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German and Austrian Culture and Words ( to run away but also having fun with it before )
- Thread starter Silent_Water
- Start date
Silent_Water
Tribune
These are almost "anti-German fake news" because we Germans really play Scrabble and there are even championships / (= Meisterschaften / "Masterships"):
de.wikipedia.org
Scrabble in German is only a very little bit different because in the German "Super Scrabble" - version, we can use 200 stones / tiles and 4 white stones / tiles on 441 (21x21) playing fields with 120 bonus fields.
Certainly, you should try to be in a 1-week-holiday at least to play it with your friends to the very ending, but apart from that little problem, it is not so different.
But: In fact, I have never seen German words like "Donaudampfschifffahrtsgesellschaftskapitänswitwe" on a German scrabble field although we really tried hard until we had no tiles any more ...
Scrabble – Wikipedia
de.wikipedia.org
Scrabble in German is only a very little bit different because in the German "Super Scrabble" - version, we can use 200 stones / tiles and 4 white stones / tiles on 441 (21x21) playing fields with 120 bonus fields.
Certainly, you should try to be in a 1-week-holiday at least to play it with your friends to the very ending, but apart from that little problem, it is not so different.
But: In fact, I have never seen German words like "Donaudampfschifffahrtsgesellschaftskapitänswitwe" on a German scrabble field although we really tried hard until we had no tiles any more ...
Silent_Water
Tribune
Although I like contemporary music and pop music very much, there is music in many European countries which is of a timeless beauty.
I have just heard some very old German and French songs and I am probably a bit biased and prejudiced - also because of the French girl-friend I once had, but I am - and I will ever be - of the opinion that these ca. 2.500 km "beeline" from France's Western Loire-region over the BeNeLux-countries, Switzerland and Germany up to the East of Austria are the most beautiful European places with the most diversified landscapes on Earth with the most beautiful music ever made by mankind and this is one of the best German real "Volkslieder" ever made and I like almost every version of it (... and the text is beautiful in German and even in its English translation down below):
Songtext: German
Kein schöner Land
Kein schöner Land in dieser Zeit,
als hier das unsre weit und breit,
wo wir uns finden
wohl unter Linden
zur Abendzeit, Abendzeit.
Da haben wir so manche Stund'
gesessen wohl in froher Rund'
und taten singen;
die Lieder klingen
im Eichengrund.
Daß wir uns hier in diesem Tal
noch treffen so viel hundertmal,
Gott mag es schenken,
Gott mag es lenken,
er hat die Gnad'.
Nun, Brüder, eine gute Nacht,
der Herr im hohen Himmel wacht!
In seiner Güten uns zu behüten ist er bedacht.
Songtext: English
No fairer Land
There is no land, near and far,
More beautiful than ours at this time
When we gather
Neath' the tilia trees
As night falls.
There we sat many an hour
In joyful get-together
And were singing
Resounding songs
In the oak grove
May we meet again in this valley
Many hundred times.
God may gift it,
God may grant it,
He has the grace.
Now brothers,
I bed ye goodnight
The Lord in the high heavens
keeps watch In his goodness
To keep us
Is his intent
I have just heard some very old German and French songs and I am probably a bit biased and prejudiced - also because of the French girl-friend I once had, but I am - and I will ever be - of the opinion that these ca. 2.500 km "beeline" from France's Western Loire-region over the BeNeLux-countries, Switzerland and Germany up to the East of Austria are the most beautiful European places with the most diversified landscapes on Earth with the most beautiful music ever made by mankind and this is one of the best German real "Volkslieder" ever made and I like almost every version of it (... and the text is beautiful in German and even in its English translation down below):
Songtext: German
Kein schöner Land
Kein schöner Land in dieser Zeit,
als hier das unsre weit und breit,
wo wir uns finden
wohl unter Linden
zur Abendzeit, Abendzeit.
Da haben wir so manche Stund'
gesessen wohl in froher Rund'
und taten singen;
die Lieder klingen
im Eichengrund.
Daß wir uns hier in diesem Tal
noch treffen so viel hundertmal,
Gott mag es schenken,
Gott mag es lenken,
er hat die Gnad'.
Nun, Brüder, eine gute Nacht,
der Herr im hohen Himmel wacht!
In seiner Güten uns zu behüten ist er bedacht.
Songtext: English
No fairer Land
There is no land, near and far,
More beautiful than ours at this time
When we gather
Neath' the tilia trees
As night falls.
