"Gott ist ein Popstar" (German for "God is a pop star") is a song by German rock band

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

and the first single from their 2006 album ''

GlaubeLiebeTod ''GlaubeLiebeTod'' ("FaithLoveDeath") is the ninth studio album by German Neue Deutsche Härte band Oomph!. It was released in 24 March 2006. ''GlaubeLiebeTod'' was released in three versions: a basic one inside a jewel case and without a bookle ...

''.

Music and lyrics

The song was written by Dero, Crap, and Flux, with Dero alone writing the lyrics. The song is in the key of F♯ minor at a tempo of 123 bpm. The verses of the song are an excerpt from the

Lord's Prayer The Lord's Prayer, also known by its incipit Our Father (, ), is a central Christian prayer attributed to Jesus. It contains petitions to God focused on God’s holiness, will, and kingdom, as well as human needs, with variations across manusc ...

in German, followed by a bastardization in the second verse. For example, the second line "Geheilgt werde dein Name" (Hallowed be thy name), becomes "Geheiligt werde die Lüge" (Hallowed be the lie). The chorus of the song features repeated chants of "Gott ist ein Popstar!" followed by lines likening religion to a stage show. In order to rhyme better, two of the chorus lines were rewritten for the English version "God is a Popstar" on the ''Truth or Dare'' album, rather than being a simple German translation. "Der Applaus ist groß" (The applause is great), became "Hear the screaming crowd," and "Ihm gehört die Welt" (The world belongs to him), became "Master of it all."

Video

The music video starts with the band pulling up to what appears to be a depiction of

Jesus Christ Jesus (AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Chris ...

in a back alley. They take the

Messiah In Abrahamic religions, a messiah or messias (; , ; , ; ) is a saviour or liberator of a group of people. The concepts of '' mashiach'', messianism, and of a Messianic Age originated in Judaism, and in the Hebrew Bible, in which a ''mashiach ...

and transform him into a young and sexy pop idol. The end of the video ends with a bloodied popstar version of Jesus being revived in the same alley where he was in the beginning of the video. Dero, the singer, is shown as a depiction of the

Grim Reaper The Grim Reaper is a popular personification of death in Western culture in the form of a hooded skeletal figure wearing a black robe and carrying a scythe.heretical Heresy is any belief or theory that is strongly at variance with established beliefs or customs, particularly the accepted beliefs or religious law of a religious organization. A heretic is a proponent of heresy. Heresy in Christianity, Judai ...

. The band's performance at the 2006 ECHO Awards was canceled due to the questionable nature of the song, and many radio stations throughout Germany boycotted the track. However, the band responded to these claims, by stating that the song is about

hypocrisy Hypocrisy is the practice of feigning to be what one is not or to believe what one does not. The word "hypocrisy" entered the English language ''c.'' 1200 with the meaning "the sin of pretending to virtue or goodness". Today, "hypocrisy" ofte ...

in modern organized religion and was not intended to be heretical.

Track listing

CD Single # "Gott ist ein Popstar" # "Ich will deine Seele" ("I Want Your Soul") CD Maxi # "Gott ist ein Popstar" # "Ich will deine Seele" ("I Want Your Soul") # "Weißt du wie viel Sterne stehen" ("Do you know how many stars there are?") # "Fragment" # "Gott ist ein Popstar! (Transporterraum Mix)"

Download-only remixes

* "Gott ist ein Popstar (Sunwater Dirty Remix)" * "Gott ist ein Popstar (Principal Alternative Remix)" * "Gott ist ein Popstar (Silverstar Remix)" * "Gott ist ein Popstar (Beichtstuhl Remix)"

Charts

References

Oomph! songs 2006 singles 2006 songs Songs written by Dero Goi {{2000s-metal-song-stub