Alone alone
| Alone alone | |
|---|---|
| Arctic Circle 18 | |
| publication | September 19, 2008 |
| length | 4:00 |
| Genre (s) | Breaks, electro , pop rock , synth pop |
| Author (s) |
Ludwig Bauer, Christian Grochau, Philipp Makolies, Uwe Pasora , Felix Räuber , Bernhard Wenzel |
| album | The Color of Snow |
| Cover versions | |
| 2008 | Arctic Circle 18 vs. Nephew |
| 2012 | luca Haenni |
| 2012 | Pryda |
Alone Alone is a song by German electro - band Polarkreis 18 . The piece is the first single from their third studio album The Color of Snow . The piece became known throughout Europe in the translations Alone Alene (Danish), Allien, Alone (Dutch) or Alone Alone (English).
Creation and artwork
The song was written jointly by the 18 members of the Arctic Circle, Ludwig Bauer, Christian Grochau, Philipp Makolies, Uwe Pasora, Felix Räuber and Bernhard Wenzel. Together with Jochen Naaf and Mario Thaler, the band was also responsible for the production of the piece. During production, the Pro Tools audio editor software was used, which was implemented by Falko Duczmal. The mastering was done by the Skyline Tonfabrik, under the direction of Kai Blankenberg. The song was mixed by OLAF Opal . The sound engineers for this project were Ludwig Bauer, Philipp Makolies, Felix Räuber, Jörg Siegeler and Markus Schlichtherle. The recordings took place in the Wilzhofen studio in Weilheim (Upper Bavaria) . Polarkreis 18 received musical support from the Babelsberg German Film Orchestra , which was conducted by Jörg Iwer . The orchestral sounds were arranged and produced by Sven Helbig , the mixing and recording was done by Michael Schubert.
Only a block of ice can be seen on the cover of the single . In the middle of the block there is a black, round sticker with the artist name and the song title on it. The artwork is from Arctic Circle 18.
Publication and promotion
The first release of Alone Alone was on September 19, 2008 as a CD single in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. The song was published under the music label Vertigo Berlin , published by Hanseatic Musikverlag and distributed by Universal Music Publishing . The CD single was initially released as a 2-track single and included a remix version by the Danish rock band Nephew as the B-side. In Denmark, the remix version was released as the A-side under the project name “Polarkreis 18 vs. Nephew ”published. Three weeks later on October 10, 2008, another 2-track single was released, which instead of the remix contained a bonus video from Melt 2007. Another week later, Polarkreis 18's third studio album, The Color of Snow , was released, on which Alone Alone is part of it. On December 8, 2008, a maxi-single was released to alone . This consisted of five titles and contained the song Operation Sun as B-sides as well as three remixes alone . Two months after the maxi single was released, another 2-track single with a new remix by $ olal + Müller was released on February 9, 2009. In addition, other promotional sound carriers were released , including a vinyl record , which contains the follow-up single The Color of Snow as the B-side . On April 10, 2020, a remix version by the German DJs Frey and Sway Gray was released as streaming. The two were able to win the Arctic Circle 18 singer Felix Räuber as an official guest singer.
Alone served as the theme music for Marco Kreuzpaintner's real- life film adaptation of Krabat and was played in the credits. However , the song was not to be found on the official soundtrack album for the film.
Remix versions
- 2008: Alone Alone ( Bodi Bill RMX)
- 2008: Alone Alone (Heller & Nephew Rework)
- 2008: Alone Alone (reworked by Nephew)
- 2008: Alone Alone ( ZPYZ RMX)
- 2009: Alone Alone ($ olal + Müller Remix)
- 2009: Alone Alone ( Alex C Rmx)
- 2009: Alone Alone (Metal on Metal Rmx)
- 2009: Alone Alone ( Schiller Rmx)
- 2020: We're Not Alone (Alone Alone) (Remix by Frey, Sway Gray)
Controversy in Israel
The MP Arieh Eldad , at the time a member of the Knesset for the secular right wing party Hatikva , wrote in two letters to Defense Minister Ehud Barak and the commander of the army radio in 2009 calling for the song to be banned. The reason for this was that the song contained "German words", said a spokesman for Eldad to the German Press Agency (dpa) in Jerusalem . Eldad boycotted Chancellor Angela Merkel's speech in front of the Israeli parliament last year . The boycott attempt was unsuccessful. The army radio will never agree that a song is deleted from the track list for "racist reasons".
