We are who we are

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
We are who we are
Paul van Dyk feat. Peter Heppner
publication June 24, 2004
length 3:46
Genre (s) Synth pop , trance
Author (s) Peter Heppner,
Paul van Dyk
Award (s) Nail and flap
album Re-Reflections in the Mix (The Remix Album)

Wir sind wir (also known as Wir sind wir (Ein Deutschlandlied) ) is a song by the German DJ Paul van Dyk , in cooperation with the German synth-pop musician Peter Heppner . The track is the first single from his third remix album Re-Reflections in the Mix (The Remix Album) .

Creation and artwork

The song was written by Peter Heppner and Paul van Dyk. The latter also produced the single. Together with Jens Kuphal , van Dyk was also responsible for mixing, arranging and mastering. The recordings were made in the Berlin Nucleus Studios. The single was published under the Urban music label , published by Hanseatic MV, Paul van Dyk GmbH and pH-Werk Musikverlag and distributed by Universal Music Publishing . On the cover of the maxi single you can see - in addition to artist names and song titles - black and white screenshots from the accompanying music video. The photographs and artwork for the cover are by Marc Schilkowski and Nela König.

Publication and promotion

The first publication of We are we place on 24 June 2004 in Germany. A release in Austria followed on July 11, 2004. The single is available in various different EPs , maxi singles and vinyl records , which differ in the number and selection of B-sides . On July 12, 2004 a special "Wunder von Bern Special Edition" of the song was published under the name Tor Tor Tor . This includes radio commentary by Herbert Zimmermann from the 1954 World Cup final . The B-side of van Dyk's follow-up single The Other Side was we we are published on 5 September 2005 in the UK.

For a short time, an exclusive 2-track single was released on July 12, 2004 via iTunes . This includes a “full version” and an instrumental version of Wir sind wir . Both versions were created in collaboration with the Babelsberg German Film Orchestra . For unknown reasons, the single was withdrawn from iTunes after a short time. The “full version” was published again in September 2005 under the title Wir sind wir (Ein Deutschlandlied) . The instrumental has not been officially released since then.

To promote the song, there followed, among other things, live appearances on the RTL music show Top of the Pops and the NDR talk show 3 nach 9 . In September 2005 the song was re-recorded for the 15th Day of German Unity in an orchestral version with the Babelsberg German Film Orchestra. Van Dyk and Heppner performed the piece together during the state ceremony for the Day of German Unity on October 3, 2005 in Potsdam . The celebrations were broadcast live by Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg (RBB).

background information

Cooperation between van Dyk and Heppner

When asked how van Dyk came across Heppner as a guest singer, he replied: Heppner had the sensitivity it needed to write a text on this topic and he simply considered him the best singer in Germany. According to Heppner, he and van Dyk were asked by ZDF , directed by Guido Knopp , to write a song for the documentary Das Wunder von Bern - The true story , which should show people's feelings before, during and after this time.

Goethe Institute

The Goethe-Institut uses the song or the music video as teaching material Level: Lower Intermediate Level (B1) .

Nationalism allegations

Due to the text passage “We are we, we are here. They don't get us down that quickly ... ”accused some of the large print media , including the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung , of the play having a tendency towards nationalism . In a later interview with the star , Heppner described that the author of the FAZ report only saw a short excerpt while zapping . When switching back and forth between the Olympic coverage and MTV , he probably came to the conclusion: “They, the Germans, can do that. Roar and Shoot ”. During the 2006 soccer World Cup in their own country, this changed; nationalists suddenly turned into visionaries.

Björn Höcke , chairman of the Alternative für Deutschland parliamentary group in Thuringia , used the song until January 2016 as the opening for his rallies on Erfurt Cathedral Square . In relation to the time , van Dyk stated that he was "sharply" distancing himself from the AfD. At the end of January, the latter issued an injunction . According to a report from the time, van Dyk demanded in the letter that the party cease "any unauthorized use" of his play Wir sind wir . If the party does not comply with the request, he will take action against it under copyright and criminal law. In 2018, Heppner said in an interview with Freie Pressen : These people simply would not have understood him. We are we be an inventory . This “we” is all the people who live here, who have experienced and shaped this country. His "we" do not exclude anyone. If someone wanted to make a smaller group out of it, he could only discuss it with him personally.

content

The lyrics to Wir sind wir is written in German. The music and the text were written jointly by Paul van Dyk and Peter Heppner. Musically, the song moves in the realm of trance and synth pop. The song is built up on two stanzas and a refrain between the two stanzas and at the end of the song. In addition to the main vocals by Heppner, the voice of van Dyk's wife Natasha can be heard in the background.

"We are who we are! We stand here!
That can't be it yet,
no time to be sad.
We are who we are! We stand here!
We are who we are!"

- Refrain, original excerpt

When asked whether they could reflect the zeitgeist of the early 1950s in a song, it was clear to them: “As in 1954, many Germans today have lost parts of their self-esteem, are disoriented and are afraid of what the future will bring. Van Dyk and Heppner wanted to make a statement: “Whatever happens, we won't let us get down, because we are us! ““.

