What remains? (Song)

What remains?
Heppner feat. Witt
publication	August 10, 2018
length	4:02
Genre (s)	Synth pop
Author (s)	Riad Abdel-Nabi, Peter Heppner, Mirko Schaffer, Mario Wesser, Joachim Witt
album	Confessions & Doubts

What remains? is a song of the German synth pop - singer Peter Heppner , in cooperation with the German New German Hardness musician Joachim Witt . The piece is the first single from Heppner's third studio album Confessions & Doubts . This is the second joint single release by Heppner and Witt, after they released the piece Die Flut as a single in 1998.

Creation and artwork

Emergence

The song was written jointly by the two interpreters Peter Heppner and Joachim Witt and the co-authors Riad Abdel-Nabi, Mirko Schaffer and Mario Wesser. The three co-authors Abdel-Nabi, Schaffer and Wesser have already worked with Witt in the past; it was their first collaboration with Heppner for all three. The production and programming of What remains? took place by the Berlin music producer Alex Lys and the Cologne musician Dirk Riegner . For Lys it is the first production for Heppner and Witt. Riegner is a long-time companion of Heppner, who not only plays in his live band, but has also been mainly responsible for Heppner's productions since his solo career. The mastering took place through 24-96 mastering in Karlsruhe , under the direction of the studio owner Robin Schmidt. The piece was mixed by the German-Turkish producer Yunus Cimen. The recordings were made in the Thommy Hein recording studio in Berlin, under the direction of the owner of the same name, Thommy Hein. Heppner's first two studio albums solo and My Heart of Stone were already recorded in the recording studio. What remains? was published under the music label RCA Records , published by BMG Rights Management , Eisenherz Musikverlag and Sony / ATV Music Publishing and distributed by Sony Music Publishing .

Artwork

To the single What remains? two different covers were released. The first cover picture - which appeared in the course of the first publication - should represent a file . The same artwork concept can also be found on the cover of the studio album Confessions & Doubts and the remix album TanzZwang, which was released at the same time . The cover features a bluish caricature with a scene from the music video by Heppner and Witt's first single, Die Flut . It shows the two protagonists sitting opposite each other at a table and looking each other in the eye. At the upper edge are the names of the two artists - in large block letters. Details on the file can be found at the bottom. It contains the following information:

• Case name ( English for ' case name ') : What remains?
• Assigned to (English for 'assigned to') : Peter Heppner / Joachim Witt
• File number (English for ' file number ') : 19075850192 | 2018

About a month after the publication of What remains? Heppner published a second cover picture on September 6th, 2018. This black and white cover picture shows - in addition to the artist name and song title - the cell structure of a decayed leaf . The background is black, the leaf structure is white. The cell structure is in the middle of the cover, above the names of the two performers are placed in white lettering in the middle and the song title is also placed in the middle below. A similar concept can also be found on the Wolfsheim single No Back . The cell structure of a leaf can also be found here in a modified form. As with many cover pictures in the past, the artwork is again by Ulrike Rank.

Publication and promotion

The first publication of What remains? took place as a single download on August 10, 2018. The announcement was made on August 6, 2018 in the ZDF service magazine Volle Kanne , during an interview with Ingo Nommsen . In order to promote the piece, the two performers performed together during Heppner's concert at the M'era Luna Festival on August 12, 2018.

On February 22, 2019, a live orchestral duet by Heppner and Witt appeared on Witt's live album Refugium, accompanied by the musical accompaniment of the MDR Symphony Orchestra conducted by Christoph-Johannes Eichhorn . The recording was made on October 7, 2018 in the Leipzig Gewandhaus .

background information

First collaboration: The flood

→ Main article : The flood (song)

With what remains? it is the second joint recording and single release by Heppner and Witt. The two had already recorded the song Die Flut for Witt's eighth studio album bayreuth one 20 years earlier . The piece first appeared as a single on January 23, 1998. At the beginning there was no success, even after a new publication in March of that year, a chart success was initially still denied. In May 1998 Die Flut entered the German single charts for the first time . In the course of the next few weeks the single climbed to position two in the charts and also made it onto the charts in Austria and Switzerland. The single had to admit defeat to only Loonas Bailando in Germany , but was the most successful German-language song in the German single charts for a period of twelve weeks . The flood ranked eighth in the 1998 single year charts in Germany and received a platinum record for over 500,000 units sold. This makes Die Flut one of the best-selling German-language songs and duets in Germany since 1975. According to sources, the single has sold over 750,000 times worldwide. For both interpreters, the single represents the greatest success of their careers to this day.