The Israeli daily Haaretz reported that the MP from the nationalist party Nationale Union had demanded a playback ban due to the “association of the German language with the Holocaust ”.
The Maariv newspaper quoted Eldad's letter. In it, he was of the opinion that the song hurt the feelings of Holocaust survivors. Eldad wrote, "I would be grateful if you instructed to stop playing the song". It was also said that the refrain was shouted by a mass of voices. Eldad wrote: "As long as Jews live in Israel who are transported back to the time of persecution during the Holocaust in Europe by shouting in German , one cannot trample on their feelings."
content
The lyrics to alone alone are bilingual in German and English, the lyrics are mostly in English, only the line “We are alone, alone alone, alone alone” in the chorus and occasional “alone alone” exclamations in the background are in German . The music and the text were written and composed jointly by the Polarkreis 18 members Ludwig Bauer, Christian Grochau, Philipp Makolies, Uwe Pasora, Felix Räuber and Bernhard Wenzel. Musically, the song moves in the area of breaks , electro , pop-rock and synth pop .
Some listeners accused the band of promoting a selfish society in the song . Räuber stated in an interview that Alone Alone has a very simple text, but still hides a profound message behind it. It is also the title they have worked on the longest for the current album. Unfortunately, the message didn't get across to everyone, that's a shame, as you can see from such comments. The content of the piece is actually very clear and simple. It is about describing loneliness in an anonymous way. You are in the club with others, but everyone is dancing for themselves. The band tried to get to the point as simply as possible. Räuber cited the paradoxical reason that the more people live together in one area, the greater the loneliness, as the reasons for this massive aloneness. That's why they sing in the song "We are alone". People would all live together and yet everyone was somehow alone. But that doesn't only have negative sides. For robbers, it is very important to be alone sometimes, because he can only come to a lot of thoughts for himself when nobody else is there. But on the other hand, people are of course also very important and love, which you can only experience as a couple. It should be a good mix and it should be found in life.
The song is built on two verses, a hookline and a chorus . The song begins with the first verse, followed by the refrain for the first time. The same process is repeated with the second stanza. After the second chorus, the hookline follows for the first time, which only consists of the repetitive exclamation "Alone". After the hookline comes the chorus again and at the end of the song the hookline again. The main vocals of the song come from Polarkreis-18 frontman Felix Räuber, a 2,000-strong choir can be heard in the background . The choir recordings were made at the Christmas concert on December 25, 2007 in the old slaughterhouse in Dresden .
- Refrain, original excerpt from "Alone Alone"
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- Refrain, original excerpt from "Alone Alone"
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- Refrain, translation
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Music video
The music video for Alone Alone was shot on a Norwegian fjord and can be divided into two sections, which can be seen alternately. For one thing, you can see the band playing the song. The band is mostly dressed in white and plays with white instruments in a completely white room. On the other hand, the Arctic Circle 18 members can be seen how they move through a mountainous landscape - each on their own . The total length of the video is 2:49 minutes. Directed by the Berlin director Hagen Decker, as co-director was Stefan Guzy at his side. To date, the music video has over 10.5 million views on YouTube (as of April 2020).
In 2009 , at the suggestion of MTV Germany , the music video was nominated for an Echo Pop in the “Video (national)” category, but Gib mir Sonne was defeated by Rosenstolz.