In 2018, in an interview with Radio Schwarze Welle , Heppner said that with this piece he was also settling a "bit" of the political dealings around German reunification . Politicians would have trumped each other to make us white, we’ll do that with the left wing, everything’s going to be great, those are blooming landscapes, everything would be great. He just stood by and thought, what are they talking about? We're talking about a total collapse and taking over a country. That could not be so unproblematic, it will be “very fat” for all of us, especially for the people in the East. Politicians told of worlds that made him wonder where they might be.

Music video

The music video for Wir sind wir was shot in a dilapidated cement factory in Berlin . You can see Heppner, who as a cameraman films special events in contemporary German history on site. Van Dyk himself only appears twice briefly, in which he can be seen leafing through a newspaper and listening to the radio. In the video, newly rotated sections are connected to the original sections. The total length of the video is 3:46 minutes. Directed by Joern Heitmann , the video was produced by Katapult Filmproduktion . To date, the music video has over 1.4 million views on YouTube (as of November 2019).

The video shows special events from the last 60 years of German contemporary history in the following order:

Contributors

Song production

Music video

Artwork (cover)

Companies

reception

Awards

The music video for Wir sind wir was awarded the bronze flap in the music clip category by the Cologne Communication Association. In 2005, Joern Heitmann was also awarded the nail and mouth for the visual implementation of the film title song for the documentary Das Wunder von Bern - The true story for the music video .

Charts and chart placements

We are we reached position 13 in the single charts in Germany and stayed in the charts for a total of 19 weeks. In Austria, the single reached position 75 in one week of the chart. In 2004, Wir sind wir was ranked 49th in the German annual single charts .

For Van Dyk as author, interpreter and producer this is the eighth chart success in Germany, as well as the third in Austria. To date, no single van Dyks has been able to place itself in the German single charts, only the single Nothing But You (top position: 11) achieved a higher chart rating. As an interpreter, Heppner reached the German single charts for the fifth time with Wir sind wir , as well as the charts in Austria for the third time. As a composer, this is his tenth chart success in Germany and the third in Austria. It is his 12th chart success as a songwriter in Germany and the fourth in Austria.

Chart placements
Charts Top ranking Weeks
Chart placements
Germany (GfK) Germany (GfK) 13 (19 weeks) 19th
Austria (Ö3) Austria (Ö3) 75 (1 week) 1
Annual charts
Charts (2004) placement
Annual charts (2004)
Germany (GfK) Germany (GfK) 49

Individual evidence

  1. Paul van Dyk / Peter Heppner - We are we. discogs.com, accessed August 3, 2014 .
  2. a b Online database - musical works. online.gema.de, accessed on November 1, 2015 .
  3. Paul van Dyk Featuring Wayne Jackson (2) - The Other Side. discogs.com, accessed December 9, 2014 .
  4. Schiller with Heppner. lastfm.de, accessed on August 3, 2014 .
  5. Paul van Dyk & Peter Heppner - We are we. (PDF) goethe.de, accessed on August 3, 2014 .
  6. Ingo Scheel: Interview with Wolfsheim singer Heppner: “Suddenly we were visionaries”. (Part 1) ( Memento from March 21, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) stern.de, October 4, 2008, accessed on May 7, 2019.
  7. Ingo Scheel: Interview with Wolfsheim singer Heppner: “Suddenly we were visionaries”. (Part 2) ( Memento from October 20, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) stern.de, October 4, 2008, accessed on May 7, 2019.
  8. Van Dyk vs. Höcke: DJ gives AfD song ban. laut.de, accessed on December 29, 2017 .
  9. Tim: Peter Heppner: “You can make something strange to yourself”. Freiepresse.de, September 26, 2018, accessed on October 3, 2018 .
  10. Peter Heppner and Paul van Dyk. (No longer available online.) Wolfsheim.de, archived from the original on August 17, 2012 ; Retrieved August 3, 2014 .
  11. ^ Dori, Peter Heppner: Nachtfalke - guest: Peter Heppner. Radio Schwarze Welle, August 21, 2013, accessed on September 16, 2018 .
  12. Paul van Dyk / Peter Heppner - We are we (2004). crew-united.co, accessed on August 3, 2014 .
  13. Paul van Dyk / Peter Heppner - We are we. plattentests.de, accessed on December 20, 2015 .
  14. Timeline: Joern Heitmann. ( Memento from June 2, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) temporati.de, May 11, 2016, accessed on April 9, 2020.
  15. Paul van Dyk / Peter Heppner, We are we. officialcharts.de, accessed on August 3, 2014 .
  16. Paul van Dyk / Peter Heppner - We are we (song). austriancharts.at, accessed on August 3, 2014 .
  17. Single year charts 2004. officialcharts.de, accessed on March 25, 2018 .

Web links