04 January 2008

"fred vom jupiter" || die doraus & die marinas || 1982


The beautiful thing about new wave music was that the listener really never had any idea what he or she was in for. "New Wave" might indicate a nice chip off of the post punk block, with gnashing political lyrics, hard guitars and a minor key. It might also indicate machinist, robotic synthesizer music with disharmonious (or sometimes eerily harmonious) lyrics about the bleakness of life.

It might also indicate complete fucking ridiculousness.

Which brings me to today's track: "Fred Vom Jupiter."

Do you even have to hear a single note of this song to know that it's going to be ridiculous? Of course not. (That's the beauty of new wave.) I would rate this song near the absurdity level of Nina Hagen's "New York / N.Y."

I don't speak German, but I did run the lyrics through an online translator. From what I can gather, Fred was a very dapper alien who came from a star near Jupiter and swept the Earth ladies off their feet with his golden hair, much to the dismay of the fellas in town. Sounds sort of like the plot to Earth Girls Are Easy, doesn't it?

Any way you look at it, this song aims to please, and does so in a quiet, simple manner.

Listen to it here.

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