Falco was originally Austrian, his songs are mostly sung in German, but he was never afraid to use English phrases, as is common today... But in the 80s, this guy was something special, he was something of a visionary, and in fact, he was the first rap singer in the history of pop music
My brother was stationed in Germany during the 90s & came home with respect for this guy. Brother was more into hard metal, but Falco was his guilty pleasure.
Falco passed away only in his 40s, tragic car accident in 1998. German/Austrian artist in the '80s and '90s. 😔. He always went back and forth with German and English. See their other videos like "Vienna Calling", "Rock Me Amadeus", and early '90s stuff too like "Data de Groove". He was one of the best rappers in New wave, post-punk. 😆
Two, three, four, one, two, three Two, three, four, eins, zwei, drei There is nothing there Es is nichts dabei When I tell you the story Wenn ich euch erzaehle die Geschichte Nonetheless, I'm used to it Nichts desto trotz, ich bin es schon gewohnt It doesn't work on tv radio, yeah Im tv-funk da laeuft es nicht, jah She was so young, her heart so pure and white Sie war so jung, das Herz so rein und weiss And every night has its price Und jede Nacht hat ihren Preis She says: "Sugar sweet, jah'got me rapp'in to the heat!" Sie sagt: "Sugar sweet, jah'got me rapp'in to the heat!" I understand you hot Ich verstehe sie heiss She says: Babe you know, I miss my Funky friends" Sie sagt: Babe you know, I miss my Funky friends" She means Jack and Jill Sie meint, Jack und Jill My funk understanding is enough in a pinch Mein funk Verstaendnis reicht zur Not I tear what she wants now Ich ueberreiss' was sie jetzt will I'm thinking about it, her nose speaks for it Ich ueberlege bei mir, ihre Nase spricht dafuer While I'm still smoking Waehrend dessen ich noch rauche The "special places" are well known to her Die "special places" sind ihr wohlbekannt I mean, she's on the subway singing there too: Ich meine, sie faehrt ja U-bahn auch dort singen's: Don't turn around - oh, oh, oh Dreh dich nicht um - oh, oh, oh The commissioner goes around - oh, oh, oh Der Kommissar geht um - oh, oh, oh He will look at you and you know why Er wird dich anschauen, und du weisst warum The lust for life kills you Die Lebenslust bringt dich um Is everything fine, Officer? Alles klar Herr Kommissar? (Hey man, wanna buy some stuff man? (Hey man, wanna buy some stuff man? Did you ever rap that thing Jack, so rap it to the beat) Did you ever rap that thing Jack, so rap it to the beat) We meet Jill and Joe and his brother hip, Wir treffen Jill und Joe und dessen Bruder hip, And the rest of the koolen gang too Und auch den Rest der koolen gang They rap, they rap Sie rappen hin, sie rappen her In between they scrape off the walls Dazwischen kratzen's ab die Waend' This case is clear dear Commissioner Dieser Fall ist klar lieber Herr Kommissar Even if they have different opinions Auch wenn sie anderer Meinung sind The snow we all ride down the valley on Den Schnee auf dem wir alle talwaerts fahren Knows every child today Kennt heute jedes Kind Now the nursery rhyme Jetzt das Kinderlied Don't turn around - oh, oh, oh Dreh dich nicht um - oh, oh, oh The commissioner goes around - oh, oh, oh Der Kommissar geht um - oh, oh, oh He has the power and we are small and stupid Er hat die Kraft und wir sind klein und dumm And this frustration makes us dumb Und dieser Frust macht uns stumm Don't turn around - oh, oh, oh Dreh dich nicht um - oh, oh, oh The commissioner goes around - oh, oh, oh Der Kommissar geht um - oh, oh, oh When he talks to you and you know why Wenn er dich anspricht und du weisst warum Tell him your life is killing you Sag' ihm dein Leben bringt dich um Is everything fine, Officer? Alles klar Herr Kommissar? Don't turn around - oh, oh, oh Dreh dich nicht um - oh, oh, oh The commissioner goes around - oh, oh, oh Der Kommissar geht um - oh, oh, oh He has the power and we are small and stupid Er hat die Kraft und wir sind klein und dumm And this frustration makes us dumb Und dieser Frust macht uns stumm Don't turn around - oh, oh, oh Dreh dich nicht um - oh, oh, oh The commissioner goes around - oh, oh, oh Der Kommissar geht um - oh, oh, oh When he talks to you and you know why Wenn er dich anspricht und du weisst warum Tell him your life is killing you Sag' ihm dein Leben bringt dich um Don't turn around - oh, oh, oh Dreh dich nicht um - oh, oh, oh The commissioner goes around - oh, oh, oh Der Kommissar geht um - oh, oh, oh Don't turn around - oh, oh, oh Dreh dich nicht um - oh, oh, oh The commissioner goes around - oh, oh, oh Der Kommissar geht um - oh, oh, oh Don't turn around - oh, oh, oh Dreh dich nicht um - oh, oh, oh The commissioner goes around - oh, oh, oh Der Kommissar geht um - oh, oh, oh
This is from the very early days of MTV when they only had a few dozen videos to play 24 hours a day. So, incredibly, they had this Der Kommissar from Falco in German and they had an English version from a band called After The Fire and they played them both. All the time, I might add. Around the same time they used to play two versions of another song from a band called Nena, doing 99 Luftballons in German and 99 Red Balloons in English. They played them both to death as well. A year later, of course, there were hundreds of music videos, but in those earliest days, not so much.
yes,After the Fire had Bring Out the Same Song in English,one Year later.If you watch that you Understand the meaning.I say you should even watch their Song in before,an instrumental Song with the Name 1980-F.
I used to have the Nena 99 Red Balloons/Luftballons album, and all the songs were great! One side of the album was in English, and the other side was different songs in German, and I even loved the German side (even though I don't speak German)!
"Kommissar" is German for "Government Official." The song is about a couple on the run from the law. Every time they happen to be in public, "Der Kommissar" shows up. Hence the phrase, "Alles klar? Der Kommissar," which means "Everything OK, officer? RIP Falco.
@@theheartlandgroup757 In Vienna we call a police Kommissar also an Krimineser. Because a Kommissar is normally a part of the criminal investigation force. (Kriminalpolizei)
The version that was a HUGE hit here was a cover by After The Fire! I don't know why reactors have ignored this. It was GREAT! More of a rock guitar vibe. I remember a tarantula in the video...
In fact, Der Kommissar was very high in the US Top 10 if I remember correctly, as was Falco's first & third album. His song "Jeannie" is still radio banned in Germany. A rebel we still love even though he's no longer with us.
Falco was soooooo underrated. And sometimes when he covered another artist's song, he was either very faithful to the source material (The Cars "American Girls" / Falco "Munich Girls") or he went into a radical direction like his lounge lizard version of Bob Dylan's "It's All Over Now, Baby Blue" most certainly does. Falco also got ripped off from time to time. The entrance theme for Chris Jericho in the WWE ("Break The Walls Down") sounds like a slower re-tooled cover of Falco's "No Time For Revolution". And I recognize Falco as the first white rapper to reach #1 on the Billboard with "Rock Me Amadeus" while Billboard recognizes Vanilla Ice for that achievement with "Ice Ice Baby" ...
