Danke Schoen
Encyclopedia
"Danke Schoen" is a 1962 song first recorded by Bert Kaempfert
; however, it gained its fame in 1963 when American
singer Wayne Newton
recorded his version of it. The music was composed by Bert Kaempfert, with the lyrics written by Kurt Schwaback and Milt Gabler
.
's first version was released when he was 21 years old. The song was originally intended for singer Bobby Darin
as a follow-up to his hit single Mack the Knife
, but after seeing Newton perform at the Copacabana
, he decided to give the song to Newton and changed the tempo of the recording to fit Newton's voice. Newton's high tenor is sometimes mistaken for that of a female singer by those unfamiliar with the song. It has been featured in many television commercials and motion pictures, such as Ferris Bueller's Day Off
, Meet the Parents
, Matchstick Men
, Vegas Vacation
, and Fools Rush In. The Newton version peaked at Billboard positions #13 pop, #3 easy listening.
sang a purely Finnish
version. The tone and the words "Auf Wiedersehen" at the end suggest a similar sentiment of this version.
Connie Francis
recorded the song in French, Japanese, Spanish and Italian, keeping the original title line "Danke schoen" in all versions except the Italian recording, which was released as Grazie a te.
Brenda Lee
recorded "Danke Schoen" for her 1964 album By Request, produced by Owen Bradley
.
Both Anita Lindblom and Caterina Valente
recorded the song in German.
In 2004, Deluxe
(a Spanish indie-rock artist) recorded a rock version for his album If things were to go wrong.
, "Danke schön" is equivalent to the English
"thank you very much." It is similar to the English "thank you kindly." The polite response is "bitte schön", essentially a request (bitte, intensified by schön) that the recipient take or keep the item or favor offered; in this respect it is roughly equivalent to "you are very welcome [to the item or favor offered]", in that both replies represent ratification
of the recipient's accepting the item or favor.
The word schön (pretty) is pronounced throughout in the song as it is in Yiddish, ˈʃɛjn, approximately rhyming with "pain," rather than as German schön ˈʃøːn (sh-URN). Note that the German letter "ö
" can also be written using the older typography "oe", of which the umlauted
O is a typesetting contraction, when umlauts are unavailable or not readily accessible.
Bert Kaempfert
Bert Kaempfert was a German orchestra leader and songwriter. He made easy listening and jazz-oriented records, and wrote the music for a number of well-known songs, such as "Strangers in the Night" and "Spanish Eyes".-Biography:He was born in Hamburg, Germany - where he received his lifelong...
; however, it gained its fame in 1963 when American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
singer Wayne Newton
Wayne Newton
Wayne Newton is an American singer and entertainer based in Las Vegas, Nevada. He performed over 30,000 solo shows in Las Vegas over a period of over 40 years, earning him the nicknames The Midnight Idol, Mr. Las Vegas and Mr. Entertainment...
recorded his version of it. The music was composed by Bert Kaempfert, with the lyrics written by Kurt Schwaback and Milt Gabler
Milt Gabler
Milton Gabler was an American record producer, responsible for many innovations in the recording industry of the 20th century.-Early life:...
.
Newton's version
Wayne NewtonWayne Newton
Wayne Newton is an American singer and entertainer based in Las Vegas, Nevada. He performed over 30,000 solo shows in Las Vegas over a period of over 40 years, earning him the nicknames The Midnight Idol, Mr. Las Vegas and Mr. Entertainment...
's first version was released when he was 21 years old. The song was originally intended for singer Bobby Darin
Bobby Darin
Bobby Darin , born Walden Robert Cassotto, was an American singer, actor and musician.Darin performed in a range of music genres, including pop, rock, jazz, folk and country...
as a follow-up to his hit single Mack the Knife
Mack the Knife
"Mack the Knife" or "The Ballad of Mack the Knife", originally "Die Moritat von Mackie Messer", is a song composed by Kurt Weill with lyrics by Bertolt Brecht for their music drama Die Dreigroschenoper, or, as it is known in English, The Threepenny Opera. It premiered in Berlin in 1928 at the...
, but after seeing Newton perform at the Copacabana
Copacabana (nightclub)
The Copacabana is a famous New York City nightclub. Many entertainers, among them Danny Thomas, Pat Cooper and the comedy team of Martin and Lewis, made their debuts at the Copacabana. The 1978 Barry Manilow song "Copacabana" is named after, and is about the nightclub. Part of the 2003 Yerba...
, he decided to give the song to Newton and changed the tempo of the recording to fit Newton's voice. Newton's high tenor is sometimes mistaken for that of a female singer by those unfamiliar with the song. It has been featured in many television commercials and motion pictures, such as Ferris Bueller's Day Off
Ferris Bueller's Day Off
Ferris Bueller's Day Off is a 1986 American teen coming-of-age comedy film written and directed by John Hughes.The film follows high school senior Ferris Bueller , who decides to skip school and spend the day in downtown Chicago...
