Das Model
{{short description|1978 song by Kraftwerk}}
{{about|the Kraftwerk song||Model (disambiguation)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2024}}
{{Infobox song
| name = Das Model
| cover = Kraftwerk Das Model single cover.jpg
| alt =
| caption = German sleeve
| type = single
| artist = Kraftwerk
| album = The Man-Machine
| language = German, English
| B-side = {{hlist|"Neonlicht"|"The Model"}}
| released = 22 September 1978
| genre =
- Synth-pop{{cite book|first=Simon|last=Reynolds|author-link=Simon Reynolds|year=2009|title=Rip It Up and Start Again: Postpunk 1978–1984|publisher=Faber and Faber|isbn=978-0-5712-5227-5|quote=A few weeks later, another song from 1978 – Kraftwerk's 'The Model', the catchiest song on The Man-Machine – was released as a single and, as if to proclaim the Düsseldorf group's ancestral centrality for synth-pop, promptly soared to number 1}}{{cite web|first=Tom|last=Owen|title=The top 25 greatest 1980s synthpop songs ever|website=Smooth Radio|date=30 April 2024|url=https://www.smoothradio.com/features/best-electronic-synthpop-songs/|access-date=27 August 2024}}
- electropop{{cite web|url=https://www.thisisdig.com/feature/kraftwerk-music-influence-legacy/|title=Why were Kraftwerk so influential? Behind the electro pioneers' legacy|date=17 July 2021|first=Luke|last=Edwards|website=Dig!|access-date=5 January 2025}}
- art pop{{cite web|title=The 100 Best Albums of the 1970s|website=Pitchfork|date=23 June 2004|url=https://pitchfork.com/features/lists-and-guides/5932-top-100-albums-of-the-1970s/?page=1|quote=But the inhumanity is suddenly broken towards the end with the wry, pop-art commentary of "The Model"...|access-date=16 April 2023}}{{cite web|url=https://www.thisisdig.com/feature/best-kraftwerk-songs/|title=Best Kraftwerk Songs: 20 great tracks from the electro-pop godfathers|first=Luke|last=Edwards|date=17 July 2022|website=Dig!|access-date=5 January 2025}}
| length = 3:38
| label = {{hlist|Kling Klang|EMI|Capitol}}
| writer = {{hlist|Karl Bartos|Ralf Hütter|Emil Schult}}
| producer = {{hlist|Ralf Hütter|Florian Schneider}}
| prev_title = Die Roboter
| prev_year = 1978
| next_title = Neonlicht
| next_year = 1978
| misc={{Audio sample
| type = single
| file = Model_Kraftwerk.ogg
| description = Kraftwerk – The Model
}}
}}
{{Infobox song
| name = The Model
| cover = Kraftwerk The Model single cover.jpg
| alt =
| caption = UK sleeve
| type = single
| artist = Kraftwerk
| album = Computer World
| B-side = Computer Love
| released = 7 December 1981
| genre = *Synth-pop
| writer = {{hlist|Karl Bartos|Ralf Hütter|Emil Schult}}
| producer = {{hlist|Ralf Hütter|Florian Schneider}}
| prev_title = Computer Love
| prev_year = 1981
| next_title = Showroom Dummies
| next_year = 1982
}}
"Das Model" ("The Model" in English) is a song recorded by the German group Kraftwerk in 1978, written by musicians Ralf Hütter and Karl Bartos, with artist Emil Schult collaborating on the lyrics. It is featured on the album, Die Mensch-Maschine (known in international versions as The Man-Machine).
In 1981, the song was re-released to coincide with the release of the studio album Computerwelt (Computer World in English).{{cite web|title=Kraftwerk International Discography: Great Britain|url=http://www.poecker.homepage.t-online.de/01/kwdisca.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060206171821/http://www.poecker.homepage.t-online.de/01/kwdisca.htm#britain|archive-date=6 February 2006}} It reached no. 1 in the UK singles chart. Both the German and English versions of the song have been covered by other artists, including Snakefinger, Hikashu, Big Black and Robert.{{cite book|first=Pascal|last=Bussy|year=2004|title=Kraftwerk: Man, Machine and Music|page=106|publisher=SAF|isbn=9780946719709|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jyKuiI3kV_gC&pg=PA106|quote=Being their most accessible song it has been covered on a number of occasions by other artists. A notable early version being by long-time Residents' collaborator Snakefinger (Philip Lithman). Other versions include one by the Japanese band Hikashu, a rock version by Big Black on their Songs About Fucking LP and the French female singer Robert who recorded a version in German.}}
Background
The lyrics were written by Emil Schult, who was in love with a model when he wrote the song. He also composed music for the song, though it was too guitar-heavy for the musical concept of Kraftwerk and it was rewritten by Bartos and Hütter to fit the sound of the band.{{cite web|url=https://www.ox-fanzine.de/interview/40-jahre-spaeter-kraftwerk-die-mensch-maschine-lp-kling-klang-1978-6212|title=Interview}}
As with all of the songs on The Man-Machine, The Model was released in both German- and English-language versions. The lyrics are very close between two versions, with the exception of a guttural-sounding "Korrekt!" added after the line "Sie trinkt in Nachtclubs immer Sekt" in the German version. (The English lyric is "She's going out to nightclubs, drinking just champagne.") This was an in-joke by the band. In his autobiography, I Was A Robot, former Kraftwerk member Wolfgang Flür explains:
{{Blockquote
|Our favourite discothèque, the Mora, lay in the Schneider-Wibbel Gasse in the middle of Düsseldorf's old town, and there was a waiter who worked there who always greeted new guests with the words "Hallöchen! Sekt? Korrrrrrrekt!" You didn't have the chance to contradict him, because he always answered himself. He loved selling champagne to the guests, largely because it was the drink on which he earned the highest commission, and he forced it on everyone.
