Recommendations of the Editorial team
Everyone who likes to read or write or even both has favorite words. Words that make your heart jump a little when you read them – perhaps because a certain person has said them a lot or because they are so rare these days. A few almost forgotten words that are worth preserving: “baff”, “Firlefanz”, “Fisimatenten”, “Kladderadatsch”, “Kokolores”, “Mumpitz”, “raubauzig”, “sumbly”, etc. … I will ask my desk neighbor Arne Willander to finally make a list!
Likewise, there are words that slip out far too quickly and often. Not swear words, they usually have a reason. But when I rave, at least I keep thinking about the same thing. I then think of our colleague Uwe Kopf, who in a letter to the “Tempo” authors at the time asked that every superfluous word be omitted – “this applies especially to adjectives”, but also to superlatives and filler words such as “absolutely” and “absolutely”.
How do we avoid filler words – and so-called “rock writing”?
Actually (he didn’t like that either) I like to write “basically” or “of course”, but since I knew Uwe I do it less often. “No rock writing please” has stuck in the same way, I’ve already deleted “frontmen” or “acts” whenever I could. Only with “man” and the adjectives do I reach my limits. I just think so many things are big, sometimes even the biggest, and great anyway. So I picked two songs that showcase this term (or “word junk”). Namely in the most beautiful way.
“All my love and patience/ Unappreciated/ You said your heart was jaded/ You couldn’t even break it …”
“The Greatest Bastard” by Damien Rice was released in 2014 on his third album, “My Favorite Faded Fantasy”. What is the Irish songwriter doing, why hasn’t there been anything since then? Maybe because his pieces are so flawless that they take years to complete. Just like “The Greatest Bastard” begins: “I made you laugh, I made you cry/ I made you open up your eyes, didn’t I?/ I helped you open out your wings, your legs and many other things, didn’t I?” The bastard in the title is, of course, himself, and as love falls apart, the strings swell until you take your breath away. He didn’t want to be ungrateful, in return she taught him to love and live, sings Rice, and even to forgive – but then he was left with his guilt, alone. Bad luck!
Rice and Eilish know how hard it will be when the love spell is gone
Rice sounds so tender and yet somehow accusatory. Ultimately, he suspects that he hasn’t done the woman any good. “Am I the greatest bastard that you know?/ When will we learn to let this go?” Probably when the infatuation spell is gone and the woman realizes that she has no patience left – like Billie Eilish in “The Greatest” (from “Hit Me Hard And Soft”, 2024). The praise for her own ability to love and suffer almost gets stuck in her throat in the chorus: “Man, am I the greatest?/ My congratulations/ All my love and patience/ All my admiration/ All the times I waited/ For you to want me naked/ Made it all look painless/ Man, am I the greatest?”
It’s fantastic (sorry, Uwe!) how she finally admits that she hates the fact that all her commitment isn’t appreciated because the guy is too jaded: “You said your heart was jaded/ You couldn’t even break it/ I shouldn’t have to say it/ You could’ve been the greatest…”
You could have been a contender, but if you don’t even try, you’ve already lost. And if you’re not willing to have your heart broken, you’ll never know real love. The clever Conor Oberst also knew this when he once sang: “Never trust a heart that’s so bent/ It can’t break!”