Remembering Marie A. (1982) David Bowie + lyrics

“Brecht wrote the lyrics during a train journey to Berlin in 1920. It originally had the working title ‘Sentimental Song no. 1004’, and is believed to have been written for Marie Rosa Amann, a young woman from Augsburg whom Brecht had met at an ice cream parlour. Brecht combined the words, now retitled ‘Erinnerung An Die Marie A’, with a melody based on a traditional 19th century French song, ‘Tu Ne M’amais Pas’, also known as ‘Lost Happiness’. Brecht was more familiar with the popular German version, ‘Verlorenes Glück’. ‘Erinnerung An Die Marie A’ was performed in public a number of times by Brecht, and it was first published in 1924. Although it appeared in various stage productions at that time, Brecht did not intended it to be part of the Baal play. Nonetheless, the piece worked effectively in the BBC’s 1982 television adaptation, which starred David Bowie in the title role. ‘Remembering Marie A’ helped establish Baal’s immoral and dispassionate character, by depicting him failing to remember the face of the girl from a past sexual conquest, but able to recall a cloud passing overhead.“ – the Bowie Bible David Bowie – vocals Eckehard Scholl – piano Bernd Machus – bandoneon Ingo Cramer – guitar Michael Bucher – tuba Thomas Hoffmann – drums Erwin Milzkott – flute Joachim Welz: clarinet David Kreitner – alto saxophone Axel-Glenn Müller – tenor saxophone René Waintz – trumpet Ralf Armbruster – trombone Hans-Joachim Glas – concert master Uwe Weniger – viola Rolf Becker – cello Ulrich Berggold – contrabass