9th July 2015 - Der Klabautermann - Ein Lied

Thought for the day: "What does C.S Lewis keep in his wardrobe? Its Narnia business."[thank you Pete Scott]

So, spending some time working on new material for Germany and the Taverns of Mythodea. One of the places that I enjoyed playing last year particularly was the Klabautermann. this was the one place I really found difficult to remember the name - and never really got my head around it all summer, until I was leaving when I realised that it meant "Hobgoblin" - and then it seems to have stuck in my head...

But, having written a song for the Black Pearl, and for the Jollie Rouge, and since Tanja's Song is really set in the Black Pearl as well, I though it was about time that I tried one for Der Klabautermann

Now, my German is conversational at best and my vocabulary may be enough to get by but writing a song in German was a bit of a challenge. Such  challenge indeed that I decided that the chorus should be in German - with the style of a good German Drinking Song - or at least my interpretation of a good German drinking Song - sort of "Eins, Zwei, Zupfer!!" in style...  And so I got a few lines together.

But, since I have German friends it seemed the best idea to share the words and see whether they came out properly in German or not - or whether a comic English version would suffice. And so, Anja (of Finya's Song fame) took a few minutes out to examine and make suggestions. It was not an easy task for her of course as she had no idea of the tune - and I was the one trying to maintain the internal rhymes and the general feel of the song....   But between us I think that we cracked it...

and so - Der Klabautermann - written by Vollsanger and Finya Sidonius

Wo trinken wir? Im Klabautermann!!
Kein Shlafen hier.. Im Klabautermann!!
Ich trinke, spiele, singe
Über Alcoholische dinge
Der Schönster, Der Beste - Der Klabautermann!!

Wo bleiben wir?  Im Klabautermann!!
Nur Piraten hier..  Im Klabautermann!!
Ich trinke, singe, spiele
Mit Rum und Tequila
Im Schönster, Im Beste - Im Klabautermann!!
There's a tavern in the town, where the sun never goes down
Where the spirits are high - some are sweet and some are dry
They have tables and benches
They have the finest wenches
With beauty none surpass
They serve cocktails by the glass
Well I'm really a fan and I have a cunning plan
I'll drink all that I can in the Klabautermann

Chor

From May to June we will all sing this merry tune
From June to July, we will drink the tavern dry
From August to September
I find it hard to remember
But then in October
We will refuse to be sober
We do what we can - Raise our glasses to "The Man"
Drink it dry if we can ... Drain the Klabautermann

Chor

Will try to get a recording today ....

And so - better get back to work ...   Cheers!!