It's a weird thing, but the current state of the economy made me think that I wanted to write a song about it, until I realised I already had.

Here are the lyrics of "I'll Be In Your Song" from the album "Before The Water Wars", written sometime in 2005 when the markets where officially still booming, set in the future and told from the perspective of an ageing monetarist apologising to someone he refers to as "boy" for having fucked up royally by following his faith in greed. To be honest, I had no idea that time in the future would arrive so quickly, but it really wasn't hard to see it coming, whatever they may tell us now.
Best wishes, Robert


I'll be in Your Song

Sit down here with me boy and look at my face
I've got more chins than you have got balls
Whatever you see, dear
I've seen it before
And take it from me I've learnt nothing at all

Winning is easy once you've levelled the field
We make up the rules as we go along
Conspiracy theorists, they're really naïve
They think we have a plan
And that's where they're wrong

But when it all comes down, boy
When it all comes down, boy
I'll be in your song
When it all comes down, boy
When it all comes down, boy
I'll be in your song

I'd like to say, boy, that I was once just like you
But then of course you know it just won't rub at all
For sure we were swinging
And our hair was flying
In the sharp City breeze
As we rode the wrecking ball

When they said that salvation would rise from our own greed
I thought I'd found a place where I truly belonged
Those sweet 1980s never ended for me
My mind's on the money
My faith is still strong

But when it all comes down, boy
When it all comes down, boy
I'll be in your song
When it all comes down, boy
When the whole world comes down, boy
I'll be in your song

Why are you angry with me, boy?
Come back over here

This is for the German speaking crowd out there... or to be more precise - for those who are planning to attend the concert on Karlsplatz on Sunday 15th June. As I just heard from Robert, in case it will be raining, the Rotifer gig will be transferred to the OST-Klub (Schwarzenbergplatz 10). So, see you then... wherever! :)

Cheers,
Stefan

It was two years ago that an Austrian magazine called Fleisch asked me to contribute a football song to their World Cup issue. So I wrote one and went into the studio with Henning Dietz and Tom Allard to record it in a day.

Stefan Franke didn't like it much at the time, cause he generally doesn't like my oompah-ska-type-beat songs (can't think why), but recently he said he heard it again and he's warmed to it.

So now I've posted it here for downloading, I guess that's what Myspace is for...
The chorus is all about different team formations, real ones and made-up ones and the primeval one that we all recognise from playground experience: All round the ball (which also happens to be the title of the song)

I'm always amazed at how people claim to be able to tell the shape of a team. According to what I've heard from a friend who's a bit of an insider, even top-class teams are really ungovernable and will change shape spontaneously according to their collective intelligence. I like the idea of this, because I despise the authoritarian streak in football which thinks that "the gaffer" always knows best. Gives me the creeps.

I could tell you now about how I was traumatised by playing in a low-ranking Viennese football team in my youth, but honestly, who wants to know?

R x

As I'm writing this the statistics say that this blog has been viewed 227 times, when I've never even written one until now.
Does that make any sense?

Anyway, this is just to say that after a long and needless wait, the mp3 approximation of "Coach Number 12 of 11" has finally gone on sale at nearly all of your popular music portals (iTunes still dragging their feet, but we'll get there in the end).

The great Louis Philippe has given it his endorsement on his website.

Je suis trés honoré.

Cheers, Robert

PS:
Of course, the actual CD sounds better. You can now get it through roughtrade.com if you're in the UK.