Randy Newman - In Germany before the War

[valderramas5]

Why do i have tears in my eyes? :(

[krja1888]

i have uploaded the studio version of this to my channel if anyone is interested :)

[lunchedmanagement]

@uglyzombie I since discovered it's about a serial killer in Germany. Had no idea!

[toti4]

@philateliceun dance music that's based on blues type riffs kinda wiggles inbetween major and minor.

[SmeeeelyCat]

Such an emotional song. Hes about to cry.

[boosh90]

don't mention the war!

[cwkneisel]

This is easily Randy's best performance of this song. It's haunting genius. When he does this as an old man, his voice is a bit too goofy and his accent is much more noticeable. It's perfect here. He almost sounds German at the beginning.

[fishorbit1]

The great thing about the line 'I'm looking at the river but I'm thinking of the sea' is that you don't really know what it means, and yet there's so much in it. It's vague but produces a very particular impression.

[lunchedmanagement]

@fishorbit1 I love that line too. To me, it means he's thinking of sailing to America, as he senses life in Dusseldorf, for a Jew in 1934, is hopeless.

[uglyzombie]

@lunchedmanagement Except... you're absolutely wrong. You have no idea what this song is about, do you?

[Cerpth]

it's about child killer named Peter Kürten.

[Ninfro89]

This song made me cry almost as much as reading about what Kürten did...

[PatriciaK55]

The album version is better, but this is still eerie. Thing is, it doesn't say anything. Go back and review the lyrics. What makes it so monstrous is that the murder occurs in our minds.

The man's a genius.

[Scribbler29]

I just heard the Rachmaninoff reference - Prelude in C# minor. I don't know why didn't hear it before.

[VegardMinde]

An eerie melody and very metaphorical text...

[slowfoodwawa]

Hi,

yesterday I was in Düsseldorf and went to the Rhine, which was extremly hig due to melting of the snow and raining.No flooding of teh city, but just evry impressive.

I obviously thought of this song. But try also also te version of Ester Ofarim.

I agree that this is surely an impressive performance.

[byteontheez]

RANDY NEWMAN IS/WAS/WILL ALWAYS BE A GENIUS AND NEVER LET THE MONEY QUESTION GET IN HIS WAY. SLEEPIN IN DISNEY'S FOLD NOW. Thanks RN~!!

[SupermanDusty]

This song sent chills down my spine, haven't had a song do that to me in years!!

[cinedores]

frightening song - who else writes songs like this?

[theromanticghost]

@cinedores Have you heard Sufjan Stevens "John Wayne Gacy, Jr." similarly eerie and beautiful.

[imfromnoho3]

Oh Jeez its like 11:00 and i have school tomorrow. All I have been doing for the past hour is listening to Randy's music and it has all put me deep into thought about everything it could mean. Great song along with everything else he created. Goodnight people.

[dobbsiancant]

@imfromnoho3 we could all have written you a note to your professors:please excuse imfromnoho from class today as he was listening to randy newman and learned far more than he would have by attending your lecture.thank you for your understanding.

[imfromnoho3]

Oh Jeez its like 11:00 and i have school tomorrow. All I have been doing for the past hour is listening to Randy's music and it has all put me deep into thought about everything it could mean. Great song along with everything else he created. Goodnight people.

[VernonGoddard]

Wonderfully poignant song........

[Gooseberry51]

So great a song...so wonderful...

[jkoff76]

This music would go well with the music M. That is a little spooky.

[Mogggggpiano]

This song makes me feel as uncomfortable now as the first time I heard it. Absolutely compelling stuff from the great man.

[bezemkast]

I remember Randy saying: this is a song about a child murderer. . . while the people applauded . . .

[bezemkast]

I remember him saying: this is a song about a child murderer . . . and the people applauded. . . .

[RonanG]

An extraordinary song from a genius of our time.

RonanG

Iron Mountain Movies

[ForsakenlyDisturbed]

"I'm looking at the river, but I'm thinking of the sea"

Does that line really get to anyone else, or is it just me?

Awesome song. Love how it captures the feeling of 1934 perfectly.

[Zamindera]

@ForsakenlyDisturbed That line has haunted me since I first heard this song many years ago. It says it all.

[Zamindera]

@ForsakenlyDisturbed That line has haunted me since I first heard the song, many years ago. It says it all.

[kurosawa99999]

@ForsakenlyDisturbed it os not just you...

[Sooozee]

I love this song~ moves the soul.

