"Eisbär" (; ) is a 1980

cult hit A cult following refers to a group of fans who are highly dedicated to some person, idea, object, movement, or work, often an artist, in particular a performing artist, or an artwork in some medium. The lattermost is often called a cult classic. A ...

composed by the Swiss

Neue Deutsche Welle Neue Deutsche Welle (NDW, , "New German Wave") is a genre of West German rock music originally derived from post-punk and new wave music with electronic influences. The term was first coined by Dutch radio DJ Frits Spits on the popular nationwid ...

band

Grauzone Grauzone (German for "grey area", ) was a band from Berne, Switzerland, that was active and disbanded in the early 1980s. The band is most famous for their 1981 hit " Eisbär" ("Polar Bear"). The single charted at number 12 in Germany and numbe ...

. It first appeared on the 1980 compilation album ''Swiss Wave - The Album''. The shorter single version was later collected on the Grauzone album ''Die Sunrise Tapes'' (1998). The song features a man singing he wants to be "a polar bear in the cold polar", because by being one he "wouldn't have to cry any longer and everything would be fine." The instrumental arrangement also evokes an Arctic atmosphere.

recorded in 1982 an English-language version (Polar Bear) of the song, which was first released in 2010 on the double CD ''Grauzone 1980-1982 Remastered''. The song is

post-punk Post-punk (originally called new musick) is a broad music genre, genre of Punk Music, punk music that emerged in the late 1970s as musicians departed from punk's traditional elements and raw simplicity, instead adopting a variety of avant-garde s ...

performed with guitar, drums and synthesizers.

Track listing

; 7" single (1981) : A "Eisbär" (4:17) : B "Ich lieb sie" (I Love Her) (3:18) ; 12" single (1981) : A "Eisbär" (4:17) : B1 "Ich lieb sie" (3:18) : B2 "Film 2" (3:35)

Chart performance

Covers and cultural references

* In 1990, Polar Pop (feat. Mc Grzimek) released a house version of the song. * In 1993, Prisonshake released a cover version on the B-side of their "Two Sisters" single. * In 1996, Scholle (ohne Schwester C.) produced a dance version on the compilation NDD - New German Dancefloor Stufe 3. * In 1997, The Belgian hard house discjockey

Frédéric de Backer Y-Traxx was a band consisting of DJ Laurent David, Frédéric De Backer and TC Process. Their EP, '' Mystery Land'', made No. 63 on the UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section m ...

released a cover of the song under the pseudonym GrooveZone. It was released in 24 countries and sold over 300,000 copies. * In 2001, The

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

n Neue Deutsche Härte band Stahlhammer covered this song, it appears on the album ''Eisenherz'' (2006). * In 2003,

Knorkator Knorkator is a German band from Berlin that combines heavy metal with comical elements. They proclaim themselves to be "Germany's band in the world" (german: Deutschlands meiste Band der Welt), as the title "The best band in the world" was al ...

feat. Holger Klein interpreted the song. * In 2004, The German band Razzia covered Eisbär on their album Relativ Sicher Am Strand (2004) * In 2004, The German Neue Deutsche Härte band

Oomph! Oomph! is a German rock band from Wolfsburg, formed in 1989. The band pioneered the Neue Deutsche Härte movement. Their work contains lyrics in both English and German, with a shift towards German exclusively on recent albums ('' GlaubeLiebeTo ...

released their version of the song as a B-side on the single "Augen Auf!", and on a new edition version of ''

Wahrheit oder Pflicht ''Wahrheit oder Pflicht'' (; German for "Truth or Dare") is the eighth studio album by the German rock band Oomph!, released in February 2004. It is the band's most commercially successful album, being their only title to achieve platinum status ...

''. * In 2006, The French band

Nouvelle Vague French New Wave (french: La Nouvelle Vague) is a French art film movement that emerged in the late 1950s. The movement was characterized by its rejection of traditional filmmaking conventions in favor of experimentation and a spirit of iconocla ...

recorded a version of the song for their album '' Bande à Part'' *

The Dresden Dolls The Dresden Dolls are an American musical duo from Boston, Massachusetts. Formed in 2000, the group consists of Amanda Palmer (lead vocals and piano; additional: keyboards, harmonica, ukulele) and Brian Viglione (drums and backing vocals; addi ...

has covered the song in live concerts. *

Rodolphe Burger Rudolph or Rudolf may refer to: People * Rudolph (name), the given name including a list of people with the name Religious figures * Rudolf of Fulda (died 865), 9th century monk, writer and theologian * Rudolf von Habsburg-Lothringen (1788� ...

has covered the song in live concerts with Stéphane Eicher as guest. * In 2016, the song featured in the Swiss-French animated film

My Life as a Courgette ''My Life as a Courgette'' (french: Ma vie de Courgette; also titled ''My Life as a Zucchini'' in North America and Australia) is a 2016 stop-motion animated comedy-drama film directed by Claude Barras, and co-written by Céline Sciamma. It was s ...

. * In 2016, Mexican

Stoner Rock Stoner rock, also known as stoner metal or stoner doom, is a rock music fusion genre that combines elements of doom metal with psychedelic rock and acid rock. The genre emerged during the early 1990s and was pioneered foremost by Kyuss and Sleep ...

band SUPERHIGH recorded a spanish version titled "Oso Polar", and released it as a digital single. * In 2016, Deathline International covered this song on their Eisbär EP. * In 2017, The German Neue Deutsche Härte band

Eisbrecher Eisbrecher (; German for "icebreaker An icebreaker is a special-purpose ship or boat designed to move and navigate through ice-covered waters, and provide safe waterways for other boats and ships. Although the term usually refers to ice-b ...

covered this song on their Sturmfahrt album.Eisbrecher - Sturmfahrt (Discogs)
/ref> * In 2018 the band Mind Spiders covered the song and translated the lyrics to english on their album Furies. * In 2020 Eisbär was added to the Grand Theft Auto radio station, Kult F.M. * In 2021, Sam Vance-Law released a cover of the song on his NDW EP

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Eisbar (Song) German-language Swiss songs Swiss pop songs 1981 singles 1980 songs Arctic in fiction