FALCO was way cool man. I love it in this video when he pulls his collar up, it's like he he doesn't want to be recognised, he looks like a spy. I also love it when he says " Wanna buy some skaive man? " He doesn't say " stuff " as Brad suggests. Der Kommissar means THE COMMISSIONER in English. Once again and as per usual LEX gets the correct meaning of the song and Brad belittles her. In Austria he is a GOD. There is a Falco statue in Gars am Kamp, Lower Austria. There is a beautifully maintained grave at Vienna Central Cemetery for Falco. Austrian superstar Falco dies. The bus accident that killed Johann Hölzel went largely unnoticed in the English-speaking world, but in the Strasses and Allees of his native Vienna, February 6, 1998, was something like the Day die Musik Died. Johann "Hans" Hölzel (German: [ˈjoːhan ˈhœlt͡sl̩]; 19 February 1957 - 6 February 1998), better known by his stage name Falco, was an Austrian singer and musician. Falco had several international hits including "Der Kommissar" (1981), "Rock Me Amadeus",[1] "Vienna Calling",[1] "Jeanny", "The Sound of Musik", "Coming Home (Jeanny Part II, One Year Later)", and posthumously "Out of the Dark". "Rock Me Amadeus" reached No. 1 on the Billboard charts in 1986, making him the only artist in history whose principal language was German, to score a vocal number-one hit in the United States.[2] According to his estate, he has sold 20 million albums and 40 million singles, which makes him the best-selling Austrian singer of all time. Falco died of severe injuries received on 6 February 1998, 13 days before his 41st birthday, when his Mitsubishi Pajero collided with a bus on the road linking the towns of Villa Montellano and Puerto Plata in the Dominican Republic.[15] At the time of his death he was planning a comeback, which was successful with the posthumously released album Out of the Dark (Into the Light). His body was returned to Austria and buried at the Vienna Central Cemetery.[16]
Let me nit-pick a bit about the language in the hope you'll find it interesting: As Falco was from Austria he is switching between Austrian and English, particularly the Austrian variant from Vienna which has a special sound to it some might consider somewhat snobbish. Austrian is a variant or dialect of German and depending on the choice of vocabulary can be more or less intelligible by someone who speaks only Standard German. Since I mostly understand it I guess he chose a more Standard German vocabulary :). Thus his singing can also be considered German with a heavy Viennese accent. For example in the chorus he is singing "Dra di net um" (Austrian) = "Dreh dich nicht um" (Standard German) = "Turn yourself not around" (Word for word English transation) = "Don't turn around".
OK, you answered a long-time question : this song was a huge hit in France at this time, and when we asked our german teacher if we could study it, it was a definite "No!". I guess he couldn't understand the lyrics himself and wouldn't want to be embarrassed in front of us kids :D !
@@hijikaelemenope3127 That is quite possible. After all, back in the day you couldn't just look up the lyrics online you actually had to listen to the song and understand them. Those were difficult times ;)
@@ChingelBopDingelFlop Die Übergänge zwischen Sprache und Dialekt sind fließend und es gibt keine eindeutige Definition. Selbst österreichische Sprachwissenschaftler sind sich da nicht einig, laut Wikipedia jedenfalls.
@@hijikaelemenope3127 Btw, I even misheard the lyrics myself. I only recently learned that he sang "Dra di net um". I heard "Ra-didel-dum" which would be some meaningless onomatopoeia found in nursery rhymes.
@@maryreilly5092 I love American Cars from the 50' and 60' . They are very rare in Austria. I had an 81' Ford Fairmount bevor i crasht the car. Nobodie hurts but i cried like a Baby.
check out Jeanny by Falco, he was fairly popular in the 80's even here in the states, personally i liked him because of his crazy back n forth lyrics from english to german, i have always been intrigued by the way Austrian people speak, hence Arnold Schwarzenegger's famous lines like " I'll be back" and "It's not a tumor!" haha but Jeanny was more english than german, when he sings its english but when he speaks its german so give that one a run too
When we listen to unfamiliar songs quite often we don't fully understand the lyrics, but still may enjoy the song. We can still appreciate them even if we don't understand them. As a person who only speaks English I can & do still appreciate Falco without having any idea what he's singing. I suppose if I did understand & by chance they were really stupid lyrics, then maybe I wouldn't appreciate it as much. Brad & Lex please do a reaction to the group Lena singing their hit '99 Luftballoons'. It was an international hit in German and see if you like it. Then you can react to their English version of the same song: '99 Red Balloons' which was also a big international hit. From the English version you'll understand the lyrics but I think you'll conclude it was still a great song even when you couldn't understand the lyrics. (The singer has a beautiful singing voice - in any language).
They did Nena but it got blocked. I like Nur geträumt by Nena as well. That was her first hit before 99 Balloons. You should check out some Japanese bands. HUGE rabbit hole to fall in.
Pretty Much every Song Falco has ever did has very smart lyrics. Wiener Blut, Jeany, Mutter der Mann mit dem Koks ist da are only a few minutes examples.
one thing about music videos - a lot of folks forgot to close their eyes and actually hear the music, musicianship, writing, production of the song and jumped quickly to judging musicians by their image -- it seems Brad & Lex, you are pretty good about keeping your eyes away from your ears... thanks for this entertaining channel
Classic new wave, dance-punk, post punk band. A little hip hop too jaja. Lots of good videos from them. Also see "Data de Groove" , "Vienna Calling" and "Rock me Amadeus". They are German and bilingual with English. RIP, he died in a car accident. Young during the '90s.
This is from an era where German speaking pop artists dominated the American airwaves. The list is endless! Falco, Nena of 99 red luft balloons fame… and… I guess that was it.
Well obviously there was Kraftwerk and Alphaville and Propaganda as others have mentioned and dont ever forget Nina Hagen because man ... Nina Hagen that was a whole different thing Punk wise.
Omg, this came out my first year in college and by then I was buying a ton of record albums and being a DJ and playing in bands and things and I hung out with people that always got the first word on new music and so I literally knew about this within 24 hours after it came out and it had already started to become a hit in certain markets and I knew it would reach us here in Kansas in just a few days and so I raced out to the record store and bought it and started playing it at parties and stuff. I can remember dancing around to it with tons of people. And yeah there is the other version of it I think after the fire, but this is really wonderful. Can't believe you stumbled across this.
Glad you did this one! Loved Falco. So quirky and catchy. He was cool and sexy. I also sang along, knowing no German at all. Looks like you enjoyed the song even without lyrics to analyze (even though you tried). Miss him.
Don't turn around, the commissioner is going around! ... Every child today knows the snow on which we all go down. Just a small excerpt, you should hear it with subtitles. You should really watch Jeanny as next video by Falco. Definitely with subtitles!
I suggested in one Icon-stream, do Nina Hagen - "Naturträne", "Born in Xixax" or "Seeman" (Rammstein cover) feat. Apocalyptica. I prefer germans sing in german, as it expands the human horizon. But sometimes english good from germans too.
