"Irgendwie, irgendwo, irgendwann" (German for "somehow, somewhere, sometime") is a 1984 song by

Nena Gabriele Susanne Kerner (born 24 March 1960), better known as Nena, is a German singer and songwriter who rose to international fame in 1983 as the lead vocalist of the band Nena with the Neue Deutsche Welle song "99 Luftballons". In the same ye ...

written by band members

Jörn-Uwe Fahrenkrog-Petersen Jörn-Uwe Fahrenkrog-Petersen (born 10 March 1960) is a German keyboard player, producer and composer. He was the keyboardist of the band Nena and co-wrote their world famous hit "99 Luftballons" as well as another great hit entitled "Irgendwie, ...

and

Carlo Karges Carlo Karges (31 July 1951 – 30 January 2002) was a German musician who became a guitarist and songwriter for the rock band, Nena. He wrote the lyrics of Nena's most famous song, "99 Luftballons", released in 1983. He was attending a 1982 Rolli ...

. It was a commercial success in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

. Released initially as a single, it was included on Nena's 1985 album ''

Feuer und Flamme ''Feuer und Flamme'' (German for "Fire and Flame", with the additional figurative meaning of "great enthusiasm"), released in 1985, is the third album by German pop band Nena and the fourth studio album of its singer, Gabriele "Nena" Kerner. Th ...

''. Many variations and covers of the song have appeared, including samples and foreign language versions, most notably the English language "Anyplace, Anywhere, Anytime". Its various incarnations have charted over a 37-year period and in three different languages.

Original version

Described by Allmusic as a "towering all-time Nena classic", "Irgendwie, irgendwo, irgendwann" (German for "somehow, somewhere, sometime") is a love song, the singer saying that in the mists of time and space, now is the time for some tenderness "before the night returns". Although she didn't write them herself, Nena has suggested that the hookline ("Give me your hand, I'll build you a sandcastle somehow somewhere sometime") refers to building sandcastles in Potsdamer Square in Berlin during the

Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...

. Cold War Berlin is where Nena spent the few years immediately before becoming famous, at which time

Potsdamer Platz Potsdamer Platz (, ''Potsdam Square'') is a public square and traffic intersection in the center of Berlin, Germany, lying about south of the Brandenburg Gate and the Reichstag (German Parliament Building), and close to the southeast corne ...

was a desolate No Man's Land in the shadow of the

Berlin Wall The Berlin Wall (german: Berliner Mauer, ) was a guarded concrete barrier that encircled West Berlin from 1961 to 1989, separating it from East Berlin and East Germany (GDR). Construction of the Berlin Wall was commenced by the government ...

. The tender lyric is set to a rumbustious, free-flowing and catchy tune. "Irgendwie, irgendwo, irgendwann" reached on the German chart in 1984. It was the last top-five entry Nena was to have in her homeland for 19 years until in 2003 she reprised the song as the duet "Anyplace, Anywhere, Anytime" with

Kim Wilde Kim Wilde (born Kim Smith, 18 November 1960) is an English pop singer, DJ and television presenter. She first saw success in 1981 with her debut single "Kids in America", which peaked at No. 2 in the UK. In 1983, she received the Brit Award f ...

as part of her 2002 career revival brought about by the triple platinum '' Nena feat. Nena'' album. The song also featured in all three seasons of the 2017-2020

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...

German science fiction thriller series ''

Dark Darkness, the direct opposite of lightness, is defined as a lack of illumination, an absence of visible light, or a surface that absorbs light, such as black or brown. Human vision is unable to distinguish colors in conditions of very low lum ...

''.

Music video

At the beginning of the music video a garage door opens, Nena emerges and runs through spider webs before finding a car. In the next scene, a group of people are seen removing the vehicle. Nena then appears in a pyramid and awakens a mummy (played by the band's keyboard player, Jörn-Uwe Fahrenkrog-Petersen) by touching it. A soldier (played by the band's guitarist, Carlo Karges) then joins Nena, trapped in the car. The video then cuts to the band performing the song at a live concert. Next the band's bassist (Jürgen Dehmel) is seen running away from a mechanical dragon before finding a safe spot where Nena joins him. After this, Nena is seen as a samurai but falls into a hole and is rescued by Rolf Brendel, the band's drummer and Nena's then boyfriend. In the remainder of the video, a few excerpts are repeated. The video was shot at a film studio in London and directed by

Nick Morris Nick Morris is a British film maker better known for directing music videos in the 1980's. Career Nick Morris began writing and making amateur films at school, one of which was shown at the NFT. His professional career began in the 1980s with m ...

