The Sparrows and the Nightingales

The Sparrows and the Nightingales
Wolfsheim
publication	July 12, 1991
length	3:11 (radio version) 6:45 (album version)
Genre (s)	New wave , synth pop
Author (s)	Peter Heppner , Carlos Perón , Markus Reinhardt
album	No happy view
Cover version
1999	Mark 'Oh vs. John Davies

The Sparrows and the Nightingales ( English for The sparrows and the nightingales') is a song of the German synth pop - duo Wolfsheim . The piece is the debut single and first single from their debut album No Happy View, which was released the following year .

Creation and artwork

The song was written by Peter Heppner, Markus Reinhardt and Carlos Perón. The latter also mastered and produced the single. The song was arranged, recorded and mixed by the producer team Nine-O-Nine ( Jose Alvarez-Brill , Gento Navaho and Carlos Perón). Production took place in the following studios: recording and mixing in Musik Design in Aachen and mastering in the Cologne studios Sound Studio N (original version) and Tone de Cologne Mastering (single version). The single was released under the music label Strange Ways Records and distributed by EFA Medien GmbH Tonträger Produktion and Indigo .

On the pink-held Cover one - are the maxi-single - next artist name and song title Nightingale ( English 'and a Nightingale,) Sparrow ( English : Sparrow) to see'. Inside the maxi single you can find the following quote: “In Axel E. and god we trust, everyone else pays bar!” ( English for 'We trust Axel E and God, everyone else pays cash!')

Publication and promotion

The Sparrows and the Nightingales were first published on July 12, 1991 in Germany. In the same year there was a release in Austria and after more than three years a release in Spain followed in 1994. The piece was released as a maxi single and vinyl record . The maxi single and a 12 "vinyl record each contain the radio and album version of The Sparrows and the Nightingales as well as the song Leading Men as the B-side . A 7" vinyl record only contains the radio and album version of The Sparrows and the Nightingales . In addition, another 7 "vinyl record with the album version of The Sparrows and the Nightingales and Leading Men was released.

In 1995, in the course of the publication of the first best-of album 55578 by Wolfsheim, a promo CD of the same name was released , this only contained the radio version of The Sparrows and the Nightingales . For the 25th anniversary of The Sparrows and the Nightingales a new edition appeared on 12 "-Vinylplatte in the United States. George Horn of the Fantasy Studios in Berkeley ( California ) mastered the piece and Eloise Leigh designed the album covers new. The single includes Album and a remix version of The Sparrows and the Nightingales The cover was given a new color scheme, a new arrangement of the Wolfsheim logo and the representation of the nightingale and the sparrow.

background information

The success of The Sparrows and the Nightingales meant that Reinhardt dropped out of his studies in order to be able to concentrate fully on the music. In a 2003 interview, Wolfsheim stated that The Sparrows and the Nightingales were among their own favorite songs, alongside Kein zurück , Once in a Lifetime and Artificial Worlds .

Heppner sings the piece to this day at each of his solo concerts . During his acoustic tour in 2014, he told the audience that he or Wolfsheim had to play the song at every concert since the first major concerts and that there was hardly a song that he had played more often.

content

The lyrics to The Sparrows and the Nightingales are written in English, with the exception of the German line: “Where is the guide who guides me?”; Translated into German, the title means "The Sparrows and the Nightingales". The music and the text were written jointly by Peter Heppner, Carlos Perón and Markus Reinhardt. Musically, the song moves in the realm of new waves and synth-pop . The tempo is 122 beats per minute . The special thing about the song is that it doesn't consist of a fixed chorus. The refrain usually consists of four lines, two of which are fixed and two of which keep changing.

