Iggy Azalea, Charlemagne, and Friends

Let's talk German music. Actually, let's talk music that's played in Germany. I've been asked repeatedly for "the hot, new, European jams from Germany," but that's proven a little tricky because a majority of the music I've heard here is exactly what they were playing on Portland's Z100 station when I left in August. 

In the famous words of Frank Sinatra, "Ich tat es mein Weg."

A recent Zeit Magazin column proposed translating English pop songs into German. It's an interesting idea, especially when you turn on the radio and hear about 87% English music. Just to give a clear example of what's being played on the airwaves here, I'll list the last songs played this hour on Eins Live, a major radio station in Nordrhein-Westfalen aimed at 14- to 35-year-olds. (Click on the song title to hear the song.)


19:39 Drunk in Love by Beyoncé feat. Jay-Z

19:33 Lass uns gehen by Revolverhead

19:30 Spectrum (Say My Name Calvin Harris Remix) by Florence and the Machine

19:26 Fade Out Lines by The Avener 

19:21 Kings and Queens by Thirty Seconds to Mars

19:16 Why Does My Heart Feel So Bad? by Moby

19:13 Dark Horse by Katy Perry feat. Juicy J

19:07 Freidrehen by Clueso

19:03 Blurred Lines by Robin Thicke feat. T.I. and Pharrell

18:57 Lasse redn by Die Ärzte

18:53 White Walls by Macklemore and Ryan Lewis feat. ScHoolboy Q and Hollis

18:49 Just Give Me A Reason by Pink feat. Nate Ruess

18:47 Gecko (Overdrive) Oliver Heldens and Becky Hill

18:41 Give Me Love by Ed Sheeran


You can definitely find some golden German nuggets on the radio, but English pop music is prevalent here. In PE Friday, we listened to Fancy by the Australian rapper Iggy Azalea several times. It was on repeat or something as our teacher had us gallop (like literally gallop) around the gym. I have found some catchy German songs over the past month, but mostly via recommendations from my classmates and my younger host brother. But more about those later. 

On a final, unrelated note, my host family and I checked out some of the really interesting Charlemagne special exhibit here in Aachen. This year is the 1200 anniversary of his death. There were many pictures, or rather drawings, of good ol' Charlie. All of them portrayed him with Santa Claus-like characteristics, but the vibe each picture gave off was definitely unique. So I made a little chart of my favorites:

The Charlemagne Mood Chart! Just in time for Christmas! Order yours today!