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)
Für mich soll's rote Rosen regnen
Nina Hagen Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
will groß sein, will siegen, will froh sein, nie lügen,
mit sechzehn sagte ich still, ich will,
will alles, oder nichts.
Für mich, soll's rote Rosen regnen,
mir sollten sämtliche Wunder begegnen.
Die Welt sollte sich umgestalten,
Und später, sagte ich noch, ich möchte,
verstehen, viel sehen, erfahre, bewahren,
und später, sagte ich noch, ich möcht',
nicht allein sein, und doch frei sein.
Für mich soll's rote Rosen regnen,
mir sollten sämtliche Wunder begegnen.
Das Glück sollte sich sanft verhalten,
es sollte mein Schicksal, mit Liebe verwalten.
Und heute sage ich still, ich sollte,
mich fügen, begnügen, ich kann mich nicht fügen,
kann mich nicht begnügen, will immer noch siegen,
will alles, oder nichts.
Für mich, soll's rote Rosen regnen,
mir sollten ganz neue Wunder begegnen.
Mich fern, von altem Neu entfalten,
von dem was erwartet, das meiste halten.
The song Für mich soll's rote Rosen regnen by Nina Hagen is about the hopes and dreams of youth and the struggle to maintain those dreams as one grows older. In the beginning of the song, Hagen sings about her dreams at sixteen and how she wanted to be successful, honest, and happy. She wanted everything or nothing at all. However, as she grew older, her dreams changed, and she wanted to understand, learn, experience, and preserve. She also wanted to be free but not alone.
The chorus of the song repeats the line "Für mich soll's rote Rosen regnen" which translates to "Red roses should rain down for me." This line represents the desire for the world to be filled with beauty and wonder. Hagen sings that she wants the world to transform and keep its worries to itself. She wants happiness to manage her destiny with love.
As the song progresses, Hagen admits to feeling like she should conform and settle down. She feels torn between wanting to achieve everything and feeling like she has to accept what's given to her. However, the final chorus suggests that she still wants something new and wants to be free from expectations.
Overall, the song Für mich soll's rote Rosen regnen is a reflection on the dreams and desires of youth and how those dreams can be challenging to maintain as one grows older. Hagen suggests that despite the persistent struggle to balance expectations and desires, hope is still alive.
Line by Line Meaning
Mit sechzehn sagte ich still, ich will,
will groß sein, will siegen, will froh sein, nie lügen,
At the age of sixteen I silently said to myself that I wanted to be great, triumph, be happy and never lie.
mit sechzehn sagte ich still, ich will,
will alles, oder nichts.
At the age of sixteen I silently said to myself that I wanted everything or nothing.
Für mich, soll's rote Rosen regnen,
mir sollten sämtliche Wunder begegnen.
Red roses should rain for me and I should experience all sorts of miracles.
Die Welt sollte sich umgestalten,
und ihre Sorgen für sich behalten.
The world should change and keep its worries to itself.
Und später, sagte ich noch, ich möchte,
verstehen, viel sehen, erfahre, bewahren,
Later on, I said that I also wanted to understand, see a lot, experience and preserve things.
und später, sagte ich noch, ich möcht',
nicht allein sein, und doch frei sein.
Later on, I also said that I wanted to not be alone, but also be free.
Das Glück sollte sich sanft verhalten,
es sollte mein Schicksal, mit Liebe verwalten.
Happiness should behave gently and manage my destiny with love.
Und heute sage ich still, ich sollte,
mich fügen, begnügen, ich kann mich nicht fügen,
kann mich nicht begnügen, will immer noch siegen,
will alles, oder nichts.
Today, quietly, I should conform and settle, but I can't conform, can't settle and still want to succeed, everything or nothing.
Für mich, soll's rote Rosen regnen,
mir sollten ganz neue Wunder begegnen.
Red roses should rain for me and I should encounter completely new miracles.
Mich fern, von altem Neu entfalten,
von dem was erwartet, das meiste halten.
Unfold me far from the old, expect and hold the most.
Contributed by Elijah S. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Josh Hodgson
Wow. This lady sure has one hell of a resume both musically and overall artistically. I'm not sure that any other artist can successfully pull off a Rammstein cover then do an original big band tune. Many kudos, Nina!
shostakov66
Nina will always be one of my favorite singers!!
Veruky
Cyndi Lauper y Nina Hagen, dos cantantes que hacen que haber venido al mundo haya valido la pena!.
Phantom der Oper
Nina Du inspiriest mich immer wieder Du bewahrst die tollen unsterblichen Songs einfach toll 👏👍
NELOHAGEN
Nina makes me feel so good that when I hear her singing this song I can't bear my tears...tears of joy, of course!!!!!!!viva Ninaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Ben Padron
I've been searching for this song forever!!!! And with all the crazy looks Nina does, she actually looks beautiful and elegant here haha ❤
Manoel Thomaz Carneiro
Que maravilha....Bravo
RTLAllStars
Nina was not forced to sind it. She had made an album and gave the spactators the chance to choose one of fife songs. She really LOVED it!
Deedee 60
Aww, NINA! WUNDERBAR! Nina Hagen always makes me smile and laugh. She has the most incredible voice and is unique and original! Have loved her since Punk days!
Geekman333
I LOVE that she doesn't (didn't) sing in English. Made the whole thing kind of universal, international. Love her.