Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Monty Python - "Lumberjack Song" (in German)


The Monty Python team did two 45-minute specials for German television in 1971 and 1972; both called Monty Python's Fliegender Zirkus.

The specials consisted almost entirely of new material, some of which (a parody of the olympics, and a fairy-tale sketch come to mind) were good enough to be recycled later.

Interestingly, the first of these was done entirely in German - with the Pythons reciting their lines phonetically. The second was done in English (dubbed in German) - and as such can be enjoyed by English-speaking audiences as a pretty good "lost" episode. (The German specials were released on DVD, but rarely ever play on British or American TV).

Today's clip is from the first special. It is one of the few (only?) non-original bits - a German-language version of the "Lumberjack Song". Note how the words "bra" and "pa pa" are replaced by "Büstenhalter" and "Uncle Walter".

For those who are interested, the entire first German special is available on YouTube starting here.