When Bowie originally recorder ‘Heroes’, it was in German. Being the marketing non-guru that he was at the time, he nevertheless made an English version. The English version is all over the net. Indeed, it’s all over my blog as it’s one of my favorites. In fact, it might be my favorite. What you don’t hear much is the original German version. I’d heard it a time or two. I loved the English version so basically forgot ‘Helden’ even existed. So, imagine my pleasant surprise when I read a blog post today about some Germans ( and Fins ) remaking ‘Helden’:
Sounds kinda crazy huh? An industrial metal version of a Bowie song? Now, for the most part, I hate industrial metal. It’s right up there with rap in terms of musical quality. However, I enjoyed this version a lot more than the sanitized version The Wallflowers did. Probably one of my favorite remakes of ‘Heroes’ is by Magnetic Fields. It’s a very industrial sound. Not the metal kind tho. In fact, if you listen closely to Bowie’s 1977 version, it has a modern industrial sound to it. The entire album at that time was too harsh for me. But one song stood out and used that harshness to effect. That sound probably wasn’t a Bowie creation, but Bowie was the first to use it that I was aware of at the time. Nowadays, it’s everywhere. ‘Heroes’ to say the least has morphed a hundred different ways since 1977. Now, thanks to Apocalyptica with an assist by Till Lindemann of Rammstein, it seems to have morphed back to what it was meant to be in 1977, a German industrial rock song. I also appreciate how they adhered to the melodies of ‘Heroes’, which industrial bands are usually not wont to do. They kept those melodies intact, but did it in a purely industrial fashion. I’m no fan of either of these groups, but I do appreciate what they did with one of my all time anthems. If just just for one day.
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Thanks for the info, and the prompt! I now spent all morning going through all the “Heroes” versions I could find.
You are spot on about this Till/Apocalyptica one. It’s great – in fact I had to play it several times; a German Industrial Rock song – I never though of it like that but it’s about right, I guess. I certainly never knew Bowie did it in German first. Saying that, V2-Schneider, the B-side, is one of my all-time favourite Bowie tracks. You don’t see it much though, although I stuck a link on my site to the single version on YouTube ….
Well, you have to consider that in 1977, there was no “German Industrial Sound”. That started evolving a little later. But, the sound of ‘Heroes’ does kind of fit into that sound. My point therefore was that Till/Apocalyptica doing ‘Heroes’ isn’t far removed at all from what they traditionally do. Till/Apocalyptica doing Changes would be a stretch I doubt they’d even want to try. Doing ‘Heroes’, not at all. It’s a perfect fit. Obviously.
[...] In keeping with the theme of this blog, I’ll start off with what is not the first song on the album. And, it shouldn’t be. ‘Heroes’ is covered by a band called TV on the Radio. I knew nothing about them before this, I know nothing now. The War Child site goes into great detail about the stars lending their songs, but little to nothing about the talent playing them. That strikes me as some kind of ego trip by the stars, but I doubt they had that much to do with it. Anyways, their version I really don’t like. The song builds to a climax and then lets you back down as do the lyrics. It’s also supposed to sound harsh, reflecting the realities of a seperated Berlin. Then amidst the harsh rhythym is an uplifting melody that wafts throughout the song. That is the hope inferred by the narrator. TV on the Radio just plays it like some elevator music. There is no harshness. There is no melody. There is no hope or betrayal of that hope. Promising to bring relief to children affected by war in the most unimaginably horrific environment anyone can imagine I would think would be more than enough inspiration to bring out some emotion for this song. But, these guys don’t get it. They sound like a bored Kraftwerk. This sucks. It really does. I think Bowie’s contribution to this effort would have been much better served getting Till Lindemann fronting Apocalyptica to do a full version of the song. Till gets it vocally, Apocalyptica gets it musically. [...]
There are two other elements to why this song works so well, besides the music. First of all, German is Till’s native language and with all due respects to Bowie, his pronunciation left something to be desired.
But probably most important — Till is a former East German, and who would know more about “die Mauer” and all its implications? This is a song that a Berliner could’ve easily written him or herself, no matter what side of the wall you happened to find yourself on, and it shows in the way Till sings it. BTW – I know you said you didn’t really care for Rammstein, but Till is a fantastic frontman — you should check out some of their videos on YouTube.
Good points Ann. I thought I touched on the fact that a German singing German lyrics has much more of an impact than a Brit faking it. I never really liked Bowie’s German version that much. His English version is one of my all time favorite songs ever.
I never liked Rammstein’s music that much. Normally that’s the first thing I use to judge a band. If I can’t get past the music, I usually just take a pass. ( I was never a fan of Kiss for that reason. Hellacious show, first-rate frontman, just couldn’t get past their music. ) However, because of the video I was sent to hear this version of Helden, it became evident real quick ( like, in about three minutes ), that Till knows how to work a show and his crowd. I love some of their outfits, and the pyros are fantastic. Plus, Till has that nuance that Bowie works so well as well, facial expression. A simple roll of the eyes at that right moment can work a crowd better than anything. Till is a performer for sure.
