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Sokraates: The Sound of Warfare

Sokraates, I don't know where to begin. Knowing the original very well, I was able to do it without the music...and it gave me chills.

Having experienced combat, it was very easy to immerse myself into the scenario you laid out and lose myself in the lyrics. It is dark but very poignant. About halfway through the song I found myself shivering from the images in my mind as I continued to read.

I don't know what else to say but truly, truly an outstanding piece of work. An emphatic IN!
 
Fernando Torres: Dear Herrman

This one was easier to follow as far as what you were trying to convey. Gotta give you creds for being able to write WWII to rap. I couldn't do it...well...maybe to Beastie Boys.;)

All in all pretty good offering, and as you yourself said, a little better than the first, if only for the more consistent flow of the story. Music and rhyme went well together and I didn't struggle to keep up. Good job.
 
grayghost said:
Fernando Torres: Dear Herrman

This one was easier to follow as far as what you were trying to convey. Gotta give you creds for being able to write WWII to rap. I couldn't do it...well...maybe to Beastie Boys.;)

All in all pretty good offering, and as you yourself said, a little better than the first, if only for the more consistent flow of the story. Music and rhyme went well together and I didn't struggle to keep up. Good job.
Thanks and well i don't like Beastie Boys...it's not really rap.
Next time i'll try to make something with funk which is with rap the kind of music i listen the most to.
 
grayghost said:
Sokraates: The Sound of Warfare

Sokraates, I don't know where to begin. Knowing the original very well, I was able to do it without the music...and it gave me chills.

Having experienced combat, it was very easy to immerse myself into the scenario you laid out and lose myself in the lyrics. It is dark but very poignant. About halfway through the song I found myself shivering from the images in my mind as I continued to read.

I don't know what else to say but truly, truly an outstanding piece of work. An emphatic IN!

Thank you very much. I see that my lyrics have had the desired inpact.

Sound Of Silence is a very powerful song in its original version. Nevermore has refined it to an incredible point of excellence by matching the music to the already grave and gloomy lyrics. This way they created the, in my oppinion, best ballad-to-metal cover song ever.
 
Mangudai said:
Same here. When a bloody Idol-ripoff comes on, I just have to be there to mess around. :D
What? You're not taking this seriously? Heathens! :p



Kampf Musik
by Mangudai

Rap is hard. Being homogeneous throught the entire preformence it is hard to know how fast it goes forward if you are reading the lyrics. I failed to follow, listening on the original before didn't seem to help, neither did the fact that one had to go back to the beginninng every time there was a chorus and then trying to find were you where in the lyrics. I agree with my comrades in the jury that the lyrics were good. You could even without the map beat in the background still make oneself a picture of the great leaders of the axis powers expressing themselfs through rap styled as in modern days, which undouptly make one smile :). They had alot of content overall, but not all too much at one time to make it going too fast. Much mentioned was not all too known information, I did not now about all the things mentioned (then again I'm not a veyr big WWII fan, but still). This is well done, and entertaining for one who knows, but for those for those who don't it can backfire. I'm afraid this will get a sad smily :(, had it been easier to follow it might have passed though.


Albania the pityfull I did enjoy, I do have a soft spot for Albania after making an AAR about how crappy they are. :)

THE WINTER WAR
by Cascadia

This one was easy to follow. Once or twice I lost track of the exact spot, but it was easy to get back. Much thanks to how the original music was made (chooseing good tunes are a big part of it people;)) The lyrics weren't all too badly made, they were enjoyeble and such, but not very innovative in my opinion. In many aspects it was the original tune remade for another battle, which coudl have been any battle. Especially the refrain shows this, as it is almost identical to the original, which doens't makes your own contribution seem small in that aspect. That is not said you should always eliminate all traces of the original, but it should be in a new perspective of some sort. Albania the pityfull makes a bigger succes with this, as the original glorifies a nation for its good aspects while the remake "glorifies" a naiton for it lack of most of them. It's something added while still having much reference to the original, and being similar to it in many ways. I'll have to give this one a :( of that reason, it lived up to goals in otehr aspects though.