Successor: what remains?
What remains? was created under the opposite sign. While Heppner was still a guest on Witt's album bayreuth Eins , this time Heppner is the host. During an interview with Dori from the radio show Nachtfalke on the Internet radio station Radio Schwarze Welle on May 17, 2018, Heppner first hinted at the successor. After talking about Die Flut during the interview , Heppner added that he and his team had noticed that the title was celebrating its 20th anniversary this year. They would also plan something about it, and if everything went as they would like, there would be something else in relation to The Flood this year. Just a week later, Witt confirmed to the Bild newspaper on May 25, 2018 that the two of them were playing a song called What remains? would have recorded. Witt made this statement without consulting Heppner, who uploaded a picture on his Facebook page with the newspaper clipping and the comment "Today in the Bild-Zeitung ...". When asked by a fan whether the Bild newspaper and Witt had screwed up the "surprise" for him, Heppner replied with the words: "Yes", followed by an angry emoticon . He also added the following sentence: “... and what do we learn from it? You can never make arrangements early enough, even if you don't expect anything to happen! ”A little later, however, he also admitted that it was okay and it was also his fault that they had actually simply failed to coordinate.

What remains? vs. Courage of a warrior

The result is what remains? already in 2012. Witt had sent the song to Heppner at that time. He had already written and sung the verses and asked him if he would be interested in texting and singing the chorus and a remaining middle section (bridge). Heppner was interested and the end result was What remains? been. The piece was initially to remain unpublished, but Witt's former music label Columbia SevenOne Music / Sony Music insisted that the song be put on Witt's studio album DOM in some form . Thereupon he wrote the song as courage of a warrior with a changed refrain and without a middle section again and put it on his album. Some fans initially thought that it would stay with what? is only a cover version and titled the piece for this reason as "Resterampe". Heppner commented on this on his Facebook page with the words: There could be no question of the Resterampe, because what remains? is the original version of this song and has been completely revised, re-produced and sung for this release. The two found it justified to publish the piece under the current title.

He also added that both songs were almost the same age. It took him 15 years before Joachim and he were able to agree on a song that was worthy of succeeding Die Flut . There has been no shortage of attempts for further projects in the meantime. Such songs would not grow on trees, and the two were not quite as times such pieces from the sleeve shake. Wouldn't they now What remains? publish there would be nothing instead. Perhaps there would have been a new duet for the 30th or 40th anniversary of Die Flut , if they had been making music that long at all. Heppner is of the opinion that what remains? a wonderful song and a worthy successor to Die Flut and in his opinion it would be tragic if it had never been made public because of the “ego trip” of a music label.

content

The lyrics to What remains? is written in German . The music was composed jointly by Riad Abdel-Nabi, Peter Heppner, Mirko Schaffer, Mario Wesser and Joachim Witt, the text was written by Heppner and Witt. Musically, the song moves in the field of synth pop . The tempo is 106 beats per minute . The instruments were recorded by Joschka Bender (guitar) and Alex Lys (keyboard).

The song begins with the first verse, which is sung by Witt. The first verse is followed by the refrain , which is sung by Heppner. The same process is repeated with the second stanza and the second subsequent chorus. The second chorus is followed directly by a bridge sung by Heppner . The bridge is followed by a short instrumental before the piece ends with a third chorus and the outro . The last refrain is interpreted jointly by Heppner and Witt, with Heppner's voice in the foreground and Witt's voice in the background. The outro consists of the first line of the chorus: "Wherever it goes, don't ask yourself what remains." In terms of content, what remains? deal with the topic of “transience” and the courage to look ahead, to leave behind the unsightly things - which can no longer be changed. Witt makes a big head during his part, struggles with himself, his meaning: “Was everything right, what have I achieved?” Heppner keeps countering: “Who cares? It doesn't make sense to always look back. What is the question of what remains? What is more important is what comes! "

Witt's solo version, Courage of a Warrior , deals with the same subject as we What remains . The verses are exactly the same for both songs. The refrain of Courage of a Warrior was rewritten by Witt, the bridge was omitted in the solo version.

“Wherever it goes, don't ask yourself what's left. Whatever happens, be ready for it. You have now reached the end of fear and all of your worries. What remains?" - Refrain, what's left?

