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Rüdiger Lyrics
Radiger stands in the rain and the snow
Collector of autographs
Names upon photographs
Faces of people who everyone knows
Radiger lives in a place on his own
Briefcase and spectacles
Strange and respectable
He knows the meaning of being alone
Radiger works as a clerk in the town
Music or politics
Radiger gets his kicks
He gets information then he comes around
Radiger waits at the hall in Berlin
He waits there all night
Security's tight
They know who he is but they don't let him in
Radiger waits in the dark by the stair
His fingers are shaking
His feet they are aching
But your name's in the paper so Radiger's there
Collector of autographs
Names upon photographs
Faces of people who everyone knows
Briefcase and spectacles
Strange and respectable
He knows the meaning of being alone
Music or politics
Radiger gets his kicks
He gets information then he comes around
He waits there all night
Security's tight
They know who he is but they don't let him in
His fingers are shaking
His feet they are aching
But your name's in the paper so Radiger's there
Song Info
Submitted by
songmeanings On Feb 06, 2012
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Brilliant Song off the Golden Heart album. About a stalkerish person...
MK (Live In London '96) : " I actually wrote the words to this tune about 15 years ago about the time John Lennon was murdered ... It's really about the sort of fan, you know not a music fan, I love the music fan's, they're fantastic ... this is the sort autograph guy who just wants Saddam Hussein's autograph and everyone elses; It doesn't make any difference to him as your well known ... I wrote the song Rüdiger, that's his name Rüdiger."
Love the last line! Very creepy: "But your name's in the paper so Rüdiger's there"
Quite simply an amazing song!
I only just discovered this song, when I saw "Bandits". Even though I had seen the movie a couple of times before, I never really paid attention to this song until a couple of weeks ago. I'm crazy about its atmosphere and melancholic melody. Funny enough I just started liking Leonard Cohan about a year ago, so maybe this is the natural way, for my music taste to develop.
Oh and by the way. Chekout the rest of the "Bandits" soundtrack while you're at it. It's really good! :-D
I read many years ago, when the song came out, that MK wrote it for a real fan of him. This german guy, Rudiger, followed Direstraits first and then MK. So he waited in the halls for hours, "Rüdiger waits at the hall in Berlin He waits there all night Security's tight They know who he is but they don't let him in"
This guy finally happened to meet his hero Mark Knopfler after a long wait. Of course, the last part is clearly talking about an assault (John Lennon style), but I like to interpret this as a reflection of the sadness of following and worshipping someone without actually having a life and then having nothing after you meet that "someone". Beautiful, beautiful song.