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German Symbolism in Rock Music: National Signification in the Imagery and Songs ofRammstein

Author(s): Robert G. H. BurnsSource: Popular Music, Vol. 27, No. 3 (Oct., 2008), pp. 457-472Published by: Cambridge University PressStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/40212402Accessed: 21-12-2015 16:31 UTC

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2/17

Popular

Music

2008)

Volume

27/3.

Copyright

2008

Cambridge

University

ress,

pp.

457-472

doi:10.1017/S0261143008102239

rinted n

theUnited

Kingdom

Germansymbolismn rock

music: national

signification

n

the

imagery

nd

songs

of

Rammstein

ROBERT G.H. BURNS

Department fMusic, University f Otago,PO Box 56, Dunedin,New Zealand

E-mail: rob. urns@stonebow.

tago.

c.nz

Abstract

In this

rticle,

discuss

spects f

national

dentity

n the

erformancetyle

f

he

German ock

band

Rammstein

rom

he

erspectives

f magery,

ocal

tyle

nd

the extual ontent

f

their

songs.1

nvestigation

ntoRammstein

s music eveals

ransformationsf ignifiersrom

arlier

German

erformancetyles

ndearlier extual hemes

hat

he and se s a means

f

elocating

notions

f

German

dentity

ntotheir wn

performances.

he

adoption f

nationalGerman

signifiers

nables

ammsteino stablishonnections

etweenhe and ndthe

rowthf

national

awarenessmongGerman outhwho ollow hem.n thisway,marketingndpromotionf

notions

f

new

national erman

dentity

o

generations

naware

f

he

riginsf

neo-romantic,

national erman

ignifiers

n Rammstein$

music

upports

successful

ommercial

nterprise

that,

argue,

uns

lose o boundaries

xisting

etween ational

nd nationalist.

Introduction

Rammsteins

a

German

ock

andmost

asily

ituated

ithin

he

heavy

metal

enre,

although

heband

might

e more

ccurately

dentified

ithin

everal fthe

heavy

metal

ub-genres

iscussed

elow,

articularly

hat

f

extreme'

metal.

With

ecord

company

upport,

ammsteinave

remained lose to the xtrememetal

oundary

withoutctually rossingtbypromotingotions fnostalgia or nearlier erman

culture

and for

heir ersion

f a new German omanticismwhile

eschewing

accusations

f inks

ofascism. s

post-Second

orld

War

erceptions

f

Wagner

nd

Strauss

radually

ecome

isassociated

romarlier

wentieth-century

onnectionso

fascism,

lex Ross

observes

hat,

n

Germany,

a

deep

mistrustf

the

German]

musical

ast

till

ingers'

Ross

2005,

.

1).

Moreover,

n

his discussion n

Theodor

Adorno's

asting

nfluence

n German

musical

hought,

oss describes

ow,

n

modern

ermany,

azism

s still nvoked

n

artistic

atters,

ot

n

a

historical

ense,

but s

a

negative

xample

f

ontemporarytyles

ibid.,

.

1

.

It

may

be understand-

able

that

Germany

ould

want

to,

s Ross

puts

t,

wipe

the

lateclean' after he

SecondWorldWar.AspectsfRammstein'susic, owever,nderscoreonnections

torecent

rends

n

post-unification

ermany

owards

ight-wing

rientated

ock nd

extreme

metal,

s

well as to

consequent

xtreme

ttitudes owards he

country's

recent

ast

nd

suspicions

fneo-fascist

itsch.

457

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3/17

458

Robert .H. Burns

Rammstein's

yrics

re almost

lways ung

n

German

nd have enabled

he

band o

stablish

n

dentity

hat

rovides

ifference

n

genre

aturated

y

formulaic

European

nd

Americanock

ands.2 rom media

erspective,

owever,

he and's

lyrics avebeencriticiseds politicallyncorrectnd theirmusichas been inked o

the

shooting

t

Columbine

High

School that ook

place

on the 23

April

1999.3

Consequently,

ome British nd

American adio stations ave refused o

play

Rammstein

ongs.

n

2001,

RammsteinttractedurtherriticismromAsian

and

Afro-Caribbean

erformers

ho were

igned

o the

band's

United

Kingdom

ecord

label.4This

criticism

oncerned

Rammstein

romotional

ideo

that ncluded

images

aken rom

lympia,

film

ocumenting

he 936Berlin

lympic ames

hat

was directed

y

Leni

Riefenstahl

1902-2003

.5

Riefenstahl'sarlier

ilm,

as blaue

Licht

The

Blue

Light)

1932),

brought

er

directorial

kills o the ttentionfAdolf

Hitler,

ith

whose

anctionhemade

films bout he evival fGerman ationalism

during

heThird

Reich's

ise

o

power

n

the1930s.6 he s

nowadays

onsidered

n

innovatornsports hotographyechniques,lthough er onnection ith ascism

remains

contentious

ssuebecause f

other

ropaganda

ilms hat hemadefor he

National

ocialist

arty.7 espite

using

mages

rom

lympia,

ammstein

eny ny

connectionso

National

ocialism.

It

s notthe

purpose

fthis

rticle o

support

ccusations

oncerningossible

links

etween

ammsteinnd

right-wing

erman

ationalism,

lthough

argue

hat

there re

aspects

of their

music

and

their

erformances

hat

reveal

underlying

national

ignifiers,

omeof

which

might

e

consideredontroversial.

do, however,

acknowledge

enedict nderson's

arning

hat ocio-historiansend o

hypostasize

the

xistence f

Nationalism-with-a-big-N

rather

s one

might ge-with-a-big-A)

andthen oclassifyit" as an deology',lthoughcannotquatemy rgument ith

his

uggestion

hat t

wouldbe

easier

f

nationalism ere

reated

n

the ame

way

s

'kinship'

nd

religion',

ather

han

with

liberalism' r fascism'

Anderson

991,

p.

5).

This article

rovides

n

examination f

three reas

in

whichRammstein's

signification

ractices

an

be

clearly

efined.

irstly,

make

omparisons

etween

Rammstein's

tage

ettings

nd

costumes

nd

themechanical-kineticonstructivist

movement

n

Germany

n

the

920s,

s

well s between he and's

physicalmagery

n

live

performance

nd

German

neo-classicism

n

the 1930s.

Secondly,

illustrate

similaritiesetween

hevocal

style

f

Till

Lindemann,

he

Rammstein

ocalist,

nd

vocal

techniques

sed

by

German

abaret

ingers

fthe nter-war

eriod. inally,

discussRammstein'sse of invented olklore nd German exts hathave been

appropriated

rom

oems

y

Johann

olfgang

onGoethe

1749-1832

and

Heinrich

Hoffman

1809-1894).