There we sat many an hour
In joyful get-together
And were singing
Resounding songs
In the oak grove
May we meet again in this valley
Many hundred times.
God may gift it,
God may grant it,
He has the grace.
Now brothers,
I bed ye goodnight
The Lord in the high heavens
keeps watch In his goodness
To keep us
Is his intent
Silent_Water
Tribune
Oh, there is also a version on YouTube like the Trapp family once sung it.
It is from a German movie (1956) about the family which also was the family in "The Sound of Music" (1965, Julie Andrews & Christopher Plummer):
And another version with pretty pictures:
It is from a German movie (1956) about the family which also was the family in "The Sound of Music" (1965, Julie Andrews & Christopher Plummer):
And another version with pretty pictures:
Silent_Water
Tribune
It is almost incredible but my problem with "the little fox" from "page" 19 in this thread is back again and I am afraid, I am now having an even bigger problem with "my Karma", "the Universe" and the whole rest of it.
The coincidences are now almost impossible to believe and I think, the rest of this story is something for my thread about catastrophes and coincidences.
I seem to have annoyed "someone" in another higher dimension or at least aroused the interest of powers and forces which cannot really be from this material world.
I must think it all over once again, but before, I try to ask in the more fitting thread for your advice. Thank you in advance!
The coincidences are now almost impossible to believe and I think, the rest of this story is something for my thread about catastrophes and coincidences.
I seem to have annoyed "someone" in another higher dimension or at least aroused the interest of powers and forces which cannot really be from this material world.
I must think it all over once again, but before, I try to ask in the more fitting thread for your advice. Thank you in advance!
Loxuru
Graf von Kreuzigung
May The Force be with you, Silent Water!
Silent_Water
Tribune
Mhm, I just read again two novels with men inside them who seem to have similar problems as I just do.
One of them is "Homo faber" from 1957 by Max Frisch and it is not so funny again for me because the same name of "my personalized problem" is again one of the leading characters in this tragedy and this novel itself consists of 42 (!) separate parts! (Sigh!)
Sometimes, I would really like to ask the "Gods of ancient Greek tragedies" what exactly they want us to do with our life and if they could not be a little bit clearer in their signs for us:
Zungur
Governor
Just found this:
For those lucky enough to not know about German Language and politics:
In our government we have a lady responsible for 'Agriculture and Consumer Protection' who is more shameless than most others in protecting big (agricultural) industry, especially international groups like Nestlé, from the complaints of consumers. Her name is Julia Klöckner and amongst other things she is responsible for delaying the ban on keeping animals in far to little cages or banning the castration of piglets without local anaesthesia.
In the cartoon the lady orders the man: "And now squeak like a piglet that gets castrated!" And the guy asks "Oh, come on Julia, can't you really get off on something else???"
For those lucky enough to not know about German Language and politics:
In our government we have a lady responsible for 'Agriculture and Consumer Protection' who is more shameless than most others in protecting big (agricultural) industry, especially international groups like Nestlé, from the complaints of consumers. Her name is Julia Klöckner and amongst other things she is responsible for delaying the ban on keeping animals in far to little cages or banning the castration of piglets without local anaesthesia.
In the cartoon the lady orders the man: "And now squeak like a piglet that gets castrated!" And the guy asks "Oh, come on Julia, can't you really get off on something else???"
Silent_Water
Tribune
YouTube and the internet are just flooded by Italians and Germans with beautiful music videos with and from the great Italian singer Milva who died two days ago.
en.wikipedia.org
She had internationally so much success in several European countries that she also became honored by several European states for her conribution to the culture of these states and when you see and hear her in these multilingual examples, you simply have to admit that she also became an outstanding example for the mixture of Italian and German culture in the best possible way:
During the last minute of this video, you will understand why she was not only called "La Rossa", but also in her greatest times "the Panther of Goro" :
Milva - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
She had internationally so much success in several European countries that she also became honored by several European states for her conribution to the culture of these states and when you see and hear her in these multilingual examples, you simply have to admit that she also became an outstanding example for the mixture of Italian and German culture in the best possible way:
During the last minute of this video, you will understand why she was not only called "La Rossa", but also in her greatest times "the Panther of Goro" :
Silent_Water
Tribune
If you ever wanted to know how useful and how sweet European "musical madness" can be, you must read this about the European Eurovision Song Contest 2021:
edition.cnn.com
The world's biggest, weirdest music event is back, and we need it more than ever
Europe has had an utterly miserable 14 months, thanks in large part to [gestures broadly at everything]. But fear not; the task of cheering up the continent's 750 million inhabitants could not have fallen to a more qualified group.
