God is a pop star
| God is a pop star | |
|---|---|
| Oomph! | |
| publication | February 24, 2006 |
| length | 3:53 |
| Genre (s) |
Industrial , new German hardness |
| Author (s) | Andreas Crap, Robert Flux, Dero Goi |
| album | FaithLoveDeath |
Gott ist ein Popstar is a song of the German New-German hardship - band Oomph! , which also became known internationally in its English-language version God Is a Popstar . The piece is the first single from their ninth studio album GlaubeLiebeTod .
Creation and artwork
The song was recorded, played in, written and produced by the three Oomph! Members Andreas Crap, Robert Flux and Dero Goi . The band was supported by the Swedish producer Daniel Gibson with the sound recording. Mixing and engineering were done by Flux. Both activities took place in the nail salon. The piece was mastered by La Source Mastering, under the direction of studio owner Jean-Pierre Chalbos and his assistant Jean-Sébastien Dupuis. Gott ist ein Popstar was released under the music label Gun Records , published by Hanseatic Musikverlag and distributed by Sony BMG Music Entertainment and Warner / Chappell .
On the cover of the single - in addition to the artist name and song title - the Grim Reaper can be seen with outstretched arms and a scythe in his left hand, in the middle of a flock of sheep . An “X” can be seen in the thundery clouds above him. The cover picture was shot by Bernd Wondollek; Inside the CD is a portrait of the band that was shot by Ralf Strathmann. The artwork and design comes from the Bremen- based publisher Fuego and was created under the direction of the owner Friedel Muders .
Publication and promotion
The first publication of God is a pop star took place on February 24, 2006 in Germany, Austria and Switzerland . It was released simultaneously as a 2-track single and a limited premium single. On the 2-track single there is only the A-side God is a pop star and the B-side I want your soul . There are a total of five recordings on the maxi single. In addition to the radio version about God is a pop star , there is a so-called “Transporter Room Mix” on the premium version. In addition, the premium single contains the B-side fragment , I want your soul and Do you know how many stars are . The titles Fragment and Do you know how many stars are not on the studio album GlaubeLiebeTod , which is why they were advertised as "non-album recordings". However, at the end of the year the best-of album Delikatessen was released on which both songs can be found. In the course of the year, various promotional sound carriers were released , all of which differ in the selection and number of B-sides. Among other things, various remix versions can be found on these.
For the B-side of the next but one single release Die Schlinge took Oomph! the piece in English. This first appeared on July 28, 2006. For the first time on an album by Oomph! the English version appeared on the compilation Truth or Dare in 2010.
Remix versions
- God is a Pop Star (Confessional Remix)
- God is a Popstar (Principal Alternative Remix) (Remix by Jan Löchel and Vincent Sorg )
- God is a Popstar (Silverstar Remix) (Remix of Silverstar)
- Gott ist ein Popstar (Sunwater Dirty Mix) (Remix by Jan Löchel and Vincent Sorg)
- Gott ist ein Popstar (Transporterraum Mix) (Remix by Ben Lauber )
- God is a Popstar (Voltaxx Dogmatixx Dub Remixx) (Remix by Voltaxx)
- God is a Popstar (Voltaxx Dogmatixx Remixx) (Remix by Voltaxx)
background information
The title God is a pop star caused an outcry from churches, television and radio stations, who accused the band and their work of blasphemy among other things . The radio station 1 Live rejected the piece on the grounds that the piece was inconsistent with the program principles, which, among other things, prohibit the violation of religious feelings.
The climax came when RTL Television had removed the band from the 2006 Echo Awards. According to RTL, the background is the disputes over the Mohammed caricatures and the resulting debate about the limits of art and satire . The rejection was made by RTL with the following words to the Oomph! Record company: "In the context of the current international religious discussions and in the light of a general responsibility, we see a performance of the song God is a pop star very skeptical, even as irresponsible" . The band itself said in an interview with the online magazine whiskey-soda :
“We like to hold up the mirror to society when we use it to stimulate discussion and reflection. And that probably brought us the echo discharge. The reason that the audience's feelings could be hurt? Hah! As if RTL had ever taken care not to hurt the audience's feelings in any of its programs, that's a joke. RTL has also exhausted the cartoon controversy to the last, and like many others tried to reproach the people of the Middle East for demanding so-called civilization and recognizing freedom. At the same moment, we are unloaded as a band because we have the freedom to think and criticize ourselves. That is more than questionable! "
According to the ddp news agency , there were allegedly even death threats from fanatical Christians.
content
The original lyrics to Gott ist ein Popstar are written in German. The music was created jointly by all three Oomph! Members Andreas Crap, Robert Flux and Dero Goi ; the text was written by Dero alone. Musically, the song moves in the field of industrial and the new German hardness . The tempo is 123 beats per minute . The song begins with the first verse, followed by the pre-chorus and then the actual chorus . The refrain is made up of two rhymes . The same process is repeated with the second stanza. After the second chorus there is a break before the third and final chorus follows. The first stanza consists of parts of the Our Father . This is spoken by von Dero and a twelve-member choir. The second stanza also consists of parts of the Our Father, but not a one-to-one adaptation, but a modified version. The following changes will be made:
- "Our Father in Heaven," → "Our Father in Heaven,"
- "Hallowed be your name," → "hallowed be the lie,"
- "Thy kingdom come," → "my flesh perish,"
- "Your will be done" → "my will be done"
- "As in heaven so also on earth" → "and heaven give us on earth"
- "And forgive us our debts" → "and forgive us our greed"
- "And lead us not into temptation," → "and lead us now into temptation"
- "But deliver us from all evil." → "and then deliver us from all evil."
