Never Argue With A German When You're Tired or European Song

[graceslick]

I FINALLY managed to get my hands on Bark (the record, not the CD) at this cool place called Red Eye Records in Sydney where I was on holiday for the past 8 days, and I LOVE that song!! What she's actually saying in German doesn't really make much sense and isn't exactly correct at all, but man it's a GREAT song!!! I LOVE IT! I also really love Crazy Miranda.

Anyone else familiar with the German song?

[graceslick]

Oh yeah, I love that song too. It's so strange and funny. Love it! Love Grace!

[Dormouse]

Grace's voice is so beautiful, I don't care what it is she's singing, it is great. I have to admit, though, it took me a while to start liking this song, but I do now!

[graceslick]

Which one's that? Snack, or German? I LOVE the German song. I'll admit that if I wasn't so fixated with Grace, Snack may not be 100% my cuppa tea.

[Dormouse]

It took me a few listenings to start enjoying Never Argue with a German. But now I really do like it, and think it is a nice song.

[DonRico1967]

WELLLL...

I thunk Thunk THUNK

I THUNK a lot about it it

Realized my THUNK

Was nuthin' but a lot of junk

[Lilla]

Hello,

I love the 'German' song too.It's a very weird song..
But I have to say that the lyrics doesn't in German at all; I speak German much better than English, and I have to say that the lyrics doesn't mean anything. I don't know if Grace wanted to speak in German but she couldn't speak the language good, or it was just a fun...
Anyway, I think the language sounds very similar to dutch language, it was my first expression when I heard the song.

Ya das ben mine
ya das bin du
du das ben ich
fair zuc ess

The German version would be...

Ja, das ist mein,
du, das bist du
ah du das bin ich... ('fair zu ess'...doesn't mean anything at all..)

Oh, and I love THUNK. It's a great song, sounds not like a typical Airplane song but very nice. I don't know who is exactly singing in the song..
And Rock 'n' roll Island, War Movie are great great songs as well. I think BARK is a good album.

[DonRico1967]

It is also a known fact that Gracie and Paul were at that time romantically involved... A liaison which subsequently resulted in the development of a newer human named China.

Back to the topic at hand: Paul Kantner is VERY much of German, some would say Teutonic lineage... Can you imagine the sparks that would fly when Baron Von Tollbooth himself and her highness The chrome Nun might have "argued"???

I am sure that SOMEONE would be tired!!!

And yet not only but also-- the great Joey Covington was the singer and song-writer of the funky "Thunk".

[graceslick]

Heheh. I think it'd be sort of fun to have an argument with Grace. I'm not scared of a bit of a fight. Nothing too intense though. I do love Grace, and wouldn't want to hurt her with words, and blah, blah.

Anyway, yeah, the lyrics aren't proper German. She's said that herself. She knows they don't make any sense. She "couldn't be bothered" looking up the right ones. LOL. I could only identify maybe one sort of bit that could make sense, which was something like, "Mein auto fahrt schnell" or something. I don't even know if it was schnell, but meh. *shrug*

[Susan Butcher]

When I first heard "Never Argue..." I assumed it was a parody of Amon Duul. Might just be a coincidence, though.

[JoeD80]

I love the 'German' song too.It's a very weird song..
But I have to say that the lyrics doesn't in German at all; I speak German much better than English, and I have to say that the lyrics doesn't mean anything.

They are in German, just not very good German. For an analogy, it's like if one said in English: Me no speak so good.

According to Paul Kantner's lyrics book this is the English translation to the song:

sticks in my feet
sticks in my skin
mixing my gas with my spit
don't argue with a German when you are tired
my car drives very fast but it is crashing against walls
yes, that is mine
yes, that is you
you, that is me
please drive fast

[JoeD80]

It's a long story, for what i know about it. In the year 1971/72 Grace did have
a car accident, she did destroy a Mercedes. The story about is that Jorma and
Grace did like some fast cars. At that moment Jorma did save her live !!!
And...... the Jefferson Airplane or Jefferson Starship was in Germany.
Something did happen there, the story is on Got A Revolution.
And...... there is World War 2, about Nazi's etc. etc.
Maybe (i don't know), maybe some family from her did get killed by Nazi's.

So, all these things together did give her an inspiration to write that song.

I think it was an Aston-Martin. The car accident happened in San Francisco. Grace and Jorma were drag racing when Grace crashed. The reason the song is "Never Argue With a German" is because Paul is German. What happened in Germany with Grace didn't occur until 1978 (during Jefferson Starship's tour for the album Earth), long after this song was written.

[JoeD80]

Sorry, but it was realy a Mercedes ! ...

According to the People Magazine article written about her in the 70s it was her Aston-Martin. The Aston-Martin she had paid cash for. And she wrecked it when she was drag-racing Jorma. That story is in the Got a Revolution book.

[JoeD80]

......She'd always had a thing about Germany. Once Grace had written a song,
"Never Argue With A German If You're Tired or European Song." The other party in the
altercation in question could have been her bandmate, Paul Kantner, the iron-willed former
altar boy, whose forebears were of German extraction and who was at the time her lover,
soon to be the father of her child..

Maybe it's in the liner notes for the remaster, or the Got a Revolution book, but it was definitely Paul she was referring to with "Never Argue with a German". They already had a child. China was born January, 1971. Never Argue was recorded around May, 1971. Bark was released September, 1971.

[Susan Butcher]

Yeah, but the important question is WHAT COLOUR was the car?!