Irgendwie, irgendwo, irgendwann

"Irgendwie, irgendwo, irgendwann"
Single by Nena
from the album Feuer und Flamme
B-side	"Ganz oben (live)"
Released	5 October 1984
Format	7" vinyl, 12" vinyl, CD
Recorded	Summer 1984
Genre	Neue Deutsche Welle, new wave, synthpop, pop rock
Length	4:10
Label	CBS
Writer(s)	Uwe Fahrenkrog-Petersen, Carlo Karges
Producer(s)	Reinhold Heil
Nena singles chronology
"Lass mich dein Pirat sein" (1984) "Irgendwie, irgendwo, irgendwann" (1984) "Just a dream" (1984)

"Irgendwie, irgendwo, irgendwann" is a 1984 love song by Nena which was a commercial success in Europe. Released initially as single, it's been also included on Nena's 1985 album Feuer und Flamme. Due to the success, many cover versions of this song appeared, including samples as well as other languages. "Anyplace, Anywhere, Anytime" is an English-language variant of the song. In its various incarnations it has been Nena’s second most successful song of all-time behind only "99 Luftballons". Both songs were written by Nena members Jörn-Uwe Fahrenkrog-Petersen and Carlo Karges and between them have had in the 21st century a near duopoly of being the final rock song that Nena plays at the end of her live concerts.

Original version

Described by Allmusic as a “towering all-time Nena classic”, Irgendwie, irgendwo, irgendwann (German for somehow, somewhere, sometime) is a love song, the singer saying that in the mists of time and space, now is the time for some tenderness “before the night returns”. Although she didn’t write them herself, Nena has suggested that the hookline (“Give me your hand, I’ll build you a sandcastle somehow somewhere sometime”) refers to building sandcastles in Potsdamer Square in Berlin during the Cold War. Cold War Berlin is where Nena spent the few years immediately before becoming famous, at which time Potsdamer Platz was a desolate No Man’s Land in the shadow of the Berlin Wall. The tender lyric is set to a rumbustious, free-flowing and catchy tune.

Irgendwie, irgendwo, irgenwann reached #3 in the German charts in 1984. It was the last Top 10 hit Nena was to have in her homeland for 18 years until she reprised the song as the duet "Anyplace, Anywhere, Anytime" with Kim Wilde as part of her 2002 career revival brought about by the triple platinum Nena feat. Nena album.

Music video description

At the beginning of the music video a garage door opens, Nena emerges and runs through spider webs before finding a car. In the next scene, a group of people are seen removing the vehicle. Nena then appears in a pyramid and awakens a mummy (played by the band's keyboard player, Jörn-Uwe Fahrenkrog-Petersen) by touching it. A soldier (played by the band's guitarist, Carlo Karges) then joins Nena, trapped in the car. The video then cuts to the band performing the song at a live concert. Next the band's bassist (Jürgen Dehmel) is seen running away from a mechanical dragon before finding a safe spot where Nena joins him. After this, Nena is seen as a samurai but falls into a hole and is rescued by Rolf Brendel, the band's drummer and Nena's then boyfriend. In the remainder of the video, a few excerpts are repeated. The video was shot in the middle of Germany 1984.

Track listings

7" Single CBS A 4710 1984

1. Irgendwie, irgendwo, irgendwann 4:10
2. Ganz oben (Live) 4:38

12" Maxi CBS A 12.4710 1984

1. Irgendwie, irgendwo, irgendwann (Special 12" Dance-Mix) 7:15
2. Ganz oben (Live) 3:53
3. Der Bus is' schon weg (Live) 2:44

Charts

Chart (1984/1985)	Peak position
German Singles Chart	3
Austrian Singles Chart	7
Swiss Singles Chart	2
Dutch Singles Chart	13

Jan Delay version

"Irgendwie, irgendwo, irgendwann"
Single by Jan Delay featuring Dennis Dubplate and Absolute Beginner
from the album Das gibt's nur einmal
Released	4 December 1999
Format	CD
Recorded	1998
Genre	Hip hop, reggae
Length	5:30
Label	EMI
Writer(s)	Uwe Fahrenkrog-Petersen, Carlo Karges
Producer(s)	Matthias Arfmann, Jan Eissfeldt
Jan Delay singles chronology
"Irgendwie, irgendwo, irgendwann" (1999) "Ich möchte nicht, dass ihr meine Lieder singt" (2001)

In 1999 Jan Delay with Denyo and Beginner covered this song for the compilation album Das gibt's nur einmal of the TV project Pop 2000 by ARD and Viva. Just like the original this cover was also successful in Germany. Unlike the original, this version also contains a rap verse.

