German Girl

Recent research has uncovered more than the scholar cares to know about this forlorn ditty, composed in late 2006 but constantly evolving until its final version in June the following year when we must assume that the minstrel finally came to terms with the loss of his lady love.

No versions exist of the first draft when both parties appear to have been at the height of their passion and happy to have the song sung on any occasion.

A brief hiatus followed as the singer spent Christmas in Italy and the apfelstrudel of his eye returned to her German hometown.

The rift began on their 'reunion', if such a positive term can be applied to their lacklustre first actual meeting of 2007, a full 3 weeks after both had returned to Greece during which the young lady kept the singer at bra's length thanks to tantalising emails and missed appointments.

One might ask how come the penny didnt drop, but who are we to comment on others' affaires of the heart?

Among the changes was the lady's request that the song be dropped from his repertoire and never sung again in public. This presented problems since many of the singer's 'fans' had taken a liking to the song and would request it at each appearance with the guitar.

It is useful to mention at this stage that, outside the boudoir and certain select common friends in the German community, singer and subject led largely separate lives, she spending her day in the local bureau of a German publication and he lolling around with nothing more stressful to occupy his time than monitoring the stock of Mythos beer in the fridge and his supply of Karelia cigarettes.

This camouflage of a job enabled the lady to visit the home, feed the goldfish and tend the garden of her 'true beloved', a fellow Teuton of half again her age ('The Toad', 'Turtle Neck', 'Sloth of Sidari' and others, according to later references in the singer's diary) who had taken three months off to return home to finalise his divorce from Wife 3 in order to legitimise his domestic arrangements with his next victim. (The faint twang of rancid grape pips can be heard here and there in references to his 'rival')

In response to the veto on the original, the singer rephrased his ditty as a lament to a "Highland Girl", not completely obliterating clues to the original.

It is fairly sure that Mein Herr was unaware of the shenanigans during his absence, or ignored them as part of his mistress's usual flightiness, smug in the knowledge of his possession.
It is known that German Girl and 'Gunther the Grenouille' were both present on several occasions for renderings of the Scottish rewrite.

Emails from those present note that all eyes were on the lithe lady and her diminutive companion and that her expression was "strained" as her escort (with his limited command of the language) chose to root for another stein.

We are indebted to Professor Kostas Giorgas for his expert commentary on the 'Scottish' version.

German Girl

Thinking 'bout a German girl
Rings on her fingers, head full of curls
She came into my Corfu world, everything changed
And I won't be home again.

Singing 'bout a German girl
It's just fingers and frets, the words won't come
The strings feel rusty and cold, the key feels wrong, the chords dont strum
All in all just a bundle of fun, pining for a German girl

Chorus

I miss her, in all the drippy ways I so despise in others
I dont care where she stops or stays
What she does with her nights and doesn't with her days
If she puts out to every varlet or knave, I really won't be bothered
(Big chord up) I just want back what we had ... togethah

Moping for a long-gone moll
A mug's game at the best of times
But talking German girl, You're cruising for a bruising with that sweet fraulein:
I'm a dent in her pillow, a furrow in her brow
That train's left the station and it's carried my frau
Someone else dining in her lilies n'Au
Wieder sehen, German girl

Chorus

I miss her in all those homely ways I never thought remembered:
A secret smile across the room, hand on my knee as we drove home,
Sleepy sweet nothings on a midnight phone,
The list goes on forever
And I'd like a little back of what we had ...
Together

I don't think about that German girl,
I'm over the worst and moving on,
She belongs to the other world
She was always in, and I never belonged
She called and I came, it palled and she changed
But me, silly Englishman, I just stayed the same.

Note on Scottish Girl:

It is interesting to read in the singer's own diary that, no sooner had he changed the nationality to north of the border than rumours were rife as to the identity of the kilted siren, not a few fuelled by McBabes themselves.

One can only guess at how time hung heavy on such idle minds and their Life-lacking existence under the sun.

Highland Girl

Thinking 'bout a Highland girl
Freckled nose, Titian curls
She came into my Corfu world, everything changed
And I won't be home again.

Singing 'bout a Hieland girl
It's just fingers and frets, the words won't come
The strings feel rusty and cold, the key feels wrong, the chords dont strum
All in all just a bundle of fun, pining for that Scottish girl

Chorus

I miss her, in all the drippy ways I so despise in others
I dont care where she stops or stays
What she does with her nights and doesn't with her days
If she puts out to every sassenach knave, I really won't be bothered
(Big chord up) I just want back what we had ... togethah

Moping for a long-gone moll
A mug's game at the best of times
But talking Hieland girl, You're cruising for a bruising of the tartan kind:
I'm a dent in her pillow, a furrow in her kilt
That train's left the station and the milk cart's spilt
Someone else swooning to her Caledonia lilt
Auf wieder sehen, Highland girl

Chorus

I miss her in all those homely ways I never thought remembered:
A secret smile across the room, hand on my knee as we drove home,
Sleepy sweet nothings on a midnight phone,
The list goes on forever
But I just think of what we had ...
Together

Verse
I don't think about that Highland girl,
I'm over the worst and moving on,
I don't flinch at the bagpipes' skirl, don't check the mirror at a red car's horn
People happen so people change, for all I know she felt the same
But the call of the heather and the soft Scottish rain
Put paid to my Highland Girl

A7 chord and a plaintiff "Och awae noo"

Farewell to my Highland Girl.

FINIS

Professor Giorgas:

This is a song typical of sentiments we hear nightly in the vulgarities of the bouzoukia: the too heavy romance and low esteem, the unmanly accepting of such treacherosity. I think we are safe to assume that if the nationalities could be reversed, the woman would be broken by both arms.

But there are some clues we can enjoy and only wonder how it was received by the lady when she heard it songed in company of her Germanic meister patron.

"Pining for that Scottish girl": It must be deliberate that the singer chooses this verb, so close to the German lady's Hanover birthplace and upgrowing. It really is astonishing to me that he is making to risk such wrath of ferocity as can come from this nationality. In my salad times, I had chance to pass some studies at the University of Heidelberg and formed one closeness with a generic pupil with whom I suffered a heart change (as is such frequent of the wayward youthness) and much was there loud vociferous and projectile hurls as she expressed her grand dissatisfaction to my announcement. But I am astray from my relevance.

• The usage of German 'auf weidersehen' is most foolish to remind of the true nation of his subject. I think that those who must be privileged to knowinf of the facts must be 'swap' the looks of knowledge and make the grin between them. When the singer talks of Not anymore thinks of the girl, he is of the self deniality and surplused protest.
  We are reminding to the Chicago band with its tragoudia of "I am not in the love".
• Red car horn This is also most revelatory. The German girl is driving a red car of old age that is surely beyond our Greek law for mechanical astringency. This aftokinito of the coloured wine is also with the sticking shift. I have on personal recount from the singer (when our tongues were liberated by the slaked thirst for the ouzo) that his karthiaki tou would be touching the knee of him with dexterous hand while with sinister palm changement of the leaning gears. Perchance his referral to 'hand on knee for the driving home' is clueing to us.
• "Call of the heather" and "it palled and she changed": these are the most brazen word choiceage in the whole lyrics. Paul is the named frog toad supplanter who was in convenient absentia during the episode of passion. Also, Heather is the accepted name of la confidante who was of the enabling information to the German lady for her successful deceivement of the singer for the keeping darkness.
  
  
  There is probable extraneous clueness from the libretto of song but I am not of certainty for the expression. I hope against the inadequacy of my inspections to will not hinder appreciation as a charming 'amuse bouche' of musicality and sincere ache of the heart.