Contributors
Song production
- Ludwig Bauer : artwork (cover), composer , songwriter , music producer , sound engineer
- Kai Blankenberg: Mastering
- German Film Orchestra Babelsberg : Orchestra
- Falko Duczmal: audio editor
- Christian Grochau : artwork (cover), composer, songwriter, music producer
- Sven Helbig : arrangement , music producer
- Jörg Iwer : conductor
- Philipp Makolies : artwork (cover), composer, songwriter, music producer, sound engineer
- Jochen Naaf : music producer
- OLAF Opal : Mixing
- Uwe Pasora : artwork (cover), composer, songwriter, music producer
- Felix Räuber : artwork (cover), vocals , composer, songwriter, music producer, sound engineer
- Markus Schlichtherle: sound engineer
- Michael Schubert: Mixing , sound engineer
- Jörg Siegeler: sound engineer
- Mario Thaler: music producer
- Bernhard Wenzel : artwork (cover), composer, songwriter, music producer
Music video
- Raphael Beinder: gaffer
- Kristian Berg: Production Assistant
- Hagen Decker: executive producer , film editor , director
- Stefan Guzy: art director , co-director
- Erik Heldal: gaffer
- Kieran Joel: film producer
- Florian Kaltenbach: film editor
- Philipp Kirsamer: cameraman
- Michael Peterssohn: still photographer
- Cornelius Plache: Illuminator
- Karim Rahmani: camera assistant
- Teja Hendrik Schwede: camera assistant
- Steffen Cornelius Tralles: assistant director
- Franziska Zahl: production assistant
Companies
- Hanseatic Musikverlag : Verlag
- Skyline Tonfabrik: recording studio
- Studio Wilzhofen: recording studio
- Universal Music Publishing : Distribution
- Vertigo Berlin : music label
reception
Reviews
The RP Online believes that the music piece polarize because it connect "Experimental Sound" with "cheap Euro-disco". They also stated that a song is not bad just because it is played on the radio x times a day. That same year the Killers proved that with Human . Both pieces are similar: Disco meets emotion!
Oliver Ding from Plattentests.de rated the album The Color of Snow with seven out of ten points and highlighted it alone as one of the “highlights”. In his review, Ding came to the conclusion that the bridge of the song was "strikingly" reminiscent of A Walk in the Park by the Nick Straker Band .
Charts and chart placements
Alone reached the top position of the single Top 100 in Germany and was able to place himself on this for a total of five weeks as well as 20 weeks in the top 10 and 49 weeks in the hit parade. In Austria the single reached position two and had to admit defeat to Hot n Cold by Katy Perry for three weeks . The single was able to stay in the top 10 for ten weeks and in the charts for 34 weeks. In Switzerland alone, Alone also reached the top 10 with position seven and was able to place itself in this for four weeks and in the charts for 36 weeks. In 2008, the single was placed at position 13 in the German single annual charts. In 2009 the single was placed 15 in the German single annual charts, 25 in Austria and 41 in the annual charts in Switzerland. Outside of the DA-CH countries, the single also reached chart listings in Belgium (Flanders + Wallonia), Denmark and the Netherlands.
For Polarkreis 18, Alone alone represents the first chart success in the single charts worldwide.
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Awards for music sales
In 2009 the single was awarded a platinum record in Denmark and Germany. Ten years after its first release, the single finally received triple gold for over 450,000 units sold in Germany. In total, the single received two gold and two platinum awards for 480,000 units sold.
| Country / Region | Award | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Awards for music sales (country / region, Award, Sales) |
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 Denmark (IFPI)
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 platinum
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30,000 |
 Germany (BVMI)
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 3 × gold
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450,000 |
| All in all |
1 × gold 2 × platinum |
480,000 |
Cover versions
Version by Luca Hänni
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Chart positions Explanation of the data |
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The Swiss singer and songwriter performed with the title during the final show of the ninth season of Deutschland sucht den Superstar . Hänni sang the song in the first of three rounds, in which the performers appeared with a title of their choice. His competitor Daniele Negroni chose Dance with Somebody by Mando Diao . At the end of the evening, Hänni prevailed against Negroni with 52.85%. The song was part of Hänni's debut album My Name Is Luca in a version produced by Dieter Bohlen . His interpretation was never officially published as a single, but reached the charts due to high individual downloads. The song was placed in the Swiss charts for a week and reached position 55.