Lose Yourself
by Fernando Torres

I followed this satisfingly at my second attempt. Well done, I didn't think I'd ever manage that with any rap, remake or not :p. I didn't listen all too carefully to the original, but I belive you have captured the original mood it expresses and succesfully applied that on the situations you bring up. I especially like the remake of the word blow to DoW. Nerd reference of the week! :p There are several details to be improved here, the biggest one being that you didn't change quite alot of the lyrics. The mood I mentioend becaomes alot easier to get into the remake with this kind of methods, which isn't all too good. Though you manage to change enough and on the right spots for it to throught have the character of your remake, even if it is on the edge there. Another detail is that you use three different "subjects", but it is not all too clear that you have changed before you're quite far into the stanza. It makes for confusion. hard to tackle and usually not a detail to bring you down. You get a happy smily :) in the end, but I say it was damn close there on the amount of remake lyrics. The other song you made, it didnt really feel like Adolf, but a neat idea and entertaining lyrics nontheless


Sokraates; the music you ahve provided is awfull to hear where the lyrics are supposed to be. I've tried to use anotehr version, but these lyrics mess up halfway. Sure you don't have a better source for the tune?
 
Snake IV said:
Albania the pityfull I did enjoy, I do have a soft spot for Albania after making an AAR about how crappy they are. :)

THE WINTER WAR
by Cascadia

This one was easy to follow. Once or twice I lost track of the exact spot, but it was easy to get back. Much thanks to how the original music was made (chooseing good tunes are a big part of it people;)) The lyrics weren't all too badly made, they were enjoyeble and such, but not very innovative in my opinion. In many aspects it was the original tune remade for another battle, which coudl have been any battle. Especially the refrain shows this, as it is almost identical to the original, which doens't makes your own contribution seem small in that aspect. That is not said you should always eliminate all traces of the original, but it should be in a new perspective of some sort. Albania the pityfull makes a bigger succes with this, as the original glorifies a nation for its good aspects while the remake "glorifies" a naiton for it lack of most of them. It's something added while still having much reference to the original, and being similar to it in many ways. I'll have to give this one a :( of that reason, it lived up to goals in otehr aspects though.

Yeah, I know the Winter War wasn't nearly so good as Albania. Will definitely try harder to make the next contribution a bit more orignial, per se. I assume that with 2/3 voting for 'in' or smiley face or whatever I'm moving on?

Would've used Albania had I not had the flip-flopping problem when I wrote it. :eek:o
 
Kampf Musik
Mangudai


A superb first entry to this competition. Far above the standard I was expecting to be perfectly honest. Others have commented that the rap beat made it a little hard to follow. However I can't help but wonder if this isn't anything more than a display of their lack of well-rounded musical abilities ;). To my mind the amount of work that has gone into this shows up in both it's length and amount of original lyrics. Well done Mangudai

The Winter War
Cascadia

A great tune chosen for this one. The lyrics are also well adapted and some nice original rhymes keep this easy to follow and catchy. I do feel this is the most professional of the contestants so far. However I feel a little let down by the straight copying of some of the lyrics. If that could be overcome, I see this tune gonig right to the top.

Lose Yourself
Fernando Torres

A very well known tune certainly helped this to be the easiest to follow entry so far. I was able to get through the whole thing without a problem. However I felt that just a bit too much of this tune wasn't changed form the original. In some places it didn't *quite* make sense. Nonetheless I do believe with that song you are on to a good thing.


Thats all the judging from me today. I will return to deliver my verdicts upon Sokraates, Fernando Torres' other work and the little tune about Albania.
 
I've rummaged through the net a bit and found a version of Sound Of Silence by Nevermore, where the lyrics can actually be understood. My only gripe is, that the cymbals, which are very pronounced in the instrumental part at the beginning, can't be heard well in this recording.

The link in my contribution has been updated. For all those who don't want to scroll back, here it is again: Sound of Silence by Nevermore
 
:eek: Thank you, Duke! :)
 
Good morning everyone out there in Idol land.

Grayghost here, your friendly neighborhood judge just droppin in to say hey and make a non-competitive contribution to the fun.

Now, as a judge, I am not allowed to officially compete, but we can submit contributions for entertainment purposes only. What this means for all you readers and lurkers, is that this is your chance to judge the judge.

That's right, rip me up one side and down the other.

