Chilly Gonzales aka Jason Beck returned last week with a new single, I.C.E., ahead of album Gonzo, which must be about his twentieth or so, adding in collaborations and side projects.
Born in Montreal, Canada, currently residing in Cologne, Germany, I.C.E. is Gonzales' love letter to the latter.
They say every day is a school day but I.C.E. manages to cram in roughly a term's worth of German cultural references. I've tried to include links (mostly Iffypedia) where I could but frankly I couldn't keep up.
I've also slightly modified and corrected Google's English translation of the German lyrics, though some bits didn't scan and are well beyond my failed German O-Level efforts. Walter, my apologies in advance!
I.C.E. is out right now, Gonzo drops on 13th September.
My German rap? Crazy idea
But I'll do it anyway
If you could see what I see
Ice, Ice
Small talk on late trains
Sorry, I can hardly speak German
Still have to practice
(What is your profession?)
I am music
I am art
I am artificial
I am punk
I am punctual
Hello, meal, hello
I'm like Brahms
A Clara Schumann groupie
A quickie, Schumi
Obsessed like Fitzcarraldo
Falco, hallo!
What's under the dirndl dress?
Unity, discipline and hard work and cheap meat
Climate strike at the butcher shop
Stuck in the fourth Reich
Chilly ice cold,
Antarctica
My art is degenerate
I am Caspar David Friedrich in the mountains
Superman Friedrich Nietzsche is my favorite comedian
Cable tangles with distressed bacon
German food is seriously underestimated
My jokes are poorly translated
My German rap? Crazy idea
But I'll do it anyway
If you could see what I see
Out the window in the I.C.E., I.C.E, I.C.E.
Ice, Ice
Ice, IceJewish rapper MC Bagel
From the stoner fog
Struwwelpeter, with long fingernails
I'm the villain without a cape
Piano sound like Sturm und Drang
Haters are hungry for my downfall
You drink camomile tea
I eat cameltoe
Gonzo, porn
Screenplay by Adorno
Fame only affects me peripherally
I go everywhere with a joint in my nécessaire
Tracksuit but chic
I'm rich like Raniczki's head cinema is always kinky
I am Christian like Klaus Kinski
My German rap? Crazy idea
But I'll do it anyway
If you could see what I see
Out the window in the I.C.E., I.C.E, I.C.E.
Ice, Ice
Ice, Ice I used to live like God in France
But it's sweeter here, marzipan soft
I love you, but I'm critical
This song is a love letter
To the Federal Republic
I am never alone here
On the I.C.E. from Berghain to Hildesheim