Der Kommissar

Jay Dreyer

3 minute read

Song:Der Kommissar
Artist:Falco
Release Date:1981

How did this happen?

Whoa boy. I don’t know. I have to blame Sirius XM’s First Wave radio for this. They play this song, I hear it, and it’s stuck in my head for days. Mostly just “Cha! Cha! Cha! Cha! (guitar riff), Cha! Cha! Cha! Cha!” over and over. It’s been rattling around since Saturday. Hopefully this is the cure. I can tolerate this song about once every couple of months. I heard it enough when it came out in the 80s.

Go ahead. Let’s hear it.

Original Falco version in German:

And because this gets confusing, here’s the version by “After the Fire”:

So about the song…

Before I begin, let’s just all take in that Falco video for a moment. The running/dance thing in front of the green screen of cop cars. The sunglasses. The hair. And that’s it. That’s the whole video. The “After the Fire” video is a solid piece of 80s video history, too. They broke out some hi-tech editing for that one like reversing her putting on lipstick, or putting on the jacket. Also, this video has the classic “let’s have two people suddenly look at the camera at the same time” thing. Just great stuff all the way around.

The “After the Fire ” version is the one most children of the 80s knew first. Originally, however, it was written and performed by Falco. And it was in German. It still throws me off when they play the German version and I’m expecting English. The Falco version didn’t do much in the US, but the “After the Fire” one peaked at #5 in 1983. I’m guessing Americans weren’t too excited about a song in German. To make it more confusing, “After the Fire” had already broken up by the time this song took off. Go figure.

Also, in news I never knew, “After the Fire” opened for Van Halen during their 1982 Diver Down tour. From what I can tell, it went about as well as you’d expect it to. Which is not well at all. I need more info on how this happened. Or why.

Cha! Cha! Cha! Cha!

What is this song about? I’m pretty sure it’s about a couple that loves to meet up with others and do coke in public places. They are on the lookout for Der Kommissar, who is a cop or public official, and don’t want to get caught. Search the internet and you will know it to be true! There are a number of coke references in the song - “snow”, “sugar”. Also, “the more you live the faster you will die”. I’m sticking with my hypothesis but am open to alternatives. In related, albeit sad, news: Falco died in 1998 when his car collided with a bus in the Dominican Republic. Toxicology reports determined he was under the influence of alcohol and cocaine. So my theory makes more sense. He was 40 years old.

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