In 1984 the re-named Alphaville released their debut single "Big in Japan", followed by "Sounds Like a Melody" and "Forever Young", quickly followed by the album Forever Young. Despite its success Frank Mertens left the band in the same year and was replaced by Ricky Echolette (born Wolfgang Neuhaus, in Cologne, August 6, 1960) in January 1985.
"Big In Japan" was their biggest U.S. success, shooting to #1 on Billboard's Dance chart. While they never again had a Top 20 U.S. Dance hit, several of their releases went Top 40 and Top 30 on the Dance charts. They were less successful at mainstream U.S. radio, reflected by their showing on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles charts, where "Big" only reached #66. The first U.S. release of "Forever Young" failed to scale the charts. In 1985, amid reports pop star Laura Branigan was featuring the song on her next album, Hold Me, Alphaville's "Forever Young" was re-released as a single in the U.S., and again floundered in the lower recesses of the chart. Branigan's version, though promoted on stickers adorning the album, subsequently remained an album cut in the U.S., though it was released to radio in South America. She would go on to perform the song as an encore at nearly every concert she performed, from her 1985 tour until her death in 2004. The Alphaville version was released a third time in the U.S. in 1988, to promote Alphaville: The Singles Collection, and peaked this time at #65. Their highest U.S. Singles chart showing, it was also their last. International re-releases of Alphaville's "Forever Young" followed in 1989, 1996, and 2001. Several covers have been recorded and remixed, featuring male or female vocalists often erroneously attributed to be Alphaville's Marian Gold, or Laura Branigan.
In 1986 the second album Afternoons In Utopia was released, followed in 1989 by The Breathtaking Blue. As an alternative to individual music videos, the band enlisted nine producers, among them Godfrey Reggio (Koyaanisqatsi), to create a film entitled Songlines based on the album's tracks.
The next album, Prostitute, was not released until 1994. In 1996 Ricky Echolette left the band. Salvation followed in 1997. Stark Naked and Absolutely Live was released in 2000, followed by the remix album Forever Pop in 2001. A DVD was released in 2001 documenting two concerts performed in Salt Lake City, Utah. Two box-sets have also been released; rather than being collections of previously released album tracks they are actually 12 unique albums, several live, several rarities and outtakes, and several newly recorded. The first box, of eight discs, was released in 1999 (called Dreamscapes) and the second in 2003 (called CrazyShow or Dreamscapes 9-12). All the material in CrazyShow is newly recorded.
Bernhard Lloyd did not contribute to the CrazyShow album, and shortly after its release, on March 18, 2003 he officially left the group. The current core members of Alphaville are Marian Gold (vocals), Martin Lister (keyboards), David Goodes (guitars) and Pierson Grange (drums).
" Just a note to say Bernhard Lloyd is/has/recently played live with Alphaville. I saw him at the Esbjerg Rock Festival in June of this year. They sounded absoutely brilliant. Check out the Alphaville website, it's worth a look. Added by Fletchie, 02.11.07"
Marian Gold has released two solo albums (So Long Celeste, 1992 and United, 1996) alongside his work in the band. Bernhard Lloyd also worked on a project named Atlantic Popes with singer Max Holler. In 1996 Frank Mertens started on a musical project called Maelstrom which was a combination of ambient-style music, impressionistic and colorful art in the form of paintings and sculptures, and etheric poetry. This project seems now to have been by far abandoned, though, as Mertens has not been visibly active with it. In 2006 and 2007, Alphaville appeared on the "ELEKTRISCH" vol.1 and 2 album compilations with "From Germany With Love" and "Guardian Angel".
There is another artist with the same name:
2) A spanish Synthpop/dark/post punk group born in 1981 in Madrid by José Luis F. Abel (guitar & vocal), Mendi (bass), José Carlos ‘Charles’ Sánchez (keyboards), Jose Luis Orfanel (guitar) and Juan Antonio ‘Rep’ Nieto (drums).
The independent label DRO released their first EP in April 1982, "Paisajes nocturnos", which included four tracks. Their first hit arrived some months later with the 4-tracks 12'' "Palacio de invierno". In 1983 they released the album Despues De La Derrota.