[bmw521bmw521]

i've always enjoyed randy newman and his lyrics, starting from 'little criminals' and working backwards in chronography.

does anyone have his version of 'jolly coppers on parade' they could post? thanks.

[kaini]

brrrrrrr.

[gregoriousamadeus]

whats the story behind this song?

i tried to find out by reading the comments, but you guys are useless, you just keep on having arguments

[jkqd14]

The song is about Peter Kurten, the "Vampire of Dusseldorf" who killed a bunch of adults and children around 1930. He was much more evil than Jack the Ripper, but he got caught, so he's much less famous.

If you're really interested by the creepy 1930s Germany murder aesthetic of this song, I'd suggest Fritz Lang's "M", a 1931 movie starring Peter Lorre about a child-killer who bears many resemblances to Kurten. It's amazing.

[jkqd14]

Was that a reply to me? I'm not sure what you're getting at.

[peterzang]

@jkqd14 Nice to find smart people on YouTube. Great film, indeed.

[hrothgleas]

@jkqd14 M is a terrific movie, and Lorre is amazing in it.  For years I only knew him from cartoon caricatures... Amazingly gifted and expressive actor, much more so in German...

[philateliceun]

I think it's about the atmosphere of Germany before the war. Atleast that's it for me.

[WanderingGnome]

He is remembering his daughter before she was killed.

[Aiyumi402]

@gregoriousamadeus It is about a serial child killer named Hans Beckert.

[Catlovertea4]

Great art makes you feel what the artist feels.

[ThePereginPigeon]

the dissonance during the girls description is brilliant...the conflict between the beauty and the ugliness is in the music....genius

[plane15man]

that was a great song, very depressing, but still a masterpiece nonetheless

[slowfoodwawa]

This one proves that it makes a lot of sense to listen to more than one versions of an artist, if available.

I still think to like Esther Ofarims version better, but here it is possible to understand ehat the author intended.

[barrusDemonPlucker]

I have been thinking about the inconsistencies between this song and the vampire of Dusseldorf and I had a grim idea. What if this song is about the same serial killer, however, in this fiction Peter Kurten was not the real killer but merely a pasty. While this other murder of children roams park unfettered to take as he pleases. This dark tale would fit Randy's style.

[MJSpiderman7116]

I only knew this guy from the Disney Pixar movies. Now that I heard this, as melodic, perfect, and well though out it is, it kinda scares me, haha

[marvy1118]

I wish it were about a solitary man who befriends a lost little girl for an afternoon on the riverbank, instead of about a murderer.

[madhoneydew]

here i am, like a dummy, deeply sympathizing with the "before the war" german kids (jewish or otherwise) who did not live to see the end of it.

[Hipocracy1]

i do aswell

[MoveOverCasanova]

his songs sound so miniature, but the musical substance is surprising when you listen really

[elz8105]

This is a brilliant song, it just shows how diverse Randy is :)

[dieyoubastards]

The truth is always so much more interesting and horrible.

[gramule]

wow - simply and elegantly beautiful

[dieyoubastards]

Nice tune.

Absolutely factually incorrect though.

"Rednecks" is pretty offensive and ignorant too.

I like Newman,but he sure talks out of his ass a lot.

[kinjii]

I can't stand when artists create things either...

[dieyoubastards]

Is that your pathetic attempt at sarcasm?

I said I liked the song, but as you are ignorant of the origin,it purports to be about Peter Kurten,the Dusseldorf vampire,yet bears no factual consistency to the real story.

I knew some smart-ass would try to deride me for a little factual constructive criticism.

[kinjii]

uhm yeah, I'm not going to get into a big thing, but I think my point is fair, whether or not I knew the song was perhaps inspired by a film that was perhaps inspired by Kurten. Art is art, and Newman is genius, its his perspectives and nuances that allow him to write such incredible songs. Perhaps you should download a dictionary or trig. book, and let appletalk go wild if you don't understand what writing lyrics is about.... I'm not a smart-ass- your comment was just odd (to me)... sorry.

[spammy58]

is rednecks not supposed to be ironic and sarcastic? it makes fun of the north's hypocrisy in looking down at the south

"he's free to be put in a cage in harlem new york city"

it's from the point of view of a southerner commenting sarcastically on the stereotypes

[dieyoubastards]

Yes and no.

Maybe he makes fun of both sides.

"We're rednecks,we don't know our ass from a hole in the ground,we're keeping the niggers down" is not exactly the point of view of Southerners or segregationists.

Sarcastically from the point of view of Southerners,yes.

Derogatory to Southerrners,yes.

Forced integration was also a crime.

Lincoln was right when he said

"we suffer from your presence,and you suffer from ours."

