From 1972 to 1973, Hagen enrolled in the crash-course performance program at The Central Studio for Light Music in East Berlin. Upon graduation, she joined the band Automobil (picture), which released a well-received album in Germany, including her first hit "Du hast den Farbfilm vergessen" in 1974.
After a concert for a West German labour union in 1976 her stepfather, Wolf Biermann, was forbidden to return to the GDR. Because of their protests against it her mother, Eva-Maria Hagen and Nina were thrown out of GDR in 1977, and followed Biermann to his hometown Hamburg.
Nina subsequently met West-Berlin photographer Jim Rakete (who also produced some bands he shot the cover-photos for - like "Nena" some years later). He brought Nina together with the politically left-wing band "Lokomotive Kreuzberg" (later known as "Spliff"): thus the "Nina Hagen Band" was born.
In 1978 The Nina Hagen Band released their self-titled debut album, which included titles like "TV-Glotzer" (a cover of "White Punks on Dope" by The Tubes) and "Auf'm Bahnhof Zoo".
According to reviewer Fritz Rumler, she thrusts herself into the music, aggressively, directly, furiously, roars in the most beautiful operatic alto, then, through shrieks and squeals, precipitates herself into luminous soprano heights... she parodies, satirises, and howls on stage like a dervish.
Nina Hagen's eccentricity led to big disputes in the band and during a subsequent European tour Hagen decided to leave the band, though she was still under contract to produce a second album in 1979. This LP, Unbehagen (in addition to the obvious pun on her name, in German this also means 'discomfort' or 'unease'), was eventually produced with the band recording their tracks in Berlin and Hagen recording the vocals in Los Angeles, California. It included the single "African Reggae"/"Wir leben immer... noch" (a cover of Lene Lovich's "Lucky Number"). The headless Nina Hagen Band soon developed a successful independent musical career as Spliff.
Meanwhile, Hagen's public persona was steadily creating an increasing media uproar and she became infamous for an appearance on an Austrian talk show called Club 2, in which she performed an explicit simulation of masturbation. She also acted with Dutch sex-drugs-and-rock-'n'-roll legend Herman Brood in the movie Cha Cha, along with Lene Lovich and various Dutch bands.
An European tour with a new band in 1980 was cancelled, she had a love affair with a 16 year old punk from Amsterdam called Noddy (www.noddyriot.co.uk) and sang a RHCP rapduet with him at the OneWorldPoetry festival at the MilkyWay and lived with him in New York and in the Bahamas.
In 1982 her first solo album NunSexMonkRock, a dissonant mix of punk, funk and opera, was a minor hit, and led to a world tour with the No Problem Orchestra.
In 1983 came the album Angstlos and a minor European tour. By this time, Hagen's public appearances were becoming even stranger; over the years they frequently included discussions of God, UFOs, her social and political beliefs, animal rights / vivisection and claims of alien sightings. The English version of Angstlos, 'Fearless', generated two major club hits in America , "Zarah" and the disco/punk/opera classic, "New York New York".
1985's 'Nina Hagen In Ekstasy' fared less well, but it did generate club hits with "Universal Radio" and a cover of "Spirit In The Sky", and it also featured her hardcore punk take on Frank Sinatra's "My Way", which had been one of her signature live tunes in previous years. Her contract with CBS over, she released the Punk Wedding EP independently in 1987, a celebration of her marriage to an 18-year old punk. It followed an independent 1986 one-off single with Lene Lovich, the anthemic "Don't Kill The Animals".
In 1989 Hagen released the album Nina Hagen which was backed up by another German tour. Now living in Paris with her daughter Cosma Shiva, in 1991 she toured Europe in support of her new album Street.
In 1992 Hagen became the host of a TV show on RTLplus. The following year she released Revolution Ballroom and two years later the German-language album Freud Euch appeared, recorded in English as Beehappy in 1996. Also in 1996, Hagen collaborated with electronic music composer Christopher Franke on "Alchemy of Love", the theme song for the Tenchi Universe movie Tenchi Muyo! in Love.
In 1998, Hagen became the host of a weekly science fiction show on the British Sci-Fi-Channel, in addition to embarking on another tour of Germany. In 1999, she released the devotional album Om Namah Shivay, which was distributed exclusively online. She also sang "Witness" on KMFDM's Adios.
Nina has a strong interest in various religions, but that is mainly driven by her urge to build a better world and her own colorful freedom within it.
In 2000, her song Schön ist die Welt became the official song of Expo 2000. The album The Return of the Mother was released in February 2001, accompanied by another German tour.
