City is a German rock band, formed in East Berlin in 1972, best known for the song "Am Fenster" (At The Window or by the window)[1] from its 1978 debut album.
The band was founded as the City Band Berlin by Fritz Puppel (guitar), Klaus Selmke (drums), Ingo Doering (bass guitar), Klaus Witte (keyboards), Frank Pfeiffer (vocals) and Andreas Pieper (flute). The lineup changed frequently in the band's early years, but stabilized by 1976, with Puppel and Selmke joined by Bulgarian violinist and bassist Georgi Gogow and vocalist-guitarist Toni Krahl. They changed their name to City Rock Band and eventually to simply City.
City toured extensively in East Germany, and was given the opportunity to record an album in 1978. The eponymous City showcased the band's guitar-driven rock; several songs are parables, such as "Der King vom Prenzlauer Berg" (The King Of Prenzlauer Berg), about a young man who gets into too many fights; and "Meister aller Klassen" (Masters Of All Classes"), about cocky motorcyclists whose desire for speed ends in tragedy.
The band's greatest commercial success, however, was the atypical folk rock-influenced "Am Fenster" (At the Window), which arose from a jam session in the studio when Gogow began to play on his violin. It eventually coalesced into a three-part, 17-minute piece (as well as a four-minute version for radio play). An immediate hit in East Germany, it also became successful in West Germany and was an enormous success in countries such as Greece. Following the song's success, City sold half a million copies.
City-Am Fenster Lyrics
German Lyrics
Einmal wissen, dieses bleibt für immer.
Ist nicht Rausch, der schon die Nacht verklagt.
Ist nicht Farbenschmelz, noch Kerzenschimmer
von dem Grau des Morgens längst verjagt.
Einmal fassen, tief im Blute fühlen,
dies ist mein und es ist nur durch dich.
Nicht die Stirne mehr am Fenster kühlen,
dran ein Nebel schwer vorüber strich.
Einmal fassen, tief im Blute fühlen,
dies ist mein und es ist nur durch dich.
Klagt ein Vogel: ach, auch mein Gefieder
näßt der Regen, flieg ich durch die Welt.
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==English translation==
To know once that this will last forever,
(and) is not rush that already sued the night,
is not color bloom nor candle flicker,
by the grey of morning long chased off.
To capture once, to feel deep in the bloodstream,
This is mine and it's only through you.
No more cooling my forehead on the windowpane,
heavy did a fog-cloud pass it by.
To capture once, to feel deep in the bloodstream,
This is mine and it's only through you;
Laments a bird, but, oh, my plumage too,
Wets the rain; I fly through the world.
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