Rammstein:

estating

he

national'

in

Germanrock

music

In

an

interview

n

1998,

Rammstein

maintained

hat

none of its members old

right-wing

eliefs,

ut

hey

renaive oclaim hat

erman

ignifiers

n

theirmusic o

not

uggest

ften-negative

otions f

nationalism.8

otoriety

as often eenused to

promote

ock

ands,

lthough

ammsteinave

promoted

with

omplicit

ssistance

fromheirmanagementndtheir ecordompany,ony/Universal/BMGecords

a

controversial

mage

for

he

band

by

deliberatelyncorporating

ationalGerman

signifiers

o

establish

ndividuality

n

a

genre

of

popular

music that

has

often

celebrated

notoriety.

n

an

online

magazine

articleon

Rammstein,

Winston



4/17

German

ymbolism

n

rock

music 459

Cummings

maintains hat heGermanmediahave

endeavoured o establish

true

meanings

ehind omeof

Rammstein's ore

ontroversialnd

mysterious

ongs

with oevidence

hat-so-ever

sic]

f ft-rumoured

azi-leanings

ver

howing p'.9

While t s not thepurpose f this rticle osupport llegationsf inksbetween

Rammsteinnd National

ocialism,

ummings'audatory

ccount f

Rammstein's

commercial

uccess

nd their

ive

performances

llustrates

significant

rend

mong

the ock

music

ndustry

nd the ockmedia

o

prioritise

ommercialoncerns

bove

ethical nes.

While

iscussing

he extreme

metal'

cene,

Keith

Kahn-Harrisotes hat

here

is

a

practice

mong

performers

n

this

genre

o differentiateetween

music nd

politics

nd that his

ractice

s

reflexive,

emonstrating

a

considerable

wareness f

the tructuration

nd

politics

f

musical]

cenes

nd thewider

ociety'

Kahn-Harris

2000,

p.

127).

0

Kahn-Harris

lso maintains

hat

this

genre

also

practises

nti-

reflexivityy

wilfullyeeking

o xclude his wareness romcenic

ractice,

roduc-

ing 'reflexiventi-reflexivity'mong erformersithinwhich xistsa politics f

depoliticisation

n which he structurationf

the scene and

the

consequences

f

certain

ractices

re

wilfullygnored'

ibid.,

.

127).

Christian

orenz,

heRammstein

keyboard

player,

xemplifies

ahn-Harris'

tatement

y

dismissing

riticisms

levelled

t the

band for he

content f their

ong

texts nd

the

use of

Riefenstahl

film

mages

nd

by

describing

he

band as

being

as

dangerous

s

choirboys'

n

comparison

o

the hit ixteen

ear

lds see

on television'.11

While Lorenz's

statement

oncerns extual

ontent f the band's

songs,

Rammstein's

ecorded

music s most

asily

dentifiable

long

wodimensions the

vocal

and

the nstrumental

with

rimary

mphasis laced

on the

vocal,

given

hat

the instrumentalould be unlikely o provide ndividuality,nd commercial

viability,

n

the

heavy

metal

enre.

rom

vocal

perspective,

ammsteinrenot he

only

German

ock

band

to

sing song

texts

n

their

ative

ongue, lthough hey

represent

national

rend

n

German

op

music

that

s

moving way

from he

formulaic

ature

fmost

Western

op

music.12

n

his discussion n cultural ation-

alism,

ichard

aruskin

iscusses

heHerderian

iew

hat

o

anguage

s

superior

r

inferior

o

nother,

lthough

e adds

that here as been

romantic

inkage

etween

language

nd

the

concept

f nation

n

the German

rts ince the middleof the

eighteenth

entury

Taruskin

002,

p.

691-2).

While

iscussing

heuse ofGerman

language

n

German

popular

music,

Edward

Larkey

describes ow

many

ate-

twentieth

entury

erman

erformers

ejected

he ominance

f he

Anglo-American

popularmusicndustrynd the seof tandard erman,s used nthe chlagerong

style

n

the

ftermath

fthe

econdWorld

War

Larkey

000,

.

2).13

arkey

main-

tains

hat he

chlager

as ts

precedents

n

nineteenth-century

erman

peretta

nd

that

twas

regarded

y

musicians

erforming

n

the

merging

ockmusic

enre

f he

1960s

s conservative

nd

obsolete,

hereas

ock

music,

most ften

ung

n

trans-

atlantic

nglish,

ignified

ebellion

nd

insurrection

ibid.,

.

4).

Thiswas

a

conse-

quence

f

Anglo-American

ominance

fWestern

opular

ulture

n

the econd

half

of

the

twentieth

entury

uring

whichmost

Western

opular

musicwas

sung

n

English,

ven

by

non-English

peaking

rtists.

ill

Lindemann,

heRammsteinocal-

ist,

however,

ings

n

German

within n

Anglo-American

eavy

metal ontext

n

order o, s AllanMooreputs t, onveythe mpressionhat is utterances one of

integrity,

hatt

represents

n

attempt

o ommunicate

n

n unmediatedorm

ith n

audience'

Moore

1993,

.

200).

Lindemann

lso

conveys

othe udience

what

Moore

observes

s

'first-person

uthenticity

f

expression'

s

a

meansof

circumventing



5/17

460

Robert

.H. Burns

'mere

ntertainment'

n

favour

f

promoting

sense f

belonging,

r

what

might

e

regarded

s the

maintenancef

authenticity

n

cultural

xperience

nd a means

promoting

ultural

xpression,

s noted

y

RichardMiddleton

1990,

.

127).

From n nstrumentalerspective,ammstein'style anbe situatednseveral

heavy

metal

enres,

most

otably

he xtreme etal

tyle

with

ts onnectionso

dark

metal nd

thrash

metal,

s

described

y

Kahn-Harris

2000,

.

124).

Deena Weinstein

refers

o

Rammstein's usic

s industrial

etal',

sub-genre

f

heavy

metal hat he

describess

a

combinationf

punk-influenced

thrash'metal nd

synthesised

ance

music

Weinstein

000,

.

288).

This

description

f theband's nstrumentalound

might

e

applied

to earlier

ecordings,

ut

the band's last three

lbums,

Mutter

(Mother) 2001),

Reise,

eise

Arise,

rise) 2004)

and Rosenrot

Rose Red) (2005),

often

exhibit

nfluencesaken rom

arlier

ritish

rogressive

ock

music,

while

maintain-

ing

firm

inkswith

eavy

metal.Moore

bserves hat

rogressive

ockmusic

ppro-

priates

lassical

eferents,

aintains

igh

ound

production

alues nd

appeals

to a

listening,ather han dancing,market2001,p.402).Moreover, oore dds that

progressive

ock

emained

opular

n

Europe

ntil

he ate

1990s,

further

ndication

of he

rigins

f

Rammstein'sound nd

production

esthetics. ammstein'surrent

musical

formula'

ncludes

combinationf rchestralnd

choral

rrangements

ften

accompanying

hat

s

referredo

in

rock

guitar erformance

s

'drop

D'

open

tuning

D,

A, D,

G, B,

E

(lowest

o

highest trings).

his

uning rovides deeper,

moreresonant

imbre

hen

highly mplified

nd it

maintainsinks o standard

modern ock

erformances

amiliar

o

European

nd

American ock udiences.As

Robert

Walser

bserves,

hemost

ignificant

ural

ign

f

heavy

metal

s

the

ound f

extremely

istorted

uitars,

definingspect

of the

heavy

metal

genre

n

which

power hords root ote nd the erfectourthrfifthntervalbove areplayed n

the

ower

trings

Walser

993,

p.

41-3).

n

drop

D

tuning,

s

with

tandard

uning,

tones

mplified

ith

distorted,

verdrivenound re

often

eproduced

ith ccom-

panying

ones

bove nd

below he ctual

ange

f he

uitar.

