Catharina "Nina" Hagen (born on March 11, 1955) is a singer from former Eas… Read Full Bio ↴Catharina "Nina" Hagen (born on March 11, 1955) is a singer from former East Berlin, German Democratic Republic; now Berlin, Germany. Her musical career began when she left school at age sixteen, and went to Poland in 1971. After that, she returned to Germany and joined the cover band Fritzens Dampferband (Fritz's Steamboat Band), together with Achim Mentzel and others. She added songs by Janis Joplin and Tina Turner to the "allowable" set lists during shows.
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)

Soma Koma
Nina Hagen Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Soma Koma
Game is over
Soma Koma
Game is over

Das Spiel mit dem Geld ist zu Ende
Verzockt Zinsen und Dividende
Zurück bleiben nur ihre Kassen

Wir staunen und können's nicht fassen
Wer tanzt ums goldene Kalb
Wer steht ganz allein in Wald

Soma Koma
Game is over
Soma Koma
Game is over

Die Börsen der Welt voller Kenner
Die Gorillas im Nebel schreien Männer
Verkaufen und kaufen Wälder

Die süchtigen Spieler im Mondschein
Wer macht die Lichter aus
Wer zieht sich nackend aus

Soma Koma
Game is over
Soma Koma
Game is over

Manager sind schon verschwunden
Schlürfen Champagner mit den treudoofen Kunden
Tauschen Aktien und Zertifikate
Gegen Schlafmittel und Opiate

Wer tanzt ums goldene Kalb
Wer steht ganz allein im Wald

Soma Koma
Game is over

Soma Koma
Game is over

Overall Meaning

The song "Soma Koma" by Nina Hagen is a commentary on the end of the game of money. The first stanza mentions how the game of money is over and how people have lost out on interest rates and dividends. The second stanza talks about the powerful players in the game, the stockbrokers and investors who sell and buy forests. The chorus then repeats "Soma Koma, game is over" to emphasize the point that the game is up. The third stanza is a critique of the managers who have disappeared and are drinking champagne with their loyal customers while they trade stocks and certificates for sleep aids and opiates. The final refrain brings back the imagery of the golden calf and the isolated figure in the woods. The lyrics suggest that the pursuit of wealth has ended and questions who is left to face the consequences of the game.

Overall, the song Soma Koma uses powerful images and graphic language to convey its message. The lyrics are a call to action, urging listeners to think about the realities of the financial sector and to question the validity of its practices.

Line by Line Meaning

Soma Koma
The game of financial gambling is now over.

Game is over
The time for financial speculation has come to an end.

Das Spiel mit dem Geld ist zu Ende
The game of playing with money has come to a close.

Verzockt Zinsen und Dividende
Interest and dividends have been gambled away.

Zurück bleiben nur ihre Kassen
Only their coffers are left behind.

Wir staunen und können's nicht fassen
We are stunned and can't believe it.

Wer tanzt ums goldene Kalb
Who is still worshiping the golden calf?

Wer steht ganz allein in Wald
Who is left isolated in the forest?

Die Börsen der Welt voller Kenner
The markets of the world are full of experts.

Die Gorillas im Nebel schreien Männer
The gorillas in the mist are screaming men.

Verkaufen und kaufen Wälder
They sell and buy forests.