So, without further adeu, I give you a song done to the tune of California Dreamin by the Mamas and the Papas. This is the story of a young, scared Polish soldier retreating before the German onslaught who is just trying to make his way home.


All my friends are dead
Or lost along the way
So I went for a walk
Just to get away

If I keep on walkin
I could be in Warsaw
While the Stukas keep on Screamin
And the bombs begin to fall

I hid inside a church
I found along the way
And I fell down to my knees
And I began to pray

But the priest was lying dead
So he had nothing to say
And the Stukas keep on screamin
To urge me on my way

All my dreams are dead
And my country a shell
I’ve been for a walk
Through the gates of hell

Don’t think I’ll make it through this
It seems that I’ve lost my way
As the Stukas keep on screamin
I have to get away

The Stukas keep on screamin
And the wolves begin to bay

The Stukas keep on screamin
This is my final day
 
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grayghost: The Stukas Keep on Screamin

Incipiently I would like to say that I actually have virtual war-related memories concerning the original version. It is played in the game "Men of Valor" when your Lieutenant is shot in a movie sequence and I've always thought that the melody and the tone (while not the lyrics) of this song lend itself particularly well for such situations.

Now for the new version: I'm delighted to see another song with a serious subject. As I have already stated above, the melody already has a sad tune to it and thus fits perfectly to the new lyrics.

I thought that I knew "California Dreamin" well enough to read your lyrics without playing the song in the background, but already in the first stanza I somehow got lost. Listening to the song I realized, that the background singers would confuse me. Especially with the longer lines I had therefore troubles.

Maybe you could add the lyrics sung by the background singers in italic letters?

The lyrics themselves I don't think I need to comment on. They are very dark yet fitting and convey the desired mood of doom and hopelessness. Actually, they are quite depressing but than again, that's the whole point of this version. There's scant any other emotion I could associate with the fall of Poland.

My only gripe is with the line And the wolves begin to bay. English is not my native language but I have a very good dictionary which tells me that baying is what dogs do. Wolfs howl instead. So much for my only gripe. To be honest, I noticed this especially since I consider this line to create the strongest image in your song.

So, what verdict to return? Since your contribution is non-competitive, the highest mark it can receive is Two Thumbs Up. And that is what I give.
 
Think of this as sung by a Red Army tank crew during the battle of Berlin.

I personally don't think this is as good as most other songs, but I might as well enter the competition with it anyway.


Rock the Reichstag (with apologies to the Clash)

Comrade Zhukov told us army men
We have to let the iron curtain drop
The reds and the workers' way
Has to end up on to the top
The führer told his countrymen
The Soviets will never win
But tanks were rolling
Into haupstadt Berlin

The führer won't like it
Rockin the Reichstag
Rock the Reichstag
The führer won't like it
Rockin the Reichstag
Rock the Reichstag

By order of our Party
We burn that German house
Incinerate the Aryans
And those crazy yells of raus
And the panzers we brought out
The heavy anti-tank gun
The Russian ammo' loader
And a desperate strafing run
As soon as our soldiers
Had cleared the square
They began to yell

The führer won't like it
Rockin the Reichstag
Rock the Reichstag
The führer won't like it
Rockin the Reichstag
Rock the Reichstag

Now over at the bunker
Oh! he really had things grim
The crowd say it's cruel
We can not trust in him
And as the wind changed direction
And artillery took fire
The crowd caught a wiff
Of mustard gas so dire

The führer won't like it
Rockin the Reichstag
Rock the Reichstag
The führer won't like it
Rockin the Reichstag
Rock the Reichstag

Stalin called on his dive bombers
He said you better earn your pay
Drop your bombs on the monuments
Down the Reichstag's way

As soon as the bombers
Flew away outta there
The city sirens turned on
The warning sounds air

As soon as the bombs were
Outta the planes
The Nazis they wailed

The führer won't like it
Rockin the Reichstag
Rock the Reichstag
The führer won't like it
Rockin the Reichstag
Rock the Reichstag

The führer won't like it
He thinks its not kosher
Rockin the Reichstag
Rock the Reichstag

The führer won't like it
Germanically can't take it.
Rockin the Reichstag
Rock the Reichstag

The führer won't like it
You know he really hates it.
Rockin the Reichstag
Rock the Reichstag



To clarify, the first verse is about the Soviets entering the city, the second one is about them fighting the last German defenses, the third one about the Nazis realizing they've lost the war and abandoning Hitler (him=Adolf), and the rest of the song is about Soviet bombers blowing Berlin to smithereens.
 