Walser

ightlyquates

the

ower

f

power

hordswith

he

weight

f

heavy

metal nd with

he hardness f

hard

rock',

n

which

ustain,

istortionnd

resultant

ones re crucial

ibid.,

993,

p.

43).

Theuse

of

ntervallic

tructures

nd

distorted

armonicvertoneshat ituate

them

n

thebroad

heavy

metal

genre,

owever,

o not

provide

Rammstein

ith

musical

ndividuality

hat

might

fford n

element f

differencerommost ther

bandswithin

he

genre.

From

rhythmic

erspective,

he drumkit

n

Rammstein's

erformances

s

played na style eminiscentfmany arlier ock erformancerecedents,urther

reinforcing

ommonality

ith

ther

ands

n

the

heavy

metal

enre.14

n

his uccinct

description

f

rock rum

erformance,

oore

bserves

hat

ass drum eats

usually

emphasise

eats

and3

n

4/4

measures

nd

thehi-hatnd ride

ymbals sually

lay

constant

uavers

r

crochets

cting

s a

metronome

Moore

1993,

p.

37-9).

Snare

drum

eats

n

4/4

measures fmost

ockmusic

tyles

all

n beats and

4,

and are

often

eferredo

s the

backbeat'.

heformulaic

ature f

Rammstein'sombination

of

tandardised

hythm

nd

metrical

rrangements

ithin

heband's use of nstru-

mental

ound

extures ould

ause

difficultiesor

ny

modern ock and ndeavour-

ing

to

establish n

individual

dentity

hat

might

nable t to

achieve ommercial

success. urtherxamples f heRammstein usicalformula'o,however,rovideelements

f onic

istinction.

hese

nclude

marching

rum

atterns,

marching

oots

on

gravel'

ound

amples

nd

malevocal

chants,

espectively,

n

Links, wei,Drei,

Vier'

'Left,

Two,

Three,

our')

and

'Mein

Teil'

('My

Part',

lthough

he

part'



6/17

German

ymbolism

n rock

music

461

reference

n

the

ong

s

tothenarrator's

enitalia).

onic

lementslso nclude

horal

and

orchestral

ccompanimentroviding randiose

nd

quasi-operaticettings

othe

rock

ontext f

band

songs,

uch s

in

Reise,

eise'

'Arise,

rise',

aken rom he

Germaneafaringrdero waken leepingeamen) ndfolkloricmagery,uch sin

'Mein

Herzbrennt'

'My

Heart urns' and

Spieluhr'

MusicalClock'

.15

Moreover,

Rammstein'sonic

ormulancludes theatricalocal

performance

tyle

hat

as ts

precedents

n

German

abaret,

nd that ccurs

n

mostof the band's

repertoire.

Rammstein,herefore,

se formulaic ock

arrangements

nd

instrumentationo

present

familiar ock

oncept

o their

udience,

while

stating

ational

dentity,

and thus

difference,

iththe use of cultural

ignifiers

hat stablish

otions f

distinctiveness

ithin ational nd nternationalontexts.

Singularity

n

spectacle:

the national'

in

Rammstein's isual

performance

As

previously

tated,

t s not he

urpose

f

his rticleovalidate riticism

evelled

t

Rammstein

n the

grounds

f

possible

inks o National ocialism.

t

s theband's

visual

presentation,

owever,

hat

articularly

emonstrates

erformance

lements

that

might

upport

his

riticism,

iven

hat everal

isual

aspects

f Rammstein's

performances

ince

he ate-1990svoke

choes fGerman

istory

romhe ate-1930s

that

re imilar

othose

hat

lready

ave ttractedecent

ondemnation.he ssem-

blage

of the

various

spects

f

visual

presentation

iscussed elow

s, however,

t

odds

with

many

f

he ther

ignifiers

resent

n

Rammstein's

erformances

hat re

not

ssociated

withNational

ocialism.

Theatricalityn modernGerman ockmusichas manyof itsoriginsn the

performances

f

artists uch

as Udo

Lindenberg

nd Nina

Hagen

and it

could

be

argued

hat

Rammstein

re

continuing

German

ock

raditionhat tarted

n

the

late

1960s.

That

aid,

prior

o

the

beginning

f the

Rammstein

erformance

t the

Wuhlheide

estival

n

Berlin

n

1998,

tage ighting

nd

spotlights

ere

dimmed o

highlight

large

ed

urtain,

lluminated

yflaming

orches,

hich overed

he

tage

area.

This

scene

may

be

construed

s reminiscent

f the

Nuremburg

allies f the

late-1930s

hat ften

ook

lace

t

night

ith

ed

Nazi banners

lluminated

n

similar

way.16

s

the urtain

pened,

ingle potlights

eparately

lluminatedach

ndividual

member f

he

band,

who remained

ompletely

tatic.

he

final and member o be

introduced

as the

vocalist,

indemann,

ho

made his

entry

o the

tagebybeing

lowered na trapezendwhowasthe nly erformernmotion. he tatic ature f

the

est f

he

and

compared

o

Lindemann's

ntrance

uxtaposes

tatue-like,

ften

neo-classical

magery

ith

circus-like,

abaret r

theatre

roduction.

The

band's

costumes

ere imilar

o

mages

rom

ritz

ang's

film,

etropolis

(1927).17

ach

costume

ppeared

o be

made of silver

nd

black

material

hat

ro-

vided

metallic,

achine-like

ppearance

hatwas further

einforced

y

the

ttach-

ment f

external

lastic

ubing uggesting

o theonlooker

hat ach

performer

as

partly

mechanical.

he

tage

etting

as constructed

rom

irders

nd

tubular

metal

protrusions

nd was

nthe

tyle

f he

mechanical-kinetic

onstructivism

hat xisted

in German

heatre

n the

920s,

s well

s

in

the

paintings

f he onstructivist

rtist,

ErichMercker, uch as Hochofenm Bau (Blastfurnaces nder onstruction).18and

members

ore

ilver

make-up

hat

ighlighted

utlines

ffacial eatures

hatwere

it

from

elow,

n effect

hat ccentuated

he heekbones

nd

aw

lines fband mem-

bers.19

airand

stage

ostumes

ere oloured

ilver

nd one ofthe

guitarists

ore



7/17

462 Robert

.H. Burns

silver ontact

enses,

n

keeping

ith

he verallmechanistic

resentation

f he

tage

setting.

oreover,

s well s

the ccentuatedheekbonesnd

aw

ines,

ammstein's

presentation

lso contained

visual

emphasis

n themuscular

hysique

f band

members,ome fwhom erformedare-chested.20uring he oncert,oth uitar-

ists ften

tood

lmostmotionlesst either

ide of he

tage

acing

he

udience

with

an

expressionless

aze

that

projected

dehumanising

ffect,

ided

by

the use of

metallic

sculptural'

r

monumental'

magery,

nd that

mphasised

etachment

from he

audience. The

emphasisplaced

on

the static

nd

physical

forms

n

Rammstein's

magery

anbe

compared

otheworks f

culptors

osef

horak

1889-

1952),

Fritz

Klimsch

1870-1960)

nd Arno

Breker

1900-1991),

ll

of

whomwere

official

tate

rtists ftheThird

Reich. hese

culptors

arved tatues

epresenting

what

the

National

ocialist

arty

egarded

s the

perfect'

uman

form

n

heroic

proportions

or

xhibition t the

Grosse

Deutsche

Kunstausstellung

Great

German

rt

Exhibitionin

Munich nd s

decorationsor eich

uildings uring

he

econdWorld

War.21 itler egardedModern rt sconnectedo nternationalism,conceptntrin-

sically

inked o

his

perception

f

Jewishness,

nd his

personal

iew of art was

consequently

inked o a

racially

pure'

culture ased on

depictions

f

country,

physical

ealth nd the

oncepts

fbloodand

soil

Adam

1992,

p.

