Alphaville - Jerusalem (ZDF Hitparade, 18.03.1987)

“Watch out, this is where it gets a bit complicated! ;-) One night in Paris in 1985, after a rather hectic day on our promotional tour back then, we were given the sketch for a theatre-play by a completely mad Belgian taxi driver who claimed to be a writer. He asked us if we’d like to compose a sort of soundtrack for the play. It was the story of a man, who at night convinces lonely passers-by on Brooklyn Bridge to commit suicide. He sacrifices them to his beloved as a human sacrifice in order to free himself from guilt and thereby find redemption, for years ago she took her own life in that very spot because of him. In his frenzy, he turned her into Eris, the goddess of discord as a projection of his own inner turmoil. - At that time, we were working on another song entitled ‘Jerusalem’, which also dealt with redemption and forgiveness. In a figurative and theological sense, Jerusalem represents the place of perfect closeness to God and ultimate salvation. Somehow, the themes of these two projects became intertwined, and the result was a song that fused these two contrasting approaches to one and the same theme. Unsurprisingly, the play was never staged, but the song somehow survived this crazy transformation and ended up on the no less crazy album *Afternoons In Utopia*." (Gold, 1988) Footage licensed from ZDF Studios. All rights reserved. #jerusalem #biginjapan #Alphaville #ForeverYoung #mariangold