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The Schlager Hit Parade

Writers - Tennant/Lowe
First released - 2024
Original album - Nonetheless
Producer - James Ford
Subsequent albums - none
Other releases - none

According to Wikipedia, the word schlager—which is derived from the German verb schlagen, meaning "to hit"—refers to "a style of European popular music generally defined by catchy instrumental accompaniments to vocal pieces of pop music with simple, easygoing, and often sentimental lyrics." Wikipedia also asserts that schlager music is "frequently represented at the Eurovision Song Contest" and maintains that ABBA's music often bore elements of schlager. Then again, however, in Germany itself the term schlager is used to refer to a type of "folk music" influenced by American country and "Tex-Mex" music.

Upbeat and guitar-driven, "The Schlager Hit Parade" has been described as "a very funny, bell-heavy song about the German postwar pop explosion that willed happiness and prosperity into being" (The Guardian, February 3, 2024). A satirical track—though perhaps a little more "sarcastic" than "satirical"—it seemingly celebrates the illusory, escapist standards of schlager music. "You need some happy music when winter comes around," sings Neil, observing that "It's always Christmas or the sound of summer in the schlager hit parade."

The Boys allow a bitter hint of overt denial to creep into their message about schlager: "What happened never happened.… The future is present now." In light of the German origins of the word schlager and other bits of German used in the song ("Gesundheit to Europa!" meaning "Health (or blessings) to Europe!"), any suggestion that "what happened never happened" seems irresponsible at best and, at worst, insidious. But "responsibility" isn't what schlager music is about. It's about being "sexy, sexy, sexy," about "healthy, happy girls and boys," and "laughter and forgetting."

It would sound as though the Boys don't approve. Yet Chris declared to Electronic Sound magazine, "We love Schlager music!" Assuming he wasn't just pulling the interviewer's leg, it must be a terribly guilty pleasure.

Included, quite remarkably, as a bonus track with the single release of "Feel" was a special German-language demo version of "The Schlager Hit Parade" sung by none other than Chris Lowe. I've been told by a German site visitor that most of the lyrics are a fairly faithful translation from English to German, although there are also some English lyrics that are somewhat different from those in the album version. Chris does a pretty good job with his German as well as with his singing, which (contrary to his most common pattern) isn't distorted or "disguised" in the least.

Annotations

The song's opening line about "going down in hazel, black and brown“ may sound like a simple list of autumnal colors, and that may indeed be the case. But it may also be a reference to "Schwarzbraun ist die Haselnuss" ("Black-brown is the hazelnut“), a folk song dating back to the 1700s. It was often sung by marching German soldiers during both world wars. It was repopularized in the 1970s by German Schlager singer Heino, whose rendition was remixed as a dance track circa 1989, again becoming quite successful. Nevertheless, both then and now it's frowned upon by many people for its connection to the Nazi past. And, indeed, the colors hazel, black, and brown were closely associated with the Nazis, particularly their uniforms. The Boys may be slyly toying with these associations by starting their song in this way.
"Glühwein, wurst and sauerkraut" – Most people probably know about German wurst (sausage) and sauerkraut (fermented shredded cabbage), words that have entered the English language, but glühwein (mulled wine) is somewhat more obscure. Wine is "mulled" when it is spiced and warmed, which is especially popular during the Christmas season.
sangria – The mention of sangria, an Iberian alcoholic punch consisting of red wine blended with chopped fruit and other ingredients, probably refers to the way that many German tourists flock to Mallorca, one of Spain's Balearic islands in the Mediterranean, on vacation at least once a year, where they are apparently notorious for wild partying (often to schlager music) and drinking vast quantities of sangria.
"We’re heading off to Shangri-La" – Shangri-La is a fictional mystical valley in the Himalayan region of Tibet created by British author James Hilton in his 1933 novel Lost Horizon. Hilton based his portrayal of this utopia whose inhabitants have lifespans of hundreds of years on Tibetan legends and ancient Buddhist scriptures. In the years since, "Shangri-La" has become a virtual byword for any such utopia, though almost always with the implication that it's too good to be true—which of course it is. Its reference in this song underscores the illusory ideals of schlager music, at least as it's described by the Pet Shop Boys.
One of my regular site visitors and correspondents, Nigel Brand, shared with me a lengthy analysis of this song that delved into matters many of which are well beyond my own realm of knowledge and expertise, so much so that I felt unqualified even to edit it down to a more "publishable" length. I asked him to summarize his thesis, so to speak, in such a way as to make it more suitable for inclusion here. So I'm now going to quote Nigel's summation, adding only that it sounds quite plausible to me, although (again) my inadequacies in this area prevent me from commenting further:

“The schlager hit parade” is a satirical look at the state of the European Union in the light of recent problems such as the UK leaving the EU – Brexit – and the rise of far-right parties and their populist leaders in several countries, including France, Hungary, and Germany. The song is presented from a German point of view (there are culinary references to Glühwein, sauerkraut, and wurst) and suggests a highly unusual strategy for coping with the decline of the EU: to embrace the jolly, happy sound of schlager music, live in the past, and ignore the mess around you.

The 1970s saw many Europeans discover the delights of the south of Spain and France as vacation destinations, and schlager music provided the perfect holiday soundtrack in many a hotel discotheque. There's a great line in the chorus, “Gesundheit to Europa! / Let’s hope it's gonna last,” which addresses the EU's current dilemma. "Gesundheit" is what a German would say to someone who has just sneezed, to wish them better health. So the song acknowledges that "Europa" is not well and hopes it doesn’t get worse. The immediate remedy the song presents, though, is not to peer too deeply into an uncertain future but instead to bury your head in the sand, listen to your favourite schlager songs, and focus on happy holiday times of the past.

There's a literary reference to the late Czech author Milan Kundera (1929-2023) in the lines "Laughter and forgetting / whatever was betrayed / what happened never happened." Kundera was a prominent dissident—his books were banned by Czechoslovakia's ruling Communist Party—who published The Book of Laughter and Forgetting in 1979 from exile in Paris. A prominent theme in this book was the way that some political regimes go to great lengths to rewrite the history of their country, erasing certain individuals from the "official" account and thus presenting a doctored view of history. There is an obvious parallel here with what is going on today in Vladimir Putin's Russia, of course.
Some different English lyrics in the "Deutsches demo" sung by Chris (not used in the Nonetheless album version sung by Neil) include the lines "Never trust a leader / It probably won't end well." This reference to a "leader" (alluding in all likelihood to Adolf Hitler) is a likely pun on the German word lieder, meaning "songs," suggesting perhaps (grammatical considerations notwithstanding) that we oughtn't trust schlager music. (The Nonetheless version uses the word "leader" in a different way, mentioning "The leader of the Schlager band," which may also be a punning reference, too, although it's not as effective as in the Deutsches demo.) It's also worth noting that, while Chris sings most of the song in German, his singing those particular lines in English not only facilitates the likely pun but also allows him to avoid using the German word for "leader," Führer, which of course has acquired extremely unfortunate connotations on account of its association with Hitler.

Mixes/versions

Officially released

Mixers: James Ford, Jas Shaw
- Album version (3:28)
Mixers: Pete Gleadall
- "Deutsches Demo" (3:09)

List cross-references

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