15-16

.22

Works

such as

Thorak's

Danziger

Freiheitsdenkmal

Danzig

Freedom

Monument),

Breker1s

Predestinationnd

Klimsch's

Brunnengruppe

1

(Fountain

Group

11)

depict sculpted

male

figures

n

the

neo-classical

tyle.

ach

figure

as

well-defined,

igh

heekbones,

detailed

muscular orsos nd

imbs nd a

dehumanised ixed

aze

at a

point

n

the

distance hat

oes not

ngage

he nlooker.23

he

National

ocialist

arty egarded

the

dealised

broad-shoulderednd naked

Germanmale

image

as

representing

classlessnessndnobilitynd,accordingo PeterAdam, the classical deal of the

heroic

thlete

n

his

naturalness'

Adam

1992,

p.

178-9).

Rammstein's

rojection

f

this

hysical

magery

herefore

rovides

link

o rt esthetics

pparent

n

ate-1930s

German

istory.

isual

imilarities

n

theband's

performance

ight

lso

extend

o

imagery

rom

Wagner's

ing ycle,

he

pera

hat,

s William

.

Shirer otes

. . .

gave

Germany

nd

especially

heThird

Reich o much f ts

primitive

ermanic

mythos'

(Shirer

960,

.

102),

lthough

n

nterviewsn the

DVD,

Live us Berlin

Live

rom

Berlin),

ammstein

eny ny

ntentional

magery

hat

might uggest

new master

race'.24

Many

male

popular

music rtists avebeen

promoted

y magery ortraying

their

exualityhrough

emi-nudity,

ut

Rammstein's

magery

s

closer o the

por-

trayalsfGerman otionsfAryanpurity' sed nRiefenstahl'silms hat ontain

images

f

Germanmen and

women t

the

peak

of

physical

itness. or

example,

Rammstein's

lbum

over or erzeleid

Heartache

(

1995 was

a

photographicortrait

of

he and

uperimposed

ver

n

enlarged hotograph

f

blooming

lower. he ix

membersf

he and

ppear

naked

bove hewaist

nd

those

n

the rontowof he

photograph

isplay

culpted,

iled,

muscular

hysiques.

he cover of

Herzeleid

attracted

riticism

rom he

band's record

ompany

n

theUnited tates

rior

o ts

release

n

1995 ue towhat

he

ompany egarded

s the

over's

Aryanmagery

nd

its

uggestion

f

oncepts

f master

ace',

oncepts

hat

ammsteinontinueo

deny.

Vocal characternd the national': the cabaret n Rammstein

While

Rammstein's

dentity

s situated

n

the

heavy

metal

enre,

here

re

lements

n

the

and's

vocal

performance

tyle

hat

unctions

furtherinks oGerman ational



8/17

German

ymbolism

n rock

music 463

identity.

nventedraditionas often eenused

for he

urpose

f

validating

otions

of

uthenticity,

lthough

here

as been ittle

cholarly

iscussion

oncerning

he se

of

what

might

e

regarded

s

'exaggerated'dentity

or he ame

purpose.25

ssues

concerningexaggerated'ationaldentityan be linked o whatMooreregardss

appropriation

f

traditionso authenticate

ontemporary

ractice

Moore

2002,

p.

216).

Performers

n

the

popular

music

genre

have often

spoused

their wn

national

dentity

ntheir

erformances,

nd

examples

anbe found

n

sung

Jamaican

patois

nthemusic f

hirdnd fourth

eneration

ritish/Jamaican

eggae erformers

in

the

United

Kingdom,

s well

as

in

the

diosyncratic

ocal

performances

fbands

such

as

The Proclaimers

nd The Cranberries.

n

the ase of

Rammstein,

here re

distinctive

ocal

performance

raits

n

theirmusic

that

uggest

nationalGerman

signifiers

eyond

heir se of

theGerman

anguage including

n

overstatedse of

guttural

oft

onsonants

n

High

German)

nd

beyond

he and'suse of heatricalnd

neo-classical

erman

magery.26

ammstein

ocalist,

indemann

ften

ses

a

vocal

performancetyle hat ohnWillet escribes sgestic peakingWillet 988, . 138).

This

style

s another

omponent

f

what

might

e

regarded

s the

Rammstein

'formula'

nd

t

s

apparent

nmost f

he and's

repertoire

ecorded

n albums

ince

2001,

with

articular

xamples

ccurring

n

songs

uch s

Mein

Herz

brennt',

Mein

Teil'

and

Hilf

Mir'

'Help

Me').27

The vocal

performance

f these

ongs

utilises

extended

itch

n

poken

oice

nd,

s

part

f he and's verall

tylistic

ormula,

ach

vocal

performance

s

n

two

parts.

erses

redelivered

sing

half-spoken/half-sung

gestic erformance

nd the

horuses

re,

n

contrast,

ften

erformed

s

an

almost

shouted

hant.

In

order

o

situate

indemann's

ocal

performancetyle

s

a

characteristic

German ationalignifiern Rammstein'serformances,t s worthonsideringhe

origins

f

estic

peaking

n

the

abaret

erformances

hat ook

lace

ttheUberbrettl

Theatre

n

Berlin

nthe

arly

wentieth

entury.28

mong

he

omposers

hocontrib-

uted

songs

for

performances

t this heatre

as Arnold

choenberg

1874-1951)

whose

ied

song),

Pierrot

unaire'

1912)

featured

prechstimme

literally eaning

'speak

voice'),

a vocal

technique

ombining

peech

nd

melody.29

his

technique

requires

he

singer

o

accurately

maintain he

notated

hythm

f a

melody

but,

whereas

sung

ext

maintains

itch,

prechstimme

tarts

n

pitch

ut hen eaves

t

by

falling

r

rising.

he

first

prechstimme

erformance

ook

lace

n

1912 nd ater ocal

performance

tyles

sed

at the

Uberbrettl

heatre,

uch as

'gestic' peaking,

re

arguably

nfluenced

y

this

ocal

performance

tyle.30

illetmaintains

hatGerman

cabaret egan ntheVolksbiihnePeople's tage) nd worker's heatremovementsf

the

ate nineteenth

nd

early

twentieth

enturies

Willet

1988,

p.

21

.31

Cabaret

performances

f this

kind ed to

a later

tradition' f

actors'

inging

hatWillet

describes

s

'that

learly

udible,

ften

ather

nformal,

onsonantal,

onsingerly

delivery

hich haracterizes

Lotte]

enya

r

Ernst usch

armore

harply

han oes

any

ther

spect

f

heir

cting',

lthough

e

adds

that

estic

ocal

mannerisms ere

'rarer

n the

English

peaking

orld'

ibid.,

.

208).

