Song Lyrics in German and English

The Beatles - The German Songs

This collection of the Beatles' early singles
includes two songs in German!

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The Beatles and Camillo Felgen
On 29 January 1964 in a Paris recording studio, the Beatles recorded two of their hit songs in German. The instrumental music tracks were the original ones used for the English recordings, but the German lyrics had been hurriedly written by a Luxembourger named Camillo Felgen (Camille Jean Nicolas Felgen, 1920-2005).

Camillo Felgen often told the story of how EMI's German producer, Otto Demler, had desperately flown Felgen to Paris and the Hotel George V, where the Beatles were staying. The Beatles, in Paris for a concert tour, had reluctantly agreed to make two German recordings, and Felgen, who was then a program director at Radio Luxembourg (now RTL), had less than 24 hours to finalize the German lyrics and coach the Beatles (phonetically) in German. The recordings they made at the Pathé Marconi Studios in Paris on that winter day in 1964 turned out to be the only songs the Beatles ever recorded in German. (But see the note about “Geh raus” below.) It was also the only time they ever recorded songs outside of London.

Also see
The Beatles in Germany and in German

With Felgen's guidance, the Fab Four managed to sing the German words to “Sie liebt dich” and “Komm gib mir deine Hand” (“I Want to Hold Your Hand”):

O komm doch, komm zu mir
Du nimmst mir den Verstand
O komm doch, komm zu mir
Komm gib mir deine Hand

See the complete lyrics links below.

Why did the Beatles, however reluctantly, agree to record in German? Today such an idea seems laughable, but in the 1960s many American and British recording artists, including Connie Francis and Johnny Cash, made German versions of their hits for the European market. The German division of EMI/Electrola felt that the only way the Beatles could sell records in the German market was if they made German versions of their songs. Of course, that turned out to be wrong, and today the only two German recordings the Beatles ever released are an amusing curiosity. (In a rough, incomplete version of “Get Back” in German, you can hear Paul McCartney singing “Geh raus nach deinem Haus,” but it was never officially released. Apparently, Paul had picked up a fair amount of German during the Beatles' Hamburg days. Also see comments about "My Bonnie" below.)

The Beatles hated the idea of doing foreign-language recordings, and they never released any others after the German single with “Sie liebt dich” on one side and “Komm gib mir deine Hand” on the other. Those two unique German recordings are included in the Past Masters CD described below. For the lyrics of the two songs in German and English, see the links below.

MORE > The Beatles in Germany and in German
WEB > Camillo Felgen - Wikipedia (deutsch)

CD: The Beatles: Past Masters - Vol. One
In January 1964 the Beatles recorded two songs in German. In this CD compilation of their pre-1965 hit singles, you can hear those two German songs: "Sie liebt dich" ("She Loves You") and "Komm gib mir deine Hand" ("I Want to Hold Your Hand"). Audio CD. See track list and lyrics below.

Beatles Songs - In German

The following German songs, sung by the Beatles, are on the “Past Masters” CD album:

 1. Sie liebt dich (She Loves You) - German & English lyrics
 2. Komm gib mir deine Hand (I Want To Hold Your Hand) - German & English lyrics

Other Songs: Love Me Do (Single Version), From Me To You, Thank You Girl, She Loves You, I'll Get You, I Want To Hold Your Hand, This Boy, Long Tall Sally, I Call Your Name, Slow Down, Matchbox, I Feel Fine, She's a Woman, Bad Boy, Yes It Is, I'm Down

CD > Compare Prices for The Beatles Past Masters CD (with 2 German songs)

Of the following two "German" songs sung by the Beatles, only one was officially released ("My Bonnie" in 1961, with Tony Sheridan) and that was back in the early Hamburg days. "Geh raus," an improvised mostly pseudo-German version of "Get Back," was recorded during a rehearsal session in 1969 and is included in the two-CD Beatles "Let It Be" anthology released in December 2000.

 3. Geh raus (Get Back) - German & English lyrics
 4. Mein Herz ist bei dir (My Bonnie) - German & English lyrics

ALSO > The Beatles in Germany and in German

ALSO > Johnny Cash in German

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