I absolutely love you guys - it gives me the innocence and first reaction that I had to songs growing up (as a 49 year old I know all of the songs you react to - especially Zeppelin ha ha). You guys are refreshing.
You should try some Top 40 acts doing their songs in other languages. Smokey Robinson ~ Aqui Con Tigo Marvin Gaye ~ Wie Schön Das Ist Marvin Gaye ~ Sympatica Johnny Cash ~ Fuego d'Amor Johnny Cash ~ Wer kennt den Weg The Beatles ~ Komm Gib Mir Deine Hand Stevie Wonder ~ Solo Te Solo Me Solo Noi New Edition ~ Siempre Tu {acoustic} Michael Jackson & Siedah Garrett ~ Todo Mi Amor Eres Tu Jermaine Jackson ~ Seamos Serios Janet Jackson ~ Vuelve A Mi Dionne Warwick ~ Geh Vorbei The Jets ~ Allá Tú Blondie ~ Llámame The Temptations ~ Sei Solo Tu David Bowie ~ Ragazzo Solo, Ragazza Sola Chubby Checker ~ Der Twist Beginnt The Monkees ~ Tema Dei Monkees
Nice to see you reacting to more of this legend!! Also, as a german I know his songs since my childhood back then, but NOW I finally understood what kind of "snow" he's talking about 🤣
*If you want the English version...try the cover of this song by "After The Fire." After the Fire opened for a Van Halen show I saw in 1982. They opened by playing a couple of songs no one knew...during the second song people were throwing things at the stage...so they stopped and did some begging and pleading, then played their cover of Der Kommissar and left the stage. I found it to be rude and cruel...but apparently some people were amped up to see Vam Halen.*
I saw Van Halen in '82 as well, their Diver Down tour. That was my first concert actually. The opener when I saw them was the Joe Whitey Band (if I remember correctly) and they were terrible. Van Halen always seemed to have lesser known crappy bands to open for them back then.
@@brettkenschaft4239 I think someone in the band (maybe Dave) got off in a Negan sort of way; knowing some in the audience might treat opening bands poorly. Diver Down was the same '82 tour I went to. My first concert was 1978...Cal Jam 2...I was about three months shy of turning 16 yrs.
I love this original version by Falco, but the English version by After The Fire is also quite good and was a big hit in many countries .. It's definitely worth checking out .. Cheers, Wayne
I would check what German music concerns: Kraftwerk (The Model), Nina Hagen Band... And The Deutsche Neue Welle scene from the 80s. Bands like Fehlfarben, Spider Murphy Gang,, Rheingold with 'Dreiklangsdimensionen',...
I was a teen in the early 80’s in Guam on the south part of the island and the DJs played this song at our parties in German. This song got us dancing. It was mixed in with MJ’s Billie Jean, Genius of Love, Planet Rock, C’mon Eileen, etc.
Fuck. Yes. Such the jam. This reminds me of being a kid in the early 80s. I still own this 12” single. There is an English lyrics version as well, by Falco.
Ok, so it's nearly entirely in German language, and Brad is *still* trying to figure out the lyrics of the song. And even Lex got caught up the meaning too! 😆 I never knew the words or the meaning of the song but I always thought it sounded cool regardless!
This was realy one of the most iconic songs in the 80´s. It blew my mind from the very firs bar and I need to play it thewhole day in a loop. It was so catchy! Juist genious and we teens of the 80s can pe proud of having experienced all this stuff in real time.
There's an English version of this song. I hated this song when it first came out, but I really like it now. Sad that he was decapitated in a freak car accident just when he was making a new comeback album.
a great example of Viennese dialect of German. Falco was so famous in Austria that a top restaurant called the Marchfelderhof (known for being favored by musicians over the past 5 decades) created a dining area called the "Falco Separee" which has actual memorabilia from Falcos life.
After the fire, or a band with a name like that came along shortly after and converted it all to English and tried to mimic them perfectly but it just wasn't nearly as good. But at least people could understand it and that was also quite popular. But I guarantee you, the hip kids always put this on and people would go dance to it.
It's always cool to give non-english music some appreciation! You should check out some Japanese bands too, they also go back and forth between singing in Japanese and English a lot. I'd recommend starting with the band "X Japan", they're kind of like the Kiss or Queen of Japan.
I recommend "Vienna Calling" and "The Sound of Muzik" (pronounced moo-zeek) next. Heck, even "Push! Push!" sounds like it got cribbed off the PlayStation game "WipeOut". Good techno/dance track ...
Falco was from Austria & grewup in the 60s & 70s as "Denglish" (mixing English words into German language sentences) became popular, largely with the youth. From what I've heard Denglish is fairly common with native German speakers.
I was stationed in Germany in the 1980s and lived there for three years..."Alles Klar Her Kammissar" roughly translates to "Is everything alright officer?"
Fun fact: falco gets played in one episode of friends. A flashback scene from Rachel's prom (if I remember correctly?) As a German person I immediately noticed it and geeked so much about the fact that it fits into the time of Rachel's teenage years. Absolutely amazing 😂
Translation ..literal.. although his lyrics are for the most part in very cryptical Viennese slang so I will add some disclaimers of meaning, because I´m Viennese and therefore I understand the slang which a German or someone who understands German very likely won´t when he is taking the lyrics literal. By the way and Fun Fact : Africa Bambaataa one of the founders of Hip Hop played that song on his Hip Hop parties as well, it was - the first "non-english rap song on record" ever - therefore it got an "exotic status" in his DJ repertoire back in 1982. 2, 3, 4 ..1, 2, 3, There is nothing in it when I tell you the story Nevertheless I´m already used to it that on TV it isn´t aired. Cha..She was young her heart so pure and white but every night had its price She says: "Sugar Sweet you got me rapp´ing to heat" I understand, she is hot. She says: "Babe, you know I miss my funky friends" She meant Jack and Joe and Jill. My funk comprehension is just enough in a pinch and I´m figuring out what she wants now. I´m thinking to myself, her nose speaks for itself while I´m still smoking The "special places" she knows quite well I mean she is traveling "Subway" as well (Disclaimer: "Subway" is a reference to a Viennese Night Club named after a Subway Line and the scene in that Night Club was comparabel to the NY Night Club scene of the "Studio 54" Those lyrics are very cryptical and basically the meaning is = he met a young innocent looking girl but she wants Cocaine which she will get in that special Night Club from her "funky friends" Jack, Joe and Jill and he has to pay for it) There they sing: (Chorus) Don´t turn around Oh Oh Oh Look out the Kommissar goes around Oh Oh Oh (disclaimer: Kommissar = Police Lieutenant) He will look at you , and you know exactly why The lust of life will make you die. (Interlude) Hey man, wanna buy some stuff man? Did you ever rap that thing, Jack? So rap it to the beat (Disclaimer : those are "the funky friends" selling drugs) We meet Jill and Joe and his brother Hip and the rest of the Cool Gang they rap back and forth and inbetween they are scratching off the wall. (Disclaimer: Those are always high and if not then they are on cold turkey) The case is clear, dear Mr. Kommissar even when you disagree "The snow" we use to ski downhill is known by every kid nowadays. Now the nursery rhyme: (Chorus) Don´t turn around Oh Oh Oh Look out the Kommissar goes around Oh Oh Oh He has the power and we are little and stupid and that frustration is making us mute. Don´t turn around Oh Oh Oh The Kommissar is going around Oh Oh Oh If he is adressing you and you are knowing why tell him your life is making you die. The "After the Fire" coverversion in English has in behalf of the lyrics just taken some small bits and pieces of that song and is lyric-wise way shorter and meaning-wise "a clean song" without any cocaine references while Falco´s original is a song about cocaine abuse but hidden in the slang for the German music market...in the early 80ties no song got on air which openly had a drug topic those were all banned on radio and TV back then therefore it is encrypted and made Nr 1 in the billboard charts in almost whole Europe and Japan and Top 10 in Australia...and in the US it became Nr 19 in the Club Dance Charts as the one and only non english track because Africa Bambaataa played it on his legendary Hip Hop parties.