As well

s

employing

he

esticpeaking

tyle,

indemann's

ocal

performances

are

lso combined

ith

nfluences

rom erman

omedy

heatre.

heatrical

orks f

theGerman

erformer

nd

playwright,

rankWedekind rew

upon

nfluences

rom

vaudevillend the ircus, hichhepreferredo iteraryrama, ndhebecame n

influential

abaret

erformer

n

both

Munich

nd Berlin t the nd

of henineteenth

and

beginning

f

the twentieth

enturies

Jelavich

993,

p.

82).

Lisa

Appignanesi

describes

is

satirical,

omedic

vocal

performances

s

featuring

'raw,

arring,



9/17

464 RobertG.H. Burns

high-pitched,lightly

asal

voice,

which

harply

rticulatedach

syllable'

nd she

states hat

is

harshly

ronic,

atanic

one,

rittle

nd

brasive'

was mitated

y

Brecht

and

ultimately

ecame

the

mark

f theGerman abaret

ong style' Appignanesi

2004, p.48-9).

Willet

maintainshat

he

jerky,

estic'

peaking

as ater

dopted y

ctor eter

Lorre

n

the1932

production

fMan

Equals

Man

Willet

988,

.

138),

lthough

he

Kurt

Weill nd

Bertolt recht

ong,

Moritat'

'The

Ballad f

Mack

he

Knife'),

hich

also

featureshis

ype

fvocal

performance,

as first

erformed

n

1928.32

arly

n

his

career,

Weill

was

a

musician

or

he

comedian

Karl

Valentin,

ho

performed

t

theatres

n

Munich

during

he

early

1920s.Valentin's

erformances

lso featured

half-sung/half-spoken

ongs

hat

might

e

regarded

s

an

influencen Brecht

nd

Weill's

ater ocal

ompositions,

uch s

songs

n

Die

Dreigroschenoper

The

hreepenny

Opera).

Willet otes hat

recht

pposed

thevocal

xcesses

nd

heightened

motion'

that

he

regarded

s

an

affronto

audiences nd

which,

n

his

view,

typified

he

Germanheatricaltyles gainstwhich e ater eactedibid., .208).DenisCalandra

notes,

owever,

hat

recht sed

Valentins a

key xample

fhow ctors hould

ing

in

Die

Dreigroschenoper,

dding

hat

recht

articularly

dmired hemalevolence

n

Valentin's ocal

performance

Calandra

003,

.

198).

Comedy

nd

malevolence rawn

rom

arly

wentieth-century

erman abaret

and

vaudeville,

s

wellas

gestic

peaking,

re

keydescriptors

f

Lindemann's ocal

performance

tyle.

ontemporary

mitationf

these

spects

f vocal

performance

situates indemann's

ocal

delivery

n

contrasto themore

amiliar,

nd

regionally

unidentifiable,

ock

erformances

fAmericannd British

ocalistswho often

ing

withwhat

might

e

regarded

s a

'transatlantic'ccent. his mitationlso

provides

Rammstein'serformancesith einforcedonceptsfperceived ermanuthen-

ticity,

nd

notions

f new

nationalismituated

n

an earlier rtisticrea thatwas

opposed

to,

and

persecuted

y,

National ocialism. he

relocation

f theGerman

cabaret

ong style

nto a

contemporary

ockcontext

husenables

Rammsteino

exploit

nd

promote

n

arguably

ostalgic

iewofGerman

istory

ndculture

hat

s

beyond

egative

ssociations,

nd that

s

n

uxtaposition

othe and'svisual

presen-

tation.

While

relocation o

early

wentieth-century

erformance

tyles

einforces

points

f

differenceetween ammsteinnd

other ock ands

n

their

enre,

talso

identifies

ammsteins

quintessentially

erman o

a

young

German udience s

a

national

con

by

the

use of

familiar

ational

ignifiers.

his dentifications further

reinforced

y

he and'suse of

ighteenth-

nd

nineteenth-century

erman

iterature

fornclusionntheirong exts.

'National' text:

Rammstein's

ppropriation

f

Germanfolklore nd

literature

Further

vidence f he se of

German

ational

ignifiers

xists

n

Rammstein'sexts

that

ften raw

upon

folkloric

magery

nd

appropriate

hemes rom ermanitera-

ture.

More

ignificantly,

omeof he olkloric

ubject

matter sed

by

Rammsteinan

be

associatedwith

he

promotion

f German

ationalism

uring

he

ate-1930s,

s

noted yMechthildonSchoenebeck1998,p.279). nhis discussion fnotions f

authenticity

n

performance,

oore maintains

hat,

uring

he

rhythm

nd blues

revival hat

ook

place

n

the

United

Kingdom uring

he

arly

960s,

it

became

matterf

deology

o

mploy

he

'blues"within

thoroughly

ifferentocial

ontext,



10/17

German

ymbolism

n

rockmusic

465

byvenerating

ts

riginators',concept

hat nabled

rtistsf he

eriod

o

ppropri-

ate

the

authenticity

f those

originators

Moore

2002,

p.

215).

In

a similar

way,

Rammsteinndeavour o

maintainn

nvented,

f

not

xaggerated,

ational

uthen-

ticityyrelocatinglementsaken rom erman olklorend Germaniteraturento

their

ong

exts. se ofGerman

extualhemess

another eans

y

which ammstein

underscoresudience otions

fnational

dentity

ithin

ts

performances.

While

discussing spects

f folklore sed as a

meansof

promoting

erman

nationalism

n

the

1930s,

on Schoenebeck

bserves

hat,

n

the aftermath

f the

SecondWorld

War,

German olkmusic emainedssociated o arlier

oncepts

fVolk

(people)

nd

Gemeinschaftcommunity)

hatwere still

ntrinsically

ied to volkisch

nationalism

nd anti-Semitism

von

Schoenebeck

998,

.

289

.33

olkmusic

f

this

kind,

which ad been

used as a means f

promoting

ational

wareness

n

the

930s,

became

nathema o

post-war oncepts

ffolk

music,

lthough

he

Heimatschlager,

vernacular,

folk-like'

ong

bout

Germany

s home

ountry',

emained

opular

n

the1950s ibid., .279).Larkey escribes hethree enres fGerman olk ongat

this

time as

Schlager

new

folk

music),

volkstumliche

sic]

(popular)

and

Volksmusik

(traditional

olk

music),

ll

of

whichwere

promoted y

conservatives ho

rallied

around

re-Nazi

ultural

dealsrooted

n

a romanticized

olk ulture'

Larkey

000,

p.

1

.

As

with rends

n

theUnited

Kingdom

nd the

United

tates,

he

popularity

f

folk

ongs

eclined

n

Germany

s

the

opularity

frockmusic ncreased

uring

he

1960s

and

1970s.Some German

olk

rtists,

uch

as

the

duo

Zupfgeigenhansel,

remained

opular,

erforming

repertoire

f traditional erman

olksongs

o an

audience

hat

egarded

olkmusic s

a

respectable

lternativeo rockmusic

but,

unlike olk

music

n

the

United

ingdom

ndtheUnited tates

n

the 950s

nd

1960s,

German olkmusicwas neverinked o iberal olitics orwas itsubjecto thefolk

music

evivalism

hat ccurred

n

both heUS

and

UK

during

hat

eriod.34

fter

reunification

n

1989,

owever,

alesof

what

German udiences

egarded

s German

folk

musicwere

n

xcess f

DM100

million

nnually

nd

resulted

n

the

roadcast,

y

1990,

f

ighty-six

elevision

rogrammes

eaturing

hat

on choenebeckeferso s

'folk-like'

ongs

von

Schoenebeck

998,

p.