Hagen dubbed the voice of Sally in the German release of Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas and she also did some voice work in Hot Dogs by Michael Schoemann.
Hagen has been featured on many songs by other bands, for instance Oomph!'s song Fieber, a cover of Rammstein's "Seemann" with Apocalyptica and in 2008 appeared readily on psy-trance act S.U.N. Project's X Black Album, most notably on the fully vocal track We're In Space. She also sang the song "Garota de Berlim" with Brazilian singer Supla in her early years.
Her two children are Cosma Shiva and Otis.
URLs:
BEST archive for Nina Hagen pictures and stuff (regrettably just in German), incl. very old GDR pics like a beautiful one at the age of 18 and one shot by the "Stasi" (together with her stepfather Wolf Biermann - wiki)
Born In Xixax
Nina Hagen Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Devils around my bed
There is no choice and no difference
And no one seems to notice
Sometimes I feel like screaming
Sometimes I feel like I just can't win
Sometimes I feel like I was born
Intoxicated by the orchids
Abandoned in the garden
Demanding morphine for communion
Because my soul was burning
Sometimes I feel like screaming
Sometimes I feel like I just can't win
Sometimes I feel like I was born
To die in your arm in Berlin
Stranded in the sweet windings
Breathing the pale moon silver
Tasting the last drops of life
From a sweet transvestite's lips
Sometimes I feel like screaming
Sometimes I feel like I just can't win
Sometimes I feel like I was born
To die in your arm in Berlin
The lyrics of Nina Hagen's song "Born To Die In Berlin" convey a sense of hopelessness and despair, as well as an acceptance of the darker aspects of life. Junkies, whores, and pimps are all around, and the singer feels like there is no choice or difference in the world. Despite this, she also has a desire to be loved, even if it means dying in Berlin.
The second verse of the song describes a feeling of being intoxicated and abandoned, demanding morphine to ease the pain of a burning soul. The imagery here is strong, as if the singer is lost in a garden of temptation, seeking communion with something that will ease her pain. In the third verse, she speaks of being stranded and tasting the last drops of life from a transvestite's lips. The sense of desperation is palpable throughout the song, and the refrain speaks to a sense of being trapped and unable to escape the cycle of suffering.
Overall, the lyrics of "Born To Die In Berlin" convey a deep sense of isolation and desperation, while also recognizing the beauty and seductiveness of the darker aspects of life.
Line by Line Meaning
Junkies, whores and pimps
People of ill repute surround me
Devils around my bed
Negative influences constantly surround me
There is no choice and no difference
The options and outcomes are all the same
And no one seems to notice
Nobody pays attention to the struggles
Sometimes I feel like screaming
I am overwhelmed by emotions
Sometimes I feel like I just can't win
I feel defeated and hopeless
Sometimes I feel like I was born
My existence feels predetermined
To die in your arm in Berlin
To meet my end in the embrace of Berlin
Intoxicated by the orchids
I am captivated by dangerous beauty
Abandoned in the garden
Left alone in isolation
Demanding morphine for communion
Seeking relief through self-destructive means
Because my soul was burning
My internal pain is insurmountable
Stranded in the sweet windings
Lost in the entanglement of life
Breathing the pale moon silver
Drawing in the beauty of the night
Tasting the last drops of life
Savoring the remaining moments of existence
From a sweet transvestite's lips
From the lips of someone who challenges societal norms
Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: DEE DEE RAMONE, JOHN CARCO
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@tequilayea
This is again radio Yerevan with our news
Oh, I'm sorry, got to turn on the machine
This is radio Yerevan
My name is Hans Ivanovich Hagen
And this is the news
[Verse 1]
I was born in XIXAX (oh la la la dee)
On my mama's farm
My father was a junkie
Und wir war'n sehr arm
My brother was a soldier (ooh)
By the war in Vietnam (shoot)
My uncle is a spy
In the Soviet Union
[Chorus]
He knows that Mr. Brezhnev is planning a reunion
