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From folk to techno: 13 German songs that never grow old

Here is a showcase of some of the best music Germany has to offer.

Published: 14 August 2019 16:20 CEST
Updated: 25 March 2022 16:23 CET

From folk to techno: 13 German songs that never grow old

Die Toten Hosen in concert. Photo: DPA

Major Tom (Völlig Losgelöst) by Peter Schilling

‘Major Tom’ by Peter Schilling, released in 1982, is an example of Neue Deutsche Welle and Space Rock. The song, which unofficially carries on the legacy of the fictional astronaut from David Bowie’s 1969 hit of the same name, reached number one in West Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Following this success, an English Version, ‘Major Tom (Coming Home)’ was released in 1983.

Fremd im Eigenen Land by Advanced Chemistry

Translated as “Stranger in my own country”, this protest song from Heidelberg hip hop crew, Advanced Chemistry, paved the way for German hip hop in the 90’s. It was released in 1992 in reaction to the racist pogroms of Rostock-Lichtenhagen and combines radical political views with emotional reactions to personal experiences.

Subzero by Ben Klock

The track ‘Subzero’, released in 2012, is a classic example of electronic dance music. Its creator, Ben Klock, is one of the resident DJs at Berghain, Berlin’s most notorious techno club. Germany is known throughout the world for its techno scene which has played a huge role in party culture since the genre first emerged in the 1980’s.

Halt dich an diener Liebe fest by Ton Steine Scherben

Ton Steine Scherben are a German rock band, well known in the 70’s and early 80’s for their socially critical lyrics. The song ‘Halt dich an deiner Lieber fest’, meaning ‘hold on tight to your love’, was released in 1975 and is one of the band’s best known tracks.

Über den Wolken by Reinhard Mey

Reinhard Mey is a prolific singer-songwriter who many Germans will remember from their youth. Born during the Second World War, he has released almost 400 songs in his lifetime, but the best-loved is the nostalgic and hopeful song, ‘Über den Wolken’, or ‘above the clouds’.

Pure Vernunft darf niemals siegen by Tocotronic

The song ‘Pure Vernunft darf niemals siegen’, which translates to ‘pure reason must never prevail’, is a prime example of the German ‘discursive rock’ movement. The song’s creators, Tocotronic, are an indie-pop/rock band from the late 20th century music movement known as the ‘Hamburger Schule’. The movement was considered “discursive” as it combined guitar heavy music with left-wing, “intellectual” lyrics and built on the traditions of the Neue Deutsche Welle, incorporating pop, punk, indie rock and grunge.

Bist du Down? by Ace Tee

Hamburg-based rapper Ace Tee, although fairly new to the music scene, was dubbed on Twitter the “new TLC” and has earned her place on this list due to her creation of possibly the most silky smooth sounding German R&B you will ever hear. Ace Tee is an example of the modern, digital revolution in the music scene, rising to international fame after achieving viral sucess with the song ‘Bist Du Down’.

Kaltes klares Wasser by Malaria!

Cult electronic band, Malaria! were produced by Mark Reeder, composer and score producer of the film ‘The B-Movie: Lust & Sound’. ‘The B-Movie is a documentary film, released in 2015, about ‘music, art and chaos’ in the pop- and subculture melting pot that was West Berlin the 80’s, of which Malaria! were a part. The avante garde duo found fame in Germany and around the world, particularly with the song ‘Kaltes Klares Wasser’.

Eva Braun by Die Ärtze

Punk band Die Ärtze also featured in the 80’s Berlin documentary ‘B-Movie’ and are one of the most successful German punk-rock groups of all time. The song ‘Eva Braun’ is a satirical ode from the left-wing band to Hilter’s mistress and, due to its taboo subject matter and concerns about its meaning being misinterpreted, was never officially released.