"Leaving home, and god is on your side, dividing sparrows from the nightingales, watching all the time, dividing water from the burning fire, inside." - Refrain, original excerpt

“You go out into the world; and 'someone' is by your side who knows the difference between sparrows and nightingales. He watches; and separates the soft water from the burning fire in you. " - Refrain, translation by Heppner

In the summer of 2016, Heppner described the genesis and content of the piece on his Facebook page as follows: “When I wrote the song, I was only 18 or 19 years old and was currently dealing very intensively with the subject of ' religion and society '. I was of the opinion that you don't need churches that have to tell you what is right and wrong and no leaders that you have to follow, because everyone actually knows the difference between good and bad, or has something like that a personal ' god ' at his side who 'separates the sparrows from the nightingales'. "

The lines of text “Where's the leader, who leads me? / Where is the leader who leads me? ”Caused a lot of annoyance in retrospect. Since the publication of these lines and in connection with the "Teutonic" band name Wolfsheim (which comes from F. Scott Fitzgerald 's The Great Gatsby ) they have often been placed in the political right corner . Heppner only said that such allegations come from critics who do not know any of their records and that they do not belong to the right-wing scene. Translating the “Führer line” into German was intended as a swipe and should refer to the not so glorious role of the churches in the Third Reich . The play has no political background, but rather a critical one. He went on to say that from the time it was published, he could no longer control what people make of it, how people understand it, or how they put the shoe on. That is not his job either. He's making an offer and that's the art he's doing. What people make of it is no longer his, but theirs.

Music video

The black and white music video for The Sparrows and the Nightingales was shot on the Lousberg in Aachen . On the one hand, the two Wolfsheim members can be seen playing the song in different locations. On the other hand, you can mostly see Heppner singing the song in front of a fireplace. The total length of the video is 3:20 minutes. Carlos Perón directed and produced. To date, the video has over 2.9 million views on YouTube (as of March 2019).

Contributors

Song production Jose Alvarez-Brill : Mixing , arranging , sound engineer Peter Heppner : vocals , composer , songwriter Gento Navaho: Mixing, arrangement, sound engineer Carlos Perón : Mixing, arrangement, composer, songwriter, mastering , music producer , sound engineer Markus Reinhardt : keyboard , composer, songwriter Music video Frank Mirbach: 2nd cameraman Carlos Perón: film producer , director Jan Wentz: 1st cameraman

Companies EFA Medien GmbH sound carrier production: distribution Indigo : distribution Music design: mixing, recording studio Sound Studio N: Mastering (Original) Strange Ways Records: Music label Tone de Cologne Mastering: Mastering (Single)

reception

To date, the song could not place in any official charts. According to the American music website Allmusic , The Sparrows and the Nightingales sold around 10,000 times, so the single sold very well for "underground ratios". Although this is a more commercially unsuccessful composition, it is but to date on numerous New Wave - and synthpop - samplers represented, which shows that this song but has a high priority in these scenes. In 2003, among others, the Italian DJ Gigi D'Agostino put the piece on his sampler Il programmino di Gigi D'Agostino . In addition to The Sparrows and the Nightingales , Wolfsheim's single It's Not Too Late (Don't Sorrow) was also included on the sampler.

Cover versions

Version of Mark 'Oh

The Sparrows and the Nightingales
Mark 'Oh vs. John Davies
publication	May 10, 1999
length	3:15 (radio version) 5:11 (album version)
Genre (s)	Eurodance
Author (s)	Peter Heppner , Carlos Perón , Markus Reinhardt
album	Rebirth

General information

In The Sparrows and the Nightingales by Mark 'Oh and John Davies is a cover version of the original. There is only one change in the text. Because Davies is British, the German line: “Where is the leader who leads me?” Has been replaced by another “Where's the Leader, Who Leads Me?”. Compared to the original, the new recording does not consist of 122, but 135 beats per minute. The track is the first single from Mark 'Ohs third studio album Rebirth .

