2004-11-23

The Jeanny Scandal

I'm not one to read too much into an artists lyrics. I figure the music.. the words.. the visuals are the best of the overall song. To be able to put your very own spin into it.. to make it somehow personalized to each and every person who hears it.

But since I was young girl, one girl has haunted and confused me.. and probably no one has heard of it.

That song is "Jeanny" by Falco.

Your probably scrathing your head right now, thinking "I know 'Falco' but have never heard of that song." Well, there is a reason for that. In the early eighties, Falco released the popular album "3" which had "Rock Me Amadeus" on it. The third single to be released was "Jeanny", but it quickly banned from various radio stations across the world due to the lyrical content.

Here lies my confusion. The song, like most of Falco's work, is in both German and English. The Chrous is basically the only part in english, while the rest is in german. So it's made it hard for me to figure otu why it became banned.

I found this little tidbit from The Official Falco Site.

Following on from Vienna Calling, a song which was successful across Europe, Jeanny was the third single taken from the Falco 3 album. This song and the video that went with it caused a genuine scandal. The German newsreader Dieter Kronzucker, whose two daughters had been kidnapped in Italy several years before, made Jeanny into a scandal song with a six-minute item in the news programme Heute Journal and called for a radio boycott. Falco had written Jeanny as a love song but now he was accused of glorifying violence, sexual abuse and even thrill killing.

A number of German broadcasters resolved to blacklist the controversial song and its video. The big media debate only pushed up sales and Jeanny topped the charts across the German-speaking countries. Falco was holidaying on the Virgin Islands at the time and on returning said: "All I hear is 'murder', I don't know what they mean. I didn't want to do a track about killing women, I wanted to do a killer song." And for his fans that was what it was. They could not and did not want to understand the censoring imposed by the broadcasters and indeed protested by buying 50,000 Jeanny singles per day.

So because of the ban, no one has heard this haunting yet enduring song, which is a shame to me. To have people in our scoiety telling us what we can and cannot listen to is insane. Again... I'm gonna post the lyrics (in English) for you all to make up your own minds.

Jeanny

NOTE: Lines in italics were in English in the original German version.

Jeanny, Jeanny...

[spoken] Newsflash, newsflash...

“Official government reports...” (all in English) Jeanny, Jeanny...

Jeanny, come, come on
Stand up please
You're getting all wet
It's getting late, come
We must leave here
Out of the woods
Don't you understand?

Where is your shoe?
You lost it
When I had to show you the way
Which of us lost?
You, yourself?
I, myself?
Or... we ourselves?

Jeanny, quit livin' on dreams
Jeanny, life is not what it seems
Such a lonely little girl in a cold, cold world
There's someone who needs you
Jeanny quit livin' on dreams
Jeanny, life is not what it seems
You're lost in the night
Don't wanna struggle and fight
There's someone who needs you

It's cold
We must leave here
Come
Your lipstick is smeared
You bought it and
And I saw it
Too much red on your lips
And you said, “Leave me alone”
But I saw right through you
Eyes say more than words
You need me, don't you, hmmmh?
Everyone knows, that we're together
From today,
Now I can hear them, they are coming!

They're coming!
They are coming to get you.
They won't find you.
Nobody will find you!
You're with me.

Jeanny quit livin' on dreams...

[spoken] Newsflash:
In the last months the number of missing persons has dramatically increased. The latest account from the local police reports another tragic case. It is a matter of a nineteen year old girl who was last seen two weeks ago. The police have not excluded the possiblity that a crime has been committed.

Jeanny...

Jeanny, quit livin' on dreams...

So many questions without answers.. Like was the character a murderer? A rapist? A Pimp? Was he obsessed with girls with the name of "Jeanny"? Was their a main "Jeanny"? How many girls had he kidnapped... since the "Newsflash" parts give you a clue that there had been several teenagers missing. Was Jeanny just a random teenager or was she a prostitute?

And what's also a bit weird for me... is that there is like 5 continuations of this very song.

Jeanny being Part 1 ... Then you have Jeanny Part 2 (Coming Home).... Jeanny Part 3 (Freedom)

|

4:53 p.m.

2004-11-20

The Kevin Spacey Dream

I had a weird dream last year...

I had dreamt that I was.. Actually it's kinda hard to explain. Well, it did involved Kevin Spacey. We didn't really have sex.. or make out, yet there was a strange connection there.

I dreamt that he was my therapist.. and that I would go to him weekly to basically spill my guts about my unbalanced life.

I felt a great deal of comfort coming from his words. They were gentle, soft spoken and made complete and total sense. For the first time in my life I had clarity. Though all the while, I kept thinking to myself - Dude, it's Kevin Spacey. I felt I was in a room full of greatness. One of my favorite actors of all time, is giving me tips on how to make my life better. How freakin' great that?

I haven't been in that much imaginary awe, since that dream about Tom Cruise teaching my SEX ED class in high school.

|

2:39 p.m.

2004-11-20

Whats in a Name?

Taylor

As Taylor you have a great love of nature and the out-of-doors. All the finer things of life and beauties of nature are an inspiration to you and you are attracted to the mysteries of nature.

Difficulty in expression results in your being too positive, blunt, and candid in speech and although you are easily offended by others, you do not show it.

You crave affection and understanding, but rarely find it as others do not understand you and accuse you of being cool and aloof. The average person would never realize the true depth of your nature. A very individual, independent person, you live within your own thoughts. The insecurity you experience from limited verbal expression and social ease results in a jealous possessiveness and suffering through frustration, repressed emotion, and self-consciousness.

This name would cause tension affecting the eyes, teeth, sinuses, ears or throat. There could also be a sensitivity in the heart, lungs, and respiratory organs, and frequent headaches.

Stolen from Andrea who borrowed it from Brandie.

|

2:38 p.m.

2004-11-23 - 4:53 p.m.
next and last