There are 2 songs that have played somewhere (living rent free) in my head FOREVER : #1 Sanford & Son theme, seriously its my theme music for life😂 # 2 The English version of the chorus of Der Kammissar " Dont Turn around, Uh Ohh ! " anytime something bad happens that line starts playing in my head.😅 Weird?
I highly recommend "Junge Römer", there's a legendary live version from the Donauinselfest 1993 which has a sound quality that even rivals the quality of the song itself XD
No fun. Actually took German in high school so I totally understood this but it's not a complicated story and there are a lot of cognates you can look for. Der Kommissar is basically their local chief of police or examiner that comes into town to trace down the party scene. He's telling a story about his brother and whatnot. But it doesn't matter. This song as someone else said below, would send people to the dance floor immediately and it was so hip at the time. I'm actually a big fan of listening to music that you don't know the language because it makes you focus on all of the other aspects of it. I love to listen to Elis Regina singing in Portuguese from Brazil. There are a lot of French punk bands that just sound so awesome and yet I have no idea what they're saying because I don't understand French at all.
"Taking German in high school" is not gonna cut it to "totally understand" this fast rapping in Vienna German. Just the first two sentences are not too easy to understand: "Two, three, four, eins, zwei, drei Na, es is nichts dabei Wenn ich euch erzaehle die Geschichte Nichts desto trotz, ich bin es schon gewohnt Im tv-funk da laeuft es nicht, jah" Or even the hook: "Dreh dich nicht um".
Falco was way fuckin ahead of his time. He's rapping in German in the 80s before anyone done what he did. Legend
Falco was originally Austrian, his songs are mostly sung in German, but he was never afraid to use English phrases, as is common today... But in the 80s, this guy was something special, he was something of a visionary, and in fact, he was the first rap singer in the history of pop music
"was originally Austrian"?
He was Austrian, end of story :D
@@RaggedLands Never ceased to be.
mit Antidepressiver geht es Leicht
what? no, he is austrian, and still is. there is no austrian language , it’s just german.
Before the Beasties there was Falco
My brother was stationed in Germany during the 90s & came home with respect for this guy. Brother was more into hard metal, but Falco was his guilty pleasure.
Nothing guilty about liking Falco😉
Falco is everybodies guilty pleasure lol
Happy to see that more and more people outside of Austria still listen to him. Greetings from Vorarlberg
I enjoy his music in Costa Rica since early 80's. Great artist!
Absolutely, here in the US.
Down here in New Zealand this was a big hit esp in night clubs & radio stations , its hit position was 4th , great groove👍
I am from Austria. Falcos real Name was HANS HÖLZEL. And his Song Jeany was forbiden to play for Radiostationes in Austria.
Here in the Netherlands Falco's music is still on the radio. I liked his music very much, and I was sad back then when he died.
Falco passed away only in his 40s, tragic car accident in 1998. German/Austrian artist in the '80s and '90s. 😔. He always went back and forth with German and English. See their other videos like "Vienna Calling", "Rock Me Amadeus", and early '90s stuff too like "Data de Groove". He was one of the best rappers in New wave, post-punk. 😆
Jesus, has it been that long since that happened?
He had a rather interesting dialect. Very regional whether by family or travel.
Fun song in its day...now I need a nap.
Oh yes, he was!
@@nickrizzi4927
Really?
I always thought that's more or less a Vienna accent.
He just liked to speak a bit exalted here or there.
@@DerEchteBold It's viennese but very special style of speaking! Maybe the dialect of his character.
Had no idea what the words were, sang along anyway and belted the chorus! Classic 80's New Wave.
Two, three, four, one, two, three
Two, three, four, eins, zwei, drei
There is nothing there
Es is nichts dabei
When I tell you the story
Wenn ich euch erzaehle die Geschichte
Nonetheless, I'm used to it
Nichts desto trotz, ich bin es schon gewohnt
It doesn't work on tv radio, yeah
Im tv-funk da laeuft es nicht, jah
She was so young, her heart so pure and white
Sie war so jung, das Herz so rein und weiss
And every night has its price
Und jede Nacht hat ihren Preis
She says: "Sugar sweet, jah'got me rapp'in to the heat!"
Sie sagt: "Sugar sweet, jah'got me rapp'in to the heat!"
I understand you hot
Ich verstehe sie heiss
She says: Babe you know, I miss my Funky friends"
Sie sagt: Babe you know, I miss my Funky friends"
She means Jack and Jill
Sie meint, Jack und Jill
My funk understanding is enough in a pinch
Mein funk Verstaendnis reicht zur Not
I tear what she wants now
Ich ueberreiss' was sie jetzt will
I'm thinking about it, her nose speaks for it
Ich ueberlege bei mir, ihre Nase spricht dafuer
While I'm still smoking
Waehrend dessen ich noch rauche
The "special places" are well known to her
Die "special places" sind ihr wohlbekannt
I mean, she's on the subway singing there too:
Ich meine, sie faehrt ja U-bahn auch dort singen's:
Don't turn around - oh, oh, oh
Dreh dich nicht um - oh, oh, oh
The commissioner goes around - oh, oh, oh
Der Kommissar geht um - oh, oh, oh
He will look at you and you know why
Er wird dich anschauen, und du weisst warum
The lust for life kills you
Die Lebenslust bringt dich um
Is everything fine, Officer?
Alles klar Herr Kommissar?
(Hey man, wanna buy some stuff man?
(Hey man, wanna buy some stuff man?
