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Bruce & Bongo – Geil
#quotefromthe80s
On Friday the thirteenth of December
Bruce and Bongo discovered Germany's most successful word
"Geil"
G-G-G-Geil
#Geil #BruceAndBongo
Dear friends Dinosaurs, December 13th is absolutely a day to celebrate! Of course… Saint Lucy, the great traditions of Northern Europe, Christmas is coming… True, but I was talking about a fundamental date for the 80s, as mentioned in the first verses of this great poem with memorable lyrics.
We usually mention the songs more or less on the day they came out on the market, or maybe the album that contained them was released, or even when they entered the charts. In this case, however, we are ahead of everything! Yes, because as the authors say, Friday, December 13 (evidently referring to 1985) was a memorable event in the life of these two great prophets of mankind. And on that day Bruce & Bongo discovered Germany’s most successful, “Geil”.
Now, here we need some deep dive, some insights. First, we need to know more about these two top poets, who were not Germans, as you might think when you listen to the song, but were British servicemen stationed in Germany, and who therefore had to learn the German language. And so they came into contact with what they say is precisely the most successful word.
“Geil” is an absolutely youthful slang word, and it has different meanings, such as funny, trendy, and it could be the equivalent of “cool” English in many ways. It also has a bolder meaning, of sexually excited, horny. Let’s say that literally it has an inconvenient meaning, but in fact it’s also a funny slang.
In Germany, however, they are very careful with things, and therefore shortly after the release the song was considered offensive for a large part of the population. Thus, Radio Bavaria and some tv stations decided not to play the single because the lyrics sounded too obscene. Not just that: the record was briefly on the list of media considered dangerous for young people. And we were in West Germany!
Sure, Bruce & Bongo (whose names in life are Bruce and Douglas) had been a bit witty, but considering them dangerous seems really excessive. Especially when we watch the video, shot quite easily in a gym where gentlemen and ladies of all ages struggle between abs and various gym machines, with Bruce even wandering on a kids tricycle. Of course, a little fear comes, when Bongo, probably emulating Michael Jackson and “Thriller“, declares that he’s losing control because he is a creature of the night!
In the video there are other bizarre elements, including an explicit reference to tennis player Boris Becker. Not only lyrics quote some tennis score for Becker but the two guys insist on repeating that Boris is also “geil”! Then they talk about monkeys and in the end they come to the conclusion that in short, we are all “geil”!
The song was released a few months after the two guys discovered the magic word, that is, in Spring of 1986, and despite these linguistic and bureaucratic adventures it managed to enter the top of the charts, especially in the German-speaking countries, where it remained on the charts for over three months. It must be said that the music and rhythm remind in a recognizable way of another great German-speaking hit, Falco’s “Rock me Amadeus“, which made the song probably more familiar to listening.
In any case, after all this, you will agree with me that that famous day when Bruce & Bongo discovered this word, was absolutely a fundamental day for the eighties!
Bruce & Bongo on Wikipedia
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