Pandora's Lullaby
Alphaville Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Now it's whirling too fast
I really got no hope to hang on to the past
The train has departed, the toxins have started
To announce that none will last
I cower in the gutter of a world that's not so near
And I listen to their mutters that are spinning through the air
The words unspoken, the promises broken
I'm the watcher of the scene
I see our shadows on the screen
And when the subway brakes to preserve some suicidal bee
I stop to breathe for a while
Maybe it was me
This is the world gliding by
Like the driftwood beams
On a lifetime's stream
The instant fundamental sky for Pandora's lullaby
I see distorted faces coined like gold
And in their wrinkles programs that commercial gurus told
A watermark against a spark
Umbrellas that they hold
I'm gliding in the distance and watch the world go by
An orbit full of questions, a perforated sky
But I just sit and wonder a bit that they never wonder why
The lyrics of Pandora’s Lullaby by Alphaville are insightful and profound. The song describes the feeling of being lost in a world that is changing too fast, and one cannot keep up with it. The song’s opening lines, “So you hugged the globe. Now it's whirling too fast. I really got no hope to hang on to the past,” highlight the theme of the song. The singer is struggling to keep up with the rapid changes in the world and is fearful of losing touch with the past. The train has departed, and the toxins have started, signifying the world’s irreversible changes, and none will last. The singer cowers in the gutter of a world that’s not so near, feeling overwhelmed and helpless.
The song expresses the singer’s observations of the world’s happenings from a distance, where the world continues to spin and mutate in a never-ending cycle. They listen to people's mutters that are spinning through the air, the words unspoken, the promises are broken, and the ones who really care. The singer describes themselves as a watcher of the scene, noticing the world's shadows on the screen. The world, in the singer's eyes, is like the driftwood beams, gliding by the lifetime stream, creating a fundamental sky for Pandora's lullaby, representing the entire world's existence in a single moment. The song highlights the theme of human mortality and how the world keeps moving, whether they like it or not, and how life will continue to lead them on a path, inevitable towards an unknown destination.
Line by Line Meaning
So you hugged the globe
You thought you could take on the world
Now it's whirling too fast
But now everything is moving too quickly for you to keep up
I really got no hope to hang on to the past
You can't hold on to what's already happened
The train has departed, the toxins have started
Things have begun, and there's no stopping them or turning back
To announce that none will last
To show that nothing is permanent or eternal
I cower in the gutter of a world that's not so near
You feel small and helpless in a world that's distant and dangerous
And I listen to their mutters that are spinning through the air
But you still hear the rumors and murmurs of those around you
The words unspoken, the promises broken
The unsaid things and broken promises
And the ones who really care
Are the ones who are truly affected
I'm the watcher of the scene
You observe from the sidelines
I see our shadows on the screen
You see a projection of what we are in the media
And when the subway brakes to preserve some suicidal bee
When something small and vulnerable stops us in our tracks
I stop to breathe for a while
You take a moment to pause and reflect
Maybe it was me
Maybe you're the one causing issues
This is the world gliding by
The world is constantly in motion
Like the driftwood beams
Like floating pieces of wood on a river
On a lifetime's stream
Moving through the years like a river flowing
The instant fundamental sky for Pandora's lullaby
The unchanging and universal backdrop for a soothing song
I see distorted faces coined like gold
You see people that might appear successful or valuable, but are deformed or fake
And in their wrinkles programs that commercial gurus told
In their lines and wrinkles, you see the influence of popular media and advertising
A watermark against a spark
A faint but noticeable indicator of something greater
Umbrellas that they hold
Protecting themselves from the rain, both real and metaphorical
I'm gliding in the distance and watch the world go by
You're observing from afar as the world continues to turn
An orbit full of questions, a perforated sky
An existence with many mysteries and unknowns, and a sky full of holes and gaps
But I just sit and wonder a bit that they never wonder why
You're surprised that people don't seem to question more and wonder why things are the way they are
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: ANNE CRAMER, BERND GOESSLING, HARTWIG SCHIERBAUM, RAINER BLOSS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
The Barbary Ghost
One of Alphaville's best songs. this album was pretty solid all around too.
Svetlana N.
Чудо. Просто чудо👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏
Mikael Svensson
Catching up on Alphaville. Have not listened to them since the first album, which I played an endless number of times in my youth. I must say that they kept up their quality and evolved through the years. This song could easily have been made by Queen - I keep hearing Mercury in this one.
Roberto Somavilla
Como uma música dessas não é conhecida? Não é um clássico???
gilda maria proença andrade
Simplesmente maravilhosa!!!
Maria Santos
Oh my God! What wonderful song! It is perfect in everything.
foreverdreamscapes
Timeless <3
Piotr Lukas
genialne
Baseem Mayala
Check this wonderful version of the same song:
Alphaville - Pandora's Lullaby ( Opera Version ) + lyrics
Nico vd Westhuizen
Love the irony and Imagery. Most of their songs.