Did you ever rap that thing Jack, so rap it to the beat)
Did you ever rap that thing Jack, so rap it to the beat)
We meet Jill and Joe and his brother hip,
Wir treffen Jill und Joe und dessen Bruder hip,
And the rest of the koolen gang too
Und auch den Rest der koolen gang
They rap, they rap
Sie rappen hin, sie rappen her
In between they scrape off the walls
Dazwischen kratzen's ab die Waend'
This case is clear dear Commissioner
Dieser Fall ist klar lieber Herr Kommissar
Even if they have different opinions
Auch wenn sie anderer Meinung sind
The snow we all ride down the valley on
Den Schnee auf dem wir alle talwaerts fahren
Knows every child today
Kennt heute jedes Kind
Now the nursery rhyme
Jetzt das Kinderlied
Don't turn around - oh, oh, oh
Dreh dich nicht um - oh, oh, oh
The commissioner goes around - oh, oh, oh
Der Kommissar geht um - oh, oh, oh
He has the power and we are small and stupid
Er hat die Kraft und wir sind klein und dumm
And this frustration makes us dumb
Und dieser Frust macht uns stumm
Don't turn around - oh, oh, oh
Dreh dich nicht um - oh, oh, oh
The commissioner goes around - oh, oh, oh
Der Kommissar geht um - oh, oh, oh
When he talks to you and you know why
Wenn er dich anspricht und du weisst warum
Tell him your life is killing you
Sag' ihm dein Leben bringt dich um
Is everything fine, Officer?
Alles klar Herr Kommissar?
Don't turn around - oh, oh, oh
Dreh dich nicht um - oh, oh, oh
The commissioner goes around - oh, oh, oh
Der Kommissar geht um - oh, oh, oh
He has the power and we are small and stupid
Er hat die Kraft und wir sind klein und dumm
And this frustration makes us dumb
Und dieser Frust macht uns stumm
Don't turn around - oh, oh, oh
Dreh dich nicht um - oh, oh, oh
The commissioner goes around - oh, oh, oh
Der Kommissar geht um - oh, oh, oh
When he talks to you and you know why
Wenn er dich anspricht und du weisst warum
Tell him your life is killing you
Sag' ihm dein Leben bringt dich um
Don't turn around - oh, oh, oh
Dreh dich nicht um - oh, oh, oh
The commissioner goes around - oh, oh, oh
Der Kommissar geht um - oh, oh, oh
Don't turn around - oh, oh, oh
Dreh dich nicht um - oh, oh, oh
The commissioner goes around - oh, oh, oh
Der Kommissar geht um - oh, oh, oh
Don't turn around - oh, oh, oh
Dreh dich nicht um - oh, oh, oh
The commissioner goes around - oh, oh, oh
Der Kommissar geht um - oh, oh, oh
Yes, that's exactly right!
This is from the very early days of MTV when they only had a few dozen videos to play 24 hours a day. So, incredibly, they had this Der Kommissar from Falco in German and they had an English version from a band called After The Fire and they played them both. All the time, I might add. Around the same time they used to play two versions of another song from a band called Nena, doing 99 Luftballons in German and 99 Red Balloons in English. They played them both to death as well. A year later, of course, there were hundreds of music videos, but in those earliest days, not so much.
yes,After the Fire had Bring Out the Same Song in English,one Year later.If you watch that you Understand the meaning.I say you should even watch their Song in before,an instrumental Song with the Name 1980-F.
Nena
OMG! Now you got that damn 99 Luft Balloons stuck in my head. Thanks.
I used to have the Nena 99 Red Balloons/Luftballons album, and all the songs were great! One side of the album was in English, and the other side was different songs in German, and I even loved the German side (even though I don't speak German)!
Lena?
Lena Lovitch?
As mentioned earlier, I think your thinking of Nena.
My memory is failing.
Who did the German "Major Tom" song?
In the English version by After The Fire, they’re singing: “DON’T TURN AROUND (oh, oh ohhhhhhh), DER KOMMISAR’S IN TOWN (oh, oh ohhhhhh)
Yeah, that's pretty much the literal translation.
A rather lame remake IMO.
I could care less who prefers this version, I prefer After The Fire's.
OMG for some reason this song has been stuck in my head for weeks, and now you all are playing it. Nice
"Kommissar" is German for "Government Official." The song is about a couple on the run from the law. Every time they happen to be in public, "Der Kommissar" shows up. Hence the phrase, "Alles klar? Der Kommissar," which means "Everything OK, officer? RIP Falco.
It’s “Alles klar, HERR Kommissar?”….
In this case "Komissar" is the German word for a rank of the police force.
You mean Eastern Germany I think lol it relates to Communism as far as I know
You could translate it to "police commissioner", but usually it's what you call a police detective in english
@@theheartlandgroup757 In Vienna we call a police Kommissar also an Krimineser. Because a Kommissar is normally a part of the criminal investigation force. (Kriminalpolizei)
The version that was a HUGE hit here was a cover by After The Fire! I don't know why reactors have ignored this. It was GREAT! More of a rock guitar vibe. I remember a tarantula in the video...
I kept requesting that version on the streams last week before finally giving up. They ignore Steely Dan and Blondie requests too.
What about 99 Luft Balloms by Nena ( very poignant at the moment ..)
I prefer that version personally.
After The Fire was The Original !!!
@@ledzepgirlnmful
No it wasn't.
In fact, Der Kommissar was very high in the US Top 10 if I remember correctly,
as was Falco's first & third album. His song "Jeannie" is still radio banned in
Germany. A rebel we still love even though he's no longer with us.
It's not banned in germany anymore.
I think it's Banned in austria
@@deepspacedruid7673 No, definitely not! I even heard it on the radio as a child back in the 90s. Was one of my favourite songs 😄
Falco was soooooo underrated. And sometimes when he covered another artist's song, he was either very faithful to the source material (The Cars "American Girls" / Falco "Munich Girls") or he went into a radical direction like his lounge lizard version of Bob Dylan's "It's All Over Now, Baby Blue" most certainly does. Falco also got ripped off from time to time. The entrance theme for Chris Jericho in the WWE ("Break The Walls Down") sounds like a slower re-tooled cover of Falco's "No Time For Revolution". And I recognize Falco as the first white rapper to reach #1 on the Billboard with "Rock Me Amadeus" while Billboard recognizes Vanilla Ice for that achievement with "Ice Ice Baby" ...
The first white rap song to hit #1 was Rapture by Blondie
@@Rwededyet Speaking about Blondie, did Brad and Lex have a broadcast about Blondie's music? Blondie is still great!
@@ansjovisnl9059 I don't know. I love their reaction videos, but I get impatient with the pacing of their live streams.
The Cars, American Girls ???
...Never heard that song... And I had all their albums.
@@oteroair My bad. It's "Looking For Love" ...
More of them please.
1. The Sound Of Music
2. Vienna Calling
3. Jeanny
4. Comming Home (Jeanny Part II)
good choice, the song "out of the dark" is great too !!
Junge Römer
@@ricardo_miguel13 Yes, a very good song👍
ganz wien
FALCO was way cool man.
I love it in this video when he pulls his collar up, it's like he he doesn't want to be recognised, he looks like a spy.
I also love it when he says " Wanna buy some skaive man? " He doesn't say " stuff " as Brad suggests.
Der Kommissar means THE COMMISSIONER in English.
Once again and as per usual LEX gets the correct meaning of the song and Brad belittles her.
In Austria he is a GOD.
There is a Falco statue in Gars am Kamp, Lower Austria.
