"Codo … düse im Sauseschritt" is a song by the

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 Ritmeester on the popular na ...

band Deutsch-Österreichisches Feingefühl.

Release

Initially charting in Germany's Top 100 Singles on 4 July 1983, "Codo" rose up the chart before peaking at number-one on 8 August that year, making it the last Neue Deutsche Welle (NDW) song on record to attain that peak in the GfK Entertainment charts.

Critical reception

American historian Claudia Lonkin noted that the song was a social critique on hatefulness and the division of global society, with Codo playing the role of a "benevolent outsider" who triumphs in abolishing the "global hate regime". However, a reporter for the Deutsch Centre criticized the single for being shallow, stating that it, alongside much of NDW music, was "cringeworthy ndbordering embarassing."

Charts

Weekly charts

Copyright disputes

Similarities to the "Buffy theme"

Codo contains a chord progression (occasionally hummed by backing singers from 0:50 onwards) that is very similar to the " Buffy theme", the theme song of ''

Buffy the Vampire Slayer ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' is an American supernatural fiction, supernatural drama television series created by writer and director Joss Whedon. The concept is based on the Buffy the Vampire Slayer (film), 1992 film, also written by Whedon, a ...

'', an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

TV series A television show, TV program (), or simply a TV show, is the general reference to any content produced for viewing on a television set that is broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, and cable, or distributed digitally on streaming platf ...

that was first aired in the late 1990s. In 2006,

Nerf Herder Nerf Herder is an American rock band from Santa Barbara, California, formed in 1994 by Parry Gripp (vocals, guitar), Charlie Dennis (bass) and Steve Sherlock (drums). They describe themselves as a " geek rock" band, and are known for simple ...

, the band that composed and performed that tune, said that they had "never heard of Döf", and the similarity was "coincidental". Back in 1999, Nerf Herder lead singer, Parry Grip gave the background on the writing of the melody, the original melody was not written specifically for the show, it had been in place before Whedon contacted the band asking them to submit a demo for a theme tune,

Plagiarism lawsuit

After the song was released, filed a copyright dispute against DÖF over the melody of the title, as he believed that melody came from one of his compositions, ''Küss mich und lieb mich'', which was sung by in

East Germany East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from Foundation of East Germany, its formation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on ...

. According to his widow, after he escaped from East Germany in 1983, Biege found out that one of the writers allegedly copied the melody and made fun of East Germany. After an appeal, the case went to another regional court, where a settlement was proposed. However, Biege later waived further legal action.

Legacy

In March 2016, retired

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

player

Doug Gilmour Douglas Robert Gilmour (born June 25, 1963) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player. He played 20 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for seven different teams. Gilmour was a seventh round selection, 134th overall, of the ...

referenced the song in a post in ''

The Players' Tribune ''The Players' Tribune'' is a new media platform that produces daily sports conversation and publishes first-person stories from professional athletes. The platform was founded by former professional Major League Baseball player Derek Jeter in ...

''.

References

{{reflist 1983 songs 1983 singles Number-one singles in Germany German new wave songs