Is there a song called viva cologna?

Question

I was in Cologne last year for the world cup. At the fan fest before the kick off of the Germany - Italy game, the fans were singing a song that sounded to me like "Viva Cologna". It sounded great but I have no idea what the words were. It seemed to be some sort of regional anthem. Is there something like this and where can I find a recording of it?

Answer 1

The song is called "Viva Colonia" and is by "De Höhner".

Lyrics:

http://www.onlylyrics.com/song.php?id=82...

It is in colognian dialect, hard to understand even if you speak German. Do you want a translation?

You should be able to get the single from www.ebay.de - log into your local ebay account, copy the article number and start bidding. Alternatively you might be able to buy the single from amazon.

http://www.amazon.de/Simmer-Dabei-die-Gr...

Answer 2

This song is now so popular that you hear it sung even in places like Hamburg and Berlin - it's very catchy, as you have experienced for yourself.

De Höhner (The chickens - it's an all-guy band, though) are part of a quite vibrant musical scene in "Kölsch", the Cologne dialect. It takes some getting used to, but once you've got an ear for it, it's quite easy to understand.

The lyrics list Cologne customs and specialties that they love and take part in. Stuff like going to see the FC Köln play football and the KEC play ice hockey, drinking Kölsch beer and travelling around the city with the local KVB transport company. And the chorus is:

Da simmer dabei ! Dat is prima! VIVA COLONIA!

Wir lieben das Leben, die Liebe und die Lust

Lyric wir glauben an den lieben Jott und ham noch immer Durst

We all join in! That's great! Viva Colonia. We love life, love and lust. We believe in God and we're still thirsty.

You can tell that people in Cologne are very catholic, very down to earth and hard to beat at celebrating. And as with most popular songs of this type, people have started making up their iwn lyrics. The one you'll hear most frequently is a bit rough, but that's a mentality thing:

Wir lieben das Leben, die Liebe und die Lust, und wenn mer nix ze poppe han dann jon mer in de Puff

We love life, love and lust, and if there's nothing (ie no-one) to have s*x with, we'll go and pay for it.