There is a beautifully maintained grave at Vienna Central Cemetery for Falco.
Austrian superstar Falco dies. The bus accident that killed Johann Hölzel went largely unnoticed in the English-speaking world, but in the Strasses and Allees of his native Vienna, February 6, 1998, was something like the Day die Musik Died.
Johann "Hans" Hölzel (German: [ˈjoːhan ˈhœlt͡sl̩]; 19 February 1957 - 6 February 1998), better known by his stage name Falco, was an Austrian singer and musician.
Falco had several international hits including "Der Kommissar" (1981), "Rock Me Amadeus",[1] "Vienna Calling",[1] "Jeanny", "The Sound of Musik", "Coming Home (Jeanny Part II, One Year Later)", and posthumously "Out of the Dark".
"Rock Me Amadeus" reached No. 1 on the Billboard charts in 1986, making him the only artist in history whose principal language was German, to score a vocal number-one hit in the United States.[2] According to his estate, he has sold 20 million albums and 40 million singles, which makes him the best-selling Austrian singer of all time.
Falco died of severe injuries received on 6 February 1998, 13 days before his 41st birthday, when his Mitsubishi Pajero collided with a bus on the road linking the towns of Villa Montellano and Puerto Plata in the Dominican Republic.[15] At the time of his death he was planning a comeback, which was successful with the posthumously released album Out of the Dark (Into the Light). His body was returned to Austria and buried at the Vienna Central Cemetery.[16]
Let me nit-pick a bit about the language in the hope you'll find it interesting: As Falco was from Austria he is switching between Austrian and English, particularly the Austrian variant from Vienna which has a special sound to it some might consider somewhat snobbish. Austrian is a variant or dialect of German and depending on the choice of vocabulary can be more or less intelligible by someone who speaks only Standard German. Since I mostly understand it I guess he chose a more Standard German vocabulary :). Thus his singing can also be considered German with a heavy Viennese accent. For example in the chorus he is singing "Dra di net um" (Austrian) = "Dreh dich nicht um" (Standard German) = "Turn yourself not around" (Word for word English transation) = "Don't turn around".
OK, you answered a long-time question : this song was a huge hit in France at this time, and when we asked our german teacher if we could study it, it was a definite "No!". I guess he couldn't understand the lyrics himself and wouldn't want to be embarrassed in front of us kids :D !
@@hijikaelemenope3127 That is quite possible. After all, back in the day you couldn't just look up the lyrics online you actually had to listen to the song and understand them. Those were difficult times ;)
des is zwoa guad oba österreichisch is koa eigne sproch kolleg desch a dialekt
@@ChingelBopDingelFlop Die Übergänge zwischen Sprache und Dialekt sind fließend und es gibt keine eindeutige Definition. Selbst österreichische Sprachwissenschaftler sind sich da nicht einig, laut Wikipedia jedenfalls.
@@hijikaelemenope3127 Btw, I even misheard the lyrics myself. I only recently learned that he sang "Dra di net um". I heard "Ra-didel-dum" which would be some meaningless onomatopoeia found in nursery rhymes.
Yes. We didn't care what he was saying was a catchy tune to dance to. Plus after a few drinks we understood what he was saying.
😆😆😆😆😆😆
Hello from Austria🇦🇹. Falco was and is the only one Austrian with a number 1 HIT in USA. ( ROCK ME AMADEUS )🇦🇹🇦🇹🇦🇹
We LOVE Austria and Austrians here in the States!
No, he is the only GERMAN SPEAKING ARTIST with a Nr1 hit on billboard, till TODAY!!!
@@nelerhabarber5602 Realy and thats from so an small country.👍👍👍👍
@@maryreilly5092 I love American Cars from the 50' and 60' . They are very rare in Austria. I had an 81' Ford Fairmount bevor i crasht the car. Nobodie hurts but i cried like a Baby.
@@Imogjudub Abba are from Sweden, the Bee Gees from the Isle of man!😎and Mozart is also from austria.Lol
check out Jeanny by Falco, he was fairly popular in the 80's even here in the states, personally i liked him because of his crazy back n forth lyrics from english to german, i have always been intrigued by the way Austrian people speak, hence Arnold Schwarzenegger's famous lines like " I'll be back" and "It's not a tumor!" haha but Jeanny was more english than german, when he sings its english but when he speaks its german so give that one a run too
the one song you guys need to hear from Falco is...."Jeanny"!!!!
helemaal mee eens Paul!
Yes, but probably should do Vienna calling also
A teenage hood anthem for me, such a classic of 1982 in Europe!
"It's Both."
Indeed. I was expecting you to do the (mostly) English version: "Don't Turn Around - Der Kammissar's in Town!"
When we listen to unfamiliar songs quite often we don't fully understand the lyrics, but still may enjoy the song. We can still appreciate them even if we don't understand them. As a person who only speaks English I can & do still appreciate Falco without having any idea what he's singing. I suppose if I did understand & by chance they were really stupid lyrics, then maybe I wouldn't appreciate it as much. Brad & Lex please do a reaction to the group Lena singing their hit '99 Luftballoons'. It was an international hit in German and see if you like it. Then you can react to their English version of the same song: '99 Red Balloons' which was also a big international hit. From the English version you'll understand the lyrics but I think you'll conclude it was still a great song even when you couldn't understand the lyrics. (The singer has a beautiful singing voice - in any language).
yes, 99 Luftballons is a good one to do
They did Nena but it got blocked. I like Nur geträumt by Nena as well. That was her first hit before 99 Balloons.
You should check out some Japanese bands. HUGE rabbit hole to fall in.
Pretty Much every Song Falco has ever did has very smart lyrics.
Wiener Blut, Jeany, Mutter der Mann mit dem Koks ist da are only a few minutes examples.
Quintessential 80's song. Right up there with Safety Dance.
one thing about music videos - a lot of folks forgot to close their eyes and actually hear the music, musicianship, writing, production of the song and jumped quickly to judging musicians by their image -- it seems Brad & Lex, you are pretty good about keeping your eyes away from your ears... thanks for this entertaining channel
I'm back in college, sophomore year. Dancing at a party, drunk out mind.
Classic new wave, dance-punk, post punk band. A little hip hop too jaja. Lots of good videos from them. Also see "Data de Groove" , "Vienna Calling" and "Rock me Amadeus". They are German and bilingual with English. RIP, he died in a car accident. Young during the '90s.
This is from an era where German speaking pop artists dominated the American airwaves. The list is endless! Falco, Nena of 99 red luft balloons fame… and… I guess that was it.
Kraftwerk, Peter Schilling, Alphaville, Propaganda,...
So much do that Saturday Night Live created "Sprockets" skits.
And Rheingold; Nichts, Juli ,Silbermond, Wir sind Helden ,Die Toten Hosen all on YT
@@johnstjohn6658 ....and gnow is da time on Shprockets when we donce...
@@johnstjohn6658 Bab or something like that. The Kristall Nacht. Great song!
Well obviously there was Kraftwerk and Alphaville and Propaganda as others have mentioned and dont ever forget Nina Hagen because man ... Nina Hagen that was a whole different thing Punk wise.