, Meet the Parents
Meet the Parents
Meet the Parents is a 2000 American comedy film written by Jim Herzfeld and John Hamburg and directed by Jay Roach. Starring Robert De Niro and Ben Stiller, the film chronicles a series of unfortunate events that befall a good-hearted but hapless male nurse while visiting his girlfriend's parents...
, Matchstick Men
Matchstick Men (film)
Matchstick Men is a 2003 American drama film directed by Ridley Scott. Based on Eric Garcia's novel Matchstick Men: A Novel about Grifters with Issues , the motion picture stars Nicolas Cage, Sam Rockwell, and Alison Lohman.-Plot:...
, Vegas Vacation
Vegas Vacation
Vegas Vacation is a 1997 comedy film. It is the fourth film in the original Vacation film series centering around the fictitious Griswold family, following Vacation, European Vacation, and Christmas Vacation. Chevy Chase reprises his starring role as Clark W. Griswold, the patriarch of the family...
, and Fools Rush In. The Newton version peaked at Billboard positions #13 pop, #3 easy listening.
Other versions
In the same year as Newton, Laila KinnunenLaila Kinnunen
Laura "Laila" Annikki Kinnunen was a Finnish singer. She was one of the most popular Finnish singers of the 1950s and 60s, and represented Finland at the 1961 Eurovision Song Contest, the first time Finland participated in the contest.She spent her childhood in Sweden as a refugee from the Second...
sang a purely Finnish
Finnish language
Finnish is the language spoken by the majority of the population in Finland Primarily for use by restaurant menus and by ethnic Finns outside Finland. It is one of the two official languages of Finland and an official minority language in Sweden. In Sweden, both standard Finnish and Meänkieli, a...
version. The tone and the words "Auf Wiedersehen" at the end suggest a similar sentiment of this version.
Connie Francis
Connie Francis
Connie Francis is an American pop singer of Italian heritage and the top-charting female vocalist of the 1950s and 1960s. Although her chart success waned in the second half of the 1960s, Francis remained a top concert draw...
recorded the song in French, Japanese, Spanish and Italian, keeping the original title line "Danke schoen" in all versions except the Italian recording, which was released as Grazie a te.
Brenda Lee
Brenda Lee
Brenda Mae Tarpley , known as Brenda Lee, is an American performer who sang rockabilly, pop and country music, and had 37 US chart hits during the 1960s, a number surpassed only by Elvis Presley, The Beatles, Ray Charles and Connie Francis...
recorded "Danke Schoen" for her 1964 album By Request, produced by Owen Bradley
Owen Bradley
Owen Bradley was an American record producer who, along with Chet Atkins and Bob Ferguson, was one of the chief architects of the 1950s and 1960s Nashville sound in country music and rockabilly.-Before the fame:...
.
Both Anita Lindblom and Caterina Valente
Caterina Valente
Caterina Valente is a singer, dancer, and actress. She was born into an Italian artist family; her father Giuseppe was a well-known accordion player, her mother, Maria Valente, a musical clown...
recorded the song in German.
In 2004, Deluxe
Deluxe (musician)
Deluxe is a Spanish alternative rock musician from A Coruña, Galicia .-Tours and appearances:* In Spain, at Festimad, Festival Internacional de Benicàssim , Sonorama, Contempopranea, Espárrago Rock, Festival do Norte....
(a Spanish indie-rock artist) recorded a rock version for his album If things were to go wrong.
Linguistic details
In GermanGerman language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
, "Danke schön" is equivalent to the English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
"thank you very much." It is similar to the English "thank you kindly." The polite response is "bitte schön", essentially a request (bitte, intensified by schön) that the recipient take or keep the item or favor offered; in this respect it is roughly equivalent to "you are very welcome [to the item or favor offered]", in that both replies represent ratification
Ratification
Ratification is a principal's approval of an act of its agent where the agent lacked authority to legally bind the principal. The term applies to private contract law, international treaties, and constitutionals in federations such as the United States and Canada.- Private law :In contract law, the...
of the recipient's accepting the item or favor.
The word schön (pretty) is pronounced throughout in the song as it is in Yiddish, ˈʃɛjn, approximately rhyming with "pain," rather than as German schön ˈʃøːn (sh-URN). Note that the German letter "ö
Ö
"Ö", or "ö", is a character used in several extended Latin alphabets, or the letter O with umlaut to denote the front vowels or . In languages without umlaut, the character is also used as a "O with diaeresis" to denote a syllable break, wherein its pronunciation remains an unmodified .- O-Umlaut...
" can also be written using the older typography "oe", of which the umlauted
Umlaut (diacritic)
The diaeresis and the umlaut are diacritics that consist of two dots placed over a letter, most commonly a vowel. When that letter is an i or a j, the diacritic replaces the tittle: ï....
O is a typesetting contraction, when umlauts are unavailable or not readily accessible.