Roma asked me to translate whatever bits of this I thought would be of interest to her. As usual with anything relating to John, I found the whole thing fascinating, and as this is as good a way as any to send Roma my translation, I thought I’d share the whole thing with all you fellow Frusciante fans!
Just a quick translator’s note; there are bits in the video where you can hear John talking his native English; instead of reverting to transcribing those bits exactly, I have re-translated back into English the German that’s been overdubbed, cos I think it’s more interesting to hear how the German overdub isn’t a 100% accurate translation of John’s words (the dubber is more economical with his language than our John!)
TRANSLATION:
Woman: LA - Sunset Strip, hundreds of fans on a pilgrimage to see a once in a lifetime event; John Frusciante, guitarist for Red Hot Chili Peppers, and Michael Rother, co-founder of the band Kraftwerk, together on one stage - rock meets electronic sounds.
John: For a long time we’d been thinking about how great it would be if someone as big as Michael were to come to LA. After I’d met Michael, we imagined what a dream it would be if we could be in a band together, and he also thought it was a good idea. So we talked about it, picked out a few different songs. Actually we’ve only rehearsed 2 times.”
Woman: They have already played on stage together last year, in Hamburg. At the end of a RHCP concert, Rother played a spontaneous 50 minute jam session with the band, which made for a memorable encore!
John: Someone like Michael is actually a part of the technological era; he worked with the computer and produced very good electronic music. I think my music could also have been made in 1971 and would still sound exactly the same as it does today.
The song title, “Flammenden Herzen” translates as “Flaming Hearts”
Andrew
(oh, and can I also express my delight at the way the narrator pronounces Frusciante???!!!!!)
