Seite - 48 - in JRFM - Journal Religion Film Media, Band 06/02
Bild der Seite - 48 -
Text der Seite - 48 -
48 | Reinhard Kopanski www.jrfm.eu 2020, 6/2, 41–57
not remain static, for the song’s chorus expands the chord sequence through a
tonally foreign A major chord. This unexpected chordal movement has the po-
tential to draw the audience’s attention to the song and therefore to its lyrics.
Depending on the context of the listening situation, the lyrics would not
necessarily reveal that “Alles ist möglich” contains a Christian message, es-
pecially given the inclusion of general phrases often found in popular music:
A lyrical “I” addresses a “you”, describing her/his trust in said “you”, as the
latter provides her/him with strength in difficult situations. The phrase “Ich
glaub an dich”33 (I believe in you) does have religious connotations, but given
that God is not explicitly mentioned, it may imply an interpersonal relation-
ship, not least as both the German phrase and its English equivalent are used
to give support to another person. That said, upon closer inspection certain
lines do have religious connotations, suggesting “Alles ist möglich” stems
from PCM: for example, the phrases “Dir ist alles möglich” (For you everything
is possible) and “über Mauern springen” (to jump over walls).34 The phrase
“Dir ist alles möglich” is found in the Text Bible, a translation from 1899,35
and the wording “über Mauern springen” is included in the Luther Bible.36 The
full song title “Alles ist möglich” is found in the translation by Franz Eugen
Schlachter.37 Historically, Bible translations have shaped the German language
significantly, so the rather general wording could refer to Bible passages but
could also be taken from a general German vocabulary – still, these examples
are somewhat unusual for German-speaking secular popular music. Interest-
ingly, the line “Alles ist möglich” offers an incidental transmedial reference to
the German synchronization of the feature film Almost Famous (Cameron
Crowe, US 2000), where the line is used as a salutation among “groupies”,
an often pejorative term for extremely dedicated fans who sometimes seek
sexual involvement with musicians or celebrities – altogether anything but
a Christian context. Although Koenige & Priester most likely aimed at subtly
referencing the Bible and had no intention of making any allusion to a pro-
miscuous premarital life, this possible transmedial reference opens a poten-
tial polysemy. However, this fluidity of meaning exists only when the song
33 “Alles ist möglich” (Heldenreise, Koenige & Priester, DE 2017, dieKoalition Label), liner
notes.
34 “Alles ist möglich” (Heldenreise, Koenige & Priester, DE 2017, dieKoalition Label), liner
notes.
35 Mark 14:36, Text Bible, 1899.
36 Ps. 18:30, Luther Bible, 1984.
37 Mark 9:23, Schlachter Bible.
JRFM
Journal Religion Film Media, Band 06/02
- Titel
- JRFM
- Untertitel
- Journal Religion Film Media
- Band
- 06/02
- Autoren
- Christian Wessely
- Daria Pezzoli-Olgiati
- Herausgeber
- Uni-Graz
- Verlag
- SchĂĽren Verlag GmbH
- Ort
- Graz
- Datum
- 2020
- Sprache
- englisch
- Lizenz
- CC BY-NC 4.0
- Abmessungen
- 14.8 x 21.0 cm
- Seiten
- 128
- Kategorien
- Zeitschriften JRFM