Although still no fan of Rammstein, Till Lindemann has skyrocketed in my appreciation. I just wish he’d do a lot more serious music. On top of his theatrical ability, he’s got a voice to die for, when he chooses to use it.
[...] Genius! I LOVE THEIR SOUND! Will definitely be checking out more of their stuff. However, it may be a while. I just can’t seem to tear myself from the Till version. [...]
Hey, thanks for the mention, much appreciated!!
And thanks also for the info on helden; I never knew the german version came first, cheers!
August 28th, 2008 at 4:06 pmThanks for the info, and the prompt! I now spent all morning going through all the “Heroes” versions I could find.
August 30th, 2008 at 6:43 amYou are spot on about this Till/Apocalyptica one. It’s great – in fact I had to play it several times; a German Industrial Rock song – I never though of it like that but it’s about right, I guess. I certainly never knew Bowie did it in German first. Saying that, V2-Schneider, the B-side, is one of my all-time favourite Bowie tracks. You don’t see it much though, although I stuck a link on my site to the single version on YouTube ….
Well, you have to consider that in 1977, there was no “German Industrial Sound”. That started evolving a little later. But, the sound of ‘Heroes’ does kind of fit into that sound. My point therefore was that Till/Apocalyptica doing ‘Heroes’ isn’t far removed at all from what they traditionally do. Till/Apocalyptica doing Changes would be a stretch I doubt they’d even want to try. Doing ‘Heroes’, not at all. It’s a perfect fit. Obviously.
September 11th, 2008 at 1:27 pmHey guys, be sure to check out the video thevisitor submitted. Puts a little background to the song.
September 12th, 2008 at 7:37 am[...] In keeping with the theme of this blog, I’ll start off with what is not the first song on the album. And, it shouldn’t be. ‘Heroes’ is covered by a band called TV on the Radio. I knew nothing about them before this, I know nothing now. The War Child site goes into great detail about the stars lending their songs, but little to nothing about the talent playing them. That strikes me as some kind of ego trip by the stars, but I doubt they had that much to do with it. Anyways, their version I really don’t like. The song builds to a climax and then lets you back down as do the lyrics. It’s also supposed to sound harsh, reflecting the realities of a seperated Berlin. Then amidst the harsh rhythym is an uplifting melody that wafts throughout the song. That is the hope inferred by the narrator. TV on the Radio just plays it like some elevator music. There is no harshness. There is no melody. There is no hope or betrayal of that hope. Promising to bring relief to children affected by war in the most unimaginably horrific environment anyone can imagine I would think would be more than enough inspiration to bring out some emotion for this song. But, these guys don’t get it. They sound like a bored Kraftwerk. This sucks. It really does. I think Bowie’s contribution to this effort would have been much better served getting Till Lindemann fronting Apocalyptica to do a full version of the song. Till gets it vocally, Apocalyptica gets it musically. [...]
February 16th, 2009 at 11:35 amThere are two other elements to why this song works so well, besides the music. First of all, German is Till’s native language and with all due respects to Bowie, his pronunciation left something to be desired.
But probably most important — Till is a former East German, and who would know more about “die Mauer” and all its implications? This is a song that a Berliner could’ve easily written him or herself, no matter what side of the wall you happened to find yourself on, and it shows in the way Till sings it. BTW – I know you said you didn’t really care for Rammstein, but Till is a fantastic frontman — you should check out some of their videos on YouTube.
February 16th, 2009 at 1:41 pmGood points Ann. I thought I touched on the fact that a German singing German lyrics has much more of an impact than a Brit faking it. I never really liked Bowie’s German version that much. His English version is one of my all time favorite songs ever.
I never liked Rammstein’s music that much. Normally that’s the first thing I use to judge a band. If I can’t get past the music, I usually just take a pass. ( I was never a fan of Kiss for that reason. Hellacious show, first-rate frontman, just couldn’t get past their music. ) However, because of the video I was sent to hear this version of Helden, it became evident real quick ( like, in about three minutes ), that Till knows how to work a show and his crowd. I love some of their outfits, and the pyros are fantastic. Plus, Till has that nuance that Bowie works so well as well, facial expression. A simple roll of the eyes at that right moment can work a crowd better than anything. Till is a performer for sure.
Although still no fan of Rammstein, Till Lindemann has skyrocketed in my appreciation. I just wish he’d do a lot more serious music. On top of his theatrical ability, he’s got a voice to die for, when he chooses to use it.
February 16th, 2009 at 1:55 pm[...] Genius! I LOVE THEIR SOUND! Will definitely be checking out more of their stuff. However, it may be a while. I just can’t seem to tear myself from the Till version. [...]
July 28th, 2009 at 10:14 am