The song Iggy Pop wrote after Josh Homme encouraged him to tap into his mythic Berlin-era
The poignant ‘German Days’, as the title suggests, sees Iggy Pop take a wistful journey back to his adventures in late 1970s Berlin, a chapter intimately intertwined with his close friend, David Bowie. Together, they embarked on a self-imposed exile in the vibrant city, seeking to break free from the clutches of their drug dependencies. It was an endeavour that ultimately proved challenging following the allure of Berlin’s magnetically hedonistic nightlife.
Within this backdrop of personal and creative exploration, however, Pop’s creative output reached remarkable heights, resulting in the iconic albums The Idiot and Lust For Life. These records not only marked a pivotal phase in his musical journey but also stand as enduring testaments to the creative synergy that flourished during their time in Berlin.
His sojourn in the city proved to have a lasting impression, as he would explore later in his life, with ‘German Days’ not materialising within his discography until its inclusion in the 2016 album Post Pop Depression. For the album, Pop enlisted the help of Queens of the Stone Age’s Josh Homme, which offered a gateway into the musician’s troves of memories that might have otherwise remained dormant.
‘German Days’ came together after Pop shared a vivid account of the creative process behind his seminal albums The Idiot and Lust For Life, and Homme acted as a catalyst, motivating him to delve even deeper into his legendary Berlin era. Then, when Pop put pen to paper, the resulting sound was an endearing composition as jarring as it was dramatic.
“When he sent me the Lust For Life breakdown,” Homme recalled to Mojo, “I was thinking about Iggy living in West Berlin, in such a dramatic moment of history, and we talked about German culture, the Cabaret drama. There’s a Bugs Bunny cartoon, it’s Bugs with Elmer Fudd and they’re doing Wagner – ‘Kill the rabbit!’ – and it’s so dramatic, but it’s funny.”
The track may seem chaotic in a certain way, but that’s what made it the perfect reflection of his time in Berlin. Homme added: “This song was the epitome of a primitive-native mix that we were talking about, and he just said, ‘This could be German Days.’ It’s got the ‘Kill the rabbit!’ drama. It’s confusingly jarring. But groovy as f–k.”
Although Pop and Bowie’s time in the city became shrouded by rock and roll temptations, it wasn’t all always like that, as Pop puts it: “I only let myself go toward the end of my time there. The city was changing, and the people, too. From one day to the next Berlin was flooded with drugs, and I did not always make the best decisions. To cut it short: I came to Berlin totally fit and left it as a wreck.”
At the same time, Pop gazes back on this time fondly, noting it as a hugely important period of his life. In this way, Pop describes Post Pop Depression is an exercise in being retrospective, saying: “I am looking back, but I am also looking ahead.” ‘German Days’ is the prime example of this sentiment, with lines that reflect on moments like: “Garish and overpriced/ Champagne on ice.”
