King of Germany (song)

König von Deutschland is a song by Rio Reiser that appeared on his solo debut album Rio I in November 1986 and was released as a single .

Rio Reiser himself is often referred to as "King of Germany" after this song.

Originally the song was written in 1975 (with different verse texts) for Reiser's band Ton Steine Scherben at the time and was occasionally played in 1976 at some of the band's appearances. For the compilation Deutschland - Das Beste von Rio Reiser , the song was re-recorded in 1994 with a text updated by Reiser as version # 94 and released again as a single.

song lyrics

The song is a satirical reflection of German politics and popular culture in the mid-1980s. The text has been changed and repackaged over and over again, partly by Reiser himself, partly by other interpreters.

In Germany the song is now part of folklore , even decades after its publication, many people can sing along with most of the lyrics. It doesn't matter that the text is changed slightly. In many places it is often interpreted intentionally changed in order to create a more up-to-date political reference.

The beginning and chorus are as follows:

Every night at half past twelve when the television roars

I lie down on the bed and take a look at myself

How it would be if I wasn't who I am

But chancellor, emperor, king or queen

(from here on there are lists of what you would do as a king)

Refrain :

All of that and much more

I would do it

If I were king of Germany

Allusions to known people

The following famous personalities from contemporary history are mentioned in the lyrics:

Version from 1986

Helmut Kohl , then Federal Chancellor
Antonio Vivaldi , composer
Ronny = Ronald Reagan , then US President
Robert Lembke , moderator of What am I?
Sissi = Elisabeth of Austria-Hungary , Austrian Empress
Helmut Schmidt , former Federal Chancellor D.
Franz Josef Strauss , then Bavarian Prime Minister
Reinhard Mey , songwriter
Paola and Kurt Felix , moderator duo of Do you understand fun?

Version from 1994

Birgit Broiler = Birgit Breuel , board spokeswoman for the Treuhandanstalt

The princes , music group

Hans Meiser , moderator

Klaus Kinkel , then Foreign Minister

Rudolf Scharping , former SPD candidate for chancellor

Rudi Carrell , entertainer and presenter

Karel Gott , pop singer

Thomas Gottschalk , moderator

Alexander Schalck-Golodkowski , GDR foreign exchange procurer

Cover versions

There are numerous cover versions of the song , some with changed texts, among others by CIA with Axel Kurth ( WIZO ) and Bela B. ( Die Ärzte ), by JBO , by Ferris MC , Roger Cicero , Bill Kaulitz from Tokio Hotel , Daniel Küblböck , Der Checker , Mono & Nikitaman , Gregor Meyle and from the band Echt . A “female” version with the title Queen of Germany is available from Nessi Tausendschön .

Trivia

After Rio Reiser joined the PDS in 1990 , he allowed the PDS to use the title King of Germany, sung by a children's choir, as an election song . Among other things, this meant that the original was hardly played on the radio and the video clip was boycotted by VIVA .

The song plays an elementary role in the action thriller The Phantom by Dennis Gansel . Here the song is sung by Hilmi Sözer and Jürgen Vogel .

At the end of 2006, the retail chain Media Markt used the melody and text lines for an advertising campaign.

The song was also part of a commercial for Legoland Germany in a modified form.

On the Ki.Ka summer tour in 2008, the lion Oli sang the song entitled King of the Animals .

The satirical program Extra 3 used the song as a model for a song of derision about the Limburg bishop Franz-Peter Tebartz van Elst .

In 2013, Peter Zudeick published the book Everything and much more we would do if we were Chancellor of Germany.

In the satirical program heute-show , the song was adapted into a mocking song about the then newly elected US President Donald Trump and performed by Carolin Kebekus .

The US metal band Metallica played the song during an open-air concert in front of 60,000 spectators on the Mannheim Maimarkt site on August 25, 2019. The piece was part of the so-called show sequence "The Outlaw Torn".

Web links

Lyrics with guitar chords by König von Deutschland on RioLyrics.de
Statement from Reiser's brother Peter Möbius on the "sell-out" of the song on mediacube.de (PDF; 93 kB)

Individual evidence

↑ Rio Reiser: CD "RIO I." ( Memento from October 16, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) In: rioreiser.de. Retrieved September 9, 2016.
↑ Hartwig Tegeler: From the barricades to the hit parades. Yes, he too, the king, the king too was born once. In: dradio.de. Deutschlandradio , May 20, 2009, accessed on September 9, 2016.
↑ Christof Bock: Drugs destroyed "the king". In: Stern.de . August 20, 2006, accessed September 9, 2016.
↑ ^a ^b Hunz and art - The Mozart balls and the Rioferkel. In: mediacube.de. Retrieved September 9, 2016 (PDF; 95 kB).
↑ ^a ^b Lyrics - "King of Germany". ( Memento from October 17, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) In: rioreiser.de. Retrieved September 9, 2016.
↑ List of cover versions. In: koenigvondeutschland.de. Retrieved September 9, 2016.
↑ Simone Glöckler: Rio Reiser: A singing visionary. In: ndr.de. Norddeutscher Rundfunk , January 6, 2010, archived from the original on June 24, 2013 ; accessed on September 9, 2016 .
↑ Hollow Skai: Rio versus the rest of the world. In: Rolling Stone 5/1995.
↑ kab: PHOTOS from the Metallica concert in Mannheim on the Maimarkt area. mannheim24.de, August 26, 2019, accessed on August 27, 2019 .
↑ livemusicfan: Metallica Concert Setlist at Maimarktgelände, Mannheim on August 25, 2019. setlist.fm, August 23, 2019, accessed on August 27, 2019 .

[1] Rio Reiser: CD "RIO I." ( Memento from October 16, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) In: rioreiser.de. Retrieved September 9, 2016.

[2] Hartwig Tegeler: From the barricades to the hit parades. Yes, he too, the king, the king too was born once. In: dradio.de. Deutschlandradio , May 20, 2009, accessed on September 9, 2016.

[3] Christof Bock: Drugs destroyed "the king". In: Stern.de . August 20, 2006, accessed September 9, 2016.

[hunzundkunst-4] Hunz and art - The Mozart balls and the Rioferkel. In: mediacube.de. Retrieved September 9, 2016 (PDF; 95 kB).

[text-5] Lyrics - "King of Germany". ( Memento from October 17, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) In: rioreiser.de. Retrieved September 9, 2016.

[6] List of cover versions. In: koenigvondeutschland.de. Retrieved September 9, 2016.

[7] Simone Glöckler: Rio Reiser: A singing visionary. In: ndr.de. Norddeutscher Rundfunk , January 6, 2010, archived from the original on June 24, 2013 ; accessed on September 9, 2016 .

[8] Hollow Skai: Rio versus the rest of the world. In: Rolling Stone 5/1995.

[9] : PHOTOS from the Metallica concert in Mannheim on the Maimarkt area. mannheim24.de, August 26, 2019, accessed on August 27, 2019 .

[10] vemusicfan: Metallica Concert Setlist at Maimarktgelände, Mannheim on August 25, 2019. setlist.fm, August 23, 2019, accessed on August 27, 2019 .