279

.35

Von Schoenebeck

s

critical f

songs

f his

ind,

maintaining

hat

hey

ontainhidden

messages'

n

typical

emiotic

systems

uch

as

text,

music

and

performance

ibid.,

pp.

279-80).

Among

the

'messages'

hat

upport

his

iew re

opics

uch

s the innocence f hildren'

which

appears

n

the

Rammstein

exts f

Mein Herz

brennt',

Spieluhr'

nd

Hilf

Mir'),

'touching

pisodes

f

everyday

erman ife'

nd the ife f ailors' another om-

monRammsteinheme sed ntexts f ongs uch s Seeman' Seaman' and Reise,

reise',

s well

s

nthe

magery

sedon the overs

f he

ingle,

eeman

nd

the

lbum,

Rosenrot.

he

values

spoused

n

the

olk-like

messages'

ncludeclose ies

with

ne's

native

oil',

nature,

rder,

radition,

ational

ride

nd

political

wareness,

nd

von

Schoenebeck

ontends

hat hesenew German

folk-like'

ongs

fit

perfectly

he

political

rogrammes

nd deas

of he

ountry'sight ing

arties'

bid.,

p.

286-90).

As

well s

folkloric

hemes,

ammsteinave

drawn

pon

German

iteratures

a means f

further

mphasising

otions

f authentic

erman ational

dentity. y

doing

o,

they

lso enable

n audience

erception

fthe

band,

nd

n

particular

he

vocalist,

s Romantic

eroes,

concept

bserved

y

Macan

n

his

comprehensive

discussionnaudience erceptionsf spects fvirtuositynprogressiveockmusic

(Macan

1997,

.

46).

Rammstein's

ecording,

eise,

eise,

ontains

song

alled Dalai

Lama',

he

ext fwhich

ontains

everal imilarities

o Goethe's

oem,

Der

Erlkonig

(The

Elf

King)

1782),

lthough

heres

no

acknowledgement

f his

n

theCD sleeve



11/17

466

RobertG.H. Burns

notes.36Dalai Lama' is

notthe

only ong

n

which

Rammstein

raw

upon

themes

from

eo-romantic

exts,

iven

hat

he

ong

Rosenrot's

loosely

ased on

Goethe's

poem

Heidenroslein

Heather

Rose)

and

the BrothersGrimm's

Schneeweifichen

nd

RosenrotSnowWhite ndRoseRed). nDerErlkonig,oethe describes fathernd son

travelling

t

night,

n

horseback

hrough

forest.37hefather olds he hild

n

his

arms

ut

he

hild ears

he oice f he

lf

King

who

ntices

im

o

ivewith

im

nd

his

children. he father

nitially

gnores

is child'sdistress ut

finally

ttempts

o

comfort

im

when

he arrives

ome,

nly

o

find

he hilddead

in

his arms.

While

many

imilaritiesxist

etween

oethe's

nd

Rammstein's

exts,

hey

o not

lways

correspond

ith

heorder f

events

hat

ccur

n

each

song.Firstly,

ammstein's

'Dalai

Lama'

text

ollowsGoethe's

ntroductionfthefathernd the on

travelling

together

t

night

nd n

safety

nd

warmth'.38

ach

text hen

ntroduceshe

uper-

natural

lements

f ach

tory,

ith

he

Erlkonig

n

Goethe's ext

nd

the

god

of

he

winds

n

that

f

Rammstein,

n

ntroductionollowed

y

the hild

n

each ext

sking

hisfather hethere, oo, anhear spirit oice s heattemptsotellhisfatherhat

the

pirit

s

trying

o

abduct

him.

At

this

oint,

oth exts

ropose

he

pirit eing's

childrens

future

iblings

or

he hild

sisters

n

Goethe's ext nd brothers

n

the

Rammstein

ext. ach

father

inally

ecomes ware

of

each

child'sdistress

nd,

n

theGoethe

ext,

he

father inds he hilddead in

his arms.The Rammsteinext

s,

however,

arker

ith

he

ather

ccidentally

uffocating

he

hild,

hus

llowing

is

soul

to

oin

he

pirits

f

he

wind.

Another

ammstein

extual

ppropriation

ccurs

n Hilf

Mir',

song

recorded

on

the lbum

Rosenrot

2005)

as a

reinterpretation

fa

nineteenth-century

erman

poem.

As withDalai

Lama',

heres no

acknowledgement

f he ource f he and's

textnthe lbum leevenotes,lthoughhe ong s derived rom einrich offman's

'Die

gar

traurige

eschichte itdem

Feuerzeug'

'The

Tragic tory

f

with]

he

Matches'),

which

was

originally ublished

n

1845

n

a

collection f short

oems

called

Struwwelpeter

Straw

Peter).39

ach of these

poems

contains

cautionary

message

elating

o

what

Walter auer

describes

s

'misdeed

nd

punishment',

popular

genre

n

nineteenth-century

hildren'siterature

Sauer

1999,

p.

11).

The

principal

ifference

etween

ammstein'sersion f

he ext

nd that

fHoffman

s

Rammstein's

arrationf

events

eing

from

first-person

erspective

ather

han

from

offman'shird

erson.

oth

ersions

egin

with

he

protagonisteing

allein

zu

Haus'

('at

home

lone')

because Die Eltern aren

eide us'

('the

parents

ere

both

ut')

and then

roceed

o

outline he

discovery

f ein treffliches

pielzeug'

'a

splendid oy'). nboth heHoffmanndRammsteinersions,heprotagonisthen

lights

ein

Holzchen'

'a

match'),

while

tating

hat his s what

tsmother as often

done.40

oth exts

hen

escribe ow Die

Flamme asst as Kleid'

'the

flames

ake

holdon

thedress'

,

although

ammstein

efero die

Jacke'

the

acket'

as

opposed

to

Hoffman's

ater

eferenceo die

Schurze'

'the

apron'),

with

he ffecthat Es

brennt

ie

Hand,

s brennt

as Haar' it

burns

he

hand,

tburns hehair'

.

Thefinal

outcome

s

a

conflagration

n

which

he

protagonist

s

totally

onsumed

y

flames.

Whereas

offman's

ext ndswith

he

rotagonist

eing

educed o

shes,

erving

s

a

cautionary

message

to

children,

ammstein'sext

follows darker nd

more

spiritual

heme. t

describes

he

protagonist,

ho was

originally

n

poor

health,

seeking,

nd

finding,eliveranceybecomingnewith he un ndstatinghatDasFeuer iebtmich' the ire

ovesme'

.

t

s notwithin

he

cope

f his

rticle

o

discuss

ethical

ifferenceshat

may

exist

between he two

texts ut t is

significant

hat

Hoffman's

ollection

f

poems

was

regularly ublished

n

Germany

etween 845



12/17

German

ymbolism

n

rock

music

467

and the

ate twentieth

entury.

auer notes hat

his ollection ad an

'enormous

influence' n

nineteenth-century

hildren's iterature

n

Europe

that

continued

throughout

he twentieth

entury

Sauer

1999,

pp.

