Lyrics by Franz Josef Degenhardt
Do you love Franz Josef Degenhardt's songs? Here you'll find the lyrics to Franz Josef Degenhardt's songs so you can sing them at the top of your lungs, make your own versions, or simply understand them properly.
We have compiled all the lyrics of Franz Josef Degenhardt's songs we could find so that those who, like you, are looking for songs by Franz Josef Degenhardt, find them all in one place.
Find here the lyrics to your favorite songs by Franz Josef Degenhardt.
Do you see the song you like in this list of Franz Josef Degenhardt's songs?
Franz Josef Degenhardt (3 December 1931 – 14 November 2011) was a German poet, satirist, novelist, and – first and foremost – a folksinger/songwriter (Liedermacher) with decidedly left-wing politics. He was also a lawyer, bearing the academic degree of Doctor of Law. Degenhardt was born in Schwelm, Westphalia. After studying law from 1952 to 1956 in Cologne and Freiburg, he passed the first German state bar examination in 1956 and the second in 1960. In 1961, he worked for the Europa-Institut of the University at Saarbrücken, where he obtained his doctorate in 1966. Degenhardt joined the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) in 1961, but was forced out in 1971 because of his support for the German Communist Party (DKP), which he joined in 1978. From the early 1960s onward, in addition to practicing law, Degenhardt was also performing and releasing recordings. He is perhaps most famous for his song (and the album of the same name) "Spiel nicht mit den Schmuddelkindern" ("Don't Play With the Grubby Children," 1965), but has released close to 50 albums, starting with Zwischen Null Uhr und Mitternacht ("Between 00:00 and Midnight," 1963), renamed Rumpelstilzchen (original title: Zwischen Null Uhr Null und Mitternacht); his most recent albums Krieg gegen den Krieg ("War against the War") and Dämmerung ("twilight") came out in 2003 and 2006. In 1968, Degenhardt was involved in trials of members of the German student movement, principally defending social democrats and communists. At the same time, he was – in his capacity as a singer-songwriter – one of the major voices of the 1968 student movement. In 1972 he translated the song "Here's to You" under the title Sacco und Vanzetti with five new verses. On his 1977 album Wildledermantelmann he criticized many of his former comrades from that era for what he saw as their betrayal of socialist ideals and shift towards a social-liberal orientation. The album's title (roughly, "man with velour coat") mocks the style of clothing they had supposedly adopted. Notably, the songs on Degenhardt's 1986 album Junge Paare auf Bänken ("Young Couples on the Benches"), along with the song Vorsicht Gorilla! ("Beware of Gorilla") on the 1985 album of the same name, are his translations into German of chansons by the French singer-songwriter Georges Brassens, spiritually perhaps one of his closest musical allies. Degenhardt has also written several novels, most in a rather autobiographical vein, among others: Zündschnüre ("Slow Matches", 1972), Brandstellen ("Scenes of Fires", 1974), Der Liedermacher (1982) and Für ewig und drei Tage ("For Ever and Three Days", 1999). He was a cousin of the Catholic Archbishop of Paderborn, Johannes Joachim Degenhardt, who died in 2002. He was also the brother-in-law of the American-born illustrator Gertrude Degenhardt, who has designed many of his album covers for him. Degenhardt lived, until his death in 2011, in Quickborn, Kreis Pinneberg, in Schleswig-Holstein.
You might not be a big fan of Franz Josef Degenhardt, maybe you're here for just one song by Franz Josef Degenhardt that you like, but take a look at the rest, they might surprise you.
We recommend that you check out all the lyrics of Franz Josef Degenhardt's songs, you might fall in love with some you didn't know yet.
The lyrics of Franz Josef Degenhardt's songs often follow certain patterns that you can discover if you pay close attention. Are you up for finding out what they are?
To discover the patterns in Franz Josef Degenhardt's songs, you just have to read their lyrics carefully, paying attention not just to what they say, but how they are constructed.
Sometimes Franz Josef Degenhardt's songs help us express what we think or feel. Is that the case for you?