Autobahn by Kraftwerk

‘Autobahn’ by Kraftwerk is iconic due to its amalgamation of techno and Autobahns, two things for which Germany is world famous. Pioneering electro-pop group Kraftwerk, meaning “power plant”, live up to their name with their machine like musical style. They have been hugely influential on the electronic music scene since the 1970’s and were dubbed by the New York Times as “the Beatles of electronic dance music” in 1997.

Ich rolle mit meim Besten by Haftbefehl ft. Marteria

“Ich Rolle Mit Meim Besten” is German gangster rap vom Feinsten. The song is by German-Kurdish rapper, Haftbefehl and features Echo award winning rapper Marteria. Haftbefehl’s music is deeply rooted in street and urban culture and he describes himself as “antisocial, hard, and direct in your face”.

Tage Wie Diese by Die Toten Hosen

Die Toten Hosen are one of the most successful German bands in history. Their style is mostly rock with elements of punk, and they have reached number one in the German album charts over 10 times. The song ‘Tage Wie Diese’ is about the collective feeling of joy from being at a concert. It was released in 2012 and was named ‘Hit of the Year 2012’.

99 Luftballons by Nena

The most iconic song of the Neue Deutsche Welle, ’99 Luftballons’ by Nena was a smash hit all over the world.

The song, released in 1983 during the Cold War, tells the story of 99 red balloons being released into the air, only to be mistaken for UFOs and shot down by 99 fighter jets. This is miscontrued by 99 neighbouring states as an act of war and a 99-year war follows which ends civilisation on earth. Although hugely successful in its original language of German, the song gained further fame after an English version was released in 1984.

Nine hip-hop tracks that will help you learn German

In fact, it’s a truth universally acknowledged that listening to hip-hop in German will boost your German language abilities tenfold.

Ok, so while that might not technically be entirely (read: at all) true, we reckon Jane Austen would have appreciated many German rappers’ way with words.

And with most clearly enunciating their words, and the rhythmic delivery helping with phrasing, the genre is a gift for language learners: it can help you get to grips with new words, sentence patterns and pronunciation, as well as gain an understanding of current phenomena.

We’ve chosen a selection of German hip-hop tracks – including some old-school gems – that are reasonable easy to understand, as well as a couple for more advanced learners who want to get to grips with the finer nuances of the language and word play.

Here are some songs to get you started.

Die Fantastischen Vier – Die Da

You can’t have an article about German hip hop without mentioning Die Fantastischen Vier (The Fantastic Four, often known as Die Fanta’ 4). Germany’s answer to the Beastie Boys, this Stuttgart band basically kicked off the German hip-hop scene in the late 80s and they’re still going today.

The catchy Die Da!? (Her over there!?) was a tongue-in-cheek hit in 1992 and we love it because the band’s clear articulation makes it easy to understand. Yes, it’s a bit silly – it’s about women the band are interested in, but spoiler: it ends up being the same woman – but it’s packed full of useful German slang.

Want to test your knowledge of German abbreviations? Check out their mfg (Mit freundlichen Grüssen, With best wishes)

Fettes Brot – Jein

Still on an old-school hip-hop vibe, Fettes Brot were a big part of the Hamburg scene.

‘Jein’ – a pleasing amalgamation of Ja and Nein was a big hit in the early 90s. Again, the delivery is clear, they rap slowly and the text is pretty straightforward. Here’s the chorus, for example:

Soll ich’s wirklich machen oder lass ich’s lieber sein / Jein / Ja, ja, oder nein /
Shall I really do it or would it be better to leave it / Jein / Yes, yes, or no

Perfect for the indecisive.

And for a taster of Hamburg dialect, have a listen to Nordisch by Nature.

One of the founder members Der Tobi later got together with another big name on the Hamburg scene – das Bo – and together with marcnesium and DJ Coolmann, they formed cheeky band Fünf Sterne Deluxe. Check out ‘Willst du mit mir geh’n‘ (Do you want to be my boyfriend/girlfriend?)

