"Berlin Chair" is the second single from the album, Sound as Ever by Australian rock band, You Am I. It was released in 1994 and peaked at No. 73 on the Australian ARIA singles chart.[1] "Berlin Chair" was also listed at No. 23 in that year's Triple J Hottest 100,[2] while in the 1998 Hottest 100 of All Time it came in at No. 61[3] and No. 52 in the 2009 Hottest 100 of All Time.[4] In a phone-in poll in 1999, the song was voted best Australian song of the 1990s.[5]
Composition
Tim Rogers started writing the song while living in Chippendale, Sydney.[6] It was finished with help from Andy Kent and Mark Tunaley. Rogers had titled the song after seeing Berlin chair, a piece by Dutch furniture designer and architect Gerrit Rietveld, which Rogers had seen while living in Canberra years earlier.[7] Biographer Craig Mathieson described the imagery of the chair as symbolising "the hard, even impenetrable male edge, that [the song's character] had with his girlfriend."[7]
Reception
In Hi Fi Days, Craig Mathieson stated that "time has not lessened the magic of this song."[7] Mathieson praised the song's lyrics for revealing a character that "admit[s] they're flawed, but still swear[s] their strength, support [and] love."[7] He praised the band's musical performance for "increas[ing] the momentum with every verse, adding vigour and desperation to Tim's emotion. ... 'Berlin Chair' leaves me drained and elated."[7]
Double J reviewer, Dan Condon, rated it as the best Australian song of the 1990s, saying, "In a way, it defies description. It bears little resemblance to any other song. It isn’t traditionally catchy, yet it won’t leave your head from the moment you hear those first lines."[8]
Junkee's David James Young said, "It's a song of co-dependency, trust and endearing love through one another's flaws. It's the kind of song any self-respecting band, genre regardless, would have fucking killed to have written."[9]
The track, "Can't Explain", is a cover version of "I Can't Explain" by The Who. "Jaimme (Makers Mark Version)" is an acoustic version of "Jaimme's Got A Gal". "All I Want to Do Is Rock" is a cover of the Mighty Kong track.
The song was featured in the Australian drama series Upright (2019) during season's 1 episode 5. The appearance references a common misunderstanding of the lyrics to "Berlin Chair". In the episode, a character listens to "Berlin Chair" while driving a car, and repeatedly skips the song backwards, as she tries to decipher a word in the song's chorus. The character initially thinks that the lyrics are "If you wait, I'll give all my eggs to you", before later realising that Rogers in fact sings "I'll give all my aches to you".[11]
The track was used in the PC game Quarantine (1994), which had a soundtrack exclusively featuring songs by Australian alternative bands.
