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"Trans-Europe Express"
"Trans Europa Express"
From Trans-Europe Express
by Kraftwerk
Recorded 1976
Length 3:53 (single version)
6:53 (album version)
Genre Electronic
Single release
Format 7" vinyl, 12" vinyl
A-side Trans-Europe Express (UK)
Trans Europa Express (DE)
B-side Metal on Metal (UK)
Franz Schubert (DE)
Released 7 April 1977
Trans-Europe Express
track listing
  1. "Europe Endless"
  2. "The Hall of Mirrors"
  3. "Showroom Dummies"
  4. "Trans-Europe Express"
  5. "Metal on Metal"
    "Abzug" (DE only)
  6. "Franz Schubert"
  7. "Endless Endless"
Wikipedia

Lyrics (en - de)

"Trans-Europe Express" (German: "Trans Europa Express") is the title song from the Kraftwerk album Trans-Europe Express and is the fourth on the album. It was later remixed with eleven other songs on the remix album, The Mix. The music was written by Ralf Hütter, and the lyrics by Hütter and Florian Schneider. The track is ostensibly about the Trans Europ Express rail system, with technology and transport both being common themes in Kraftwerk's oeuvre.

German language version[]

The song was also recorded and released in a German language version under the title Trans Europa Express both as a single in edited form and on the German language version of the album of the same name. The lyrics are a literal translation of the English language version although it is not known which came first.

The Mix version[]

A new version of Trans-Europe Express was included on the 1991 album The Mix. This version is considerably shorter than the original and omits the verse about David Bowie and Iggy Pop. It also segues directly into the tracks Abzug and Metal on Metal, although the fusion with the former makes Trans Europe Express closer to the original in duration. A German language version of the track was also included on the German release of The Mix.

Live version[]

The track has often featured in Kraftwerk's live sets and a live version of the Trans Europe Express / Abzug / Metal on Metal suite recorded at Riga Olimpiska Hall in 2004 is included on the group's live album Minimum-Maximum.

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