34,000 black on white rapes every year proves it.

[ph1lanthrope]

Love Rand. What incredible pathos!

[dondev54]

It's chilling, just chilling. Makes my blood run cold...

[dieyoubastards]

Nice fiction.

Supposedly about Peter Kurten,

but false.

I hate lies.

[bountyhunter2195]

I hate it when people make good sounding music too.

"I HATE LIES"

stop trying to sound cool by white knighting, nobody likes that.

[dieyoubastards]

Stop trying to sound like you understand the English language,you obviously don't.

Go back to your six-pack and your dumbass tv shows,moron.

[bountyhunter2195]

Name one grammatical error or spelling error in my post, dumbfuck

[dieyoubastards]

1.You did not form a complete sentence.

2.You did not use a period at the end of the sentence.

3.You did not use a capital at the beginning of the sentence.

4.Your comment shows a complete lack of reading comprehension of the subject matter.

5.You are an idiot.

[bountyhunter2195]

This man needs to get laid.

The internet was not made for sentence structure.

Please stop trying to be cool by pretending to be the smartest guy in the world, you're not impressing anyone, and nobody thinks you're cool.

[dieyoubastards]

You asked idiot,and I don't give a shit what your dumbass thinks of me,squirrelnuts.

You,on the other hand,have proven your self to be oh so very cool.

moron.

[bountyhunter2195]

Stop pretending to be smarter than everyone by saying that everything is a conspiracy, nobody believes your pothead theories about why bush is a Nazi.

Also,

The game.

[dieyoubastards]

I don't care what nobodies like you believe.

Go play your video game operant conditioning for military murder and leave intelligent disdcussion to the adults,you little moron.

[bountyhunter2195]

You're probably some dipshit 13 year old republican who is mad that his party lost.

[dieyoubastards]

Probably what a teenage game playing brainwashed moron would say.

I'm probably old enough to be your grandfather and anyone who votes for republicrats is probably a fucking idiot.

Probably,kid.

[bountyhunter2195]

Ha, you think you're cool by calling everyone brainwashed. Nobody thinks that you're cool because you pretend to be smart. You're old enough to be my grandfather if you were like, 15, your daughter was 3 and i was 1

[dieyoubastards]

well you got me there. LOL idiot.

[jepz11]

You both need to understand that insults bounce right back at you.

They are not about the one you think.

[ZachGannon]

I think this might be his best performance of this song that I've seen.

I saw him live two months ago, and he forgot the words in the second verse, haha. (but he was amazing... a living legend)

This performance just captures the eeriness of the song so well... Thanks for uploading!

[meggoeggo]

Such a beautiful song. Thank you for uploading

[romboutroemer]

great lyrics, great music

[dieyoubastards]

great,but untrue.

[zagreen]

Really? Interesting.

I'm a huge fan of Newman's, and I always wondered what this song was actually about.

Would you mind telling me some of the discrepancies between the truth and what Randy wrote?

[dieyoubastards]

Maybe I'm nitpicking but Peter Kurten did not "own a store" and he did not wear glasses.

He was a very sick individual,though.

He killed animals,children,and men for sexual pleasure.

Once he said he cut the head off a goose and put his mouth over the neck and had an orgasm.

As as youth he had intercourse with sheep while stabbing them.

He later went on to killing children and women.

He said drowned 2 playmates at age 8 or so.

Very dapper and polite,he confessed to give his wife the reward

[dieyoubastards]

I like Newman's songs too,even though he is pretty insulting to us Southerners.

[thrashnburn]

its based upon the fritz lang movie M

where a psychotic pedophile goes around killing small girls, and the police blame all the other criminals.

so the belin crime underworld hunts him down and tears him to shreds

[dieyoubastards]

I was misinformed I was told it was about Peter Kurten.

Lang denied his film was about Kurten,but the film came out in

1931,Kurten was arrested in 1930 and Newman's song was set in 1934.

Seems to be a blend of Newman's own fantasies and other people's ideas inspired by real events.

In other words,like all drama,

it is basically lies.

[jepz11]

"a blend of Newman's own fantasies and other people's ideas inspired by real events."

And how exactly does that make it a lie? Is your nick a lie because you have a name?

I think it is pretty ridiculous to start any discussion with the such but that is because I like to take myself seriously.

Maybe Randy Newman made it '34 just for the rhyme, nothing wrong with that I think.

What matters to me is that musical and lyrical content is telling, also to me of course.

[jepz11]

To you, OK.

Otherwise, how can a poem be untrue..?