''Opium fürs Volk'' (''

Opium Opium (also known as poppy tears, or Lachryma papaveris) is the dried latex obtained from the seed Capsule (fruit), capsules of the opium poppy ''Papaver somniferum''. Approximately 12 percent of opium is made up of the analgesic alkaloid mor ...

for the people'') is the seventh

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

by the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

punk Punk or punks may refer to: Genres, subculture, and related aspects * Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres * Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...

band

Die Toten Hosen Die Toten Hosen are a German punk rock band from Düsseldorf. The name is taken from the German slang idiom ''tote Hose'' (literally "dead trousers"), which means "nothing happening"; "boring". The band has had an important success through th ...

. Although it's not considered a

concept album A concept album is an album whose tracks hold a larger purpose or meaning collectively than they do individually. This is typically achieved through a single central narrative or theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, or lyrical. Som ...

, it has a central theme of

religion Religion is a range of social system, social-cultural systems, including designated religious behaviour, behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, religious text, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics in religion, ethics, or ...

(exemplified by the intro "Vaterunser", "Die zehn Gebote" and " Paradies"). It is regarded as one of the best Die Toten Hosen albums. The title is derived from a common misquotation of

Karl Marx Karl Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, political theorist, economist, journalist, and revolutionary socialist. He is best-known for the 1848 pamphlet '' The Communist Manifesto'' (written with Friedrich Engels) ...

, who called religion the

Opium of the People The opium of the people or opium of the masses () is a dictum used in reference to religion, derived from a frequently paraphrased partial statement of German revolutionary and critic of political economy Karl Marx: "Religion is the opium of the ...

- ''Opium des Volkes''.

Track listing

# "Vaterunser" (''

Our Father 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 of God, will, and Kingship and kingdom of God, kingdom, as well as h ...

'') (Traditional) − 1:10 # "Mensch" (''

Man A man is an adult male human. Before adulthood, a male child or adolescent is referred to as a boy. Like most other male mammals, a man's genome usually inherits an X chromosome from the mother and a Y chromosome from the f ...

'') (von Holst/Frege) − 4:08 # "Die Fliege" (''The

fly Flies are insects of the order Diptera, the name being derived from the Greek δι- ''di-'' "two", and πτερόν ''pteron'' "wing". Insects of this order use only a single pair of wings to fly, the hindwings having evolved into advanced ...

'') (Frege/Frege) − 1:54 # "Die zehn Gebote" (''The

ten commandments The Ten Commandments (), or the Decalogue (from Latin , from Ancient Greek , ), are religious and ethical directives, structured as a covenant document, that, according to the Hebrew Bible, were given by YHWH to Moses. The text of the Ten ...

'') (Rohde/Frege) − 4:04 # "Böser Wolf" (roughly ''

Big Bad Wolf The Big Bad Wolf is a fictional wolf appearing in several cautionary tales, including some of ''Grimms' Fairy Tales''. Versions of this character have appeared in numerous works, and it has become a generic archetype of a menacing predatory ant ...

'') (von Holst/Frege) − 4:02 # " Nichts bleibt für die Ewigkeit" (''Nothing lasts forever'') (von Holst, Frege/Müller, von Holst, Frege) − 4:10 # "Ewig währt am längsten (Dub)" (lit. ''Forever lasts the longest''; a pun on ''Ehrlich währt am längsten'' oughly ''Honesty is the best policy'' (Meurer/Müller, von Holst, Frege) − 2:54 # "Und so weiter" (''And so on'') (Rohde/Frege, Müller) − 1:40 # " Bonnie & Clyde" (Breitkopf/Frege) − 3:30 # "Der Froschkönig" (''

The Frog Prince "The Frog Prince; or, Iron Henry" (, literally "The Frog King or the Iron Henry") is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm and published in 1812 in Grimms' Fairy Tales, ''Grimm's Fairy Tales'' (KHM 1). Traditionally, it is the fir ...

'') (Breitkopf/Frege) − 3:47 # "

XTC XTC were an English rock band formed in Swindon in 1972. Fronted by songwriters Andy Partridge (vocals, guitars) and Colin Moulding (vocals, bass), the band gained popularity during the rise of punk and new wave in the 1970s, later playing ...

" (Meurer/Frege) − 4:16 # "Lügen" (''Lies'') (von Holst/Frege) − 4:12 # " Paradies" (''

Paradise In religion and folklore, paradise is a place of everlasting happiness, delight, and bliss. Paradisiacal notions are often laden with pastoral imagery, and may be cosmogonical, eschatological, or both, often contrasted with the miseries of human ...

'') (Frege/Frege) − 4:08 # "Und wir leben" (''And we're living'') (Meurer/Frege) − 3:50 # "Er denkt, sie denkt" (''He thinks, she thinks'') (Frege/Frege) − 4:34 # "Seelentherapie" (''Soul therapy'') (Breitkopf/Frege) − 5:13 # "Viva la Revolution" (Breitkopf/Frege) − 4:46 # "

Zehn kleine Jägermeister "Zehn kleine Jägermeister" (German: ''Ten Little Huntsmen/Jägermeisters'') is a song by Germany, German punk rock group Die Toten Hosen. It was released in June 1996 as the fourth single from the album ''Opium fürs Volk''. It is the band's bigg ...

" (roughly ''Ten little hunters/

Jägermeister ( , ) is a German digestif made with 56 herbs and spices. Developed in 1934 by Wilhelm and Curt Mast, it has an alcohol by volume of 35% ( 61 degrees proof, or US 70 proof). The recipe has not changed since its creation, and the drink contin ...

s'', a pun on ''

Ten Little Indians "Ten Little Indians" is an American children's Counting-out game, counting out rhyme. It has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 12976. In 1868, songwriter Septimus Winner adapted it as a song, then calledTen Little Injuns, for a minstrel show. Lyr ...

'') (Rohde/Müller, Frege) − 4:45

2007 remastered anniversary edition bonus tracks

"Fliegen" (''Flying'') (Frege/Frege) – 4:28 (from " Pushed Again")
"Prominentenpsychose" (''Celebrity psychosis'') (Frege/Frege) – 3:14 (from " Nichts bleibt für die Ewigkeit")
"Herzglück harte Welle" (roughly ''Heartluck strong wave'') (Rohde/Frege) – 1:57 (from " Bonnie & Clyde")

Demos

One unreleased demo from the album surfaced in 2007 with the re-release of '' Auf dem Kreuzzug ins Glück''. *"

Kitsch ''Kitsch'' ( ; loanword from German) is a term applied to art and design that is perceived as Naivety, naïve imitation, overly eccentric, gratuitous or of banal Taste (sociology), taste. The modern avant-garde traditionally opposed kitsch ...

" (Breitkopf/Frege) – 3:53

Personnel

Campino ''Campino'' may refer to: * Campino (profession), a Portuguese cattle herder * Campino (candy), a brand of hard candy * Campino (singer) (born 1962), the stage name of German singer Andreas Frege * Campino (Burgos), a locality in Alfoz de Bric ...

vocals Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define sing ...

*Andreas von Holst -

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

*Michael Breitkopf -

*Andreas Meurer -

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Wood * Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...

*Wolfgang Rohde -

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

Charts

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Opium furs Volk Die Toten Hosen albums 1996 albums 1990s German-language albums