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Charlie_88: Rock the Reichstag

Charlie, I have to say that was pretty fricken funny. I know the original well (showing my age) so I needed no accompaniment to sing along.

There were a few grammatical hiccups in there, but hell, the Clash had just as many in their version. Overall the song flowed well, the beginnings of the 3rd and 4th stanza's were a little confusing but fleshed after the rest of the lyrics were read. I was able to undertand the flow of the story even without your crib notes at the bottom. I am very glad you chose to enter this in the competition.

IN.
 
Sokrates: Thanks for the feedback and I am glad you liked it. I considered putting the back ups in italics or parenthesis but decided not to. I may go back and do it now. As to the line "the wolves begin to bay", you are correct in your literary correctness, but I decided to take a little poetic license with that line, (maybe hoping no one would catch it.;) ) but it fits so I'll leave it.

I seem to have been bitten by the muse, for I have another non-competetive contribution to make.

This one is from the other side, the German side, very late in the war, when the Eastern front is crumbling before the Red Army. It shows a group of men in a hopeless situation that are unwilling to give up the fight.

So please enjoy this song to the tune of Veteran of the Psychic Wars by Blue Oyster Cult.


You see us now were veterans
Of the Eastern Front

We’ve been living on the edge so long
That we’ve used up all our luck

And we’re young enough to look at
But if you look close you’ll see

That we’re dying on the inside

We’re not sure if there’s anything left to lose

Stand to and grab your gear

The Fuhrer expects no less of us

We’re soldiers of the Reich

And we have to stop the reds
Either that or wind up dead

Stand to, we have to carry on


You ask why we’re retreating
What can I say to you

You blame us for the losses
But my friend that’s just not true

And the war’s still going on here
And there’s no end that we know

It may go on forever

We can’t say if it will ever truly be through

Stand to and grab your gear
The Fuhrer expects no less of us

We’re soldiers of the Reich

There’s no goin to the rear
So get a handle on your fear

Stand to, we have to carry on


You see us now we’re veterans
Of the Eastern Front

We’ve used up all our ammo
And our bayonets are blunt

We have no more heavy weapons
And our armor’s been destroyed

Wounds are all we’re made of

But we will deny their final victory

Stand to and grab your gear
The Fuhrer expects no less of us

We’re soldiers of the Reich

We may die in hand to hand
But it’s here we make our stand

Stand to, we have to carry on

We have to carry on

We have to carry on
 
Sokratees: Well, I am much more a man of humour and lighthearted comedy than sad, heart-breakening stories but, well, that was great. There was a depressing mood that was strenghtened by your music choice.

But, I wasn't able to get into it. I wasn't moved by your lyrics. I cannot rationally explain this but it didn't get the creeps the same way grayghost did. I recognize the immerse artistical value of your dark lyrics but I was left cold. Which is weird since I have been more emotional than usual with me refinding my childhood and all. (read more here)

This time, I have to give a frownie face. :(



Fernando Torres: Rap overload. :wacko:

Now with that out of my system, on to the judging. Short one this time. Once again you made rap easy for a fellow like me to follow. Well done. This time also lyrics worked out a lot better, though a lot was directly copied from original ones.

Good job.


More judging will be done at later date.
 
Duke, should one take it as approval on all three you commented? It was not clear.

Cascadia said:
Yeah, I know the Winter War wasn't nearly so good as Albania. Will definitely try harder to make the next contribution a bit more orignial, per se. I assume that with 2/3 voting for 'in' or smiley face or whatever I'm moving on?
2/4 acctually, but 2 is enough.

Sokraates said:
I've rummaged through the net a bit and found a version of Sound Of Silence by Nevermore, where the lyrics can actually be understood. My only gripe is, that the cymbals, which are very pronounced in the instrumental part at the beginning, can't be heard well in this recording.