Omg, this came out my first year in college and by then I was buying a ton of record albums and being a DJ and playing in bands and things and I hung out with people that always got the first word on new music and so I literally knew about this within 24 hours after it came out and it had already started to become a hit in certain markets and I knew it would reach us here in Kansas in just a few days and so I raced out to the record store and bought it and started playing it at parties and stuff. I can remember dancing around to it with tons of people. And yeah there is the other version of it I think after the fire, but this is really wonderful. Can't believe you stumbled across this.
Out of the Dark is the best track he's ever done
Data de groove way better
We use to play this at our high school basketball games and other teams thought we were crazy. This was in 1983 I think.
Kammisar is commissioner in the police I'm English. That's why you had the police lights in the background.
Glad you did this one! Loved Falco. So quirky and catchy. He was cool and sexy. I also sang along, knowing no German at all. Looks like you enjoyed the song even without lyrics to analyze (even though you tried). Miss him.
Don't turn around, the commissioner is going around! ...
Every child today knows the snow on which we all go down.
Just a small excerpt, you should hear it with subtitles.
You should really watch Jeanny as next video by Falco. Definitely with subtitles!
I use to listen to this in the 80s at my local Arcade on the jukebox
I suggested in one Icon-stream, do Nina Hagen - "Naturträne", "Born in Xixax" or "Seeman" (Rammstein cover) feat. Apocalyptica.
I prefer germans sing in german, as it expands the human horizon. But sometimes english good from germans too.
Falco is a legend! R.I.P.
I absolutely love you guys - it gives me the innocence and first reaction that I had to songs growing up (as a 49 year old I know all of the songs you react to - especially Zeppelin ha ha). You guys are refreshing.
You should try some Top 40 acts doing their songs in other languages.
Smokey Robinson ~ Aqui Con Tigo
Marvin Gaye ~ Wie Schön Das Ist
Marvin Gaye ~ Sympatica
Johnny Cash ~ Fuego d'Amor
Johnny Cash ~ Wer kennt den Weg
The Beatles ~ Komm Gib Mir Deine Hand
Stevie Wonder ~ Solo Te Solo Me Solo Noi
New Edition ~ Siempre Tu {acoustic}
Michael Jackson & Siedah Garrett ~ Todo Mi Amor Eres Tu
Jermaine Jackson ~ Seamos Serios
Janet Jackson ~ Vuelve A Mi
Dionne Warwick ~ Geh Vorbei
The Jets ~ Allá Tú
Blondie ~ Llámame
The Temptations ~ Sei Solo Tu
David Bowie ~ Ragazzo Solo, Ragazza Sola
Chubby Checker ~ Der Twist Beginnt
The Monkees ~ Tema Dei Monkees
Nice to see you reacting to more of this legend!! Also, as a german I know his songs since my childhood back then, but NOW I finally understood what kind of "snow" he's talking about 🤣
"Der Kommissar" means "The Detective" and it's pretty much about getting busted for doing cocaine.
Can't help but smile when I hear this song.
*If you want the English version...try the cover of this song by "After The Fire." After the Fire opened for a Van Halen show I saw in 1982. They opened by playing a couple of songs no one knew...during the second song people were throwing things at the stage...so they stopped and did some begging and pleading, then played their cover of Der Kommissar and left the stage. I found it to be rude and cruel...but apparently some people were amped up to see Vam Halen.*
Yup. Van Halen opening acts had it rough. Same thing happened to Autograph on the 1984 tour.
I saw Van Halen in '82 as well, their Diver Down tour. That was my first concert actually. The opener when I saw them was the Joe Whitey Band (if I remember correctly) and they were terrible. Van Halen always seemed to have lesser known crappy bands to open for them back then.
@@brettkenschaft4239 I think someone in the band (maybe Dave) got off in a Negan sort of way; knowing some in the audience might treat opening bands poorly. Diver Down was the same '82 tour I went to. My first concert was 1978...Cal Jam 2...I was about three months shy of turning 16 yrs.
This is now my all time favorite reaction video.
Thank you. 💛
Falco's album Einzelhaft is a classic.
Euro rappin' from the 80s!
I love this original version by Falco, but the English version by After The Fire is also quite good and was a big hit in many countries .. It's definitely worth checking out .. Cheers, Wayne
I would check what German music concerns: Kraftwerk (The Model), Nina Hagen Band...
And The Deutsche Neue Welle scene from the 80s. Bands like Fehlfarben, Spider Murphy Gang,, Rheingold with 'Dreiklangsdimensionen',...
I was a teen in the early 80’s in Guam on the south part of the island and the DJs played this song at our parties in German. This song got us dancing. It was mixed in with MJ’s Billie Jean, Genius of Love, Planet Rock, C’mon Eileen, etc.
Fuck. Yes. Such the jam. This reminds me of being a kid in the early 80s. I still own this 12” single. There is an English lyrics version as well, by Falco.
Ok, so it's nearly entirely in German language, and Brad is *still* trying to figure out the lyrics of the song. And even Lex got caught up the meaning too! 😆
I never knew the words or the meaning of the song but I always thought it sounded cool regardless!
LOL...I love you guys...Brad is concentrating with that WTF? look on his face while lex is smiling ear-to-ear rocking out . Great Reaction !
This was realy one of the most iconic songs in the 80´s. It blew my mind from the very firs bar and I need to play it thewhole day in a loop. It was so catchy! Juist genious and we teens of the 80s can pe proud of having experienced all this stuff in real time.
Brad & Lex, For your 3rd Falco song, you would like his "Vienna Calling"!!
i love dancing to Vienna Calling. LOL
I love the video!! Great song
I think Falco had English versions of both this and "Rock me Amadeus". You guys should check them out
There's an English version of this song. I hated this song when it first came out, but I really like it now. Sad that he was decapitated in a freak car accident just when he was making a new comeback album.
All the German I know I learned from Falco, including the most important question....."Alles klar Herr Kommissar?" :D
You crack me up, Brad.
Vienna Calling, and Rock me Amadeus are good as well.
A great 80's song. Try listening to Fade to Grey - Visage.
Definitely!
Ok, so you broke though the language barrier... time for "99 Luftballons"! (The official German version please)
Ausgezeichnet! It works in German. The English is... weird.
There’s an English version of this song
Performed by the group After the Fire.
a great example of Viennese dialect of German. Falco was so famous in Austria that a top restaurant called the Marchfelderhof (known for being favored by musicians over the past 5 decades) created a dining area called the "Falco Separee" which has actual memorabilia from Falcos life.
After the fire, or a band with a name like that came along shortly after and converted it all to English and tried to mimic them perfectly but it just wasn't nearly as good. But at least people could understand it and that was also quite popular. But I guarantee you, the hip kids always put this on and people would go dance to it.
It's always cool to give non-english music some appreciation! You should check out some Japanese bands too, they also go back and forth between singing in Japanese and English a lot. I'd recommend starting with the band "X Japan", they're kind of like the Kiss or Queen of Japan.