He knows that Mr. Brezhnev is planning a reunion
He knows that Mr. Brezhnev is planning a reunion
[Verse 2]
Well it's a big big big big secret (aum, aum, aum)
No no nobody understands except you I hope (Berlin)
Und eines tages sind wir frei, einfach frei
One day we will be free, we will be free one day
One day we will be free, we will be free one day
One day we will be free, we-hee-hee we will be free
[Verse 3]
Well I believe in Jesus (ooh ooh ooh ooh)
I preach it loud and stark (oh)
Und Jackie, hallo (ooh ooh ooh ooh) (stupid Jacky)
Als er so bei mir lag (Jesus dwells)
Eto radio Yerevan, eto news (secret)
There's going to be a big disaster
(Nobody understands, you I hope)
Gonna be, world war number three
(Dennis, Tom)
Going to be a war or something, I know already
(Sigmund Freud, I confide)
I know it now already, I can feel it though already
Moscow's gonna become
(One day we will be free)
Washington's going to be number two
(We will be free one day)
Big big big big disaster's gonna come
(One day we will be free)
Come on, come on, come on dance to the end, let's do
Let's do, let's do 'er up, let's do her up
(one day we will be free)
[Chorus]
He knows that Mr. Brezhnev is planning a reunion
(erump en nose)
He knows that Mr. Brezhnev is planning a reunion
(who knows)
He knows that Mr. Brezhnev is planning a reunion
(Berlin, Berlin)
[Outro]
Lie, ah, stop the news (nyet, nyet)
(I wonder if I can make soup out of this)
Nyet super, nyet, ochen' plokho, nyet, nyet, nyet
Worship loco
@TheFelinolibre
En la granja de mi madre
Mi padre era un yonqui
Und Wir Water Seht ord
Mi hermano era un soldado (oh)
Por la guerra en Vietman (disparar)
Mi tío era un espía
En la Unión Soviética
Él sabe que el Sr. Brezhnev está planeando una reunión
Él sabe que el Sr. Brezhnev está planeando una reunión
Él sabe que el Sr. Brezhnev está planeando una reunión (ah, ah, ah, ah)
Bueno, es un gran gran gran secreto (aum, aum, aum)
No, nadie lo comprende, excepto tú, espero (wall ee dee)
Un den tauvis
Sigmund Freud, rana (frunce el ceño)
Algún día seremos libres seremos por el día del trabajo
Algún día seremos libres seremos por el día del trabajo
Un día seremos libres, hee, hee, nee, reet lacrimógeno
Bueno, yo creo en Jesús (ooh ooh ooh ooh)
Puse un sello nublado (oh)
Jackie error wah oh (ooh ooh ooh ooh) (estúpido jackie)
Y hay un candado bebé (Jesús mora)
Et tos sin eurovan etun noticias (secreto)
Habrá un gran desastre
(Nadie lo entiende, tú espero)
Va a ser la guerra, la guerra número tres
(Dennis, Tom, Sigmund Freud, confío)
Va a ser una guerra, algo que yo sé, lo sé,
Ya lo sé, ya puedo sentirlo.
Moscú se convertirá
(Un día seremos libres)
Washington va a ser el número dos
(Vamos a ser por el día del trabajo)
Va a ser un gran gran desastre va a venir
(Un día seremos libres)
Vamos, vamos, vamos a bailar hasta el final, hagamos,
hagámoslo, hagámoslo, hagámosla.
(Vamos a ser por el día del trabajo)
Él sabe que el Sr. Brezhnev está planeando una reunión (erump en nose)
Él sabe que el Sr. Brezhnev está planeando una reunión (quién sabe)
Él sabe que el Sr. Brezhnev está planeando una reunión (ba la dee dee, la dee
dee)
Mentira, ah, detén la noticia (nyet, nyet)
(Me pregunto si puedo hacer sopa de esto)
Nyet, flojo, míralo, bloko, nyet, nyet, nyet
@SuperJewelboy
I bought this when it first came out. I am now 55 years old and still love it.
@maison33253
I bought this when it came out. 7 months ago, I too was 55. Now 56, and I still love it.
@heathermichael3985
SuperJewelboy SAME! She is so wonderfully weird!
@alainfromfrance
Same for me!
@froggylegspeople
SuperJewelboy
Now, listen to
Seemann nina hagen apocalyptica.
This song you also will love for sure 😃
@sashineb.2114
I bought the album when I saw it in the record rack at my local record store. I had no idea who she was, or how she sounded. I played it and at first, I didn't know what to think, but I loved it. I saw Nina in concert shortly thereafter, promoting this album.
@StephanieJeanne
I had this album back in the 80s. It was so unique! I love her experimental approach to music. She's great!👍
@martina-lz9dp
Ich auch,du Schwester im Geiste.🎉❤
@jamesball5292
Nina Hagen reminds me of my older sister, Christine. She is the most bizzare person i know. So she and Nina would be proud of each others compatability. Love you both
@jamesball5292
Christine Ball