Version of Pryda
2012 published Swedish House - DJ and producer Eric Prydz one of his self-produced cover version with the title alone . Prydz released the piece under his pseudonym "Pryda" on the music label Vertigo Records . The single was first released on May 14, 2012 as a single download in the UK. In German-speaking countries, the download appeared a week later on May 21, 2012 as a promo single . In the meantime, the album Eric Prydz Presents Pryda was released on May 18, 2012, on which the title is included. In his home country Sweden a CD promo single was released, which only contained the "original version" of the song. There were no major chart successes in the official charts, but Alone was able to place himself on position twelve of the US Billboard Dance Club Songs .
More cover versions
- 2008: Eric Chase
- 2010: medlz
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c repertoire search. online.gema.de, accessed on April 8, 2019 .
- ↑ a b c d Polarkreis 18 - The Color of Snow (CD, album). discogs.com, accessed April 8, 2019 .
- ↑ a b c Arctic Circle 18 - Alone Alone Releases. discogs.com, accessed April 8, 2019 .
- ↑ a b “Alone Alone”: The hit from the ice. tz.de, March 7, 2009, accessed April 8, 2019 .
- ↑ a b c Arctic Circle 18 - Alone Alone. austriancharts.at, accessed on April 8, 2019 .
- ↑ We Are Not Alone (Alone Alone) (feat. Felix Räuber) / Frey. listen.tidal.com, accessed April 28, 2020 .
- ↑ Krabat (2008) - Soundtracks. imdb.com, accessed April 8, 2019 .
- ↑ Annette Focks - Krabat - The original soundtrack for the film (CD, album). discogs.com, accessed April 8, 2019 .
- ^ Dpa: Israel: Parliamentarians against the German song "Alone, Alone". hna.de, May 6, 2009, accessed April 9, 2019 .
- ↑ a b c David Sarkar: You have no private life on tour. planet-interview.de, March 18, 2009, accessed April 9, 2019 .
- ↑ a b c Polarkreis 18 - Alone Alone, music video, 2008. crew-united.com, accessed on April 8, 2019 .
- ↑ rap2soul Editor: ECHO 2009: All award winners and winners of the ECHO Award - Peter Fox big winner - Amy Winehouse also there. rap2soul.de, accessed on April 9, 2019 .
- ↑ Arctic Circle 18 - only in the Ice Age. rp-online.de, January 2, 2009, accessed April 9, 2019 .
- ↑ Oliver Ding: The white ballet. plattentests.de, accessed on April 9, 2019 .
- ↑ Arctic Circle 18 - Alone Alone (song). danishcharts.dk, accessed on April 9, 2019 .
- ^ Arctic Circle 18 - Alone Alone (Single). officialcharts.de, accessed on April 9, 2019 .
- ↑ Arctic Circle 18 - Alone Alone. hitparade.ch, accessed on April 9, 2019 .
- ↑ Top 100 annual single charts 2008. officialcharts.de, accessed on April 9, 2019 .
- ↑ Top 100 annual single charts 2009. officialcharts.de, accessed on April 9, 2019 .
- ^ Annual Hit Parade Singles 2009. austriancharts.at, accessed on April 9, 2019 .
- ^ Swiss annual hit parade 2009. hitparade.ch, accessed on April 9, 2019 .
- ↑ Track Top-40 - Uge 24-2009. hitlisten.nu, accessed April 9, 2019 (Danish).
- ↑ Gold / platinum database. musikindustrie.de, accessed on April 9, 2019 .
- ↑ a b Luca Hänni - Alone alone. hitparade.ch, accessed on April 9, 2019 .
- ↑ a b Chart Search. billboard.com, accessed April 9, 2019 .
- ↑ a b Pryda - Alone. discogs.com, accessed April 9, 2019 .
- ↑ Pryda - Alone. austriancharts.at, accessed on April 9, 2019 .
- ↑ a b Arctic Circle 18 - Alone Alone (2008). cover.info, accessed April 9, 2019 .