This post is focussing at one band and one song: ‘Forever Young’ by the German group Alphaville was a hit 40 years ago and it is again today.
In the 1980s, many young people were pessimistic about the future. Unlike for the ‘baby boomers’, job opportunities were downright poor. People were talking about ‘lost generation’ for a reason. But the state of the world was also unstable. These were the years of the ‘cold war’ and many were afraid of ‘the (nuclear) bomb’. Alphaville’s big hits should therefore be seen against this background.
Look and listen here at the ‘official version’ of ‘Forever young’. It starts with footage of a church that people apparently used as a hiding place:
In 1981, (singer) Marian Gold (stage name for Hartwig Schierbaum), Bernard Lloyd (Bernard Gössling) and Frank Mertens (Frank Sorgatz) formed the band Alphaville, initially called ‘Forever young’. They were joined by fellow members that changed over time. The name of the band was taken from the science fiction film Alphaville from 1965 by Jean-Luc Godard.
The band spent the necessary hours in a primitive studio, where cheap synthesizers and a drum computer were the main instruments. They sent recordings of which would later prove to be the three biggest hits in the band’s existence to several record companies: ‘Big in Japan’, ‘Forever young’ and ‘Sounds like a melody’. To their surprise, they received three offers. These titles all feature on the band’s 1984 debut album.
The band still exists, but Marian Gold is the only remaining member from the first hour. He was born in 1954 in Herford, Germany. As a young student in Berlin, he joined an artists’ collective, Nelson Community, where he formed the band Chinchilla. It also included Bernard Loyd. As a singer, Marian stands out for his multi-octave vocal range.
In the years following their successful debut album, several other albums followed, most of which were well received but rarely containing songs that reached the absolute top. The most recent album (2022) is ‘Eternally yours’ and harks back to old success songs played in a symphonic arrangement. The band presented this version in a concert tour, along with a chamber orchestra. The last song I am featuring on this exploration is a recording of the symphonic version of Forever young.
Before, I will delve a little deeper into the background of the song ‘Forever young’, here are the lyrics and their Dutch translation:
Alphaville: Forever young’
| Let’s dance in style, let’s dance for a whileHeaven can wait, we’re only watching the skiesHoping for the best but expecting the worstAre you gonna drop the bomb or not? | Laten we in stijl dansen, voor een tijdje dansen De hemel kan wachten, we bekijken alleen de lucht Hopend op het beste, maar verwachtend het ergste Zul je de bom laten vallen of niet |
| Let us die young or let us live foreverWe don’t have the power but we never say neverSitting in a sandpit, life is a short tripThe music’s for the sad men | Laat ons jong sterven of voor altijd leven We missen de kracht, maar nooit zeggen we nooit We zitten in een kuil, het leven is een korte reis De muziek is voor de droevige mensen |
| Can you imagine when this race is wonTurn our golden faces into the sunPraising our leaders, we’re getting in tuneThe music’s played by the, the mad man | Kun je je voorstellen, na winnen van de wedstrijd We keren onze gouden gezichten keren naar de zon Terwijl we onze leiders prijzen stemmen we af op de muziek gespeeld door dwazen. |
| Some are like water, some are like the heatSome are a melody and some are the beatSooner or later, they all will be goneWhy don’t they stay young? | Sommige zijn als water, sommige als de hitte Sommigen zijn de melodie, anderen het ritme Vroeger of later zullen ze allemaal vertrokken zijn Waarom blijven ze niet jong |
| It’s so hard to get old without a causeI don’t want to perish like a fading horseYouth’s like diamonds in the sunAnd diamonds are forever | Het is zo moeilijk om zonder doel oud te worden Ik wil niet sneuvelen als een verzwakkend paard De jeugd lijkt op diamanten in de zon En diamanten blijven altijd bestaan |
| So many adventures couldn’t happen todaySo many songs we forgot to playSo many dreams swinging out of the blueWe’ll let ’em come true | Zo veel avonturen konden vandaag niet gebeuren Zo veel liedjes die we vergeten zijn te spelen Zo veel dromen, die komen uit het niets We laten ze allemaal uitkomen |
| Forever youngI want to be forever youngDo you really want to live forever?Forever, and everForever youngI want to be forever youngDo you really want to live forever?Forever, and ever | Voor altijd jong, Ik wil voor altijd jong zijn Wil je echt voor altijd leven? Voor altijd en voor alle tijdenVoor altijd jong Ik wil voor altijd jong zijn Wil je echt voor altijd, leven? Voor altijd en alle tijden. |
Like many peers, the members of the band were gloomy about the world they lived in. Their first song ‘Big in Japan’ was about drug addiction of young people in 1980s Berlin. ‘Forever young’ is focusing on the cold war. The threat that one of the world powers will use an atomic bomb and start a nuclear war widespread in those days. The song is about the resulting feeling of helplessness: ‘Hoping for the best but expecting the worst: Are you going to drop the bomb or not?” The song expresses little faith in political leaders. In the original version, this was even stronger, but under pressure from the record company, the group made the lyrics less explicit: ‘Little fascist lady she loves you so. Following her leader, she’s getting in tune the music’s played by the madmen’ became ‘Turn our golden faces into the sun, praising our leaders, we’re getting in tune the music’s played by the mad man’. According to Marian Gold, the least successful line of the whole song.
The song has a strong allegorical character, and the lyrics are almost poetic. Its message is clear: The fear of dying from the bomb deprives young people of the will to live. What they want is a view of the future: ‘Youth’s like diamonds in the sun, and diamonds are forever’.
In an interview, Marian Gold said that in the first years of the band’s existence, none of the members could really play an instrument well. Therefore, they felt not good enough to play concerts, which they did on occasion with a lot of synthesizer support. ‘We felt more like studio rats’. Gradually this changed, also thanks to the arrival of new band members with ample stage experience.
The song’s fame was helped by the fact that other artists also included it in their repertoire. One of the most famous of these is by Laura Branigan, who ensured that it also received high praise in the US.
The song ‘Forever young’ is in the repertoire of countless (wind) orchestras and choirs. I show an example of both.
First, a recording of the Kreisorchester Borken from 2022. It is a filmed version of the studio recording for a CD of the orchestra.
Next, a recording by the Spanish choir Grupal from 2020.
The song has also been used in several movie pictures and TV shows. The producers of the popular US television series The O.C. (O.C. stands for Orange Country) had asked the Australian ‘Youth group’ to record the song as the title track. This resulted in another top spot on the charts in both the US and Australia. In the Netherlands, the song featured continuously on the NPO Top 2000. The highest place it reached was 68ste in 2003; in 2022, it was at position 302.
Alphaville itself has also repeatedly released new versions, including a dance version. The latest version dates from 2022. With it, the band toured Germany together with a chamber orchestra. For this occasion, a new album was released, playing a series of the group’s successes in a symphonic arrangement. I conclude with a recording of this symphonic version. This version was recorded on WDR’s (also) 40-year Schlagerjubiläum.
Music: Listen, Look and Enjoy 