9,

14),

an

aspect

of national

familiarityhatRammstein ave used to their dvantage.German ock udience

awareness fGoethe'sDer

Erlkonig'

nd

Hoffman's

truwwelpeter

oems,

ven n a

subliminal

evel,

nd with nvented

spects

f German

fakelore'

including

on

Schoenebeck's

uggestions

f hidden

messages'

thereforenables

onnectionsobe

made

by

ater

enerations

o

n dealised istant

ast

hat

s

n

contrasto

more ecent

history

n

whichwar nd other

olitical pheavals

avetaken

lace.

Conclusion

I

have demonstrated

hat here xists diverse

ange

fneo-romanticnd

national

German

ignifiersresent

n

Rammstein's

usic,

ome

of

which re

contrary

o

any

residues f mistrustfa Germanmusical astwith ts mplicationf inks oneo-

nationalism.

imilarities

etween

spects

f

taging

nd

performance

echniques

hat

existed

n

German

heatre

nd

cabaret

n

the

920s nd

n

Rammstein's

erformances

in

the

ate1990s

might

e

regarded

s a means f

negating

ccusations f

right-wing

sympathies

nd

as

aligning

ammstein's

heatricality

ith heneo-romantic

ove-

ment,

iven

hat heband

regards

ts

stageperformance

s circus-like

omedy.41

Many

aspects

f German

xpressionist

heatre ere criticised

y

the

Third

Reich

which,

rom

ts ascent

o

power

n

1933,

ought

o

discourage

what t

regarded

as

introspection,

ver-emotionalism

nd

over-acting

Willet

1988,

pp.

164,

179).

However,

whilethe

tage ettings,

erformances

nd

song

texts iscusseddo not

openly emonstratenyparticularoliticaleliefsmongmembersfRammstein,

regard

ther

ignifiers

n theband's recorded

epertoire,

uch as theuse of sound

samples

fboots

marching

n

gravel

nd the

performance

f

marching

naredrum

patterns

n

several

Rammstein

ongs,

s

suggesting

militaristicvertones

nd,

as

such,

uestionable.

Moreover,

his rticle

as discussed

hree istinct

pheres

f

German

ignifica-

tion

sed

by

Rammsteino

promote

nd maintain band

dentity

nd,

without his

signification,

he

band would

be similar

o

many

of its

peers,

nd

perhaps

ess

commercially

uccessful.

have

demonstrated

hat Rammstein ave modelled

their

hysical

mage

n neo-classical

epictions

fwhat heNational ocialist

arty

regarded

s the

perfect

ryan

uman orm.

heband has used this

magery

n

ive

performance,s wellas indepictionsf hebandon album overs nd othermedia.

The

band's

stage

ettings

eatureonstructivist

echanical

kinetic

tructures

n

the

style

f

ate-1920s

nd

early-1930s

erman

rt nd theatre

nd,

by drawing pon

pre-Second

World

War

imagery,

he band

projects

n

impression

f an

earlier,

undivided

ation

n which

rt nd literature

ad almost

piritual

ssociations.

his

impression

s further

einforced

y

the

use of

a

vocal

technique

n

which

n overt

sense

f

malevolent

heatricality,

eminiscent

f1920s

nd 1930sGerman

abaret,

s

used

to

convey

he

dark

nature f

Rammstein'sextual

hemes.

inally,

have

demonstrated

hat

Rammstein

exts ave

drawn

upon

folkloric

hemes

nd have

appropriated

arlier

ublished

German iterature

n

order o

align

heir wn texts

with stablished,ndfamiliar,ermanablesndnarrativessameans f einforcing

notions

f

nvented

ational

dentity,

nd

nostalgia.

Rammstein's

se of

mechanical-kinetic

nd neo-classical

magery,

heatrical

vocal

performances

sing

gestic peaking

with

n

'exaggerated'

outhern

erman



13/17

468 Robert

G.H. Burns

accent nd

the

ppropriation

f

hemes rom

erman,

eo-romantic

iterature

uggest

a

deliberate

arketing

lan

arried ut

by

he

and,

ts

managerial

eam

nd ts ecord

company.

ammstein's

se of these

ignifiers

hereforellustrates

n

orchestrated,

stylisticheme imed tpromotingheband's Germandentityn a musical enre

already

aturated ith

bands

playing

ormulaic

eavy

rockmusic.As

previously

stated,

ammsteinave

dopted

laissezfaire

iewof heir

ignificationractices,

s

well

s their se

n

commercial

romotion,

laiming

hat

Germanic

spects

resent

n

their

erformances

nly

llustrate

n

extension f

theband's

policy

f

maintaining

national

dentity,

ndthat

and

performances

re ften

egarded y

heirudiences

s

theatrical

arody.

his laim

hus voids

ny

omparison

hat

might

e madebetween

Rammsteinnd

European

ock ands hat

re inked o

right-wing

deologies.

The

use of German

ignifiers

n

the

pursuit

f commercial uccess

does,

however,

arry

urther

ignificance.

hileRammstein

cknowledge

hat

hey

re

purposely

ontroversial

nd

actively

romote

otions f German

uthenticity,

maintainhat enial fright-winglements which re rguably resentnsomeof

the

German

ignifiers

sed

n

visual

spects

f

heir

erformances

nd their exts is

a

convenient

eans

y

which he and

ppeals

o

growing

ational wareness

mong

German

youth,

iven

that

arlier

enerations' opular

music

purposely

voided

connectionso

nationalism.

onsequently,

ammstein's

ublicity

voids

compari-

sons

to extreme

metal

ands,

many

fwhich

erform

ockmusic

spousing

white

supremacy

nd

radical

ight-wingolitics.42

herise f

radical

ight-wingolitics

n

Europe

t

the nd

of he

wentieth

entury

s

beyond

he

cope

f his

rticle,

lthough

I

contend hat

ny

mainstream'

ock andthat

penly

eclared

olitical ympathies

in

this

rea would

be

regarded

s

unacceptable y

ts

audience nd

by

ts record

company.With ecordompany upport, ammsteinontinueoremain lose othe

extreme

etal

oundary

ithout

rossing

t,

lthough

he

oundary

etween ational

and

nationalist

n

their ase s

sometimesenuous. s

Anderson

rgues,

heories f

nationalism

reoften

erplexed

y

the

bjective

modernity

f

nation othehistori-

an's

eye

versus

ubjective

ntiquity

n

the

yes

ofnationalists

Anderson

991,

.

5),

although

n

Rammstein's

ase,

the

eyes

ofnationalists'an

be

reinterpreted

s the

'eyes

of

hose

n

pursuit

f

ommercial

ain'.

Use of

German

ignification

lso

enables he andto

promote

ostalgic

otions

of n

earlier

erman

ifestyle

s

part

f heir

ersion f newGerman

omanticism.

