Rammstein’s Deutschland sparks polemics

Today Rammstein released an epic, cinematic nine-minute video of their new song “Deutschland” (Germany), a few hours after the band raised polemics and outrage for posting a shorter promotional clip that showed band members dressed up as Nazi concentration camp prisoners.

The full-length video shows Rammstein in different roles during famous eras of German history and features scenes from Weimar, Nazi and communist East Germany. Lyrics of the song is based upon controversial feelings to the motherland, a love-hate relationship of band members with their German identity. The melody of the outro of the song is taken from Sonne, which can be interpreted as a rise of a new era in German history.

The video’s release came after the band posted a shorter promotional clip on social media that showed only one of the music video’s scenes.

The segment showed the band members with nooses around their necks and dressed in the striped uniforms that Holocaust victims were made to wear in the death camps. At least one band member appears to be wearing a yellow Star of David that Jews were forced to wear by the Nazis.

“Whoever misuses the Holocaust for marketing purposes acts in a deplorable and immoral way,” said Josef Schuster, the head of the Central Council of Jews in Germany.

The promotional clip was “shameful and uncalled for,” Israel’s Foreign Ministry said, adding that the band had used “the Holocaust for advertisement purposes.”

I dare to share my modest opinion with you, I think, as a Russian, who never saw her grandfathers (they lost their lives in WWII) and had honour to spend some time with my uncle who returned back home as millions of Soviet soldiers with victory, from Germany, and with my father in law, military pilot, member of French Resistance, I have a right to do it. I did not see any marketing purposes in Rammstein video. The song covers different episodes of German history, from victories to defeats, I did not see any heroisation of nazism or anything close. I saw a very clear message. My own motherland has moments which we are proud and which we are ashamed of, but it’s life, inevitable river of history, whatever happens, we love it and we hate it, and we are deeply connected to it. We can’t run away from our roots and our history, we accept it and go on with lessons learned.

What concerns me is the fact that still rock and metal artists don’t have such serious perception of their art on the official level, as films or theatre plays producers/actors.
Rammstein gained millions of fans and supporters not just due to controversy of their lyrics topics and shocking videos. Catchy melodic music, picturesque performances and multilayered in meaning lyrics (just to remind all of us that Till Lindemann is the owner of one of the most precious poetic awards for his poetry). Each Rammstein action, let it be a new song, album, tour or just a concert become an outstanding event on the rock/metal scene. So, Deutschland is one of them. For me it is a piece of Rammstein ART. Let’s enjoy ART, rock on and METAL ON LOUD.