10 songs dedicated to Berlin

Marlene Dietrich's relationship with her hometown was a troubled one. The rise of the Nazis would send the star into perpetual exile - but her conflicted longing for Berlin would never cease, captured so poignantly in the German-language heartbreaker "I still have a Suitcase in Berlin." She would finally return to her estranged homeland after her death in 1992, to be buried beside her mother.

Written about watching the world roll out behind glass on Berlin's S-Bahn train, "The Passenger" has since become a counter-cultural anthem. Recorded at the legendary Hansa Studios by the Berlin Wall while Iggy Pop was in self-imposed exile in the divided city, the song featured on 1977's "Lust for Life" album, which would propel the former frontman of The Stooges to commercial success.

Following speculation about his health, Bowie sent the music world into a frenzy in 2013 by dropping a new single: "Where Are We Now?" He recorded the bulk of his Berlin Trilogy in the city in the 70s - including the masterwork, "Heroes" - but "Where Are We Now?" revisits the city as an elderly gentleman. A nostalgic stroll through the city he once called home: "A man lost in time near KaDeWe."

Unlike Bowie and Iggy Pop, punk granddaddy Lou Reed never lived in Berlin. But that didn't stop him drawing on the city for his Kurt Weill-esque 1973 album "Berlin." The lyrics of the eponymous title track perfectly conjured up the paradoxical zeitgeist of a generation: "In Berlin, by the Wall / You were five feet, ten inches tall / It was very nice / candlelight and Dubonnet on ice."

As a Jew, Leonard Cohen would always have his troubles with Berlin. But as a songwriter he was naturally drawn to the city's explosive 20th century history. On his 1987 cult classic "First We Take Manhattan," the Canadian would reference it directly, chanting ominously: "First we take Manhattan…then we take Berlin." The powerful critique of global hegemony would spur countless cover versions.

In 1991, U2 were looking for a new beginning. "Rattle and Hum" had alienated some for its pomposity, so Bono went scrounging for new inspiration...in Berlin. Decamping to Hansa Studios, the band laid down a song that would define a bold new epoch: "Zoo Station." Named for the Berlin train station, the band used the metaphor for a reunited Berlin and new world order - and named the album "Zooropa."

By the mid 2000s Berlin had become a sanctuary for misfits, drawn to its pivotal place between an old century and a new one. The UK's alt rock princelings Bloc Party were amongt them, drawing from the city's loaded landmarks to try to make sense of their own lives. As the 2007 single "Kreuzberg" pined: "There is a wall that runs right through me / Just like this city, I will never be joined."

While most are drawn to Berlin's gritty contemporary history, Rufus Wainwright takes his cues from the city's Weimar era of decadence and cabaret. "Tiergarten" has proved one of his most enduring ballads. Set in Berlin's central park, the Tiergarten, it swoons with the romantic refrain: "Won't you walk me through the Tiergarten / Doesn't matter if it's raining / Won't you walk me through it all."

Why do you do when you're one of the coolest bands in the world? Naturally, you write a song for one of the coolest cities in the world. The second track on Black Rebel Motorcycle Club's 2007 record "Baby 81," "Berlin" doesn't make any particular reference to the German capital, yet its stonking and gritty guitar riff is unmistakably Berlin: cocky, edgy and oh so sexy.

From the very first "hey ho, let's go" The Ramones made no secret of their fascination with all things Teutonic - provocatively naming their debut 1976 single "Blitzkreig Bop." Lead songwriter Dee Dee Ramone was born to a German mother and grew up in Berlin. And his love for the German capital (and narcotics) would be committed to history forever with his 1995 ditty, "Born to Die in Berlin."