Rio Reiser (January 9, 1950 - August 20, 1996), was a German rock musician … Read Full Bio ↴Rio Reiser (January 9, 1950 - August 20, 1996), was a German rock musician and singer of the famous rock group Ton Steine Scherben. He was born Ralph Möbius in Berlin and died at the age of 46 in the little German town of Fresenhagen.

Some critics say that Rio Reiser created a new image of a German folk singer; he was even called a "Schlager" artist (a genre of German folk music), and a "Volksmusik" musician (sometimes translated as "folk music", but in a literary sense it means music of the people). To other critics, Rio Reiser was simply a singer in a rock band. However, Reiser sometimes approved of being referred to a Volksmusik musician, because he thought that this would simply mean he sang music for the people.

His father was an engineer for Siemens AG, and the family moved several times because of his father's work; they lived in Berlin, Oberbayern, Nürnberg, Mannheim, and Stuttgart. Reiser was never really able to feel at home in any of these places. Many of his friends said, when they were asked in an interview which was broadcast on the TV-channel arte in 1998, that he started playing music to create a place where he felt at home.

Reiser was known by his friends as someone who had a very special mind of his own. For example he managed to persuade his mother Erika Möbius that he was allowed to stop attending school and start an apprenticeship in a studio for photography. She believed that he was an autodidact; he never learned things when he was taught by someone else. Thus he taught himself how to play cello, guitar, the piano and other instruments.

He decided to change his name from Ralph Möbius to Rio Reiser because of the autobiographical novel Anton Reiser by Karl Philipp Moritz. During his teenage years Rio Reiser was a big fan of The Beatles and later of The Rolling Stones.

After he left school, Reiser started as a singer for the rock band The Beat Kings where he met his good friend R.P.S. Lanrue. Later he ended his apprenticeship at the photographic studio and left The Beat Kings, to be able to go to Berlin. In Berlin he composed the first Beat-Opera, which wasn't successful at all.

In 1970 Reiser recorded his first single with the band Ton Steine Scherben. Their original name was actually "Was ich fand, waren Ton, Steine, Scherben". In that same year the group performed their first public concert and recorded their first full length record. Ton Steine Scherben were musically successful, though not commercially.

In 1985 Reiser and the band finally split because of financial reasons. Reiser had a large debt with the group, but his solo career went so well that he was free from debt in a short time. His first solo record-album was called König Von Deutschland ("King of Germany") which was produced by his manager Georges Glueck. Many of his friends from the Ton Steine Scherben-days didn't like the fact that Reiser was suddenly a commercially successful musician.

Rio Reiser was also politically active. He was member of the Die Grünen and later after the German reunification he joined the PDS.

Reiser's sixth and last solo record was Himmel und Hölle (Heaven and Hell). Reiser wrote and performed most of his songs entirely by himself, although he was sometimes accompanied by his long time friend R.P.S. Lanrue.

Rio Reiser died on August 20, 1996 from a circulatory collapse after internal bleedings, probably as a result of a hepatitis C infection, at his home in Fresenhagen.

Sumpf Schlock
Rio Reiser Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Wasserblasen fallen in die Nachmittagswolken.
Flipperkugeln klingeln fern halbacht.
Honka Zonka - Oh Mann - deine Schenkel, deine Locken
Lecken - deine Schwingen schneiden sacht

Harikafulas lauern
in Winnetous Garagen
unter den Traumfabriken,

die farsch und sterntaub rasen.

Affenwesen klamern sich an Kleotapierfesten.
Palmen singen Kara-Melodien.
Zahnpasteten schwärmen aus, den Ziegenpilz zu mästen.
Leichenteile schnuppern Evergreens.

Auf Lustfontänen springen.
Die Papageien tanzen
aus spiegelleichten Rosen
mit fischverzierten Lanzen.

In schwülen Sümpfen lieben,
die Amazonen jagen
nach unfruchtbaren Moosen,
die wild und mondfeucht schlafen.

Kettentiger atmen unter Wildfetzen versiegelt,
saugen sich an Wespenstichen satt,
beichten ihre Unschuld stolz und lautlos jedem Spiegel
und ihre Gesichter blättern ab.

Harikafulas lauern
in Winnetous Garagen

unter den Traumfabriken,
die farsch und sterntaub rasen.

Overall Meaning

The lyrics to Rio Reiser's song "Sumpf Schlock" paint a surrealistic picture filled with vivid and overlapping images that evoke a sense of confusion and disorientation. The first verse describes bubbles rising into afternoon clouds while a distant game of pinball echoes at half past seven. The singer then addresses a woman named Honka Zonka, praising her legs and hair while alluding to an intimate encounter. The following lines introduce bizarre and unsettling elements such as "Harikafulas" lurking in "Winnetous Garagen" (presumably a reference to Winnetou, the Apache chief from Karl May's novels), dream factories that rush by emitting "farsch" and "sterntaub" (made-up words), and primates clinging to "Kleotapierfesten" (possibly a play on "Cleopatra" and "Klebstoff," meaning "adhesive").

The second verse continues the theme of surreal landscapes and situations, with palm trees singing "Kara-Melodien" (another pun, meaning both "nursery rhymes" and "sugar melodies"), toothpastes swarming to fatten a "Ziegenpilz" (German for a type of mushroom), and body parts sniffing evergreens. The imagery then shifts to a scene of pleasure and abandon, as fountain of lust spurts and parrots dance with fish-decorated lances among rose mirrors. The final lines bring back the theme of confinement and decay, as tigers chained in rags suck on wasp stings and confess their innocence to faceless mirrors.

Line by Line Meaning

Wasserblasen fallen in die Nachmittagswolken.
Bubbles of water rise up and evaporate into the afternoon clouds.

Flipperkugeln klingeln fern halbacht.
The sound of pinball machines echoes from far away at half past seven.

Honka Zonka - Oh Mann - deine Schenkel, deine Locken
Oh man, Honka Zonka - your thighs and your hair.

Lecken - deine Schwingen schneiden sacht
Licking - your wings cut softly.

Harikafulas lauern in Winnetous Garagen unter den Traumfabriken, die farsch und sterntaub rasen.
Harikafulas (fictional creatures) lurk in Winnetou's garages under the dream factories, which race with dust and stars.

Affenwesen klamern sich an Kleotapierfesten.
Monkey-like creatures cling to Cleopatra-themed parties.

Palmen singen Kara-Melodien.
Palm trees sing Kara melodies.

Zahnpasteten schwärmen aus, den Ziegenpilz zu mästen.
To fatten up the goat fungus, toothpaste is spread out.

Leichenteile schnuppern Evergreens.
Body parts sniff the scent of evergreens.

Auf Lustfontänen springen.
Jump on fountains of pleasure.

Die Papageien tanzen aus spiegelleichten Rosen mit fischverzierten Lanzen.
Parrots dance from mirrors in roses with fish-adorned lances.

In schwülen Sümpfen lieben, die Amazonen jagen nach unfruchtbaren Moosen, die wild und mondfeucht schlafen.
Loving in sultry swamps, the Amazon women hunt for barren mosses that sleep wildly and moon-moist.

Kettentiger atmen unter Wildfetzen versiegelt,
Chained tigers breathe under wild rags sealed.

saugen sich an Wespenstichen satt,
Sucking themselves full on wasp stings.

beichten ihre Unschuld stolz und lautlos jedem Spiegel
Confessing their innocence proudly and silently to every mirror.

und ihre Gesichter blättern ab.
And their faces peel off.

Contributed by Liam C. Suggest a correction in the comments below.

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