By Konstantinos K.
Rock and metal music are no strangers to controversy and often shocking themes. From sexually explicit lyrics to satanic imagery, blasphemy, violence and gore, there are countless deviant themes that rock’n’roll artists exploit and employ to further their notoriety and first, fame and attention. There have been many artists that have managed to have their 15 minutes of fame, as pop culture icon Andy Warhol would day. Many utilize controversial themes and questionable content to shock audiences and follow a much shorter and effective path to popularity and recognition. Others choose to combine such tactics with subtle political undertones that have always widespread appeal and can even make headlines – if one plays his cards right. German industrial metal band, Rammstein are no strangers to all the above. Their latest song, Deutschland (Germany) made broke new globally for its unforgiving depiction of Germany’s history in its video clip, focusing particularly on the Jewish holocaust, with shocking imagery of Jewish prisoners about to be executed by Nazis. Indeed, there is much to say about “Deutschland”, the culmination of nearly a decade of attempts by Rammstein to make a political statement through their music. Being a politically left-wing band, with all bandmates having lived in Eastern Germany, they have vivid memories of the socialist experiment that was the DDR (Deutsches Demokratische Republik). One of their first and admittedly most successful attempts to make a political statement was in 2011, with the song, “Mein Land” (My Country).
The video clip introduces us to Till Lindemann, the frontman of Rammstein, working as a lifesaver, running bare-chested in Baywatch style. The metal guitar riff kicks in and as Lindemann sings, it quickly becomes evident that the macho-man caricature, that is Lindemann’s lifesaver, is not looking out for swimmers but rather for migrants coming from the sea. He asks aggressively, while looking at the sea, “Where are you going? Where?” and exclaims disappointed that “There he comes running. With the flag in the hand”. In the chorus the singer reminds us that we are in his “land” and that these are his “sea and waves”. He is not willing to share his land and freedom to anyone since there would be no place for him in the end. These messages and rhetoric come across as quite familiar. Four years after the song’s release, a refugee and migrant crisis would shock the southern European borders as mostly Syrian refugees would make their way into continental Europe via the sea, through Greece and Italy. The far-right mobilized and the lyrics of Till Lindemann became the manifesto of such political groups and parties that vowed to defend the European land by what they interpreted as a “foreign invasion”. Rammstein’s song, whose purpose was to mock and ridicule xenophobic and anti-immigration sentiments had suddenly become very relevant as many Europeans expressed their discontent over the large influx of refugees and migrants into their communities. Social critique? A prophecy? Rammstein’s “Mein Land” serves as both.
The video clip concludes in an exotic beach party full of naked girls, pyrotechnics and a raging Lindemann that screams “Sold! My Country! Evicted! My Country! Forgotten! My Country! I can’t stay anywhere!”. We got the message, Till.
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