Eisbär

"Eisbär"
Single by Grauzone
Released	1981
Format	vinyl 7"/12" single
Recorded	1980
Genre	Neue Deutsche Welle, post-punk
Length	4 minutes, 46 seconds
Songwriter(s)	Martin Eicher[1]
Producer(s)	Urs Steiger, Grauzone
Grauzone singles chronology

"Eisbär" (German for polar bear) is a 1980 "cult" song^[2] composed by the Swiss Neue Deutsche Welle band Grauzone.^[3] It first appeared on the 1980 compilation album Swiss Wave - The Album.^[4] The shorter single version was later collected on the Grauzone album Die Sunrise Tapes (1998).^[5]

The song features a man singing he wants to be "a polar bear in the cold polar", because by being one he "wouldn't have to cry any longer and everything would be fine." The instrumental arrangement also evokes an Arctic atmosphere.

Grauzone recorded in 1982 an English-language version (Polar Bear) of the song, which was first released in 2010 on the double CD Grauzone 1980-1982 Remastered.^[6]

The song is post-punk performed with guitar, drums and synthesizers.^[7]

Track listing

7" single (1981): A "Eisbär" (4:17); B "Ich lieb sie" (3:18)

12" single (1981): A "Eisbär" (4:17); B1 "Ich lieb sie" (3:18); B2 "Film 2" (3:35)

Chart performance

Chart (1980)	Peak position
Austrian Singles Chart^[8]	6
German Singles Chart	12

Covers and cultural references

In 1990, Polar Pop (feat. Mc Grzimek) released a house version of the song.^[9]
In 1993, Prisonshake released a cover version on the B-side of their "Two Sisters" single.^[10]
In 1996, Scholle (ohne Schwester C.) produced a dance version on the compilation NDD - New German Dancefloor Stufe 3.^[11]
In 1997, The Belgian hard house discjockey Frédéric de Backer released a cover of the song under the pseudonym GrooveZone.^[12] It was released in 24 countries and sold over 300,000 copies.
In 2001, The Austrian Neue Deutsche Härte band Stahlhammer covered this song, it appears on the album Eisenherz (2006).^[13]
In 2003, Knorkator feat. Holger Klein interpreted the song.^[14]
In 2004, The German Neue Deutsche Härte band Oomph! released their version of the song as a B-side on the single "Augen Auf!", and on a new edition version of Wahrheit oder Pflicht.^[15]
In 2006, The French band Nouvelle Vague recorded a version of the song for their album Bande à Part^[16]
The Dresden Dolls has covered the song in live concerts.^[17]
In 2004, The German band Razzia covered Eisbär on their album Relativ Sicher Am Strand (2004)
In 2016, the song featured in the Swiss-French animated film My Life as a Courgette.
In 2016, Mexican Stoner Rock band SUPERHIGH recorded a spanish version titled "Oso Polar", and released it as a digital single.
In 2017, The German Neue Deutsche Härte band Eisbrecher covered this song on their Sturmfahrt album.^[18]
In 2018 the band Mind Spiders covered the song and translated the lyrics to english on their album Furies.

References

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.

[1] Grauzone - Eisbär - austriancharts.at

[2] Swiss Kult Hits.ch

[3] Eisbär single (Discogs)

[4] Swiss Wave The Album (Discogs)

[5] Die Sunrise Tapes (Discogs)

[6] tal-U - Grauzone 1980-1982 Remastered

[7] Grauzone - Ich will Spass.de

[8] "Grauzone - Eisbär - hitparade.ch (German)". Retrieved 26 November 2009.

[9] Polar Pop - Eisbär (Discogs)

[10] "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2011-07-16. Retrieved 2010-08-13.

[11] NDD - Neuer Deutscher Dancefloor 3 (Discogs)

[12] Groovezone - Eisbaer (Discogs)

[13] Stahlhammer > Eisenherz album review

[14] METALNEWS.DE - LIVE: Knorkator @ JUZ Klärwerk, Amberg

[15] ELEKTROLURCH BANDSPECIAL - OOMPH!

[16] ut.de | Nouvelle Vague - "Bande A Part" (CD-Kritik)

[17] Intro: Konzertberichte - The Dresden Dolls live ... Sängerin knutschen inklusive

[18] Eisbrecher - Sturmfahrt (Discogs)