Bring Me Edelweiss


"Bring Me Edelweiss" is a song by Austrian band Edelweiss, first released in late 1988 as a stand-alone single, then later included on their debut album Wonderful World of Edelweiss. The song was a hit in Europe and New Zealand, reaching the number-one position in six countries and peaking within the top five on several other music charts, going on to sell over five million copies worldwide. The song contains numerous samples from other artists and features constant yodeling.

Origin and content

In 1988, British electronic band The Timelords scored a number-one hit in the United Kingdom and New Zealand with the novelty song "Doctorin' the Tardis", which samples a number of songs, including Gary Glitter's "Rock and Roll" and The Sweet's "Block Buster!". As a result of the song's success, the band published a book entitled The Manual . Written by members Bill Drummond and Jimmy Cauty, the book instructed—as a joke—how to earn a number-one hit without much work. One instruction, "Compose your music with bits you've nicked from other songs", was supposedly followed by Edelweiss, allowing them to compose "Bring Me Edelweiss."
The song features many samples. The primary sample, which the song's chorus is based on, is ABBA's 1975 song "SOS", which was one of the band's first international hits. ABBA usually do not allow other artists to sample their music, and they claimed Edelweiss never contacted them and never had permission to sample "SOS". Other samples in the song include the 'Ow!'s from "Rock Me Amadeus" by fellow Austrian musician Falco, sections of Indeep's 1983 song "Last Night a DJ Saved My Life", and the 'Ah yeah' from Run-DMC's "Here We Go ". Yodeling is also common throughout the song, and the female vocals are provided by Austrian singer Maria Mathis.

Track listings

Europe 7" single
  1. "Bring Me Edelweiss" – 3:42
  2. "Kitz-Stein-Horn" – 4:07
UK & Europe 12" single
Side A
  1. "Bring Me Edelweiss" – 7:43
  2. "Bring Me Edelweiss" – 3:42
Side B
  1. "Yodel" – 5:00
  2. "Schnaps Bonus" – 2:47
US cassette single
  1. "Bring Me Edelweiss"
  2. "Bring Me Edelweiss"
US 12" single
Side A
  1. "Bring Me Edelweiss" – 9:12
  2. "Bring Me Edelweiss" – 5:42
Side B
  1. "Bring Me Edelweiss" – 7:40
  2. "Bring Me Edelweiss" – 4:58
US CD single
  1. "Bring Me Edelweiss" – 3:42
Canada 12" single
Side A
  1. "Bring Me Edelweiss" – 3:41
  2. "Bring Me Edelweiss" – 9:12
  3. "Bring Me Edelweiss" 5:42
Side B
  1. "Bring Me Edelweiss" – 7:31
  2. "Bring Me Edelweiss" – 7:40
  3. "Bring Me Edelweiss" – 4:58
2001 Austria maxi single
  1. "Bring Me Edelweiss" – 3:24
  2. "Bring Me Edelweiss" – 3:24
  3. "Bring Me Edelweiss" – 5:02
  4. "Bring Me Edelweiss" – 3:19

    Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Chart Position
Belgium 32
Europe 47
Germany 22
Netherlands 19
New Zealand 28
Switzerland 20

Certifications and sales