edition.cnn.com
Loxuru
Graf von Kreuzigung
There was a time, that almost every Eurovision Song Contest produced an all time classic. And it was not just ABBA's 'Waterloo'. Some editions even have a legacy of two or three classics. Great artist's careers have been founded at the Contest. But the last 25 years, it sadly has become a hotspot of bad taste.If you ever wanted to know how useful and how sweet European "musical madness" can be, you must read this about the European Eurovision Song Contest 2021:
The world's biggest, weirdest music event is back, and we need it more than ever
Europe has had an utterly miserable 14 months, thanks in large part to [gestures broadly at everything]. But fear not; the task of cheering up the continent's 750 million inhabitants could not have fallen to a more qualified group.
dommmu
Governor
If you ever wanted to know how useful and how sweet European "musical madness" can be, you must read this about the European Eurovision Song Contest 2021:
The world's biggest, weirdest music event is back, and we need it more than ever
Europe has had an utterly miserable 14 months, thanks in large part to [gestures broadly at everything]. But fear not; the task of cheering up the continent's 750 million inhabitants could not have fallen to a more qualified group.
Germany's entry is catchy and trashy alike, so the perfect mix for Eurovision. I love their dancing hand giving the finger to the world
My favourite is Cyprus, though
That's a bit unfair. Especially in the younger ESC history, there have been some really good artists. Loreen, Måns Zelmerlöw, The Common Linnets, just to name a few.
But yes, the amount of trash songs in Eurovision is (and always was) quite high. Most of the songs I did NOT like from this year were already kicked out in the semifinals, though a few made it (Moldova and San Marino for example).
Silent_Water
Tribune
"Yes" ... and sometimes also "no" for the whole last 25 years, because there are always some songs which are not usually the winners, but I liked them even during the last 20 years, although I did not really understand them or they were sung in terrible English. Sometimes they were winners because no other song was from this "genre" in that special year, for example:
Not winners but really good music from the usually underestimated Netherlands:
Or Denmark:
Or Germany with terrible English but a very beautiful young woman with the most unusual song of that year:
Not winners but really good music from the usually underestimated Netherlands:
Or Denmark:
Or Germany with terrible English
but a very beautiful young woman with the most unusual song of that year:
Silent_Water
Tribune
... and probably I am biased because I once had this French girlfriend I still could fall in love with when I am only thinking of her, still eight years after we separated but she convinced me that French is one of the most beautiful languages to sing in, possibly the most beautiful language of all to sing in:
When some of these songs were on the list to be sung in those years, the sceptics from English- or German-speaking countries said something like...: "Only one female singer - and not a beauty queen? About a child and a bird? No dancers - no action on stage? So simple? How should this ever win? No chance!"
But these songs were simply the most beautiful contest songs of those years - possibly because of the language and the possibly typical French emotionalism and French pathos...
Sung in French and German from a German TV Show in 1977.
When some of these songs were on the list to be sung in those years, the sceptics from English- or German-speaking countries said something like...: "Only one female singer - and not a beauty queen? About a child and a bird? No dancers - no action on stage? So simple? How should this ever win? No chance!"
But these songs were simply the most beautiful contest songs of those years - possibly because of the language and the possibly typical French emotionalism and French pathos...
Last edited:
Hugin&Munin
Presenter Of Images
How much we missed this completely superfluous crap. If they didn't try to show us that, I wouldn't have a chance not to watch it.If you ever wanted to know how useful and how sweet European "musical madness" can be, you must read this about the European Eurovision Song Contest 2021:
The world's biggest, weirdest music event is back, and we need it more than ever
Europe has had an utterly miserable 14 months, thanks in large part to [gestures broadly at everything]. But fear not; the task of cheering up the continent's 750 million inhabitants could not have fallen to a more qualified group.
Loxuru
Graf von Kreuzigung
Agreed : some of the French winning songs were all time classics : e.g. Severine (1971), and also Vicky Leandros (Après Toi in 1972).
There are 13 victories of a song in French at the contest : France (5), Luxemburg (4), Switzerland (2), Monaco (1) and Belgium (1).
The last one already dates from 1988 (Celine Dion for Switzerland in 1988).
