Originally signed to Chris Parry's Fiction Records, the band released Disco Rigido in the late 1980s (distributed in the United States by Atlantic Records), which featured "Welcome To America", "Land of the Free" and "I've Got To Make Sense". Though the album falls solidly into the EBM genre, it contains hints of the experimentation and genre-bending that later recordings would feature (e.g. "Y Tagata en Situ").
A second album, Big Electric Metal Bass Face, built on the foundation laid with Disco Rigido and upped the ante with excursions into funk (listen to "Funkopolis" as well as the live take of "Coming Down"). Contributors to the band at the time included Chris Vrenna and James Woolley, who both served time in Nine Inch Nails during the mid-Nineties.
Marcus and Christie then teamed up with Jane Jensen to form Oxygiene 23, and released an album ("Blue") on Fifth Column Records.
Engine, a 1995 release on WaxTrax!, was a huge jump forward and found critical acclaim for its decimation of genre boundaries. Die Warzau could no longer be simply pigeonholed into the "industrial" category, as their music became more organic, rounder on the edges yet still retaining their trademark knack for insistent rhythm and pure, unrefined electronic noise. "Liberated" and "All Good Girls" became trademark songs for the group. Fellow WaxTrax! act Sister Machine Gun "inherited" an unused song from this period ("Hole In the Ground"), which they included on their Burn album.
Die Warzau as a group then went on hiatus for a number of years, with Marcus and Christie working on other projects--Jim Marcus founded the pure funk group Everplastic while Van Christie worked on Eco-Hed.
By 2005, though, the duo had reconvened and released Convenience (on their Chicago-based Pulseblack Records). A continuation of the path they started on with Engine, songs like "Radiation Babies", "Kleen" and "Linoleum" further blur any genre lines and leave something truly original. More output is expected from the group in 2006, including a collaboration with funk pioneer George Clinton.
Funkopolis
Die Warzau Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Everyone can see I'm blind
Help me to believe
Help me to believe
If everything you know is true
Baby, you can't bear the truth
Help me to believe
Help me to believe
In the moonlight
Rake it in, I lost my heart
See a signpost every night
When you are
A baby of the world
Everyone can see it's right
Talk about color, you waste my time
Funkopolis
Don't lose all hope, we've got no fight
Unity can take my side
Help me to believe
Help me to believe
Sound to sound, there is no gate
Learn to love, I've got a way
Help me to believe
Help me to believe
It's the renaissance
A little ambiance
Fake the culture, fake the charm
Gotta believe what we all are
When you are
A baby of the world
Everyone can see it's right
Talk about color, you waste my time
Funkopolis
Lose it all, the streets have burned
Let me use the things that we have learned
Help me to believe
Help me to believe
Babycide so genocide
Dying for faith, we die inside
Help me to believe
Help me to believe
It's the shantytown
All night longg
Signs at night all speak the truth
When you are
A baby of the world
Everyone can see it's right
Talk about color, you waste my time
The lyrics of Die Warzau's "Funkopolis" center around the themes of hope, belief, and unity. The song starts with the singer feeling lost without any hope but notices a sign that could lead him to the right direction. He then asks for help to believe and acknowledges that sometimes the truth can be unbearable, but he still wants to believe. The song then transitions to the cityside, where the singer loses his heart but sees a signpost every night. When you are a baby of the world, everybody can see what is right, and talk about color is a waste of time.
The chorus of the song encourages the listener to hold onto hope and that there is no need for fighting, as unity can take over. The singer learns that there is no gate when it comes to sound, and we should learn to love. The second verse of the song talks about the renaissance of culture and ambiance. It encourages people to believe what we all are, as we are all babies of the world, and everyone can see the truth. The bridge of the song talks about the pain and unrest in the streets, but the singer wants to use the things that they have learned to find a way to believe. However, there is a recognition that people have died, ironically for their faith, and we must try to believe without sacrificing ourselves. The song ends in shantytown, where signs at night speak the truth, and when you are a baby of the world, everyone can see it's right.
Line by Line Meaning
Lost my hope, I see a sign
I am hopeless and searching for a sign of hope
Everyone can see I'm blind
My struggle is obvious to everyone, though I am unaware
Help me to believe
Help me to believe
I am seeking assistance in finding faith and belief
If everything you know is true
Baby, you can't bear the truth
The truth about reality may be difficult to accept
It's the cityside
In the moonlight
This is the city, quiet at night
Rake it in, I lost my heart
See a signpost every night
I have become enamored of this city, and am seeing signs of hope
When you are
A baby of the world
Everyone can see it's right
Talk about color, you waste my time
When you are young and innocent, things seem simple and obvious. Worrying about race or color is a waste of time
Funkopolis
This is the name of the city, and the theme of the song
Don't lose all hope, we've got no fight
Unity can take my side
There is still hope for unity in this city, even if there is no easy solution
Sound to sound, there is no gate
Learn to love, I've got a way
There are no boundaries to sound, so we should all try to love one another
It's the renaissance
A little ambiance
Fake the culture, fake the charm
Gotta believe what we all are
The city is experiencing a renaissance, and we should all embrace the culture and charm. But we must not be fake, and embrace who we truly are
Lose it all, the streets have burned
Let me use the things that we have learned
When everything is falling apart, we must use the lessons we have learned to rebuild
Babycide so genocide
Dying for faith, we die inside
The loss of innocence and faith can lead to internal and external conflict
It's the shantytown
All night longg
Signs at night all speak the truth
Even in the poorest parts of the city, there is truth to be found at night
Contributed by Brooklyn D. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@sparkybonehead
Yeah!!! Bring back the good old FUTURE!!!
@c.fanger5083
That bass line is incredibly bad ass
@OutLookSkateboards
I saw Die Warzau open up for NIN on Friday 01/18/1991 @ The Boathouse in Norfolk, VA. I had never heard of them until that day, nevertheless, they phukin destroyed it, ripped the GD roof right of the building. Epically ungraspable ---> "I Swear To GOD I Had An Epiphany" ... !!! epiphany: 1. the manifestation of a supernatural or divine reality 2. any moment of great or sudden revelation
@monsterx3055
cool man
'
@curiousgemini
They had the Burning Man look before there was a Burning Man
@jerkchickenblog
no this is after burning man started. the funny thing is they looked out of place in the 90s. for the industrial kids they looked way more metal than industrial/house/new beat
@richiewell5455
Chicago history!
@monsterx3055
19991 wasn't ready for this
@VideowaveMusic
It is quite appropriate for 19,991 AD
@rivotrich7
Wow! First time seeing and hearing this. The video visuals remind me of Nine Inch Nails Head Like a Hole video, and a little bit of Sigue Sigue Sputnik