The link in my contribution has been updated. For all those who don't want to scroll back, here it is again: Sound of Silence by Nevermore
Thanks :). Will make judgement sometime in the weekend
 
Nazihero

Tune: Stephen Lynch - Superhero

If I could be a nazihero
I would be Hitler man
I’d fly around the Reich holding speeches
According to my evil plan
And if I saw commies trying to lie
Lying to people and making them cry
I’d haul them off to das camp in my WW-van
‘Cause I would be Hitler man

Now, Some commies want you to be a commie
And they offer you things like red flags and Marx
But we know what to do, kinder
We just say ‘Nein"

If I could be a nazihero
I would be SA-boy
Telling the world of the evils of jews
And all of the lands they destroy
Well I would take all the commies
They're getting so high
With their Marxs and gongs
And their sticks of tye
As I cleanse their souls I would scream with joy
Because I would be SA-boy

If I could be a nazihero
I'd be Heinrich Himmler dude
I’d send all the commies back into hell
For eating up all of our food
And taking our lebensraum and best food to boot
Like Wienerwurst, Haagen-daas, picking our fruit
I’d use a lot of ammo to get rid of their brood
‘Cause I’d be Heinrich Himmler dude

Kinder, You can make up your very own superhero
If you could, Who would it be?
If I could be a nazirhero
Would you be Reichcommisar guy
Making sure traitors get what they deserve
Especially Italians who lie
Like if a Umberto left his factory
With three bombs and no smog
To run off to the Americans
With some soldier named Job
You can skin them and drain them of blood so they die
Especially Job
Then you would be Reichcommisar guy

Or you could be more sutle
No, I didn’t mean to be vague
Give Job the mustard-gas disease
Let Umberto die of the plague
As long as they suffer for their terrible lies
Especially Job
Then You would be Reichcommisar guy
Yes then you would be a nazi hero like me

Just something I threw together, can't make something better atm :eek:o.
 
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EvilSanta said:
Sokratees: Well, I am much more a man of humour and lighthearted comedy than sad, heart-breakening stories but, well, that was great. There was a depressing mood that was strenghtened by your music choice.

But, I wasn't able to get into it. I wasn't moved by your lyrics. I cannot rationally explain this but it didn't get the creeps the same way grayghost did. I recognize the immerse artistical value of your dark lyrics but I was left cold. Which is weird since I have been more emotional than usual with me refinding my childhood and all. (read more here)

This time, I have to give a frownie face. :(

Thank you for your judgement.

I knew I took a risk by submitting a non-humorous song since it's evidently easier for a song to make you laugh than to make you think (thus probably ruining your good mood).

Actually I think that would be the case for you. Having rediscovered your childhood with Bellini doesn't match with dark, brooding songs.

Did you know that Samba de Janeiro was written by none other than Herbert Grönemeyer? He had the original video filmed in black and white (you saw a traffic jam in some nondescript city, then people will start dancing samba) but Bellini disliked it very much (for obvious reasons) and had a new video filmed which conveyed a bit more samba flair. I searched the net a bit but couldn't find the original version.

I remember that summer rather well, since I was busy celebrating my discharge from the army.


@ grayghost: The muse seems to have quite a bite. Make shure she doesn't bite off a chunk of you next time. ;)

It's a nice song, you've created. I know the Heavy Metal movie but couldn't remember this song by the Blue Oyster Cult (is anyone else reminded of the Blue Oyster Bar from the Police Academy movies?). I'll absolutely positively have to buy the soundtrack now. Thank you!
 
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A link to the tune please Jac :)
Sokraates said:
I knew I took a risk by submitting a non-humorous song since it's evidently easier for a song to make you laugh than to make you think (thus probably ruining your good mood).
I thought it was because it's eaiser to make a humourus one, at least it is for me :) Managing a non-humourus archievment with succes is always a plus in my book, be it song or not.
 
grayghost: I wanted to somewhat try to preserve the Clash's quite unique way of writing lyrics, which is why there are grammatical errors and such in my text.
Also, I couldn't resist to keep the "He thinks it's not kosher" part in the end of the song. Poor old Adolf must be rolling around in his grave about that one, not that he doesn't deserve it mind you.
I do feel a little bit bad about remaking a Clash song into a war-themed tune, what with them being quite anti-war and everything.


Note that this is a drunken posting post. If the language doesn't make sense, I blame the ethanol.


EDIT: general jac: take it easy with the holocaust references. It's against forum rules.