Recently, the circle of friends was swiped by the background music " Aloha Heja He " used in the short video by Douyin topic character "Classmate Zhang". As the song became popular, Chinese and dialect versions also appeared one after another.
How was this song created, and what kind of origin and influence does it have? What kind of cultural phenomenon is the Divine Comedy phenomenon? Out of curiosity, I interviewed the composer of the music, the German musician Achim Reichel. Achim wrote the song in 1991, and at the age of 78, he is still on tour and is a legendary German musician. In the interview, he said that he never dreamed that "Aloha Heja He" would become an Internet hit in China in 30 years.
Achim Rachel. Photo / provided by the interviewee
Achim Rattler was born in Hamburg, Germany in 1944. He formed The Rattles at the age of 18. In 1963, the Rattles and the Beatles ( The Beatles ) released their first album. In 1965 the rattles were The Rolling Stones (The Rolling Stones), "The King of rock" Little Richard ( Little Richard ) and the Everly Brothers UK tour The opening guest band. In 1966, they became the opening band of the Beatles' German tour. During this period, Rattler was one of the most popular beat groups in Germany.
Rachael comes from a sailing family and was inspired to write "Aloha Heja He", a song about the life of a sailor, the title means "Hello", about a sailor going from Singapore to Sea life in Zanzibar .In fact, he completed the melody of this song as early as 1972, and the whole melody is closer to the style of Beatles . It wasn't until the early 1990s that he stumbled across a melody he had written many years ago, and he immediately wrote the lyrics. The song mainly expresses the idea that the world is getting smaller and smaller under globalization.
As for why this song became popular in China, in my opinion, it is mainly due to the great changes in the media, especially from the short video platforms in China. For example, in the algorithm applied by Douyin , the popularity of a song depends on the audience's interest, and the audience's "familiarity" with the singer does not play a decisive role. This will break the conventional understanding, and short videos have led to the production of a large number of Divine Comedies. This communication selection effect has both the characteristics of pluralism and certain populist fanaticism.
It is worth mentioning that the popular song "Aloha Heja He" by "Classmate Zhang" is Achim Rachel's version at the concert, especially the part where the crowd sings, which makes people feel like they are singing will be on site. This form of chorus is called "sea shack" in Germany. A sea shack is a collective folk song historically sung by fishermen, whalers, merchant sailors and other seafaring peoples on ships. Perhaps it is this unity of chorus songs, and the melancholy of minor , that instantly attracts the masses in this era when short video traffic is king. The common feature of
short video online divine songs is that the melody is simple and catchy, and most of them are electronic dance music , which can stimulate the "dopamine effect", so it is widely circulated and suitable for mass communication, so it continues to appear in major music charts. single. At present, Chinese people are in a stage of crossover of various emotions. Many people love melancholy and sad songs. When they hear melancholy minor songs, they often touch the weak strings in their hearts. The whole song of "Aloha Heja He" has a simple melody, "Aloha Heja He" appears repeatedly, and the song has a strong sense of rhythm. With the huge traffic blessing of the current short video, like many divine comedies, it quickly became popular.
The phenomenon of Divine Comedy and its production and reception mechanism is a challenge to the guiding mechanism and original mechanism of radio DJs. Among them, the former has more deconstruction power of Pop culture than the latter,It also emphasizes sensibility and rejects the one-way manipulation of mainstream capitalist culture. Dissemination and reception themselves become reproductive "creations", as evidenced by the multilingual carnivals of various enhanced versions.
After 30 years, your song "Aloha Heja He" became popular in China, how do you feel?
Rachel : For me, it's kind of a miracle, because the success of the song wasn't the result of a commercial operation. I'm very proud of this song being able to present the musical energy it has.
What kind of meaning do you want to convey through the song "Aloha Heja He"?
Rachel : I wrote this song to bring people together without language barriers. When we all sing and celebrate together, we gain the power to connect with each other through our singing.
How did your music career start? Who influenced your music?
Rachel : My music career started in the early 1960s when I was 18 years old. The first band I formed was called "The Rattles" and we were touring with the Beatles and the Rolling Stones and thought Beat-Musik had to be sung in English.
We found out that you sang entirely in English in the early days, and later switched to German . Why is there such a shift?
Rachel : As age increases,(I realized) it's not enough as a singer to imitate international artists, singing in English seems to me like a fake.
Chinese people often listen to songs from English-speaking countries, such as Bob Dylan , The Beatles, etc., but we know very little about German music, except for German chariot, Scorpions and some German industrial heavy metal bands, Others are rarely heard. I found that Germany also has a lot of good music, why is it not well known in the world?
Rachel : This is a very interesting question. There is often something wrong with the mentality of German musicians, most of whose ancestors were involved in " WWII " and the Holocaust, which we are still ashamed of in mainstream German culture, even after more than 70 years. Throughout history, this has not been a good foundation (for music creation). Equally important, just after our dark times, in the 1950s, the first wave of global youth culture began, with rock music (like Elvis), followed by beat music (e.g., Elvis) in the 1960s. The Beatles, for example), this all happens in English-speaking countries. Today, there are also many German artists who place great emphasis on their native language, such as German tank , but for most musicians looking to gain attention on the world stage, it often seems necessary to use English lyrics (eg The Scorpions). The success of my song "Aloha Heja He" in China is somewhere in between, luckily it has both German lyrics and an international complex that touches people emotionally and has transcendent meaning.
What do you think is the difference between American pop and German pop?
Rachel : American pop music is the product of a fairly young multicultural,It has been influenced by immigrants from Europe, Africa, South America, and all other countries from all over the world, and is a composite product.
Has German pop music changed compared to 20 years ago? Now, what kind of music do young Germans like?
Rachel : When you listen to German radio, you will find more songs in English than in German, and of course this is a result of globalization. I realized 20 years ago that there is still a lot of work to be done in inheriting and developing German pop culture.
In 1975, your style changed a lot, from "progressive" to "folk rocker". You make this claim: folk music has to be alive, and that can only be done by putting it in the background of the era. What do you mean by this sentence?
Rachel : For me, old German folk songs are very important to perfecting our native culture, so I think they should be transformed into a more accessible modern style of music.
Do you have any favorite German musicians and songs to recommend to Chinese music fans?
Rachel : In the 1970s, with bands such as Kraftwerk , Tangerine Dream and La Düsseldorf, an interesting wave of German music emerged, known as German rock ( Kraut-Rock), and I am part of this wave. I worked on a project called "A.R. and the Machine" and my first album was called "The Green Tour",Its birth was based on "Technology" music, which had a major influence on the computer synthesis-based music produced by Depeche Mode, Brian Eno, and later DJs.
Have you heard some Chinese music? If you have the opportunity in the future, are you willing to perform in China?
Rachel : In my opinion, Chinese pop music today is very close to international pop music. Chinese traditional music , which sounds special to Europeans because it is based on the pentatonic scale. In 1986 I toured South East Asia and to my great surprise people loved it even though all my songs were sung in German. Music touches people more than words. Now I am 78 years old and have never been to China. If Chinese friends want to invite me, please let me know.
What does music mean to you?
Rachel : Today I am sure that music is what I was born for, and I am grateful.
(ly source: China News Weekly )
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