At a late party I came across a particular German cover of a French song I really love and it made me die a little inside. It did.
The French Original (1959) is called Milord. It is about a woman talking to Milord, in a bar, he has a broken heart and she is trying to make him smile. She also has feelings for him that can not become anything as they do not belong to the same social class. It is a beautiful song and ANY French man or woman knows this song.
The German Version (2008) is called the "Rote Pferd" (the red horse). You can see on the videos it is not really the same atmosphere....least you can say. And don't start me on what the German text says...It is basically about a fly bothering a red horse, and the red horse try to get rid of the fly...
So basically when I heard the German version for the first time, and that all the people at the party started doing the dance (as i said it was late, and booze had been generously provided to everybody), I seriously wanted to cry and / or fly home. By home I meant France, Civilization, no-red-horse-song-land.
The really weird thing was that I felt personally insulted and for a quick moment there, I hated the Germans. I really did.
So now my friends have a very strong VERBOT to ever play or sing this song while I am here. :D
The real point is that I am always surprising myself on how very small things can set me up in what I call "Culture Shock mood". It is actually just a song, but it brought me on a whole other level of feeling cultural aggression.
I love Germany, I really do, but I guess that every once in a while I need to hate it a little not to lose myself.
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