me,
if I'm doubting my own name?
I'll probably just die here,
and you will be to blame.

 Love's such a strong emotion,
but trust is what you need.
And dreams can all come true--
but first you must believe.

 So kiss me now like never before,
sing a sweet song in my ear,
love me till the morning comes,
then fly me over the horizon.

 Bite me firmly on the neck,
rip my best dress off my back,
lick my hurt and pain away,
then break my heart in two.

 Come, kiss me now like never before,
sing a sweet song in my ear,
love me till the morning comes . . .

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

 If all you heard was the chorus ("So kiss me now like never before ..."), you might think this was a conventional love song. Instead, Depenbusch takes us to a place where desire turns into desperation, denial and something akin to madness. And her delivery makes it all seem inevitable.

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