Weißt du eigentlich was du bist für mich?

I meant to write about German band Juli (or rather, one specific song by them) a long time ago, but somehow got distracted--it's about time I get around to them now, though! They've released two albums so far. My German-studying friend tells me they're not hugely well-known, but I have a little trouble believing that; true, most of their singles have charted outside the top 20 in Germany, but their first album reached #2 and their second reached #1. If Wikipedia can be believed, though their debut single "Perfekte Welle" ("Perfect Wave") won them their highest chart placing for a single (#2), it was banned after the Boxing Day tsunami. Today's song was the second single from their second album.

Wir Beide--for some reason, I often have trouble listening to pop music in German. However, I think I vastly prefer "Wir Beide" in German to how it would sound in English (or presumably any other language). There's something about how the words tumble into each other, the ups and downs of the syllables that fits--plus, I think the language barrier works to the song's advantage here, as I'm not sure any meaning can actually capture that rushing sweeping feeling that the sound of the music and the sound of the words together create. It must work fairly well for people who actually understand the language--the song got to #23, which is the fourth best placing out of all Juli's seven singles--but I think I just prefer it as is. A lot of this song's success has to do with lead singer Eva Briegel--her voice is sweet, but not overly so, and captures that rushing feeling I mentioned before incredibly well. I have no idea what this song's actually about, but it feels very...free, somehow, though it's probably about love. Free and happy.

(I love the video, by the way--it's nothing complicated, but it fits the feeling of the song perfectly.)

To buy Juli's second album Ein neuer Tag, go here (physical; it's a lot cheaper if you can navigate your way around Amazon.de, though).

Next up: I'm not sure--probably a song from France or Sweden.