Slapp Happy was a German/English pop group formed in Germany in 1972 when B… Read Full Bio ↴Slapp Happy was a German/English pop group formed in Germany in 1972 when British keyboardist and avant-garde composer Anthony Moore invited his friend, New York guitarist/artist/cartoonist/poet Peter Blegvad, to come over to Hamburg. Moore had already released several albums of “new music” for Polydor. When Polydor rejected one of his albums outright, he proposed a pop-oriented project instead. Local girl Dagmar Krause, a former member of the folk-rock group City Preachers, was recruited as vocalist and Slapp Happy was born.

Their early sound was a quirky, cabaret-inflected pop-rock with witty, literate lyrics from Blegvad. Their first two albums featured members of Faust in the backing band, although the second was later re-recorded with session musicians for Virgin records.

By 1975, they had been interleaved with the British avant-rock group Henry Cow, a union that produced two important works: a theatrical, Kurt Weill-esque set of songs entitled Desperate Straights and a much more daunting and avant-garde set entitled In Praise Of Learning.

The band has had fitful reunions ever since, sometimes just for the odd single, but often for major projects (the 1991 television opera Camera and the 1998 studio album Ça Va, for example).

Krause, Moore and Blegvad reformed Slapp Happy again in November 2016 to perform with Faust at the Week-End festival in Cologne, Germany. The two groups also played on 10–11 February 2017 at Cafe Oto in London. On 24 February 2017 Slapp Happy (without Faust) performed at Mt. Rainer Hall, Shibuya in Tokyo. In September 2017, Slapp Happy and Faust played at the 10th Rock in Opposition festival in Carmaux, France. They made a final appearance in November 2017 in Brussels, Belgium.

Charlie 'n Charlie
Slapp Happy Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Charlie 'n Charlie are twins.
You can never tell where Charlie ends and Charlie begins -
The search is on; Charlie looks for Charlie in vain, no game,
'cos Charlie 'n Charlie are the same.

Collecting driftwood down by the shore,
Charlie thought he'd open a store...
Across the sands his first customer approaching on his hands, (tin can) -

Charlie faced Charlie like a man.

I saw Charlie jump and holler
when Charlie dropped a dollar down his collar -

"You spoiled my neck! It'll never be the same again - (no blame) -
'cos your neck and my neck are the same."

Overall Meaning

Slapp Happy's song Charlie 'n Charlie tells the story of twin brothers named Charlie. The lyrics describe how the two brothers are so identical that it's difficult to tell where one begins or ends. The lyrics also express how, despite being so similar, Charlie still searches for his twin brother in vain, as their identical appearances make it impossible to distinguish between them.

The song's second stanza describes Charlie's attempt to open up a store selling driftwood he had collected by the shore. As he awaits his first customer, he sees someone approaching on their hands carrying a tin can. To his surprise, the customer turns out to be his twin brother, Charlie. The two Charlies face each other like men, but the identical position of the men in the world serves only to make it more difficult to distinguish one from the other.

The final stanza of the song describes how Charlie jumps and hollers after Charlie accidentally drops a dollar down his brother's collar. The lyrics imply that this causes Charlie's neck to be spoiled, but he doesn't blame his brother for it because their necks are the same. The song's central message is that despite the two brothers' shared identity, they are still individuals with their own unique experiences and personalities.

Line by Line Meaning

Charlie 'n Charlie are twins.
Two individuals named Charlie, who look alike and may be identical twins.

You can never tell where Charlie ends and Charlie begins -
It's hard to distinguish between the two Charlie's, as they are very similar looking.

The search is on; Charlie looks for Charlie in vain, no game,
One of the Charlie's is searching for differences between them, but there are none - it's a futile attempt.

'cos Charlie 'n Charlie are the same.
The two Charlie's are identical and there are no discernible differences between them.

Collecting driftwood down by the shore,
One of the Charlie's is looking for and gathering driftwood by the beach.

Charlie thought he'd open a store...
One of the Charlie's had an idea to open a shop or store.

Across the sands his first customer approaching on his hands, (tin can) -
A person walked up to the Charlie with a tin can in their hands and approached them from across the beach.

Charlie faced Charlie like a man.
One of the Charlie's acted courageously and faced the other, even though they look the same.

I saw Charlie jump and holler
Someone witnessed one of the Charlie's jumping and making noise.

when Charlie dropped a dollar down his collar -
One of the Charlie's accidentally dropped a dollar down their own collar.

"You spoiled my neck! It'll never be the same again - (no blame) -
Although one of the Charlie's was upset about the dollar being dropped, they didn't want to blame the other, knowing that they are identical.

'cos your neck and my neck are the same."
Because the two Charlie's are identical, there is no point in blaming one another for accidents like a dropped dollar.

Contributed by Peyton W. Suggest a correction in the comments below.

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