“Above all with the courage of a warrior. Are you there and never alone. Undaunted and with all our songs, your journey will never end. You are free." - Refrain, courage of a warrior

Music video

The music video for What remains? was filmed on August 15, 2018 in the Parc Natural del Delta de l'Ebre (Delta de l'Ebre Natural Park) in Spanish Catalonia . First, on September 8, 2018, a making-of for this, filmed by Ulrike Rank, celebrated its premiere. The music video itself was first released two weeks later on September 21, 2018. As with Dream of You and House of Three Suns , Marcus Sternberg again directed a music video by Heppner. The video is in black and white and shows both artists, each singing the song for themselves at different locations. Heppner stays more inland and Witt more near the beach. Towards the end of the video, both performers can be seen briefly in a common scene in which they are facing each other at a slightly larger distance on a stretch of beach. To further illustrate the contrast, Heppner wears a white and Witt a black outfit. To date, the music video has over 1.4 million views on YouTube (as of November 2019).

Contributors

Song production Riad Abdel-Nabi: composer Joschka Bender: guitar Yunus Cimen: Mixing Thommy Hein: Tonmeister Peter Heppner : vocals , composer, songwriter Alex Lys: keyboard , music producer , programming Dirk Riegner : music producer, programming Mirko Schaffer: composer Robin Schmidt: Mastering Mario Wesser: composer Joachim Witt : vocals, composer, songwriter

Artwork Ulrike Rank: Artwork (Cover) Marcus Sternberg : Director (music video) Companies 24–96 Mastering: Mastering BMG Rights Management : Publisher Eisenherz Musikverlag : Verlag RCA Records : music label Sony Music Publishing : Distribution Sony / ATV Music Publishing : Publisher Thommy Hein recording studio: recording studio

reception

Reviews

• Helgvar Sven Mánfreðson from the German-language metal and rock webzine Hellfire described What remains? as a musical treat from two opposing voices with wonderful lyrics.

• Roman Jasiek from the German-language e-zine Avalost Times rated the album Confessions & Doubts with nine out of ten points and described what remains? as one of the many great moments on this album and as a "strong song". When recording what remains? Heppner and Witt must have been aware that The Flood is the greatest commercial success of both interpreters. If you put on such large shoes, the risk of stumbling is high. Fortunately, both professionals are enough to master this mammoth task with ease. If the flood was the question of when it will come, the wave into a new, much better life, what remains? more of a bittersweet approach to the moment after the tide had long since ebbed. What remains? will not inherit the flood , but nobody will have seriously assumed that either. However, from now on the two pieces will complement each other perfectly.

• Marius Meyer from monkeypress rated Confessions & Doubts with ten out of ten points and entitled What remains? as a "hit".

• Bent-Erik Scholz from darkmusicworld.de rated Confessions & Doubts positively and raised the title What remains? , Good Things Break and Theresienstadt: “Highlights” from behind the wall . The duet fills one with the joy of hearing the voice of the Grand Master again. Witt and Heppner would work wonderfully together even 20 years after the first collaboration. Although Witt's single, published as a collaboration, was already processed under the title Courage of a Warrior on his 2012 album Dom , the feeling of nostalgia that this new collaboration triggers is unsurpassable.

• Alex Klug from the German-language online magazine laut.de rated Confessions & Doubts with four out of five stars and revealed What remains? in his review "quite a hit potential". In the piece, Heppner is the "school desk philosopher", Witt, unlike in 1998, even "tries" to sing correctly.

• Thomas Pilgrim from Plattentests.de is of the opinion that what remains? never achieved the engaging “hymn-like character” of the 1998 hit ( Die Flut ), but delivered a tidy, slightly gloomy “electro-thumper” with a sweeping refrain in which Heppner presented himself as the usual great singer. Witt, for his part, demonstratively renounces excessive vocal pathos and tries his brimful “metaphor suitcase” at best moderately. Together with Unloveable, it makes a decent start for the album Confessions & Doubts .

Charts and chart placements

What remains? missed an official chart entry into the single charts. However, the single was able to place itself at the top of the German alternative charts in the 39th calendar week.

