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Charles in Sydney Australia

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Ode to Joy interpreted by Rowan Atkinson

Ode to Joy (Ode an die Freude in German) is a poem by Friedrich Schuller and used by Beethoven in his 9th “Choral” Symphony.

This anthem is going to be adopted by the European Union and the Council of Europe as the European Anthem.

Rowan Atkinson made an appearance as British baritone “Robert Barrington” to sing this glorious music. Unfortunately he didn’t have all the lyrics and had to improvise.

Listen how he used German (and British) popular culture in this musical masterpiece.

O Freunde, nicht diese Tone!

Freude, schöner Götterfunken    (Joy of beautiful God’s sparks)
Tochter aus Elysium,                      (Daughter of the Elysium)
Wir betreten feuertrunken,        (Drunken of fire we will enter)
Himmlische, dein Heiligtum!       (Your holy shrine, Heavenly daughter!)

Deine Zauber binden wieder      (Your miracles will connect again)
Was die Mode streng geteilt;      (Whatever fashion had strictly devided)
Alle Menschen werden Brüder,     (All men will become brothers)
Wo dein sanfter Flügel weilt.      (Wherever your tender wing remains.)

Berlin Hamburg Schumacher
Baden-Baden lederhosen
schnell schnell schnell
Ja Ja, nein nein
apfelstrudel
Hofmeister und Holstenpils
Achtung liebfraumilch in Porsche oom-pah
Vorsprung durch Technik  (Progress through Technology) was the advertising slogan for Audi cars.
Donner und Blitzen
Britischer architekt
tommorrow belongs to me
schweine und  dummkopf      (schweine = pigs;    dummkopf = idiot)
ein bier bitte
Jürgen Klinsmann ist kaputt,
Boris Becker immer bumm bumm    (Bumm-Bumm-Boris was Boris Becker’s nickname)
ich bin ein berliner
holen kindergarten,
glühwein wo ist sein skipass
edelweiss singt captain von trapp
dankeschön
Auf Wiedersehen Pet

I found the lyrics in the YouTube link but I am not sure if the words at 2:36 are correct. Would a native German speaker be able to check this please?

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17 responses to “Ode to Joy interpreted by Rowan Atkinson”

  1. Dave Avatar
    Dave

    Donner und Blitzen

    Reply
    1. charuzu Avatar
      charuzu

      Instead of “sonne und blitzen” ? I guess that makes sense.

      Reply
      1. Susanna Avatar
        Susanna

        No “Donner und Blitz” is “thunder and lightning” – this is correct,

  2. John Avatar
    John

    “Vorsprung durch Technik” (Progress through Technology) was the advertising slogan for Audi cars.

    Reply
  3. charuzu Avatar
    charuzu

    Thank you for the explanation of Vorsprung durch Technik – I have updated the article!

    Reply
  4. Martyn Atkins (@martynpatrick) Avatar
    Martyn Atkins (@martynpatrick)

    ‘Britischer Architekt’ was the pay-off line for a TV advert for the Rover 800 in 1988: the ad depicted sleek British-made cars purring past the Neue Staatsgalerie in Stuttgart, designed by James Stirling. http://youtu.be/pJ-DEi1LP50

    Reply
    1. charuzu Avatar
      charuzu

      Thank you for the explanation of Britischer Architekt – I added the Youtube link in the article.

      Reply
  5. wawiel Avatar
    wawiel

    Donner und Blitzen can also be a river in the USA

    Reply
  6. Walther Avatar
    Walther

    I think it’s schwein (pigs) und dummkopf (idiot)

    Reply
    1. Susanna Avatar
      Susanna

      “Dummkopf” is not as strong as “idiot”, though – “silly billy” describes it better (it is easily something a person would call himself after having done some mishap).

      Reply
  7. Nichtwichtig Avatar
    Nichtwichtig

    Bumm-Bumm-Boris was Boris Becker’s nickname.

    Reply
  8. Nichtwichtig Avatar
    Nichtwichtig

    And he doesn’t say ‘immer’ but ‘Himmel’ (heaven).

    Reply
  9. Polarbear Avatar
    Polarbear

    I’m pretty sure it’s Schweinehund (= pig-dog) right before Dummkopf. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Schweinehund

    Reply
  10. peter fleerackers Avatar
    peter fleerackers

    ‘tomorrow belongs to me’ is the title of a German song used in the famous film CABARET with Lisa Minelly
    it ends with a nazi salute in the movie

    the original title of the song is ‘Der Morgige Tag ist Mein’
    it is not a nazi-song, and the lyrics have been slightly changed in the movie

    the song was written by two jews according to rational wiki.
    ‘tomorrow belongs to me’ is also used in British politics when referring to exaggerated comparisons to nazism or Hitlerism according to that same source

    Reply
  11. K Atabaki Avatar
    K Atabaki

    Thanks for Lyrics. Was looking for it for long time to understand what he is saying.

    Reply
  12. Heinzi Avatar
    Heinzi

    Do you know when this performance was originally? Or in which Show it was performed? Thank you! 🙂

    Reply
  13. miskidomleka Avatar
    miskidomleka

    Donner und Blitzen may be also a reference to Strauss’ “Unter Donner und Blitz” polka

    I also think it’s Schweinhund, Dummkopf not Schwein und Dummkopf

    Schumacher could also refer to the goalkeeper, who was very popular in late 20th century. So it probably depends on when this was performed. If in the 21 century, then the F1 driver is more likely,

    Reply

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