In our text we want to compare the baroque love poem by Georg Greflinger written in 1644 with Lou Bega´s Oktoberfest hit from 1999. You will see that nothing much has changed in 450 years … 

This is Greflinger´s original: 

"Those whom he once loved" (1644)  

Candida/Fillis/Ramia/Rosina/ 
Dido/Johanna/Fides/Catharina/ 
Lesbia/Dorinde/Melusia/Stella/ELJSABELLA 
All those once owned me 
All those I forgot 
The only one I still enjoy is but  the last 

CANDIDA caught me because of her rosy cheeks 
Near the River Elbe/ she stopped being faithful to me 
When with her powers of seduction she tried to find treasures elsewhere 

FILLIS from Hungary had to leave me 
Against her heart´s will because she had to follow her 
Masters´ will and  do what they told her to do and persuaded her to do. 

RAMIA was furious when I took to arms 
Instead of reading books 
She was interested in victory and not so much in war. 

ROSINA, however, thought more about weapons 
Which, alas, fell from her hands all too soon 
Unfortunately both are lying dead in the sands of Saxony now. 

DIDO, my faithful one, born in the city 
which honourably lost its crown 
loved  so vigorously that only recently she wrote to me about love. 

My JOHANNA, who – I have to admit -  did not become mine 
But is an abbess now, 
You don´t know me anymore, repent the wonderful times we had! 

FIDES put herself as well as her name to shame 
got rid of her honour as well as her love, 
DINA, this is what happens if you take to the streets! 

LESBIA, DORINDE, STELLA, MELUSINA 
were not much different from CATHARINA, 
honest kisses and innocent flirting, this is what our hearts loved. 

ELSJABELLA stands high above all of them, 
She caught me in her net, indeed, 
All of you who once owned me - remain forgotten! 

 
   
 
Rubens "Rape of the Daughters of Leucippas"   

 
And now Lou Bega´s phantastic creation:  

"Mambo Nr. 5 
One, two, three, four, five 
Everybody in the car, so come on 
Let's ride to the liquor-store around the corner 
The boys´ group they want some gin and juice 
But I really don't wanna 
Beerthirst  like I had last week 
I must stay deep 
Because talk is cheap 

I like Angela, Pamela, Sandra and Rita 
And as I continue you know 
Theyare getting sweeter 
So what can I do I really beg you my Lord 
To me flirting it's just like sport anything fly 
It's all good let me dump it 
Please set in the trumpet. 

Chorus: 

A little bit of Monica in my life 
A little bit of Erica by my side 
A little bit of Rita is all I need 
A little bit of Tina is what I see 
A little bit of Sandra in the sun 
A little bit of Mary all night long 
A little bit of Jessica here I am 
 
A little bit of you makes me your man 
And jump and down go and move it all around 
Shake your head to the sound 
Put your hand on the ground 
Take one step left 
And one step right 
One to the front and one to the side 
Clap your hands twice 
And if it looks like this 
Then you are doing it right 

Chorus:  

I do all 
To fall in love with a girl like you 
You can't run and you can't hide 
You and me gonna touch the sky. 

How much do we like Greflinger and Bega? 
Both the baroque poem and the charthit show the careless attitude some men seem to have towards love.. Remarkably,  both texts show a man who seems to have love affairs with masses of women.  In the baroque poem we learn that the man has more or less superficial relationships to about 12 women.  Beauty is important for him – more than his lady´s heart. We do not really believe him when he praises  No. 13, Elsjabella,  who is his present favourite. How long will this love last? 

We are not much convinced of his argumentation in other matters either. Is he to be taken seriously when in connection with No. 6, Johanna, who has become a nun, he says that she should repent her sins, i.e. their sexual adventure? 

And afterwards he admonishes one of the ladies not to take to the streets like No.7 did -  what about him? Would he not experience the same downfall? We think that Mr.Greflinger´s persona is superficial and not much trustworthy. Elsjabella , his favourite, should take care. 

"Mambo No. 5" is even more superficial. It is a fun song – but still it carries a certain message. 7 different girls are mentioned. Every woman seems to have been  in close contact to the singer. He sings about how he  likes these women and how much he wants to possess them. The chorus is pretty direct. Apparently, this man needs a number of women for himself – sounds like a typical macho of the 20th century. 

Flirting has become something of a sport to him. Alcohol, too, seems important. He has to have a girl sitting next to him. And the girl has to do what he wants her to do. 

In both texts,  the man does nothing much but follow his sexual instincts and interests. Obviously, all the women find him handsome and attractive.  But it is not mentioned how they cope with the situation when the love affair is over. The different personalities of the women don`t seem to be of any interest,  for either the mambo dancer or the baroque hero. They know exactly how they must treat women to reach their aim. 

Naturally, Greflinger's poem is not as simple and primitive as Bega´s song , but it is amazing that they share almost the same point of view no matter if they are 450 years apart. 

That is all we have to say,  boys and girls.  It was hard work to write this comparison – we hope you learnt something! 

Sevinc Ayhan and Valerie Strauß