German Days

Album: Post Pop Depression (2016)
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Songfacts®:

  • This nostalgic song finds Iggy Pop looking back to his time in late 1970s Berlin with his pal David Bowie. The pair had exiled themselves in the German city to wean themselves off their drug habits, a move which proved unsuccessful as they could not resist the hedonistic nightlife that Berlin had to offer. Iggy Pop's The Idiot and Lust For Life albums were recorded during this period.
  • Producer Josh Homme encouraged Iggy Pop to tap into his mythic Berlin era after the ex Stooges frontman sent him a technically specific description of how The Idiot and Lust For Life were made.

    Homme told Mojo: "When he sent me the Lust For Life breakdown, I was thinking about Iggy living in West Berlin, in such a dramatic moment of history, and we talked about German culture, the Cabaret drama. There's a Bugs Bunny cartoon, it's Bugs with Elmer Fudd and they're doing Wagner – "Kill the rabbit!" – and it's so dramatic, but it's funny.

    This song was the epitome of a primitive-native mix that we were talking about, and he just said, 'This could be German Days.' It's got the 'Kill the rabbit!' drama. It's confusingly jarring. But groovy as f--k."

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