Musik (modern und klassisch)

Musik (modern und klassisch)

Band homepages Song Lyrics
Online Music Magazines/Sites

Classical Music
Miscellaneous Music Sites
  • Step into German: This site, created by the Goethe Institute, is a great starting point if you’re trying to find what young Germans are currently listening to. The URL keeps changing ==> just google “Step Into German” or “Step Into German Music”
    • The “Step Into German” site includes sections on Music, Film, Soccer, and “German(y)”
    • The “Music” section includes the headings “Clip of the Month,” “Music Videos,” “German Charts” etc.
    • Each music video is accompanied by a link to the lyrics in German with a parallel translation in English; often there is also a worksheet.
  • German Pulse Music Video Friday Every Friday, the German Pulse website selects two current music videos to highlight on their page. Browsing through their recent selections (and other articles) on this page is a great intro to currently popular/relevant German music.
  • Alex’ YouTube Kanal Alex makes his own YouTube videos with fairly literal translations of all kinds of Top 40 songs. Less funny than he thinks, but he’s found quite a large audience for his work.
  • 3 Motown Greats Who Recorded German Versions Of Their Hits Here’s the list, in case this page goes away: Marvin Gaye: Wie schön das ist (How Sweet It Is); The Temptations: Mein Girl smiley; The Supremes: Wo ist unsere Liebe? (Where Did Our Love Go?)

Band homepages (last update 2010)

  • Radio Goethe Click on “Playlists” to see playlists from their recent podcasts, and on “CD Reviews” to see info e.g. on some of their compilations of recent German music.
  • Goethe Institute:”Pop from Germany”  Lots of info and links re: contemporary German music – not just pop.
  • Ox Fanzine “Punk. Hardcore. Rock ‘N Roll.”
  • Google the word “Konzertberichte” to see how people talk about concerts they’ve attended!
  • 2raumwohnung Pop duo founded in 2000. Very mellow music.
  • ABBA Deutschland ABBA was huge in Germany 🙂
  • Die Ärzte Die Ärzte are a punk band and are known for their provocative lyrics (e.g. “Männer sind Schweine,” “Madonnas Dickdarm,” “Omaboy”
    etc.)
  • Wolf Biermann This link takes you to the Wikipedia entry for this provocative musician and writer. He voluntarily emigrated from West Germany to East Germany in 1953 at age 17, but was eventually expelled from the DDR and forced to move back to West Germany in 1976, because his songs were consistently critical of the DDR regime.
  • Bushido Fairly controversial rapper; born 1978.
  • Cro Refers to his music as “Raop”: a mix of rap and pop. Likes to wear a panda mask. His first album in 2012 was a huge success. Check out e.g. “Easy” (fun video; one of the most-viewed German music videos on YouTube) or “Du.”
  • Einstürzende Neubauten Industrial Band, formed 1980. Known e.g. for making instruments out of scrap metal. The kind of music Dieter from SNL’s “Sprockets” would like.
  • Eko Fresh German rapper.
  • Die fantastischen Vier (Fanta4) One of the original German hip-hop bands; popular since 1991 and still relevant in the 2010s. Check out their classic hit “Die da?!,” in which the two singers discover why their awesome new girlfriend is never free on Fridays; the acronym anthem “Mfg” (1999; “Mfg” = Mit freundlichen Grüßen, the standard ending for a formal letter); or “Ichisichisichisich” (2007).
  • Fettes Brot Hip-hop group that became popular in the 90s; some great lyrics. Check out e.g. their first big hit, “Nordisch by Nature” (1995; they’re from Hamburg); “Jein” (1996; Ja + Nein = Jein); or “Schwule Mädchen” (2001).
  • Herbert Grönemeyer Singer-songwriter, sort of a German Bruce Springsteen. Also one of the lead actors in the classic film Das Boot. At his concerts, he likes to have fans throw gummibears in his mouth. Classic hits include “Männer” and “Mensch,” and the incredibly sad “Der Weg,” written after his wife died.
  • Juli Pop band; around in its current form since 2001.
  • Kraftwerk Hugely influential electronic music band formed in 1970.
  • Madsen Fun indie-rock band popular with German teachers after some very successful concerts for German students in the U.S. Check out e.g. “Die Perfektion” and “Wo es beginnt.”
  • Modern Talking Deutschland Modern Talking was Dieter Bohlen and Thomas Anders, embarrassing one-hit wonders from the 80s. They have become cult figures of popular obsession and disgust. Dieter Bohlen, a favorite topic of German tabloids, plays the role of “Simon” on “Deutschland sucht den Superstar,” the German version of “American Idol,” i.e. he’s the mean-spirited #$%@& who entertains the nation by his vicious putdowns of the contestants.
  • Nena ==> 99 Luftballons (check out the German lyrics, where the 99 balloons cause a nuclear holocaust)
  • Nina Hagen Homepage The German “Godmother of Punk.”
  • Peter Fox Reggae and Hip-Hop musician. His “Stadtaffe”(2008) is one of the best German albums of the 2000s; check out “Haus am See” and “Alles neu.” Also part of the Reggae/Dancehall band Seeed – check out their Berlin anthem “Dickes B” (2001) or their ode to laziness, “Aufstehn!”
  • Pink Floyd auf Deutsch Tons of info, including German translations of the lyrics!
  • Die Prinzen Witty a capella group popular with German teachers (e.g. for Subjunctive II practice: “Ich wär so gerne Millionär…” (1991)); also check out “Deutschland” (2001) or “Be cool, speak Deutsch” (2009).
  • Rammstein Some very disturbing lyrics, but also lots of very clear, simple German, and interesting plays on words. Be careful, though, in following links to Rammstein videos, album covers etc. – they can look very offensive out of context (and may remain so even in context – a matter of much debate). Rammstein remains one of the most internationally successful German bands. Click here to find some excellent translations of the lyrics, next to the original German, and accompanied by occasional explanatory notes.
  • Reinhard Mey Songwriter known for his thought-provoking, sometimes humorous lyrics. Check out his classic “Über den Wolken,” imagining how free one must feel when flying above the clouds.
  • Die Scorpions Die international erfolgreichste [=most successful] deutsche Band.
  • Silbermond Mellow pop band.
  • Sportfreunde Stiller Indie Rock. Best known for their soccer anthem “’54, ’74, ’90”
  • Bruce Springsteen Fanseite
  • Die Toten Hosen Sie singen zum Beispiel das Lied “Bayern” (“Ich würde nie zum FC Bayern gehen…”). This webpage is available in German, English, Spanish and Polish.
  • Wir sind Helden Pop-rock band formed 2000; some interesting lyrics.
  • Wise Guys A capella group popular for their witty lyrics. Check out e.g. their literal Britney Spears translation, “Schlag mich Baby noch einmal.”

