Comedian Otto Waalkes Photo: picture alliance/dpa | George Wendt
From BZ/dpa
Comedian Otto Waalkes (74) is number one in the single charts in Germany with a new version of his 30-year-old song “Friesenjung”.
“The tune is about three dozen years old, and my autobiographical version isn’t much younger either. Apparently both have held up quite well, which speaks for a certain timelessness, ”said Otto Waalkes, who was born in Emden and lives in Hamburg, of the German Press Agency.
“So I’m not surprised that people still like it. However, I was amazed and very happy that my grandchildren’s generation was so enthusiastic about it in this accelerated form,” says the 74-year-old.
The Berlin rapper Ski Aggu and his Dutch colleague Joost Klein had asked Waalkes weeks ago on social media to be allowed to record the “Friesenjung”.
After the 74-year-old’s permission, they released the dance version with their own lyrics and Waalkes’ chorus. Since then, there has been real hype about the song, especially on the Tiktok platform, which is popular with young people.
“I’m very flattered because for me, any parody is the truest form of worship,” Waalkes continued. The East Frisian had published “Friesenjung” in 1993 on his album “The CD – The Very Best”. The cult song is based on the melody of Sting’s “Englishman in New York” from 1987.