In terms of content, the Wolfsburg-based band is primarily concerned with the media hype about so-called “pop stars” and the naivety with which people still follow the dogmas of the churches. According to the Radar agency, Oomph! With God, a pop star is consciously stimulating discussions, but not leaving the boundaries of our culture. The band announced to the news agency ddp that they were practicing “intelligent church criticism” with the text. They want to show how the church today markets itself in the media and how much more appearance than reality is.
- Refrain (in German), original excerpt
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- Refrain (in English), translation
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Music video
In the music video to God is a pop star playing Oomph! with some religious events. During the video, God and an unknown pop star are portrayed by a homeless person. The video begins with the three Oomph! Members, dressed in suits, stopping in their Mercedes limousine in an alley and picking up a homeless man whose face looks like God. When they get to the homeless man, he is sleeping on the floor. Dero kneels in front of him and holds his hand over him, from which a force emanates (shown with blue rays) that wakes the homeless and lets himself rise. They take him to a rundown building. At first you are in a corridor, at the end of which you can see a white light through which you walk. In the room hidden behind it, the homeless person is tied to a chair so that the band can "make up" him. During and after the makeover, scenes of the redesigned homeless man in the middle of a photo shoot can be seen again and again. During this photo shoot, the former homeless person is treated like a "pop star". After the shoot, he goes to his fans to give them autographs. From one scene to the other, all fans are gone and the "pop star" stands alone on the red carpet . A scene follows in which the Oomph! Members are sailing with him in a boat across a body of water. The video ends with the pop star being reanimated by a paramedic at the point where he was picked up as a homeless person. When he gets up again, he sees Dero in front of him, dressed as a grim reaper. Throughout the video, scenes of the band playing the song in the dilapidated building, with the homeless man acting as the drummer, can be seen repeatedly. Furthermore, Dero can be seen again and again as the Grim Reaper. The total length of the video is 4:04 minutes. As with the previous music videos, the director was again Joern Heitmann . To date, the music video has over 2.3 million views on YouTube (as of June 2018).
Contributors
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Song production
Artwork (cover)
Companies
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Music video
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reception
Reviews
Oliver Ding from the German-language e-zine Plattentests.de described God is a pop star as a stupid caricature of the Lord's Prayer and other religious chatter.
Michael Werneke from the German-language website terrorverlag.com comes to the following conclusion: The subject is the good old religion, and the naivety with which a majority of people still follow the dogmas of the churches. In the black scene you could no longer lure a flower pot in front of the fireplace, but it would still be enough for the VIVA generation and the dance floors of the clubs would glow. The text was skilfully performed with catchy riffs and a chorus that you could sing along more than easily after the second run at the latest. This is ideal for shows and upcoming festivals. God is a pop star could easily come from the predecessor . The structure of the track, the riffs and the overall picture of the single actually speak more for a further extraction from truth or dare than for a harbinger of the new work . While Werneke dear to the old pieces cripple or crucified griffins, the newer fans would catapult the "pop star" without question the charts and just prove what Dero accuses his text ...
Charts and chart placements
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Gott ist ein Popstar reached position twelve in the single charts in Germany and stayed in the charts for a total of eleven weeks. In Austria the single reached position 14 in twelve chart weeks and in Switzerland position 93 in just one chart week.
Oomph! reached the German charts for the eighth time, as well as for the fourth time in Austria and for the third time in Switzerland. It's open for your eyes! and Brennende Liebe, the band's third single, which was simultaneously placed in all DA-CH countries.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d Oomph! - God is a pop star. discogs.com, accessed March 4, 2018 .
- ↑ a b repertoire search. online.gema.de, accessed on March 4, 2018 .
- ↑ Oomph! - FaithLoveDeath. discogs.com, accessed March 4, 2018 .
- ↑ a b Oomph! - God is a pop star. austriancharts.at, accessed on March 4, 2018 .
- ↑ Oomph! - The loop. discogs.com, accessed March 4, 2018 .
- ↑ a b The first are already screaming about the sale ... laut.de, accessed on March 4, 2018 .
- ↑ a b RTL loads Oomph! out. n-tv.de, accessed on March 4, 2018 .
- ↑ The Wendigo: Oomph! - Controversy instead of ideal pop world ( Memento from July 31, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) whiskey-soda.de, March 2006, accessed on April 14, 2019.
- ↑ a b c Oomph! God is a pop star! Pro Contra. losteseelen.net, accessed March 4, 2018 .
- ↑ BPM for 'God is a Popstar' by 'Oomph!' songbpm.com, accessed March 4, 2018 .
- ↑ a b Oomph! - God is a pop star (single). terrorverlag.com, accessed March 4, 2018 .
- ↑ a b Oomph! - God is a Pop Star (2006). crew-united.com, accessed March 4, 2018 .
- ↑ Oomph! - FaithLoveDeath. plattentests.de, accessed on March 4, 2018 .
- ↑ Oomph! - God is a pop star. officialcharts.de, accessed on March 4, 2018 .
- ↑ Oomph! - God is a pop star. hitparade.ch, accessed on March 4, 2018 .