Ich wär’ so gerne Millionär
I'd love to be a millionaire – "Millionär" by Die Prinzen
Today, October 3, is Germany’s major national holiday, Tag der Deutschen Einheit (German Unity Day). This Feiertag celebrates the official Wiedervereinigung (reunification) of East and West Germany on October 3, 1990, which marked a huge change for the country and the beginning of the united Germany we know today.
Germany’s reunification holds special significance for my own family, as my husband was born in East Germany. He was eleven years old when the Berlin Wall fell and holds many distinct memories of life in the GDR and the years following die Wende, or the big change – but that’s a post for another day. We sometimes reflect on the fact that, had Germany never reunited, he likely would have never ventured out to the United States, where we eventually met. Our lives would have looked a lot different, and you would also most likely not be reading these words from me!
Alongside the countless other changes brought on by Germany’s reunification, the country also experienced a melding of arts and media across the two formerly divided sides. Germans from the East now had access to music and programming from the West –“Der Preis ist heiß” (“The Price is Right”) left an especially big impression on my husband! And music from East Germany made its way west, with some bands and musicians finding themselves with a suddenly larger audience.
This was exactly the case for Die Prinzen, an a cappella group from East-German Leipzig composed of former chorus boys from Leipzig’s famed Thomanerchors. After Germany reunited, the band from the East quickly established themselves as gesamtdeutsche Popstars, and their 1991 song “Millionär” gained them fame across the country.
Ich wär’ so gerne Millionär
I'd love to be a millionaire
Dann wär’ mein Konto niemals leer
Then my account would never be empty
Ich wär’ so gerne Millionär
I'd love to be a millionaire
Millionenschwer
Worth millions
Ich wär’ so gerne Millionär
I'd love to be a millionaire
Who hasn’t thought about all they could do if they suddenly had millions of dollars (or Euros or Deutsche Marks) at their disposal? It’s an evergreen musical theme that transcends culture, genre, and language – “If I Were a Rich Man” from Fiddler on the Roof comes to mind, as well as “Billionaire” by Travie McCoy featuring Bruno Mars.
As dreaming about being a millionaire is usually highly hypothetical, it’s the perfect scenario for using German’s Subjunctive mood (Konjunktiv II), which is most often used for describing an unreal or hypothetical situation or politely expressing a wish or request.
In fact, “Millionär” is such a great use case for the Subjunctive that it is often used as an example in German classes, which is where I first encountered the song several years ago.
The song utilizes the present Subjunctive form of “sein” (to be), used to express what one could do or be if something was hypothetically true:
Ich wäre so gerne Millionär.
I would love to be a millionaire.Dann wäre mein Konto niemals leer.
Then my account would never be empty.
For more detailed information and exercises on the Subjunctive / Konjunktiv, check out this article from Lingolia.
Here are a few additional words from “Millionär” to add to your vocabulary list:
der Millionär - the millionaire
das Konto - the account
leer - empty
millionenschwer - worth millions (literally, “millions heavy”)
das Geld - the money
faul - lazy
reich - rich
träumen - to dream
gefährlich - dangerous
Wishing you a wonderful week ahead, whether or not today is a holiday for you!
Jessica
P.S. – If you enjoyed this post, please consider clicking “like” and/or sharing it with someone else who may be interested in German music, language, and culture! Ganz lieben Dank!
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For more examples of the Subjunctive in German, check out “Ausgehen” by AnnenMayKantereit. And for another song that holds a connection to Tag der Deutschen Einheit, check out “Gewinner” by Clueso.
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Check out Sprachmelodie's Spotify and Youtube accounts for playlists of all songs featured so far on the blog.