Must Am I Be Singing Vergnűgt?

• The Comedian Harmonists, “Wenn Ich Vergnűgt Bin, Muss Ich Singen”

This is, for me, the clear standout from a double-disc Comedian Harmonists comp, though the rest of their stuff is similar & similarly striking. I can tell you that this is a German vocal band from the 1930s, but otherwise the Harmonists pretty much fend off my descriptive /evocative skills – you need to hear them for yourself. (There was a good German movie about them a few years ago, called The Harmonists, and there are CD compilations aplenty to be found.)

I’ve been putting this song on mixed CDs for friends & family for years, usually to highly mixed response, but I want to be clear here that I don’t consider this a novelty or joke record in any way, even though it’s highly entertaining & amusing and even though their name begins with “Comedian.” Nor is my love of this ironic or aloof – it’s earnest & utterly straightforward. The song never fails to whoosh a druglike euphoria through my veins & around again; I am never not in the mood to hear it.

All this may or may not have something to do with the fact that I sprechen no Deutsch and therefore don’t understand the words.