Mudi – Kind sein

The German rapper with Turkish and Lebanese roots is known for his storytelling that touches on key cultural issues. There’s less wordplay here and he raps slowly and clearly so, even for less confident German learners, the text is quite easy to understand (although some of his songs have a bit of Arabic, Turkish and Kurdish in them).

In 2016’s ‘Kind sein’ (being a child), he raps about feeling nostalgic for his childhood and the context makes it a breeze to put any new vocab into context.

He raps about missing the days when he was klein und so sorgenlos (small and so carefree) in contrast to now where heute sind die Sorgen gross / Krieg, der in den Herzen tobt (today the worries are great / war that rages in our hearts).

Cro – Ein Teil

Arguably more pop than rap (Cro himself calls the mixture raop), Cro is a pretty big deal in Germany.

‘Ein Teil’ is a great starter song as the lyrics are straightforward and it’s quite repetitive, helping with understanding and pronunciation. And while Cro mumbles a bit on some of his other tracks (he tends to eat some of his word endings), he’s quite clear on this track.

(And if you see him live, his penchant for wearing a panda mask on stage doesn’t necessarily help matters). Here’s a section of the refrain that’s repeated throughout:

Du bist und bleibst für immer ein Teil von mir

You are and will always be a part of me

Freundeskreis – A-N-N-A

More known for their socially conscious lyrics, the 90s/00s Stuttgart group had a hit with this slightly soppy but very catchy track.

Immer wenn es regnet / muss ich an dich denken / wie wir uns begegnet sind / und kann mich nicht ablenken

Whenever it rains / I have to think of you / How we met / I can’t stop thinking about it

Group member Max Herre also went on to have success as a solo artist and that’s also worth a listen. Try 1ste Liebe.

S. Castro – Krieger

For something with a more aggressive flow, try S. Castro.

His strong rhythmic delivery in this 2012 battle rap (Krieger means warrior) makes the lyrics fairly easy to understand.

The politically conscious rapper with Kurdish roots uses his raps to expose oppressive aspects of society and the system so there’s plenty of cultural insights to be gained too.

Deichkind – Leider Geil

This one – which translates as ‘unfortunately cool’ – really took off in the noughties with people describing everything as ‘leider geil’ for a while. It’s a really easy one to understand, too as it’s all in the present tense and the Hamburg group rap slowly and clearly.

Here’s a sample:

Es tut mir leid, doch ich muss leider gestehen / Es gibt Dinge auf der Welt, die sind (leider geil) / Autos machen Dreck, Umwelt geht kaputt / Doch ‘ne fette neue Karre ist (leider geil)

I’m sorry, but I’ve got to admit it, unfortunately / There are things in the world that are (unfortunately cool) / Cars are dirty, the environment’s going to hell / But getting an awesome new ride is (unfortunately cool)

Sabrina Setlur – Du liebst mich nicht

Setlur started out in the 90s and was one of the first German female rappers to achieve commercial success – this song went to number one.

Combining hard rap with a sung chorus, ‘You don’t love me’ is a heartfelt attack against a partner who doesn’t love her any more. Perfect for anyone who wants to improve their heartbreak vocab in German.

For a time her rap success was overshadowed by her then-relationship with Boris Becker, but her songs stand the test of time.

This one has since been covered by Ado Kojo featuring Hamburg-based rapper Shirin David.

Bodo Wartke – Barbaras Rhabarberbar

And we couldn’t not include this one. Rapper and cabaret performer Bodo Wartke achieved viral TikTok fame with this tongue-twister that tells the increasingly ludicrous tale of Barbara and her rhubarb bar.

As well as inspiring a dance, the catchy rap also sparked a huge interest in learning German which can never be a bad thing.

Wartke and friend and rapper Matti Fischer both have super-clear pronunciation. Plus it’s a great track for learning how easy it is to make compound nouns in German.

This is obviously just a selection, there are plenty more great hip-hop songs to help you with your German. Have we missed any of your favourites – let us know in the comments!

And if you want to see the lyrics while you listen to the songs, most texts are available on Genius.com and Songtexte.com.

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