Song Lyrics

These are of course easy to Google nowadays, but here are a few compilation sites:

  • German for Music Lovers Great site with song lyrics to an eclectic range of newer and older songs, including vocab annotations and exercises.
  • Schnellsuche.de Lyrics und Songtext-Suche Search engine for finding song lyrics. Loads rather slowly on my computer, contrary
    to the name 🙂
  • SWR3 “Lyrix” German lyrics for lots of English songs. Based on a popular radio show.
  • Schlagertexte Lyrics for the 50 best (worst?) German “Schlager.” This word means “hits” [“schlagen = to hit”] but has come to designate specifically the kind of squeaky clean songs that one imagines only one’s parents listen to. Great for practicing your German, and maybe you can even persuade your instructor to play a couple of classics in class, like “Er hat ein knallrotes [=bright red] Gummiboot,” or “Aber bitte mit Sahne
    [=whipped cream]” [about a group of overweight ladies who want to have everything with whipped cream; concludes with the priest’s sermon at the funeral of the last of them, in which he expresses the hope “Dass der Herrgott den Weg in den Himmel ihr bahne [=that the Lord may open the way to heaven to her]/Aber bitte mit Sahne.”
  • Volkslieder Verzeichnis Very comprehensive site with lyrics, and in many cases sound files of the melodies, of German folk songs, religious hymns etc. A fun song to look for for starters is “Meine Oma fährt im Hühnerstall [=chicken coop] Motorrad.” A more serious song you may like,
    with lyrics by the poet Heinrich Heine, is “Die Lorelei.”

Online Music Magazines/Sites

Classical Music

  • Klassik.com Information über Konzerte, Orchester–alles, was Sie über klassische Musik wissen wollen.
  • Klassik heute Alles über “Klassische Musik heute”: CD-Besprechungen [=reviews], Konzertinformationen, Interviews mit Musikern usw.
  • “Alte Musik” Wikipedia Seite über “alte” klassische Musik (vor etwa 1750).

Miscellaneous Music Sites