Dr. Mabuse (Propaganda song)

"Dr. Mabuse" is the debut single by German new wave/synthpop band Propaganda. The song was produced by Trevor Horn and was released on his label, ZTT in 1984. It appears on the debut album A Secret Wish. It was a moderate chart hit in the UK and Switzerland, peaking at numbers 27 and 14, respectively. In Germany, the song reached the top 10, peaking at No. 7.

"Dr. Mabuse"
Single by Propaganda
from the album A Secret Wish
Released7 March 1984
Genre
Length4:16
Label
Songwriter(s)
  • Andreas Thein
  • Michael Mertens
  • Ralf Dörper
Producer(s)Trevor Horn
Propaganda singles chronology
"Dr. Mabuse"
(1984)		 "Duel"
(1985)
Music video
"Dr. Mabuse" on YouTube

The song is a reference to the character in the three Fritz Lang films; Dr. Mabuse the Gambler, The Testament of Dr. Mabuse and The Thousand Eyes of Dr. Mabuse.

A music video was produced, featuring Polish actor Vladek Sheybal as the titular character.

The 12" version features a cover of The Velvet Underground's "Femme Fatale" as its B-side. The cover was also released on the 1985 various artists compilation album I Q 6 Zang Tumb Tuum Sampled[1] and on the 2002 compilation Outside World.

An instrumental remix of this song appeared in the opening credits of the John Hughes 1987 film Some Kind of Wonderful, in which Mary Stuart Masterson's character, Watts, drums along to the dominant percussion.[2] This version does not appear on the film's official soundtrack, however.[2][3]

Towards the end of the song, just before the climax, some gibberish appears. It is actually the German question "Warum schmerzt es, wenn mein Herz den Schlag verpasst?" played backwards. The English translation is "Why does it hurt when my heart misses the beat?", the first lyrics of the song.[4]

Chart performance
Chart (1984) Peak
position
Germany (Official German Charts)[5] 7
Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[5] 14
UK Singles (Official Charts Company)[6] 27

References
  1. "Various - I Q 6 Zang Tumb Tuum Sampled".
  2. "Some Kind of Wonderful - The Soundtrack". www.somekindofwonderful.org. Archived from the original on 28 September 2018. Retrieved 14 January 2019.
  3. "SoundtrackINFO: Some Kind of Wonderful Soundtrack". www.soundtrackinfo.com. Archived from the original on 7 October 2017. Retrieved 14 January 2019.
  4. "Propaganda - Dr. Mabuse Lyrics (Video)". www.stlyrics.com. Retrieved 2020-04-06.
  5. "lescharts.com - Propaganda - Dr. Mabuse". lescharts.com.
  6. "Dr Mabuse - Official Charts Company".
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