Tongue twisters and viral hits - not really a match. But then "Barbaras Rhabarberbar" came along. What did it take? The singer-songwriter Bodo Wartke, a few lucky coincidences and, of course, the internet.
People in the north are considered taciturn. However, Hamburg-born Bodo Wartke is an exception to this rule. Already as a young boy, he cultivated a pen friendship with his godmother, who wrote short poems for him on special occasions. He waited eagerly for the postman on his birthdays, full of anticipation for the new lines. Rhymes of all kinds fascinated him from an early age—they made ‘language resonate’, as he would later say in interviews.A blossoming of the Bodoversum
Initially, however, rhyming remains a private interest. As the son of two doctors, Bodo first pursues a conventional path: high school graduation, civil service, and then physics studies in Berlin—but he finds no joy in it. He reconsiders his career choice, decides to study music education, and eventually completes a renowned masterclass for talented lyricists in entertainment music. In the following years, he tours with various programs. His "Bodoverse" is versatile: from love songs and pop music to tongue twisters and musical theater to ancient dramas—no genre is alien to him.Fast forward to 2023: Bodo Wartke, now established in Germany, comes across the melodic tongue twister "Barbaras Rhabarberbar" (Barbara’s Rhubarb Bar) on the internet—and shortly thereafter, together with producer Marti Fischer, releases a song and video with the same name. The quirky German rap piece, consisting almost entirely of words with the syllable "ba," becomes a minor internet hit and is clicked on thousands of times. So far, so good. The two musicians are pleased with their modest success.
A few months later, however, things take an unexpected turn: two young Australians, Stephanie and Christina, dance to "Barbaras Rhabarberbar" and upload their video to TikTok. Within hours, the dance spreads like wildfire—the video and the song go viral. What began as harmless fun turns into a global phenomenon: suddenly, people all over the world know Barbara and her rhubarb bar. Fans upload their own choreographies—from Uganda to the U.S. to Mallorca. Wartke and Fischer even make it to the cover of the New York Times and respond to the immense hype with a dance video of their own. The song and countless choreographies from around the world receive millions of views. The hype is so big that Wartke is now recognized abroad—a completely new experience for the artist, whose career had previously unfolded away from the international spotlight.
But why is the song so successful? Wartke himself doesn’t have a definitive answer. “Maybe it’s the cheerful melody and the love of resonant language—it seems to have universal appeal,” he says modestly. One thing, however, is certain: the internet has played a key role in breaking down some persistent stereotypes about German music. After all, who would have thought that Germany would one day be celebrated for its humor and linguistic lightness? Whatever the secret of the song is, one thing is certain: this quirky tongue twister shows that humor and the German language are not mutually exclusive—on the contrary, sometimes they make an unexpectedly harmonious pair. Barbara’s Rhabarberbar—there’s just no topping it.
November 2024