We'd heard him so often, and he was such a fine example of Düsseldorf chic, that we invited him into our studio when we were recording "The Model" so that he could speak his smug slogan directly into the microphone. That's why his pithy "Sekt? Korrrrrrrekt!" appears in our most famous song.{{cite book|last1=Flür|first1=Wolfgang|title=Kraftwerk: I Was a Robot|date=2017|publisher=Omnibus Press|location=London|isbn=9781783239269|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=B6fQDgAAQBAJ}}}}
Charts
| class="wikitable sortable"
!Chart (1978) !Peak |
| {{single chart|Dutch100|43|artist=Kraftwerk|song=The Model|access-date=20 July 2013}} |
| {{single chart|Billboarddanceclubplay|39|artist=Kraftwerk|access-date=15 May 2025|note=as part of The Man-Machine}} |
Certifications and sales
{{Certification Table Top}}
{{Certification Table Entry|region=United Kingdom|title=Computer Love/The Model|artist=Kraftwerk|type=single|award=Gold|relyear=1981|certyear=1982|id=1490-1009-1|access-date=7 September 2020|refname="BPI"}}
{{Certification Table Bottom|nosales=true}}
Rammstein cover
{{Infobox song
| name = Das Modell
| cover = Das modell.jpg
| alt =
| border = yes
| type = single
| artist = Rammstein
| album =
| B-side = {{flatlist|
- "Kokain"
- "Alter Mann"}}
| released = 1997
| recorded =
| studio =
| genre =
| length = 4:46
| label = Motor
| writer = {{hlist|Karl Bartos|Ralf Hütter|Emil Schult}}
| producer = {{hlist|Jacob Hellner|Rammstein}}
| prev_title = Du hast
| prev_year = 1997
| next_title = Du riechst so gut '98
| next_year = 1998
}}
German rock band Rammstein covered the German version of "Das Model" in 1997 as "Das Modell". It was released as a non-album single. "Das Modell" is introduced by a French phrase spoken by film editor Mathilde Bonnefoy. The single contains three non-album tracks taken from the Sehnsucht recording sessions. In the special version of "Alter Mann", Bobo (Christiane Hebold) sings alongside Till Lindemann in the chorus.
=Track listings=
Promo CD
{{Track listing
| title1 = Das Modell
| writer1 = Ralf Hütter, Karl Bartos, Emil Schult
| length1 = 4:46
| title2 = Kokain
| writer2 = Rammstein
| length2 = 3:09
| total_length = 7:55
}}
Enhanced CD
{{Track listing
| title1 = Das Modell
| writer1 = Hütter, Bartos, Schult
| length1 = 4:46
| title2 = Kokain
| writer2 = Rammstein
| length2 = 3:09
| title3 = Alter Mann (Special Version)
| note3 = featuring Bobo
| writer3 = Rammstein
| length3 = 4:22
| title4 = Rammstein Computerspiel für Windows
| note4 = Rammstein computer game for Windows
| writer4 = n/a
| length4 = n/a
| total_length = 12:17
}}
=Charts=
==Weekly charts==
| class="wikitable sortable"
!Chart (1997–1998) !Peak |
| {{single chart|Austria|18|artist=Rammstein|song=Das Modell|access-date=20 July 2013}} |
| {{single chart|Germany|5|artist=Rammstein|song=Das Modell|songid=7092|access-date=20 July 2013}} |
| {{single chart|Sweden|41|artist=Rammstein|song=Das Modell|access-date=20 July 2013}} |
==Year-end charts==
| class="wikitable"
!Chart (1998) !Position |
| Germany (Media Control){{cite web|title=Jahrescharts – 1998|publisher=Offiziellecharts.de. GfK Entertainment Charts|url=https://www.offiziellecharts.de/charts/single-jahr/for-date-1998|archive-date=9 May 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150509002431/https://www.offiziellecharts.de/charts/single-jahr/for-date-1998|language=de}}
|align="center"|96 |
See also
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{Discogs master|master=111812|type=single}}
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20090409070754/http://the-nepodarki.ru/goodies/view61.html "Das Modell" covers] {{in lang|ru}}
{{Kraftwerk}}
{{Rammstein}}
{{authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Model, Das}}
Category:Songs written by Emil Schult
Category:Songs written by Karl Bartos