The Rhythm Thief

The song sets the direction for Lil' Beethoven, an album without techno beats or loops. Ron Mael did the orchestrations, with furious strings and kettle drums as the only percussion. The lyric plays on German and the names of composers: Beethoven, Mozart and Bach. At the end a synthesized vocal fades away as if the thief has stolen it.

Ron has said the song mattered at a time when the brothers felt stuck. They had good songs, he said, but that did not seem enough to inspire them. PopMatters, reviewing the album in 2003, called it a marvelous way to begin such an odd album. A video by Kuntzel+Deygas appeared on the 2004 deluxe edition, which also added an instrumental version at 5:24. The song also appears on the soundtrack to The Sparks Brothers.