DiscoverArTEEtude: Unveiling the Spectrum of Art, Culture and Mind. West Cork´s Art and Culture Podcast by Detlef Schlich.#Arteetude 302 – Schlich shares the story behind WAW’s official debut single, created together with Dirk Schlömer. At the End we listen to "The Niles Bittersweet Song"
#Arteetude 302 –  Schlich shares the story behind WAW’s official debut single, created together with Dirk Schlömer. At the End we listen to "The Niles Bittersweet Song"

#Arteetude 302 – Schlich shares the story behind WAW’s official debut single, created together with Dirk Schlömer. At the End we listen to "The Niles Bittersweet Song"

Update: 2025-10-05
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Description

Two days ago, on October 3rd, 2025, our very first single was released: The Niles Bittersweet Song.

For us, this piece feels like a journey into the depths of life, telling of the two sides of the Nile: its power to bring new life, but also its relentless force that can cause loss. It is this very tension – between hope and pain, between birth and death – that makes the song bittersweet.

Perhaps it is fitting that this release comes so close to the Day of German Unity. Boundaries and shores, division and connection – these are themes that our upcoming album, The Stories of Nil Young, will touch upon again and again. But this first track is devoted entirely to the ancient, universal energy of the Nile.

Additionally, in this episode, Detlef reflects with AI co-host Sophia on the release of "The Niles Bittersweet Song," the very first single from WAW (Wild Atlantic Way), his collaboration with Dirk Schlömer. They explore the dual nature of the Nile — giver of life and bringer of loss — and how this theme became the foundation of their upcoming album The Stories of Nil Young.

The episode travels between Berlin and West Cork, tracing how geography, myth, and multilayered storytelling weave into music that resists mass production and insists on lived experience. Detlef shares the dream that gave birth to “Nil Young,” connecting cycles of beginnings, endings, and myth, while Sophia frames the release as more than a song: it’s the opening of a poetic universe.

This is not just a track in the endless stream — it is a statement, a promise, and the beginning of a larger journey.



 

about

The Niles Bittersweet Song flows between myth and memory — a meditation on life’s dual rhythm. Inspired by ancient stories of Hapi, the river god of renewal and destruction, the song follows Kamau, a man standing at the river’s edge, mourning what the waters give and take. Schlömer & Schlich blend haunting melody with lyrical storytelling, where loss and rebirth drift together like silt in the current.

lyrics

The Niles Bittersweet Song

Chorus

The Niles bittersweet song, sweet song

The Niles bittersweet song, sweet song

Verse 1

Kamau stands by the river, where the waters rise and swell

Recalling tales of Hapi, and the stories elders tell

Each year the floods bring life, a gift to the arid land

But in its embrace, a fate he hadn't planned

Chorus

The Nile is in his heart, the tears are in his eyes

The river's bittersweet song

Brings life and takes away, takes away

Verse 2

Kamau remembers laughter in fields of golden grain

But the river's gift one year, brought with it the pain

In its nurturing flood, his brother was swept away

A reminder of the river's price to pay

Chorus

The Nile is in his heart, the tears are in his eyes

The river's bittersweet song

Brings life and takes away, takes away

Bridge

Kamau feels the wind whispering across the flood

A dance of life and loss, in the river's mud

He knows the Nile's power, both cruel and kind

In its waters, the story of life entwined

Do you mind? Really? Do you really mind?

Verse 3

When Kamau watches the children playing by the shore

The cycle of life continues, as it has before

Chorus

The Nile is in his heart, the tears are in his eyes

The river's bittersweet song

Brings life and takes away, takes away

Outro

The Nile's bittersweet song

The Nile's bittersweet song

The Nile's bittersweet song

The Nile

Detlef Schlich is a rock musician, podcaster, visual artist, filmmaker, ritual designer, and media archaeologist based in West Cork. He is recognised for his seminal work, including a scholarly examination of the intersections between shamanism, art, and digital culture, and his acclaimed video installation, Transodin's Tragedy. He primarily works in performance, photography, painting, sound, installations, and film. In his work, he reflects on the human condition and uses the digital shaman's methodology as an alter ego to create artwork. His media archaeology is a conceptual and practical exercise in uncovering the unique aesthetic, cultural, and political aspects of media in culture.


WEBSITE LINKS


WAW Official YouTube Channel

https://www.youtube.com/@WAWBand


WAW Bandcamp

Silent Night

In a world shadowed by conflict and unrest, we, Dirk Schlömer & Detlef Schlich, felt compelled to reinterpret 'Silent Night' to reflect the complexities and contradictions of modern life.

https://studiomuskau.bandcamp.com/track/silent-night


Wild Atlantic Way

This results from a trip to West Cork, Ireland, where the beautiful Coastal "Wild Atlantic Way" reaches along the whole west coast!

https://studiomuskau.bandcamp.com/track/wild-atlantic-way


YOU TUBE

*Silent Night Reimagined* A Multilayered Avant-Garde Journey by WAW aka Dirk Schlömer & Detlef Schlich

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dAbytLSfgCw


Detlef Schlich

Instagram

Detlef Schlich

ArTEEtude

I love West Cork Artists

Facebook

Detlef Schlich

I love West Cork Artists Group

ArTEEtude

YouTube Channels

visual Podcast

ArTEEtude

Cute Alien TV

official Website

ArTEEtude

Detlef Schlich

Det Design

Tribal Loop

Download here for free Detlef Schlich´s Essay about the Cause and Effect of Shamanism, Art and Digital Culture

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/303749640_Shamanism_Art_and_Digital_Culture_Cause_and_Effect



Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/arteetude-a-podcast-with-artists-by-detlef-schlich/donations
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#Arteetude 302 –  Schlich shares the story behind WAW’s official debut single, created together with Dirk Schlömer. At the End we listen to "The Niles Bittersweet Song"

#Arteetude 302 – Schlich shares the story behind WAW’s official debut single, created together with Dirk Schlömer. At the End we listen to "The Niles Bittersweet Song"

Detlef Schlich