"Da Da Da I Don't Love YouYou Don't Love Me Aha Aha Aha" is a song by the German band Trio. Trio was formed in 1980 by Stephan Remmler, Gert "Kralle" Krawinkel, and Peter Behrens. Released as a single in 1982 and featured on their 1981 eponymous debut album, "Da Da Da" became a hit in Germany and about 30 other countries, selling 13 million copies worldwide. The lyrics were written by Stephan Remmler, the music by Gert "Kralle" Krawinkel. "Da Da Da" remains the band's biggest German hit and their only hit outside Germany.
Background and composition
It is known in many language versions:
German version as "Da da da, ich lieb' dich nicht du liebst mich nicht aha aha aha"
English version as "Da Da Da I don't love you you don't love me"
French version as "Da Da Da je t'aime pas tu m'aimes pas"
The song "Da Da Da" has become popular while being extremely repetitive. It was a product of the Neue Deutsche Welle. However, Trio preferred the name Neue Deutsche Fröhlichkeit, which means "New German Cheerfulness", to describe their music. At that time, popular songs were based on extremely simple structures that were ornately produced. Trio's main principle was to remove almost all the ornamentation and polish from their songs, and to use the simplest practical structures. For this reason, many of their songs are restricted to drums, guitar, vocals, and just one or maybe two other instruments, if any at all. Bass was used very infrequently until their later songs, and live shows often saw Remmler playing some simple pre-programmed rhythms and melodies on his small Casio VL-1 keyboard while Behrens played his drums with one hand and ate an apple with the other. Remmler used a contact microphone on his throat to achieve a different timbre to his voice on lyrics where he stepped away from the regular mic. Trio was made up of:
It had another three top ten hits in Germany until the end of 1983, then disbanded in 1986.
Chart positions
The song was a chart success in more than 30 countries.
The German version of "Da Da Da" reached No. 2 on the charts. There were three versions: the single version for 3:23, a longer version for 6:36. The live version came in the albumTrio live im Frühjahr 82 and goes on for 1:32. On the B-side of the 7" single release was "Sabine Sabine Sabine", whereas the B-Side of the maxi-single carried two more songs: "Halt mich fest ich werd verrückt" and "Lady-O-Lady".
In the UK, "Da Da Da" hit No. 2 in July 1982. The single version goes on for 3:23 and the longer version for 6:36.
In Canada, it peaked at No. 3 in December 1982.
In France, the song was made more popular in 1982 with Zam making a French version titled "Da Da Da je t'aime pas tu m'aimes pas".
In the US, the song peaked at No. 33 on the dance charts. In 1997, the song gained further chart success when the CD of TRIO and Error was released as Da Da Da I Don't Love You You Don't Love Me Aha Aha Aha in the United States and was a US-only promo CD-single in response to the 1997 US Volkswagen commercial that featured the song "Da Da Da I Don't Love You You Don't Love Me Aha Aha Aha", often contracted to simply "Da Da Da". The re-release had some changes: two songs were added to the CD and the album was digitally remastered. The shorter version known as a radio edit version goes on for 2:49.
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
Sales and certifications
Cover versions
In 1982, an Italian version made by I Masters called Da Da Da Mundial '82 was made after Italy's victory at the 1982 FIFA World Cup, with the lyrics honouring the Italian team, with the part prior to the refrain, before the "Aha" saying Son tutti figli di Bearzot.
