IS IT “U” OR IS IT “S” OR DO I TAKE THE TRAM?
Being a nomadic kind of person, there are many places in Europe where I feel at home. Berlin is one of them. It’s the first place that we landed in Europe when we left the U.K in 1992 and the birthplace of my son a year later.
It was on a cold night around a blazing pallet fire on a Berlin Wagenplatz that the lyrics for this song were first imagined. I presented them to Sim Simmer and together we brainstormed, added a chorus, a few comedy moments and she fine tuned her German Accent.
As I searched for the sounds to accompany them she told me “I’m thinking Kraftwerk with a sense of Humour” Unsure if I was up to the challenge of sounding like Kraftwerk I set to work and “Take the Tram” was born ……
Inspiration for the artwork comes from the Iconic tiling of the Berlin U-Bahn, in this case as you can see in the photos, Hermannplatz Station and was recreated perfectly by Audiotrix resident Graphiste Feenix 13 – Photos by Minnie Lee G.
Lyrics
Searching for a suitable B-Side for the vinyl I decided to do a more Banging Bassline mix of the breakbeat track “Wotcha Braincells” that is featured on my Last Album. I had been using snippets of the vocal in my livesets for a while and the distinctive voice of MC Scallywag cuts through every time loud and clear.
Take the tram – Lyrics
I live in Prenzlauerberg and he lives in Neuköln
we talk very often on the telephone
and every so often when ever we can
we visit each other taking the S-Bahn
Sometimes we take the tram to Ostkreuz
It’s full of fucking tourists
and there are lots of bikes
Sometimes it’s sunny and often it’s not
but when it is we meet at Gorlitzer for beer o clock
Actually I’m Lying, Ich bin Engländerin
I stole this idea from a girl in Berlin
and for this very reason I don’t know where I am
Is it U or is it S or do I take the tram ?
Sometimes I’m lying, sometimes I’m not
often we meet at Gorlitzer for beer o clock
Sometimes lying, sometimes not
often Beer, at beer o clock……