Web links

• Music video for “What remains?” On YouTube
• Making-of for “What remains?” On YouTube

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c d e f} Peter Heppner: Confessions & Doubts , accompanying booklet, RCA Germany, September 28, 2018.
2. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g} What remains? / Peter Heppner. listen.tidal.com, August 10, 2018, accessed August 18, 2018 . 
3. ↑ Joachim Witt - Courage of a Warrior. hitparade.ch, September 28, 2012, accessed on August 18, 2018 . 
4. ^ Nicolay Ketterer: Studio scene: 24–96 Mastering, Karlsruhe. soundandrecording.de, November 2, 2017, accessed on August 18, 2018 . 
5. ^ Peter Heppner - Articles. facebook.com, September 6, 2018, accessed September 14, 2018 . 
6. ↑ Wolfsheim - No turning back. discogs.com, accessed September 16, 2018 . 
7. ^ Peter Heppner - Articles. facebook.com, September 6, 2018, accessed September 14, 2018 . 
8. ^ Volle Kanne , ZDF, August 6, 2018.
9. ^ Peter Heppner Fanclub Germany - Contributions. facebook.com, August 12, 2018, accessed August 19, 2018 . 
10. ↑ Joachim Witt & MDR Symphony Orchestra - Refugium (CD, album). discogs.com, accessed March 23, 2019 . 
11. ↑ The Flood (MCD). amazon.de, accessed on August 19, 2018 . 
12. ^ Witt / Heppner - The flood. musik-sammler.de, accessed on August 19, 2018 . 
13. ^ Witt / Heppner - The flood. officialcharts.de, accessed on August 19, 2018 . 
14. ^ Witt / Heppner - The flood. austriancharts.at, accessed on August 19, 2018 . 
15. ^ Witt / Heppner - The flood. hitparade.ch, accessed on August 19, 2018 . 
16. ↑ Singles Charts: August 24, 1998. officialcharts.de, accessed on August 19, 2018 . 
17. ↑ Top 100 annual single charts 1998. officialcharts.de, accessed on August 19, 2018 . 
18. ↑ Gold / platinum database. musikindustrie.de, accessed on August 19, 2018 . 
19. ↑ Epic grows with white heat and Witt. mediabiz.de, accessed on August 19, 2018 . 
20. ^ Dori: Nachtfalke - guest of “Peter Heppner”. ( Memento from August 20, 2018 in the Internet Archive ) Schwarze-welle.com, May 17, 2018, accessed on May 3, 2019.
21. ^ Peter Heppner Fanclub Germany - Contributions. facebook.com, May 25, 2018, accessed August 19, 2018 . 
22. ^ Peter Heppner - Articles. facebook.com, May 25, 2018, accessed August 19, 2018 . 
23. ^ Peter Heppner - Articles. facebook.com, August 10, 2018, accessed August 19, 2018 . 
24. ↑ BPM for 'What remains? (feat. Joachim Witt) 'by' Peter Heppner '. songbpm.com, August 10, 2018, accessed August 18, 2018 . 
25. ↑ Peter Heppner feat. Joachim Witt - What remains? radio-vhr.de, August 10, 2018, accessed on August 19, 2018 . 
26. ↑ What's left? by Peter Heppner feat. Joachim Witt. amazon.de, August 9, 2018, accessed on August 19, 2018 . 
27. ↑ Tim: Peter Heppner: “You can make something strange to yourself”. Freiepresse.de, September 26, 2018, accessed on October 3, 2018 . 
28. ^ Peter Heppner: Peter Heppner - contributions. facebook.com, May 15, 2018, accessed August 19, 2018 . 
29. ^ Peter Heppner: Peter Heppner - contributions. facebook.com, September 21, 2018, accessed August 23, 2018 . 
30. ↑ Helgvar Sven Mánfreðson: Peter Heppner - Confessions & Doubts. hellfire-magazin.de, September 14, 2018, accessed on September 23, 2018 . 
31. ↑ Roman Jasiek: Peter Heppner - Confessions & Doubts / dance compulsion. avalost.de, September 10, 2018, accessed on September 23, 2018 . 
32. ^ Marius Meyer: Peter Heppner - Confessions & Doubts. monkeypress.de, September 25, 2018, accessed on September 28, 2018 . 
33. ^ Bent-Erik Scholz: Peter Heppner - Confessions & Doubts (CD review). darkmusicworld.de, September 22, 2018, accessed on September 28, 2018 . 
34. ↑ Alex Klug: laut.de review: Guilty Pleasure? Nope, you let this voice get away with everything. laut.de, September 28, 2018, accessed on September 28, 2018 . 
35. ↑ Thomas Pilgrim: Always the other. plattentests.de, accessed on October 28, 2018 . 
36. ^ Peter Heppner: Peter Heppner - contributions. facebook.com, September 24, 2018, accessed October 3, 2018 .