Track listings

*7-inch single :A. "Irgendwie, irgendwo, irgendwann" – 4:10 :B. "Ganz oben" (live) – 4:38 *12-inch maxi single :A. "Irgendwie, irgendwo, irgendwann" (special 12″ dance-mix) – 7:15 :B1. "Ganz oben" (live) – 3:53 :B2. "Der Bus is' schon weg" (live) – 2:44

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Jan Delay version

In 1999,

Jan Delay Jan Phillip Eißfeldt (born 25 August 1976), known professionally as Jan Delay, is a German rapper and singer whose stylistic range includes mainly hip hop, reggae, dub and funk. An accomplished solo artist, he became known to the public as ...

with

Denyo Dennis Lisk (born 1977 in Hamburg), also known as Denyo, Denyo 77, Dennis Deutschland and Dennis Dubplate, is a German soul and hip hop musician and radio presenter. He was also host of the German television series '' Cover My Song''. Music ...

and Beginner covered "Irgendwie, irgendwo, irgendwann" for the compilation album ''Das gibt's nur einmal'' of the TV project Pop 2000 by ARD and

Viva Viva may refer to: Companies and organisations * Viva (network operator), a Dominican mobile network operator * Viva Air, a Spanish airline taken over by flag carrier Iberia * Viva Air Dominicana * VIVA Bahrain, a telecommunication company * ...

. Just like the original this cover was also successful in Germany. Unlike the original, this version contains a rap verse. The music video was filmed on a beach, starting with Jan Delay with a dog in his arms, and some women. While he performs the song, you can see fish and a couple of women swimming in the water. They also keep a few signs up showing among other things 77 and Nazis out. At the end of a radio clips will be thrown into the water.

Track listings

*CD single #"Irgendwie, irgendwo, irgendwann" – 5:30 #"B-Seite" – 4:08 *12-inch single :A1. "Irgendwie, irgendwo, irgendwann" – 5:31 :A2. "Irgendwie, irgendwo, irgendwann" (instrumental) – 5:29 :B1. "B-Seite" – 4:09 :B2. "B-Seite" (instrumental) – 4:12

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Anyplace, Anywhere, Anytime

An all-English version of "Irgendwie, irgendwo, irgendwann" called "Anyplace, Anywhere, Anytime" was included on

's 1985 album '' It's All in the Game'' (the English-language version of ''Feuer und Flamme''), but has never been released as a single. In 2002, celebrating twenty years of the beginning of her success in the former Nena band, Nena recorded a new album, '' Nena feat. Nena'', which included a new version of the song, with a much slower tempo and more rock influences. Subsequently, another iteration of the new version was released, this time with the combined English and German lyrics, performed along with English singer

. The video was filmed outside the

London Guildhall Guildhall is a municipal building in the Moorgate area of the City of London, England. It is off Gresham and Basinghall streets, in the wards of Bassishaw and Cheap. The building has been used as a town hall for several hundred years, and i ...

and in and around

Change Alley Exchange Alley or Change Alley is a narrow alley, alleyway connecting shops and coffeehouses in an old neighbourhood of the City of London. It served as a convenient shortcut from the Royal Exchange, London, Royal Exchange on Cornhill, London, C ...

, London EC3. It was a commercial success across continental Europe, but was not released in the United Kingdom. Nena and Wilde appeared together several times in 2003 to promote the single on various TV programmes, having first performed the song live during Nena's October 2002 concert in Frankfurt marking the 20th anniversary of her first hit record. Since then they collaborated again in 2006 on the remake of "You Keep Me Hanging On" on Wilde's '' Never Say Never'' album. They subsequently performed "Anyplace, Anywhere, Anytime" on a German TV programme marking Nena's 50th birthday in 2010 and at a joint concert in Saasveld, Netherlands, on 13 December 2014.

Track listings

*German CD single #"Anyplace, Anywhere, Anytime" (radio version) – 3:42 #"Anyplace, Anywhere, Anytime" (new version) – 4:03 *German CD maxi single #"Anyplace, Anywhere, Anytime" (radio version) – 3:42 #"Anyplace, Anywhere, Anytime" (new version) – 4:03 #"Irgendwie, irgendwo, irgendwann" (new version) – 4:02 #"Nur geträumt" (new version) – 2:54

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Decade-end charts

Other notable recorded versions

*1992:

Herbert Grönemeyer Herbert Arthur Wiglev Clamor Grönemeyer (born 12 April 1956) is a German singer, musician, producer, composer and actor, popular in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Grönemeyer starred as war correspondent Lieutenant Werner in Wolfgang Pete ...

