Swiss fireman score rap hit

 

Say 'Swiss fireman' and you probably think of a straight-laced type, as serious as his wholesome country. That's what makes this video (below) all the more funny. The Geneva fire service, a military organisation, decided for some reason to use French ghetto rap to alert the Swiss to confusion over emergency phone numbers.

The result has become a YouTube phenomenon, especially in France, which likes to mock les Suisses as slow-witted bumpkins who speak quaint dialect as they milk their cows.      

    

Professionals were brought in to produce the video, in which the rapping firefighters berate the public in gang-style slang for jamming their switchboard with requests for phone numbers. This is because the  Swiss directory assistance was switched to numbers beginning 18 and the fire service number is 118. In addition the French phone information number is 118.

The two lads at the start say:

Hey man. Tu n'as pas encore compris qu'ici c'est pas une agence

Mais un putain de central d'urgence

[Hey Man, you haven't got it yet -- this ain't no info agency                                                                         It's an f..ing emergency centre!]

The woman says:

Ici c'est un central, comme les renseignements

Sauf que le 118 ça barde quotidiennement

Toute la journée on se fait déranger...

[This is a call centre like directory information

Except that 118 makes a racket every day

All day we get disturbed...]

Another line goes:

It's 118, in case you freak out/118,  write it in your underpants

Somehow that's not quite how we see the staid Suisse Romande. The Geneva crew, who were helped out by colleagues from Neuchâtel and Lausanne, are now on the receiving end of a deluge of global fan mail.

Lieutenant-Colonel Raymond Wicky, their boss, has been making some sensible Swiss comments on their hit. "They chose rap because it is spoken and not sung, because clearly they are not singers," he said. He reassured tax payers that the firefighters made the video on their time off.

At the risk of over-doing the stereotypes, only the regulation-minded Swiss would come up with that line in the song -- Especially don't call us for (trouble with) animals that weight less of 10 kilogrammes. 

Comments

[richard jones]

Rap is crap but I love this. What a fantastic way to get the message across, not forgetting some lovely shots showing the Swiss do not take themselves too seriously, thank God.
I can't wait for the two countries that have French AMONGST their languages to get into the real fun world again, not weighed upon the usual French smug self-satisfaction and neighing cultural arrogance.

PS My 19year old grandson can't wait to meet the lady telephonist with the legs.

[Sandrine]

Ha ! You've got to be kidding me ! That's very funny, and it might work actually !!

[textibule]

I hope my next house fire is en Suisse

[Alice David]

Those Swiss are hilarious. We should stop mocking le Canton de Vaud

[Mary Chin]

The firefighters may have made the video on their time off, but they should be getting royalties!

[Sebastian]

A kebab seller also hit the Web this summer with a French rap. Im just waiting for CB to do the same to promote his blog...

[Frank Schnittger]

Just as well they made the video on their time off, otherwise any royalties would end up going to the state!

However I'm sure some reporter will discover that some firemen practiced their rap routines whilst on the job between fires etc. No doubt they broke some regulation in the process... I have a Swiss friend who was reported to the police by his neighbours because they thought (wrongly) that he didn't have a truck driving licence!

It would be helpful for tourists and business travellers if there was one, internationally recognised, emergency number. That way you don't have to try to remember which number to ring whilst you are being mugged!

Richard - It just goes to show how little talent you need to rap.

[richard jones]

Frank,

I like the idea of an international emergency service number. I think Dag Hammersjkold had the idea many moons ago, but it fell apart.
I fink there mite be teknikal problems an' all as you would have to somehow frontier bond the call or have country codes. I fink the first is hard to do and the second may not be easy for travellers. USA 01, La Suisse 0041, UK 0044 not very logical and travellers phone home so they know that l'indic., but where they are passing through???
Imagine a coach tour - 23 countries in 8 days - 'We are now entering France 0033 and tomorrow will visit Belgium 0032, Holland 0031 and Luxembourg 00352.....
There's also the crossborder bit. In the part of France I used to live in
pour les incendies one telephoned Switzerland first then France to tell them what you'd done.
Here in Greece 0030 it's best to telephone for assistance, especially fires, the first other country that comes to mind. Help will certainly arrive quicker than from here in Greece.
Rapping - why did you make the remark about talent. I'm not saying the Swiss have rap talent (if talent were to be required), although they are certainly gifted in many fields.
I just thought the idea was brilliant, likely to get sniffy criticism from their neighbours and general approbation from the rest of the world. Look at the youtube hit rate - my grandson is probably responsible for thousands of them 'cos of the leggy lady - and CNN interest.

[Robert Marchenoir]

"Les Suisses as slow-witted bumpkins who speak quaint dialect as they milk their cows."

Haha. I know a couple of Swiss blogs where it would be quite interesting to post that as a comment. I cannot wait to see the results.

[azloon]

i believe the leggy lady will receive numerous calls on skype camera phones about animals weighing more than 10 kilograms and getting heavier by the second.

[richard jones]

Parâit que la dame en question est Neuchâteloise.

[BusyLizzie]

Great video and we're proud of our Genevese firemen and women. There is, however, a mistake in the article. The reason for the fire brigade's emergency switchboard being swamped by "requests for phone numbers" is not because the fire brigade's number has changed. It is directory enquiries that has been switched from 111 to 1811; hence the confusion with the fire brigade's emergency number which has always been 118 in Switzerland. (Police are 117 and ambulances 144)

[Marco]

Respect to the guys and the girl for making that track & vid. And yes, the Swiss do have talented rappers - for those of you for whom the above is their first taste of Swiss rap, i recommend you take the time to listen to Sens Unik, Deux, Bligg, etc.

[Pierre]

Regarding a recent thread on the difference between english and american swearwords, I have read in today's FT that Gilbert O'Sullivan's norwegian wife is called 'Aase'. This works in both languages, no?

GO'S sued the rapper Biz Markie for sampling the intro of "Alone Again (Naturally)" so you can't say it's not relevant to swiss firemen.

[Tara Lane Bowman]

Well, it needs to be said: Fireman, from any country, are just hot (no pun intended.)

[Little Big Horse]

And what about this one:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QEkYqL9n7vo&mode=related&search=

Wonder if they were moving to Iraq!

[azloon]

[Swiss do have talented rappers - for those of you for whom the above is their first taste of Swiss rap...] Marco

i am sure swiss rap fine, the singers are fine, the music is fine, it humms along at a nice danceable pace, and all the muscular guys are shirtless. BUT the term itself --'swiss rap' -- has an air of incongruity for this american that is hard to describe, maybe a little like talking about 'saudi arabian polka.'

the idea of snoop dog, or jay z emerging from the 'ghetto' of lausaunne or zurich eagerly 'bitch slapping' nubile swiss milk maids (swiss ho's?) is a slightly absurd but amusing image. maybe 50 cent doing a rap version of sound of music is next.

Tara Lane: UPS or Fedex ought to do some of their commercials using the swiss hunk model of rap. You think? Is is Will??

[Maggie G]

"Is it Will?"

yes, Tara Lane, I have been wondering the same thing. That is, if he's referring to a baby. Should we be sending you congratulations?

[azloon]

there you are, Maggie G, you sneaky soul, you !!

ok, what's the deal??

out with it!!

(shall we call you the cat in the hat, dude?)