John Watts is from a family of singers. He progressed through school and college bands inspired equally by the late 60s Trojan catalogue and great maverick artists, from Alex Harvey to Lou Reed, Captain Beefheart to Tom Waits and the ‘Hunky Dory’ David Bowie. Watts moved to the point where punk, art-wave and reggae crossed over. With college friend Steve Skolnik and rhythm section Steve Liddle and Dave Graham, Watts landed a record deal as Fischer-Z with United Artists in 1978 alongside the Buzzcocks and the Stranglers. They became well known throughout continental Europe and achieved chart success as far abroad as Australia.
Watts has amassed a considerable body of creative work since. His quality song-writing has evolved steadily against a variety of musical colours. It has encompassed written word, poetry and humour as easily as rap-scape, rare groove and indie guitar influences, all with a characteristic singing and written ‘voice’. The original Fischer-Z split up in 1981.
The double worldwide release of the Real Life Is Good Enough and related It Has To Be albums represents a fresh new era for John; a return to more organic music-making and humorous writing. He is touring extensively solo and in a three-piece format with drummer and multi-instrumentalist Sam Walker and Matthew Gest on keyboard.
The album Morethanmusic was released in october 2010, with the songs he used to play on the MoreThanMusic live shows in the prior year.
In 2010 he had a couple of shows as Fischer-Z with Sam Walker on drums, Matthew Gest on keyboards and Matthew Wear on bass. This appeared to be a quite succesful revival. In april 2011 he released a remix album of the most succesful Fischer-Z songs via crowd funding site PledgeMusic.com. This album was titled Fischer-Z.
Berlín
John Watts Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
The signed pictures of film stars who stayed here in eras
That knew of no wall.
Berlin...Berlin... Berlin...Berlin...
Part of the old world lives
On this island in Germany
Morning. The essence survives.
Berlin...Berlin... Berlin...Berlin...
Come they told me, down to the dark clubs at night
They'll surprise you , the one's who are asleep when it's light
So outrangeous, like tropical birds in a cage
Out from underneath their stones.
Berlin...Berlin... Berlin...Berlin...
Berlin...Berlin... Berlin...Berlin...
Young faces new ideals, in search of paradise
They merge into the history, the theatre of memories
That make up the feel of
Berlin...Berlin... Berlin...Berlin
The lyrics of John Watts's song "Berlin" is about exploring the room of an old hotel in Berlin with sore red eyes. The room is filled with signed pictures of film stars who stayed there before the Berlin Wall was constructed. The next lines talk about the island in Germany where part of the old world still exists and how the essence of the city survives outside the window at six in the morning, despite the visible changes in the city.
The following stanza talks about the dark clubs of Berlin, and how they come alive at night. The people who are asleep during the day are the ones who come alive at night, and they are so outrageous, like tropical birds in a cage, that they come out from underneath the stones. The song then ends with young faces and new ideals in search of paradise, merging into the history and theatre of memories that make up the feel of Berlin.
In conclusion, the song "Berlin" is about exploring the city of Berlin and noticing how different eras have left their mark. The city has changed over the years, but the essence of it still survives, and the people of the city are like tropical birds who come alive at night.
Line by Line Meaning
These sore red eyes explore the room again.
I look around the room with tired eyes.
The signed pictures of film stars who stayed here in eras
That knew of no wall.
Pictures of old film stars are on the wall from a time before the wall existed.
Part of the old world lives
On this island in Germany
And still out there through the window at six in the
Morning. The essence survives.
Germany is an old-world location and retains its essence despite changes, as seen out the window at dawn.
Come they told me, down to the dark clubs at night
They'll surprise you, the ones who are asleep when it's light
So outrageous, like tropical birds in a cage
Out from underneath their stones.
People invite me to the clubs at night to witness the surprises that awaken when it's dark outside--people are like exotic birds unleashing themselves from their cages.
Young faces new ideals, in search of paradise
They merge into the history, the theatre of memories
That make up the feel of
Young people, with new ideas and desires, become part of the history and memories that capture the essence of Berlin.
Contributed by Daniel Y. Suggest a correction in the comments below.