*2000:

Max Raabe Max Raabe (born Matthias Otto, 12 December 1962) is a German jazz singer. He is best known as the founder and leader of the Palast Orchester. Career Raabe developed an interest in the sound of German dance and film music of the 1920s and 193 ...

*2000:

The Smurfs ''The Smurfs'' (french: Les Schtroumpfs; nl, De Smurfen) is a Belgian comic franchise centered on a fictional colony of small, blue, humanoid creatures who live in mushroom-shaped houses in the forest. ''The Smurfs'' was first created and in ...

(Sag mir wie, sag mir wo, sag mir wann) *2001: DJs@Work (Someday) *2003:

Otto Waalkes Otto Gerhard Waalkes (born 22 July 1948) is a German comedian, actor, and musician. He became famous in the 1970s and 1980s in Germany with his shows, books and films. His best known trademark are the 'Ottifanten' ('Ottiphants'), elephant-like c ...

(Hänsel und Gretel) *2003:

Guildo Horn Horst Heinz Köhler (born 15 February 1963), known under his stage name Guildo Horn (), is a German Schlager singer. He is best known for his eccentric stage persona, which includes outrageous clothes and extroverted antics. At the Eurovision ...

*2005: Insania *2006: Komu Vnyz *2008: Adoro (band), Symphonity *2016: Titus Probst *2021: A German/Italian language version entitled "Ci Sarai (Irgendwie)" by

Giovanni Zarrella Giovanni Zarrella (born 4 March 1978 in Hechingen) is a German-Italian singer and television presenter based in Germany. He was a singer on the pop group Bro'Sis from 2001 to 2006. He was one of an "international" sextet, later quintet, of si ...

featuring Pietro Lombardi which reached number 76 in the German singles chart *2021: Phil the Beat and

ILIRA Ilira Gashi (; born 29 October 1994), known professionally as Ilira, is a Swiss singer and songwriter. In 2018, she signed to Four Music and released her debut single "Whisper My Name". Early life Ilira Gashi was born on 29 October 1994 in ...

entitled "Anytime"

Satirical version

In March 2016 the song was used as a base for a satirical song on Turkish president

Recep Tayyip Erdoğan Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (born 26 February 1954) is a Turkish politician serving as the List of presidents of Turkey, 12th and current president of Turkey since 2014. He previously served as prime minister of Turkey from 2003 to 2014 and as Lis ...

by the TV magazine ''

extra 3 ''extra 3'' is a weekly political satire show on German television established in 1976. Produced by public TV broadcaster Norddeutscher Rundfunk, it is aired on NDR Fernsehen and 3sat. Once a month, the show is promoted to ARD's national fir ...

'' of German broadcaster NDR titled "

Erdowie, Erdowo, Erdogan "Erdowie, Erdowo, Erdogan" (German for "Erdo-how, Erdo-where, Erdogan") is a satirical music video that was produced by German TV show '' extra 3'' in March 2016. The song mocks Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. Following the release ...

" ("Erdo-how, Erdo-where, Erdo-when," though the last one is also a play on words, since the German word '' Wahn'' means delusion or craziness). This version of the song sparked a minor diplomatic incident with Turkish government officials reportedly demanding of Germany's ambassador to Turkey that NDR desist from broadcasting it, causing a

Streisand Effect Attempts to hide, remove, or censor information often have the unintended consequence of increasing awareness of that information via the Internet. This is called the Streisand effect. It is named after American singer and actress Barbra Streis ...

where the video received millions of views and was subtitled in multiple languages, and indirectly sparked the

Böhmermann affair The Böhmermann affair (also known as Erdogate) was a political affair following an experimental poem on German satirist Jan Böhmermann's satire show ''Neo Magazin Royale'' in late March 2016 that deliberately insulted Turkish president Rece ...

References

{{authority control 1984 singles 1984 songs 2003 singles Columbia Records singles Dutch Top 40 number-one singles Electrola singles German-language songs Kim Wilde songs Macaronic songs Nena (band) songs Number-one singles in Austria Songs written by Jörn-Uwe Fahrenkrog-Petersen Female vocal duets