… here’s the promised news to coming Monday’s next Korona song:
On the 9th of September, migrants locked up in the Moria refugee location on the Greek island Lesbos set the camp on fire in protest against their unclear fate and the outrageous living circumstances there. German foreign minister Heiko Maas described the blaze as a humanitarian desaster. There is nothing more to add. And then… nothing happened. Instead the usual argy-bargy started about how many refugees should be distributed between the European nations. Most of them were completely reluctant to receive any of them. We are talking here about 13 thousand people to be spread over a community of 446 millions. We are talking here about a community of peoples whose mutual anthem, the famous ending of Beethoven’s 9th symphony, the “Ode To Joy”, contains the following lines:

„Joy, bright spark of divinity, daughter of Elysyseum (…) – Thy magic power re-unites – All that custom has divided – All men become brothers – Under the sway of thy gentle wings.“

In anger I sat down and re-wrote the lyrics:

Joy, thou beauteous godly lightning, dying children at thy coasts
Flow’rs of death bloom in our gardens, camps in flames and wailing ghosts
Celebrate on funeral pyres, watch the border-guards deploy
Sing, my glorious folks of Europe, raise your voice with odes of joy

Suffer on, migrating millions! Suffer for a better life!
We will please you with deceptions taken from our box of lies
Oaths, which sworn to, to no purpose, trophys filled with devious spawn
Sing, my gutless folks of Europe, raise your voice and sing your song…

My original plan was to sing these words acompanied by Beethoven’s music as an expression of my disgust. But when I did, it felt totally wrong, as if I was blaming Beethoven and his magnificent work for the dishonesty and bigotry around. It was then when I watched the MOST-SHOCKING-SECOND-A-DAY-video, produced and distributed by the Save the Children US welfare group for the first time. That resulted in a song that Alphaville have written together with our longtime musical companion Telonio, who already contributed to Strange Attractor. With this song it is our only and deepest concern to support, and motivate others to support charity organisations, who work hard for the sake of all the forsaken children lost in this catastrophy of war and outrage that is currently taking place. The song for next Monday will be called MAKEBELIEVE.

I have never asked you for anything but this time I will. I count on you…
Marian Gold