The single was produced by Marko Albrecht (Mark 'Oh), Claus Hägele and Carlos Perón . The single was released under the Orbit Reco music label and distributed by Hanseatic Musikverlag and Strange Ways Records. On the cover of the maxi single - in addition to artist names and song titles - the faces of both performers can be seen. The artwork here comes from Gaby Gerster. It was first published on May 10, 1999 in Germany. The maxi single contains further remix versions (among others by Oliver Lieb ) of the song as a B-side . The accompanying music video was shot in the tunnels and a station of the Strasbourg tram , as well as in the vehicles themselves. You can see a chase between Mark 'Oh and John Davies. The total length of the video is 3:18 minutes.

Charts and chart placements

The Sparrows and the Nightingales reached position 14 in the single charts in Germany and stayed in the charts for a total of 14 weeks. For Mark 'Oh as an interpreter it is already the tenth chart success in Germany, as well as the first for John Davies. For Heppner as a composer and songwriter it is the fifth chart success in Germany and the fourth for Reinhardt.

Charts	Top ranking	Weeks
Chart placements
Germany (GfK)	14th (14 weeks)	14th

More cover versions

• 1996: Renegade
• 2000: Scream Silence
• 2004: The Echoing Green
• 2008: Gürcan Erdem

Web links

• Music video for "The Sparrows and the Nightingales" (Wolfsheim) on YouTube
• Music video for "The Sparrows and the Nightingales" (Mark 'Oh vs. John Davies) on YouTube

Individual evidence

1. ^ Wolfsheim - The Sparrows and the Nightingales. discogs.com, accessed January 20, 2015 . 
2. ↑ Online database - musical works. online.gema.de, accessed on July 29, 2015 . 
3. ^ Wolfsheim - No Happy View. discogs.com, accessed July 29, 2015 . 
4. ^ Wolfsheim - The Sparrows and the Nightingales. rateyourmusic.com, accessed August 20, 2015 . 
5. ^ Wolfsheim - The Sparrows and the Nightingales. musik-sammler.de, accessed on January 20, 2015 . 
6. ↑ Wolfsheim - 55578. discogs.com, accessed on October 4, 2015 (English). 
7. ^ Wolfsheim - The Sparrows and the Nightingales. musik-sammler.de, accessed on April 23, 2017 . 
8. ↑ Interview with Wolfsheim - facts about the new album and insights into 12 years of Wolfsheim. earshot.at, accessed on September 3, 2016 . 
9. ^ Peter Heppner, I Feel You / The Sparrows and the Nightingales, November 19, 2014, Berlin. youtube.com, accessed January 20, 2015 . 
10. ^ The Sparrows and the Nightingales by Wolfsheim. In: songbpm.com. Song BPM, accessed April 16, 2017 . 
11. ^ ^{A b c} The Sparrows and the Nightingales. In: facebook.com. Facebook Inc. , accessed September 3, 2016 . 
12. ↑ Without a leader and a fatherland. In: taz.de. Taz, the daily newspaper Verlagsgenossenschaft eG, accessed on September 3, 2016 . 
13. ↑ Peter Heppner in an interview: Very close to life. In: noz.de. Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung , accessed on January 13, 2018 . 
14. ↑ Wolfsheim - Compendium. amazon.de, accessed on August 17, 2015 . 
15. ↑ Accompanying booklet: Compendium , DVD, Strange Ways Records, April 16, 2002.
16. ↑ Artist Biography by Michael Sutton. allmusic.com, accessed on August 23, 2015 . 
17. ^ Laut.de biography: Wolfsheim. laut.de, accessed on August 23, 2015 . 
18. ^ Wolfsheim - The Sparrows and the Nightingales (song). austriancharts.at, accessed on January 20, 2015 . 
19. ^ Il programmino di - Gigi D'Agostino. austriancharts.at, accessed on July 30, 2015 . 
20. ↑ The Sparrows and the Nightingales by Mark 'Oh. songbpm.com, accessed April 16, 2017 . 
21. ↑ The Sparrows and the Nightingales - Mark 'Oh. amazon.de, accessed on September 3, 2016 . 
22. ↑ Mark 'Oh vs. John Davies - The Sparrows and the Nightingales. officialcharts.de, accessed on September 3, 2016 .