Da Da Da is an international hit by German band Trio (sometimes written TRIO) that was formed in 1980 by Stephan Remmler, Gert 'Kralle' Krawinkel, and Peter Behrens.. Trio disbanded in 1985. Da Da Da in German version "Da da da, ich lieb dich nicht du liebst mich nicht aha aha aha" (or simply "Da Da Da"), or its English version "Da Da Da I Don't Love You You Don't Love Me Aha Aha Aha", wwas a hit in about 30 countries worldwide. Da Da Da remains their biggest hit in Germany and their only hit outside Germany, taken from their debut album Trio released in 1982.

The Song

The song Da Da Da is often given as an example of a song that has become popular while being extremely repetitive.^{[citation needed]}. It was a product of the Neue Deutsche Welle (or NDW). However, Trio preferred the name Neue Deutsche Fröhlichkeit, which means "New German Cheerfulness", to describe their music. At that time, popular songs were based on extremely simple structures that were ornately produced. Trio's main principle was to remove almost all the ornamentation and polish from their songs, and to use the simplest practical structures (most of their songs were three-chord songs). For this reason, many of their songs are restricted to drums, guitar, vocals, and just one or maybe two other instruments, if any at all. Bass was used very infrequently until their later songs, and live shows often saw Remmler playing some simple preprogrammed rhythms and melodies on his small Casio VL-1 keyboard while Behrens played his drums single-handedly while eating an apple.

The German version of "Da da da" was #2 on the charts (April 1982). "Da da da" hit #2 in the UK in July 1982 and #3 in Canada in December 1982. The 1997 CD of TRIO and Error was released as Da Da Da I Don't Love You You Don't Love Me Aha Aha Aha in the United States and was a US-only promo CD-single in response to the 1997 US Volkswagen commercial that featured the song "Da Da Da I Don't Love You You Don't Love Me Aha Aha Aha", often contracted to simply "Da Da Da". The re-release had some changes: two songs were added and the album was digitally remastered.

Trio was made up of:

• Stephan Remmler - Vocals, occasional keyboards
• Gert Krawinkel - guitar
• Peter Behrens - drums

It had another three top ten hits in Germany until the end of 1983, then disbanded the following year.

"Da Da Da" in popular culture

Cover versions

Many cover versions of "Da Da Da" have been done worldwide in various languages:

• Filipino entertainer Yoyoy Villame made a version in 1982.
• Alternative band Elastica recorded it on their 1999 album The Menace
• A Mexican version ws released by the band Molotov on their 2004 cover album Con Todo Respeto

Some have used the music only and changing the lyrics:

• Swedish band Quasimodo 5 released it with modified title as Ya Ya Ya and modified (mostly English) lyrics ^[1]

Use in commercials

It has been used in many commercials as well

• American commercial for the Volkswagen car featured the song "Da Da Da I Don't Love You You Don't Love Me Aha Aha Aha" in 1997.
• Pett Productions used "Da Da Da" in the second series of Tittybangbang for the intro to Pete Wade's sketches.
• A Pepsi ad (Google Video) for the 2006 FIFA World Cup starred several footballers including Thierry Henry, Raúl, Roberto Carlos, Fernando Torres, Frank Lampard, Ronaldinho and David Beckham playing football inside of an Oktoberfest tent.
• Christina Aguilera sang the tune in several Pepsi spots, including duets with Rain and Elissa.
• Ariston used the song in their 1987 spots featuring animated white goods, clothing and kitchen utensils forming dancing humanoids.

Some ads used modified lyrics of the song.

• Teletext replaced "da da da" with "blah blah blah" (vocalized by Ewan Bailey^{[citation needed]});
• Sakata Rice Crackers [1] replaced "da da da" with their brand name.

Use in other media

• ABC following the popularity of the Volkswagen commercial, aired a promo for the sitcom Spin City parodying the car ad. In the original VW commercial, two men drive around and pick up a smelly couch, which they quickly dispose of. In the ABC ad, Michael J. Fox and Michael Boatman's characters pick up Richard Kind's character, who becomes so obnoxious that they throw him out the car.
• The song has been used in the Italian movie Il Divo, directed by Paolo Sorrentino, a fictional biography of Italian politician Giulio Andreotti.
• On YouTube, a viral video version by Chinese Backdorm Boys gathered huge popularity reaching 8 million views

Audio sample