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)
Superboy
Nina Hagen Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Der hat paar Augen, dass du traeumst davon
Du sagst nix
Du siehst ihn bloss an
Und ganz langsam drehen sich deine Augen links ein
Und du schielst schon
Ich kenn' einen Jungen
Du sagst nix
Du siehst ihn bloss an
Und waehrend du vor Glueck stoehnst
Frisst er dir den Kuehlschrank leer
Und du schielst schon
Das ist ein (hoi hoi) Superboy
Der macht dich (hoi hoi hoi) gluecklich
Der ist ein Hypnotisasator
Der schlaucht dich aus
Ich kenn' einen Jungen
Der hat 'ne Nase, dass du traeumst davon
Der sagt nix
Sein Kopf ist voll Stroh
Seine Klamotten sind aus'm Snob Shop aus Ohio
Das ist ein (hoi hoi) Superboy
Der macht dich (hoi hoi hoi) glücklich
Der ist ein Hypnotisasator
Der schlaucht dich aus
Einen Moment lang
Frisst du aus seiner herrlich männlichen Hand
Du frisst alles
Wenn er schon mal was sagt, dann frisst du das auch
Mensch pass bloss auf
Sonst wirste'n Allesfresser
Allesfresser
Allesfresser
Allesfresser
Das ist ein (hoi hoi) Superboy
Der macht dich (hoi hoi hoi) glücklich
Der ist ein Hypnotisasator
Der schlaucht dich aus
Schlaucht dich aus
The song "Superboy" by Nina Hagen talks about a boy who possesses a magnetic charm that attracts people towards him. The lyrics illustrate how this boy enraptures and hypnotizes the singer by his looks, actions, and words. The singer is smitten by his appearance, and her eyes follow him everywhere he goes. His touch, his voice, and his presence make her feel ecstatic and blissful. The boy is so mesmerizing that the singer starts eating out of his hand and even follows his every word blindly. However, the song concludes with a cautionary note, implying that it's easy to lose oneself in his spell and become someone who eats everything that comes their way. Overall, the lyrics of "Superboy" celebrate the idea of falling in love with a captivating personality but also warn against blindly following someone without keeping one's own well-being in mind.
Line by Line Meaning
Ich kenn' einen Jungen
The singer knows a boy
Der hat paar Augen, dass du traeumst davon
The boy has eyes that one dreams of
Du sagst nix
You say nothing
Du siehst ihn bloss an
You just look at him
Und ganz langsam drehen sich deine Augen links ein
And slowly your eyes turn to the left
Und du schielst schon
And you are already peeking
Der schnappt sich einfach deine heisse Hand
He simply takes your hot hand
Und waehrend du vor Glueck stoehnst
And while you moan with happiness
Frisst er dir den Kuehlschrank leer
He empties your refrigerator
Das ist ein (hoi hoi) Superboy
That's a (hoi hoi) Superboy
Der ist ein Hypnotisasator
He is a hypnotist
Der schlaucht dich aus
He exhausts you
Der hat 'ne Nase, dass du traeumst davon
He has a nose that one dreams of
Sein Kopf ist voll Stroh
His head is full of straw
Seine Klamotten sind aus'm Snob Shop aus Ohio
His clothes are from the Snob Shop in Ohio
Einen Moment lang
For a moment
Frisst du aus seiner herrlich männlichen Hand
You eat from his wonderfully masculine hand
Du frisst alles
You eat everything
Wenn er schon mal was sagt, dann frisst du das auch
If he ever says anything, you eat that too
Mensch pass bloss auf
Man, just be careful
Sonst wirste'n Allesfresser
Otherwise, you'll become an omnivore
Das ist ein (hoi hoi) Superboy
That's a (hoi hoi) Superboy
Der ist ein Hypnotisasator
He is a hypnotist
Der schlaucht dich aus
He exhausts you
Schlaucht dich aus
Exhausts you
Contributed by Alexander T. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Mike Lynge
Google translate:
I know a boy
He has two eyes that you dream about
He doesn't say anything
He just looks at you
And very slowly your eyes turn to the left
And you're already squinting
I know a boy
He just grabs your hot hand
You don't say anything
You just look at him
And while you moan with happiness
Does he eat you the fridge empty?
And you're already squinting
This is a (hoi hoi) superboy
It makes you (hoi hoi hoi) happy
He's a hypnotizer
He's exhausting you
I know a boy
He's got a nose that you dream of
He says nothing
His head is full of straw
His clothes are from the snob shop in Ohio
For a moment
You eat from his wonderfully manly hand
You eat everything
If he ever says something
Then you eat that too
Man, just watch out
Otherwise you'll be omnivorous, omnivorous, omnivorous
This is a (hoi hoi) superboy
It makes you (hoi hoi hoi) happy
He's a hypnotizer
He's exhausting you
Exhaust yourself
debswileo
How can anyone resist that beat OMG I loved her 20 yrs ago and love her now. I wish I knew the translation!
Mike Lynge
Google translate:
I know a boy
He has two eyes that you dream about
He doesn't say anything
He just looks at you
And very slowly your eyes turn to the left
And you're already squinting
I know a boy
He just grabs your hot hand
You don't say anything
You just look at him
And while you moan with happiness
Does he eat you the fridge empty?
And you're already squinting
This is a (hoi hoi) superboy
It makes you (hoi hoi hoi) happy
He's a hypnotizer
He's exhausting you
I know a boy
He's got a nose that you dream of
He says nothing
His head is full of straw
His clothes are from the snob shop in Ohio
For a moment
You eat from his wonderfully manly hand
You eat everything
If he ever says something
Then you eat that too
Man, just watch out
Otherwise you'll be omnivorous, omnivorous, omnivorous
This is a (hoi hoi) superboy
It makes you (hoi hoi hoi) happy
He's a hypnotizer
He's exhausting you
Exhaust yourself
debswileo
@Mike Lynge 😂😂 I never would have guess. Thank you!!
Mike Lynge
@debswileo you´re welcome :-) and thanks for asking, makes me wanna research language :-D
Darren Rozumek
Used to dance around my room to this in high school, and pretend she was singing about me.
Stefanie Kronberger
Oh dear have you checked the lyrics? Not very flattering and extremly sarcastic how she describes him 😁
JerJer B
I love Nina! I had a chance to meet her in LA in 2006!!!
Lukasz Polkowski
I met her in Szczecin when she had escaped from DDR
brianmillerthomas
Damn, i have to get this album again.
Filmer
Did you get it?