Das Model

"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).

This article is about the Kraftwerk song. For other uses, see Model (disambiguation).

"Das Model"
German sleeve
Single by Kraftwerk
from the album The Man-Machine
LanguageGerman, English
B-side
Released22 September 1978
Genre
Length3:38
Label
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
Kraftwerk singles chronology
"Die Roboter"
(1978)		 "Das Model"
(1978)		 "Neonlicht"
(1978)
Audio sample
Kraftwerk - The Model
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"The Model"
UK sleeve
Single by Kraftwerk
from the album Computer World
B-side"Computer Love"
Released1981
GenreSynth-pop[1]
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
Kraftwerk singles chronology
"Computer Love"
(1981)		 "The Model"
(1981)		 "Showroom Dummies"
(1982)

In 1981 the song was re-released to coincide with the release of the studio album Computerwelt (Computer World in English).[3] It reached no. 1 in 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.[4]

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.[5]

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:

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.[6]

Charts
Chart (1978) Peak
position
Netherlands (Single Top 100)[7] 43
US Dance Club Songs 39
Chart (1982) Peak
position
Australia (Kent Music Report)[8] 33
Finland (Suomen virallinen lista)[9] 20
Ireland (IRMA)[10] 4
Netherlands (Single Top 100)[7] 41
UK Singles (OCC)[11] 1
West Germany (Official German Charts)[12] 7

Certifications and sales
Region CertificationCertified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI)[13] Gold 500,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

Rammstein cover
"Das Modell"
Single by Rammstein
B-side
  • "Kokain"
  • "Alter Mann"
Released1997
Length4:46
LabelMotor
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
Rammstein singles chronology
"Du hast"
(1997)		 "Das Modell"
(1997)		 "Du riechst so gut '98"
(1998)

German Neue Deutsche Härte and industrial metal 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

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Das Modell"Ralf Hütter, Karl Bartos, Emil Schult4:46
2."Kokain"Rammstein3:09
Total length:7:55

Enhanced CD

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Das Modell"Hütter, Bartos, Schult4:46
2."Kokain"Rammstein3:09
3."Alter Mann (Special Version)" (featuring Bobo)Rammstein4:22
4."Rammstein Computerspiel für Windows" (Rammstein computer game for Windows)n/an/a
Total length:12:17

Weekly charts
Chart (1997–1998) Peak
position
Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[14] 18
Germany (Official German Charts)[15] 5
Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)[16] 41

Year-end charts
Chart (1998) Position
Germany (GfK Entertainment)[17] 96

See also

References
  1. Reynolds, Simon (2009). Rip It Up and Start Again: Postpunk 1978–1984. Faber and Faber. ISBN 978-0-5712-5227-5. 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 synthpop, promptly soared to number 1
  2. Pitchfork Staff (23 June 2004). "The 100 Best Albums of the 1970s". Pitchfork. Retrieved 16 April 2023. But the inhumanity is suddenly broken towards the end with the wry, pop-art commentary of "The Model"...
  3. "Kraftwerk International Discography: Great Britain". Archived from the original on 6 February 2006.
  4. Bussy, Pascal (2004). Kraftwerk: Man, Machine and Music. SAF. p. 106. ISBN 9780946719709. 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.
  5. "Interview".
  6. Flür, Wolfgang (2017). Kraftwerk: I Was a Robot. London: Omnibus Press. ISBN 9781783239269.
  7. "Kraftwerk – The Model" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved 20 July 2013.
  8. Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 170. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  9. Pennanen, Timo (2021). "Kraftwerk". Sisältää hitin - 2. laitos Levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla 1.1.1960–30.6.2021 (PDF) (in Finnish). Helsinki: Kustannusosakeyhtiö Otava. p. 136. Retrieved 29 June 2022.
  10. "The Irish Charts – Search Results – The Model". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved 20 July 2013.
  11. "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 22 July 2013.
  12. "Offiziellecharts.de – Kraftwerk – Das Model" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts. Retrieved 20 July 2013.
  13. "British single certifications – Kraftwerk – Computer Love/The Model". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 7 September 2020.
  14. "Rammstein – Das Modell" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40. Retrieved 20 July 2013.
  15. "Rammstein – Das Modell" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts. Retrieved 20 July 2013.
  16. "Rammstein – Das Modell". Singles Top 100. Retrieved 20 July 2013.
  17. "Jahrescharts – 1998" (in German). Offiziellecharts.de. GfK Entertainment Charts. Archived from the original on 9 May 2015.
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