8

The German singer-songwriter Reinhard Mey has a song called "Der Fischer und der Boss", which translates to "The Fisherman and the Boss".

It tells the story of a fisherman who sometimes goes out for tourists so they can fish too. The boss comes to him although it is bad weather and the fisherman doesn't want to go out, so the boss raises the pay so far the fisherman can't resist any more. He says the fisherman's youngest child has a big religious event coming to her and he would need money for that etc.

Well it ends as you would expect. A little later a lifeboat finds the lifebelt of the sunken boat since the weather was far too heavy.

Here is a link to the song text on songtexte.com.
And here it is on YouTube

So my question is: Is there a real life background to this story? I think I remember him mentioning Michelin announcing the song in a concert, too.

Improve this question
1
  • 1
    Albeit not a "real life background" and something you might already be aware of, but the title is certainly reminiscent of the fairytale about "The Fisherman and his Wife", which might share some motifs with the song in that his wife constantly makes the fisherman ask for increasingly bigger wishes from a magical fish, until they ask for too much. It might as well be a coincidence, though.
    – Major Tom
    Commented Jan 22, 2020 at 10:36

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
1

You will probably never read this, but I found an answer after googling it: it is, I would think, based on the incident mentioned in these articles:

https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/biz/archives/2006/05/28/2003310455

https://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/veteran-tyre-boss-francois-michelin-dies--81750

However, the circumstances seem to be more complicated than the song implies . . . but you should probably read it yourself and form your own opinion.

Improve this answer
1
  • From the Independent: "Mystery surrounds the death of Edouard Michelin ... in the shipwreck of a small fishing boat off Brittany ... M. Michelin's body was found eight miles off the Breton coast on Friday night. He had persuaded M. Normant - against his gut instincts - to take him fishing for sea bass, despite poor visibility and a heavy swell. The French coastguard said, however, that conditions were reasonable at the time of the shipwreck."
    – njuffa
    Commented Sep 23, 2023 at 9:14

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge you have read our privacy policy.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.