Songs that become love letters: »These are stories«, drawn and interpreted by Anke Kuhl
Photo: Anke Kuhl / Valve
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»And we danced to the end / To the heartbeat of the best music. / Every evening, every day, / we already thought that was victory«, the false colors sang in their song »That was years ago«. And that’s exactly how it was: in 1980, on »Monarchie und everyday«, her poignant post-punk debut album. Many people still consider this record to be one of the best that has ever been released in this country. If you don’t know them, you at least know the NDW hit “It’s going ahead”.
The information about the record at the time read »Don’t believe anything, we don’t believe anything either«. Maybe that was the reason why their texts flowed directly into love letters or were issued as original love letters? “I know life, I’ve been to the cinema”… “You can have one half of heaven, the here and now, I’ll keep that”… “I need your protection, I want to protect you / I have” needs you, doesn’t want to use you”.
That was a completely new sound, touching and cool at the same time, uniquely written and sung by Peter Hein, one of the best ever. So good that after the record he said: No, I don’t feel like rock star. He preferred to continue working as an office clerk and left the band – »to the general dismay of the community«, as »Sounds« wrote at the time. The eternal phantom pain of the German pop left, because then came Grönemeyer, Westernhagen and Niedecken and cleared away with their German rock. The next big hope was Blumfeld, in the early 1990s.
»Monarchy and everyday life« is now available to watch. Each of the 11 legendary songs becomes a comic, drawn by Anke Kuhl, Anna Sommer, Minou Zaribaf, Karolina Chyzewska, Nicolas Mahler, Tine Fetz, Andreas Michalke and others. There are also a few explanations by Peter Hein and Thomas Schwebel (the guitarist who then had to become Hein’s successor as singer). Anna Sommer writes: »Impossible to escape the feelings and images that the songs inevitably trigger. And the beauty of it is that it happens again and again, with the same force as soon as the first notes of the song are heard.«
Gunther Buskies / Jonas Engelmann / Peter Hein (eds.): Monarchy and everyday life. A false color song comic. Ventil Verlag, 128 pages, hardcover, €25
Book presentation: Thursday, June 2, 8 p.m. in the library at Luisenbad, Badstr. 39, Berlin
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