Track: Halb Eins – Commentary

Halb Eins, the German term for the clock time half past twelve.

Both stylistically and lyrically (as one of the few songs I wrote in my mother tongue), Halb Eins is a song that I think stands out in my discography. The lyrics are dead serious, but the idea behind them came just from a bad joke. I was visiting my parents and we wanted to go on a trip. My stepfather just had to put on his shoes, but my mother was impatient. She said: “Hurry up, it’s already five to 12 (metaphorically speaking)”. My stepfather replied “It’s already half past twelve”.

Neither then nor now did I quite get the point of this remark, but I think that’s because there wasn’t one. However, this sentence and this answer reminded me of us humans and how we treat the world we live in. Scientists have been warning us about anthropogenic climate change for decades. The first time was in the 60s. The general public has been warned since the 70s. And yet we are doing next to nothing to prevent the literal elimination of our own and almost all known species. For more than half a century, we have been urgently told: it’s five to twelve! We have to do something! But since the latest reports that we can only partially achieve our climate targets anyway and that some of the effects of anthropogenic climate change are already irreversible, we can justifiably say: we are already at half past twelve. When will we finally do something?

Translated lyrics (from German to English):

Economy, politics & consumer behavior have already been warned

All in the same boat, but apparently it’s hard

To call a spade a spade, but isn’t it funny?

Discussions about this have been going on since 1970

Born into a world that doesn’t give a fuck

Racking for the economy, we’re not worth it ourselves

Instead of acting, we just discuss, too much for me

Instead of acting, we push back and forth, who’s to blame

Scaremongering from the monkeys, fake news, they say

The impact in front of our eyes

No fairy tale

But they don’t want to hear it, they always want more

There’s nothing wrong with maximizing your own prosperity

Some people warn it’s five to twelve and scream

I say it’s not twelve anymore, it’s already half past twelve

Endless growth, rising prices, all for profit,

which really won’t do anyone any good when we no longer exist,

Fuck!

Well, it‘s easy, says the free man, we have innovation

Yeah, then sit down at your table, where is the solution already?

We have data, after that we know it’s all too late

Let’s add another 10 years, I think that’s possible

They say even the blind hens find a grain of corn sometimes

They‘ve got time, we don’t, we are completely lost

If we prioritize money over facts

If we really think that the free market can sort it out