Favorite song for some, hate song for others: “Atemlos” by Helene Fischer has been polarizing for ten years. To mark the anniversary there is now a new duet version together with Shirin David. Did it really need that?
Has Germany been waiting for this song? In the morning, shortly before six o’clock on the day of publication, “Breathless through the Night (10 Year Anniversary Version)”, as the piece is officially called, recorded almost 9,000 views on YouTube. The Berlin Olympic Stadium isn’t completely full now, but the trend in the comments is clear: “Amazing! The power duo that no one expected,” writes a user named Cheffe316. A certain 1806Ines thinks it’s “simply great” and monehazel says: “Shirin’s part is awesome!!”
Is that him?
“Breathless”, this indestructible fairground anthem, this consensus track of all round weddings, hit moves and bachelorette party playlists, has – and you’re surprised at first – ten years on the clock. First? Hasn’t it been going on for a long time, for ages, so to speak? Almost exactly a decade ago, on November 29, 2013, the single penned by Kristina Bach was released as the second release from the Helene Fischer album “farbenspiel “.
“Breathless” was the song of the 2014 World Cup
The 2014 World Cup gave the song its final refinement; after all, the German team, which had always been involved in pop music, chose it as one of their favorites. They became world champions, the country fell into the all-too-simple lines and Helene Fischer sang the piece at the Brandenburg Gate. The rest is history. So now: “Happy Birthday” to your 10th birthday, you breathless “Breathless”. Did you feel a little old? Then just give yourself a younger version of yourself. The idea, announced long ago: A duet with Germany’s most successful rapper, a new “Atemlos”, pimped with a good portion of spoken vocals. You want to move with the times.
The part in the making-of clip that documents Fischer’s joint studio recordings with David is fantastic. “Don’t you think it’s funny, such a rap?” Fischer is asked. As the questioner pauses briefly before he dares to touch the word “rap”, even if only with two fingers. One can safely assume that the creators see the collaboration as a progressive, unusual, even revolutionary move, especially for inner fan circles that seem to be quite conservative in their values.
Helene thinks Shirin, the “pioneer in German rap”, is “incredibly great” as a “person, as a human being”, for whom the whole thing is “incredibly special”, so that Helene “gives it to her like that”, her “baby”. , this song, which, again Shirin, has long been a “German cultural asset”.
After so much patting each other on the back, the question remains: what does the new version sound like?
It’s under three minutes long, that’s for the statisticians. “Much too short,” some will say, “almost three minutes too long,” others. The truth probably lies in the middle: a good single needs just under 180 seconds, nothing more, the Beatles, the Ramones and the Buzzcocks already knew that.
Anniversary version is 2 minutes 52 seconds long
Right in the intro there are a few dramatic “Ahaaas” in the fan tension, then Fischer’s chorus singing, followed by Shirin’s raps with the characteristic Helium voice. New lines are served up, about “bodies” that are “kissed by colorful light” – whatever that means. At 1 minute 15 seconds the rhythm really starts, standard baller beats from the self-service shop, as effective as they are moderately exciting. Shirin David finally turns the whole thing into a diversity message, “dress code rainbow flag”, very correctly. She sings about God, who doesn’t make mistakes and “wanted us exactly as we are.” So the new version would be anointed and sanctified from the highest authority, very clever. Not much else happens, see above, at two minutes and 52 seconds the shift is in the shaft.
One would have wished everyone involved, the big gentleman upstairs and the two ladies down there, a little more daring, more radicalism and experiments. For a duet combination of two names of this magnitude, the work seems to have been shot quite quickly from the hip. Just put a beat on it, then the raps come, then we sing again, more raps, chorus, the arbor is ready. Didn’t Oli P. and Alex C. already portray “An Island with Two Mountains” in this way and even let Heinz Strunk celebrate Schinkenstrasse using a similar formula? Well see! Run. It works. On and on.
The Sleaford Mods, with their arrangement of the Pet Shop Boys classic “Westend Girls”, prove how daring and poppy at the same time, how tongue-in-cheek and yet engaging a combination that at first glance seems dissimilar can sound. “Atemlos” in its anniversary version is a long way from this kind of surprise pop with the big-pants factor. You can find it a shame. Or believe Shirin David, who shouts at one point in the song: “That’s not make-up, that’s art.” Let’s see what Thommy Gottschalk has to say when the two of them are guests at the big “Wetten, dass…?” farewell on Saturday.