I recommend "Vienna Calling" and "The Sound of Muzik" (pronounced moo-zeek) next.
Heck, even "Push! Push!" sounds like it got cribbed off the PlayStation game "WipeOut". Good techno/dance track ...
Good old 80’s tune!!
dance music came out at the same time as psychedelic furs and The Tubes, reminds me if jesus lizard "Right here right now" which came out later
Falco was from Austria & grewup in the 60s & 70s as "Denglish" (mixing English words into German language sentences) became popular, largely with the youth. From what I've heard Denglish is fairly common with native German speakers.
Whenever I hear this song it makes me remember Aus der Reihe Derrick ; the Derrick series. Falco RIP man. Cheers Robin
the video is hilarious! Very catchy song!
I was stationed in Germany in the 1980s and lived there for three years..."Alles Klar Her Kammissar" roughly translates to "Is everything alright officer?"
A fun song, I never cared about the lyrics, just enjoyed the music. He had a few good songs
Brad’s “Can’t catch me” was hot! 🤣
Lol AGES ago we used to do aerobics to this song. Hey it worked 😂
Dra di ned um - means don't turn around, the commissioner is in town...
Dear commissar is the commissioner
Don't look around... Der Kammissar's in town...
Fun fact: falco gets played in one episode of friends. A flashback scene from Rachel's prom (if I remember correctly?) As a German person I immediately noticed it and geeked so much about the fact that it fits into the time of Rachel's teenage years. Absolutely amazing 😂
alles klar herr kommissar = Is everything OK, Officer?
der kommissar = the commissioner
Funny how Brad describes German. Greetings from Germany! 🙂
rip falco
There is an English version you guys have to check out as well
Falco is here but the song should properly credited as by the band After the Fire, of which Falco was a member.
falco was a superstar in the 80s and had a tragic end.but his music is to this day still great
To comfort Brad and Lex: nobody outside of Wien understands the lyrics :D
Translation ..literal.. although his lyrics are for the most part in very cryptical Viennese slang so I will add some disclaimers of meaning, because I´m Viennese and therefore I understand the slang which a German or someone who understands German very likely won´t when he is taking the lyrics literal.
By the way and Fun Fact : Africa Bambaataa one of the founders of Hip Hop played that song on his Hip Hop parties as well, it was - the first "non-english rap song on record" ever - therefore it got an "exotic status" in his DJ repertoire back in 1982.
2, 3, 4 ..1, 2, 3,
There is nothing in it
when I tell you the story
Nevertheless
I´m already used to it
that on TV it isn´t aired.
Cha..She was young
her heart so pure and white
but every night had its price
She says: "Sugar Sweet
you got me rapp´ing to heat"
I understand, she is hot.
She says: "Babe, you know
I miss my funky friends"
She meant Jack and Joe and Jill.
My funk comprehension is just enough in a pinch
and I´m figuring out what she wants now.
I´m thinking to myself, her nose speaks for itself
while I´m still smoking
The "special places" she knows quite well
I mean she is traveling "Subway" as well
(Disclaimer: "Subway" is a reference to a Viennese Night Club named after a Subway Line and the scene in that Night Club was comparabel to the NY Night Club scene of the "Studio 54"
Those lyrics are very cryptical and basically the meaning is = he met a young innocent looking girl but she wants Cocaine which she will get in that special Night Club from her "funky friends" Jack, Joe and Jill and he has to pay for it)
There they sing:
(Chorus)
Don´t turn around Oh Oh Oh
Look out the Kommissar goes around Oh Oh Oh (disclaimer: Kommissar = Police Lieutenant)
He will look at you , and you know exactly why
The lust of life will make you die.
(Interlude)
Hey man, wanna buy some stuff man?
Did you ever rap that thing, Jack?
So rap it to the beat (Disclaimer : those are "the funky friends" selling drugs)
We meet Jill and Joe and his brother Hip
and the rest of the Cool Gang
they rap back and forth
and inbetween they are scratching off the wall.
(Disclaimer: Those are always high and if not then they are on cold turkey)
The case is clear, dear Mr. Kommissar
even when you disagree
"The snow" we use to ski downhill
is known by every kid nowadays.
Now the nursery rhyme:
(Chorus)
Don´t turn around Oh Oh Oh
Look out the Kommissar goes around Oh Oh Oh
He has the power and we are little and stupid
and that frustration is making us mute.
Don´t turn around Oh Oh Oh
The Kommissar is going around Oh Oh Oh
If he is adressing you
and you are knowing why
tell him your life is making you die.
The "After the Fire" coverversion in English has in behalf of the lyrics just taken some small bits and pieces of that song and is lyric-wise way shorter and meaning-wise "a clean song" without any cocaine references while Falco´s original is a song about cocaine abuse but hidden in the slang for the German music market...in the early 80ties no song got on air which openly had a drug topic those were all banned on radio and TV back then therefore it is encrypted and made Nr 1 in the billboard charts in almost whole Europe and Japan and Top 10 in Australia...and in the US it became Nr 19 in the Club Dance Charts as the one and only non english track because Africa Bambaataa played it on his legendary Hip Hop parties.
I want my MTV 😁
Wasn't there an English version? I seemed to remember.
He speaks german ina an austrian way
There are 2 songs that have played somewhere (living rent free) in my head FOREVER : #1 Sanford & Son theme, seriously its my theme music for life😂 # 2 The English version of the chorus of Der Kammissar " Dont Turn around, Uh Ohh ! " anytime something bad happens that line starts playing in my head.😅 Weird?
I highly recommend "Junge Römer", there's a legendary live version from the Donauinselfest 1993 which has a sound quality that even rivals the quality of the song itself XD
I love his voice. He was a great pop singer. He even raps too. Einzelhaft was a fine pop album. Check it out. Some killer tracks there.
No fun. Actually took German in high school so I totally understood this but it's not a complicated story and there are a lot of cognates you can look for. Der Kommissar is basically their local chief of police or examiner that comes into town to trace down the party scene. He's telling a story about his brother and whatnot. But it doesn't matter. This song as someone else said below, would send people to the dance floor immediately and it was so hip at the time. I'm actually a big fan of listening to music that you don't know the language because it makes you focus on all of the other aspects of it. I love to listen to Elis Regina singing in Portuguese from Brazil. There are a lot of French punk bands that just sound so awesome and yet I have no idea what they're saying because I don't understand French at all.
"Taking German in high school" is not gonna cut it to "totally understand" this fast rapping in Vienna German.
Just the first two sentences are not too easy to understand:
"Two, three, four, eins, zwei, drei
Na, es is nichts dabei
Wenn ich euch erzaehle die Geschichte
Nichts desto trotz, ich bin es schon gewohnt
Im tv-funk da laeuft es nicht, jah"
Or even the hook: "Dreh dich nicht um".
There's a full English version that was released back then
vaguely translated it's "don't turn around, the cops are around"
Falco was so funny. Der Komisar by After The Fire has English lyrics.
Both versions are fire. The video for the Austrian version is campy but funny. This'll be fire forever.
Maestro Fresh Wes - Let Your Backbone Slide