Since, there have been 31 editions, of which only 7 winners were NOT in English, although only 5 of them were from an English speaking country (UK or Ireland). A trend started around the year 2000 : in total fifteen countries (including Germany and Austria) winning (often more than once) in a language that was not theirs.
Jon Smithie
Tribune
"Die Moritat von Mackie Messer" is one of my favorite songs. I thought Milva's performance of it in Italian was extraordinary. IMHO, it retains the cynical, decadent cabaret atmosphere of the original, but Milva adds such a strong element of eroticism that makes the song all the more powerful.YouTube and the internet are just flooded by Italians and Germans with beautiful music videos with and from the great Italian singer Milva who died two days ago.
Milva - Wikipedia
She had internationally so much success in several European countries that she also became honored by several European states for her conribution to the culture of these states and when you see and hear her in these multilingual examples, you simply have to admit that she also became an outstanding example for the mixture of Italian and German culture in the best possible way:
During the last minute of this video, you will understand why she was not only called "La Rossa", but also in her greatest times "the Panther of Goro" :
Here's Lotte Lenya's classic rendition:
Mack the Knife Sung by Lotte Lenya
The song "Mack the Knife" was witten by Kurt Weill for his wife Lotte Lenya. Here Ms Lenya sings "Mack the Knife" in its original German.
www.youtube.com
Lotte Lenya was married to Kurt Weil, who wrote the music to "Die Dreigroschenoper." ("The Threepenny Opera") and performed the role of Jenny in the original 1928 production. In 1956 she won a Tony award for her performance in an Off-Broadway production of the play.
Bobby Darin's 1959 swing version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4jcCwmtVAIM
BTW, it's interesting to note that in 1955, when Louis Armstrong was recording the song, Lotte Lenya was present in the studio. Armstrong spontaneously gave her a shout out in the lyrics "Look out, Miss Lotte Lenya!" This line was retained in the lyrics for the Darin recording.
It was the number one hit in the U.S. in 1959, and won Darin two Grammy awards. Personally, I like Milva's version best by far.
Zungur
Governor
So there is some music at these events???
I always just looked at pictures of girls in funny dresses.
Azerbaijan doesn't seem bad to me:
I always just looked at pictures of girls in funny dresses.
Azerbaijan doesn't seem bad to me:
Silent_Water
Tribune
Yes, it is hard to believe but there is still sometimes music to hear at the Eurovision Song Contest.
I must admit that I am sometimes also such an evil person that I like the "scandals" and "jokes" around this contest.
One of the best jokes in my opinion was the statement of one of the "Finnish-horror-hardrock-singers-from-Lordi" (this could be such a beautiful long German word, couldn't it? ), when he said, he always had so much "groupies" and female horror fan girlies around him during the performances, but when he takes down his mask and they see him without make-up, they are suddenly all crying and running away!
Life can be so sad and cruel ... :
Or the public reactions in Russia after this Austrian performance, even in some of the Russian parliament debates:
Many nationalist Russians like Zhirinovsky there were suddenly convinced that this was an example of the inevitable decline and fall of the decadent Western hemisphere and Russia would always win against such a decadence with singing girls with beards.
I would have answered:
"Hey! In ancient Greece and its highest culture, the "Hermaphrodites" of such kinds were regarded as messengers and "Favorites and darlings of the Gods"!
If you can not even tolerate only watching this, you are simply not yet ready for the highest form of human culture and human tolerance!"
I must admit that I am sometimes also such an evil person that I like the "scandals" and "jokes" around this contest.
One of the best jokes in my opinion was the statement of one of the "Finnish-horror-hardrock-singers-from-Lordi" (this could be such a beautiful long German word, couldn't it?
), when he said, he always had so much "groupies" and female horror fan girlies around him during the performances, but when he takes down his mask and they see him without make-up, they are suddenly all crying and running away! Life can be so sad and cruel ... :
Or the public reactions in Russia after this Austrian performance, even in some of the Russian parliament debates:
Many nationalist Russians like Zhirinovsky there were suddenly convinced that this was an example of the inevitable decline and fall of the decadent Western hemisphere and Russia would always win against such a decadence with singing girls with beards.
I would have answered:
"Hey! In ancient Greece and its highest culture, the "Hermaphrodites" of such kinds were regarded as messengers and "Favorites and darlings of the Gods"!
If you can not even tolerate only watching this, you are simply not yet ready for the highest form of human culture and human tolerance!"