OUT NOW: THE FELIX SONG. Necessary Animals. Music video. 2026

3 days before WW II ended, Daniel Hartlaub´s uncle, Felix Hartlaub (*1913), a draughtsman and writer, boarded a train and disappeared, leaving behind a short life full of mysteries and unanswered questions.

The music video The Felix Song is a first musical and visual impression of the feature film project Vanished. The Curious Life and Death of Felix Hartlaub, Daniel Hartlaub and Keith Rodway are currently working on.

The music video is also published on the App berlinHistory where Felix´life in Berlin can be retraced with audio readings of his writings (speaker: Bernhard Schir), photos, and info texts.

The Felix Song
Germany/UK 2026
Digital animation
Length: 5:13 m

Drawings/Editing: Daniel Hartlaub
Music (video): Necessary Animals
Lyrics: Keith Rodway
© Hartfilms & Necessary Animals, Keith Rodway.

For the The Felix Song Necessary Animals are
Simon Charterton – Drums
Hutch Demouilpied – Trumpet
Anthony Moore – Guitar
Keith Rodway – Bass, Synths
Brian Schmidt – Strings
Amanda Thompson – Vocals, Piano, Guitar

The Felix Song
And you took that train
And we said goodbye
And I felt the rain
Under a clear blue sky
And all the friends we’d made
The life we’d yet to live
You had so much to say
So much to give

These voices in my head

Vibrations on the wires

So many paths to tread

Frustrations and desires

A life lived out of time

A race that was never run

What could you have achieved

You had only just begun

I walk down by the riverside

The moon behind the clouds

I feel we’re being shadowed

Predators prowl the crowds

It’s a dangerous world we live in

I don’t know who to trust

Our love will end in ruin

Our dreams will turn to dust

Everything now is collapsing

And we’re watching in real time

You took that train from the heartland

To cross the line

The dead still walk among the living

But they’re keeping out of range

I’ll remember you as a living ghost

It’s a melancholy age