songwriter
Michael Kunze on “Greek wine” and the truth
Michael Kunze wrote many lyrics for Udo Jürgens. photo
© Ingo Wagner/dpa
How do you write a hit? As the proven lyricist of Udo Jürgens (1934-2014), Michael Kunze knows from experience what is important for a successful song.
According to the lyricist Michael Kunze, the inn sung about in the Udo Jürgens hit “Griechischer Wein” really existed. “When I was studying in Munich, there was a tavern on Rosenheimer Platz on my way home that a Greek had taken over,” says the author Kunze (79) in the “Spiegel” interview. “Visited by compatriots who earned money with us for their wives and children.” A text is good “if it creates a mood and tells a story”. Kunze emphasizes that it hardly works with “emotional ready-made parts”, i.e. clichés. “Why was “Greek Wine” a success? Because the song contains a truth: the longing of the so-called guest workers for their homeland.”
The scenery described in the Schlager (“… music came from the jukebox that was foreign and southern/When you saw me, someone got up and invited me”) did not happen exactly like that, says Kunze: “I always only looked through the window but never entered the inn.”
Being called the lyricist by Udo Jürgens is not a problem for him, says the songwriter and successful musical author Kunze (“Elisabeth”, “Tanz der Vampire”). “That was me. I was his ghostwriter. The audience still thinks to this day that every line came from Udo Jürgens himself, that’s my talent.” That’s not unfair: “Olaf Scholz’s speechwriter isn’t offended either when his boss shines with what he wrote down for him. When an artist goes on stage, he doesn’t just do it as a person, but also as a product, made by people who don’t appear.”
Smart artists would know they had a role to play. “Others relate it solely to their person when they are cheered by 10,000 spectators.” Kunze explains: “Professional songwriting means: I think about what kind of audience this or that singer has. Udo Jürgens addressed the middle-class family, which included at least one high school graduate and a certain level of education. He was enthusiastic about Roland Kaiser, at least in the early days , more like the cashier in the supermarket. I could empathize with everyone.”
Not everyone is a Bob Dylan, says Kunze. “Very few have this double talent. Herbert Grönemeyer has it, but says himself how difficult it is for him to write texts.” A song’s lyrics must “combine chemically with the music” and enter into a marriage. “So that you can no longer separate the two. And it becomes a hit that reflects the zeitgeist.”