The music video was filmed on a beach, starting with Jan Delay with a dog in his arms, and some women. While he performs the song, you can see fish and a couple of women swimming in the water. They also keep a few signs up showing among other things 77 and Nazis out. At the end of a radio clips will be thrown into the water.

Track listings

Maxi-CD Grönland 7243 8 87923 2 5 / EAN 0724388792325 1999

1. Irgendwie, Irgendwo, Irgendwann 5:30
2. Jan Delay a. k. a. Eissfeldt - B-Side 4:08

Charts

Chart (1999)	Peak position
German Singles Chart	2
Austrian Singles Chart	2
Swiss Singles Chart	5

Anyplace, Anywhere, Anytime

"Anyplace, Anywhere, Anytime"
Single by Nena and Kim Wilde
from the album Nena feat. Nena
B-side	Nur geträumt and "Irgendwie, irgendwo, irgendwann"
Released	18 May 2003 (2003-05-18)
Format	CD-single
Recorded	2002
Genre	Synthpop
Length	4:02 (Album Version) 3:42 (Radio Version)
Label	Edel
Writer(s)	Uwe Fahrenkrog-Petersen, Carlo Karges, Lisa Dalbello
Producer(s)	Uwe Fahrenkrog-Petersen, Jeo Pard, Gena Wernick
Nena singles chronology
"Wunder gescheh'n" (2002) "Anyplace, Anywhere, Anytime" (2003) "Nur geträumt" (2003)
Kim Wilde singles chronology "Born to Be Wild" (2002) "Anyplace, Anywhere, Anytime" (2003) "You Came" (2006)

An all-English version of "Irgendwie, irgendwo, irgendwann" called "Anyplace, Anywhere, Anytime" was included on Nena's 1985 album It's All in the Game (the English-language version of Feuer und Flamme), but has never been released as a single.

In 2002, celebrating twenty years of the beginning of her success in former Nena band, Nena recorded a new album Nena feat. Nena that contains a new version of the song with the combined English and German lyrics, performed with British singer Kim Wilde. The video was filmed outside the London Guildhall and in and around Change Alley, London EC3.

It was a best-selling hit all over the European continent but was not released in the UK.

Nena and Kim Wilde appeared together several times in 2003 to promote the single on various TV programmes and performed the song live during Nena’s October 2002 concert in Frankfurt marking the 20th anniversary year of the Nena’s debut. Since then they duetted together again in 2006 on the re-make of "You Keep Me Hanging On" on Kim Wilde's Never Say Never album but did not perform "Anyplace, Anywhere, Anytime" live again until a joint concert in Saasveld, Netherlands on 13 December 2014.

Chart performance

Chart (2003)	Peak position
Austria	1
Netherlands	1
Belgium	2
Germany	3
Switzerland	9
Denmark	19

Other notable recorded versions

• 1992: Herbert Grönemeyer
• 2000: Max Raabe
• 2000: The Smurfs (Sag mir wie, sag mir wo, sag mir wann)
• 2001: DJs@Work (Someday)
• 2003: Otto Waalkes (Hänsel und Gretel)
• 2003: Guildo Horn
• 2005: Insania
• 2006: Komu Vnyz
• 2008: Adoro (band), Symphonity

Satirical version

In March 2016 the song was used as a base for a satirical song on the Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan by the TV magazine Extra 3 of the German broadcaster NDR. This version of the song sparked a minor diplomatic incident with Turkish government officials reportedly demanding of Germany's ambassador to Turkey that NDR desist from broadcasting it.