Idealisation

f

an

earlier

German

istory

nd

culture s

potentially

imilar

o the

idealisation f n

earlier

ritishulture

y

British

kinheads

n

the1960s nd

1970s

whoviolentlyesistedwhatthey egarded s invasivegovernmentmmigration

policies,

while

maintainingostalgic

erceptions

f

previous

enerations

hathad

what

hey

egarded

s a

better

ocial

frameworkased on

oldervaluesthat xisted

within

tightly

ound

ense

of

community.

ammstein

romote

similar enseof

German

ational

wareness

n

their exts nd

performance

tyles

o

young

German

audience

hat as

grown

p

in

the

years

ollowing

he

pheaval

freunification.he

promotion

f a

new

invented

erman

dentity

ased

on

pre-Second

WorldWar

perceptions

f

German

ociety

nd

culture,

ith

heirntrinsic

onnectiononotions

of

a

single

community

ithin

urope,

herefore

ct as

a

convenient

marketing

policy.

he

marketing

nd

promotion

f

notions f

exaggerated'

erman

dentity,

o

generationsnaware f he riginsfneo-romantic,ationalisticermanignifiersnRammstein's

usic,

may

hereforeave

problematic

utcomes.

Rammstein

osters

otions f

Germany

s a new

cultural rand nd a

newly

'whole'

nation,

omplete

ith

erceptions

f

n

old and

valuable

ultural

eritage,

o



14/17

German

ymbolism

n

rockmusic

469

audiences utside

Germany

ho

mayonly

e awareof small

number fGerman

pop

/rock

rtists,

any

fwhom

ing

n

English

nd who

have

not

maintainedhe

career

ongevity

hatRammstein

njoys.

n

this

way,

Rammstein

anipulates

oth

national nd internationalotions f a new, phoenix-like' ermany,s well as

perceptions

fGerman

uthenticityhrough

ational ultural

ignif

ers,

erformance

aspects

hat

ommerciallyromote

rock

and that

would otherwise ave

imited

success

n

the

heavy

metal

enre.

Endnotes

1. Rammstein

ormed

n

1993

nd thebandtakes

itsname rom

he

ity

fRamstein

n

Germany

that

chieved

notoriety

fter

fatal

rash

t

an air show

n

1988 t which

eventy eople

died.

Edward

Larkey

rgues

hat,

ue to the

sexual

masochistic

ature

f ome f he

and's

lyrics,henamemay lso referothephallic

aggression

f

the sexual act

(Larkey

2003,

p.

145).

2.

Notable

exceptions

o Rammstein's

erman

language olicy

re

Amerika,

n

the lbum

eise,

reise

2004),

which s

sung

mostly

n

English,

and

Moskau,

n the same

album,

which

has

verses

ung

n

Russian

y

a

guest

ocalist.

n

the

album

Rosenrot

2005),

Stirb

Nichtvor

Mir/

Don'tDie

Before

Do

has verses

ung

n

English

by

guest

ocalist

nd Te

Quiero

utal

I

Want

You,

Whorelis

sung ntirely

n

Spanish.

3. One

of he

olumbinetudents

ho arried ut

the

hooting

aid

that e and

his

accompliceslistened o Germanindustrial' ockbands,

including

ammstein,

nd another

ad a

high-

school

hotograph

aken

wearing

Rammstein

T-shirt. Sources:

and

accessed

10October

004).

4. Rammstein's

urrent

ecord

abel is

Sony/

Universal/BMG

ecords.

n

2001, however,

their

ecordings

ere istributed

n theUnited

Kingdom

y

London

Records,

whose

other

recording

rtists ncluded

the Asian

Dub

Foundation.

5. Prior o making hesefilms, iefenstahlad

acted

n,

nd ssisted

n

the irection

f,

everal

films bout

mountaineering

hatwere

directed

by

Arnold

anck

1889-1974),

ho

madefilms

during

he

920s n the

heme f

he

truggle

f

humanity

gainst

ature,

concept romoted

by

the

ThirdReich

n

the 1930s.

xamples

f

these films

include

Der

Berg

des

Schicksals

(Mountain

of

Destiny)

1924),

Das

heiligeBerg

(The

Sacred

Mountain) 1926),

Stiirme

iber em

Mont

Blanc

Storm

ver

Mont

Blanc)

1930),

Der

weisse

Rauch

The

White

lame) 1931)

and Das

blaue Licht

The

Blue

Light)

1932).

Das Blaue

Lichtwas

Riefenstahl's

irectorial

ebut

nd

broughter oHitler'sttention.tthe nd of

World

War

I,

theAllies

rrested

iefenstahl,

although

he

Americans

ventually

leared er

ofNazism

n 1945. he

was later

earrested

y

the French

nd institutionalised

efore

eing

placed

nder ouse rrest ntil 949.

er

penul-

timate

ilm

s

a

director as

Tiefland

Lowlands)

(1954)

and she did not

direct

ny

others ntil

Underwater

mpressions

n

2002. Her

reputation

as

a Nazi

sympathiser

emained ntil he

ast

years

f

her ife nd

n

1997

here ere

rotests

ata photographicxhibitionnHamburgfher

work ince he

war.

6. Claudia Koonz maintains hat Riefenstahl

became

art

f cadre f ntellectualareerists

used

by

Hitler

o

popularise

acial

mprove-

ment.

Othermembers

f this adre ncluded

Albert

peer,

einhardt

eidrich,

ans

Frank,

Rudolf

oss ndAdolf

ichmann

Koonz

2003,

p.

106).

Riefenstahl

ade

Olympia

s a docu-

mentary

f he 936

lympiad

hat ook

lace

n

Berlin.

7.

These filmswere

Triumph

es Willens

Triumph

of

the

Will) (1934)

and

Tag

der Freiheit

Day of

Freedom)1935),

both of which

present

n

Aryanperspectiven the reconstructionf

German

ociety

nd theGerman rmed orces.

8. Interview

with Winston

Cummings,

'Rammstein: eutonicValues'

in

Hitparader,

December

998.

Hit

Parader s

currently

n

onlinemusic

magazine

hat

pecialises

n

heavy

metal

music,

lthough

t has been

published

since he

arly

960s. ource:

http://herzeleid.

com n

/

press

98-1

_hit_parader>

accessed

11

October

006).

9.

Cummings

nHitParader.

10.

Kahn-Harris

pplies

he

ermextreme etal' o

offshoots

f

heavy

metal uch

s Black

Metal',

'Doom

Metal',

Thrash Metal'

and 'Death

Metal'Kahn-Harris000, .124).

11. Lorenz

made his tatement

n an

nterview

n

the

DVD,

Live us

Berlin

1999).

12.

For

comprehensive

iscussion

n theuse of

German

anguage

n

contemporary

erman

pop

music,

ee

Larkey

2000).

13.

Larkey

dds

that herewas

resurgence

n

the

use of

StandardGerman

mong theatrically

orientatedGerman

rock artists from the

1970s onwards.

These artists ncludedUdo

Lindenberg

nd Nina

Hagen (Larkey

2000,

p.

4).

14.

Christoph

chneider,

heRammstein

rummer,

adopts n economical,ndalmostminimalist,

approach

ohis

playing

haterves omaintain

rhythmic

feel' nd constant

ulse

while

up-

porting

he

erformances

f

he est f he

and.

Rock

drummers ften

ite

John

Bonham f



15/17

470

Robert

G.H.

Burns

Led

Zeppelin

as the

principal xponent

of this

rock

drumming tyle.

15. As with

he

origin

f the

band's

name,

this

ong

has

connections o

an

air disaster.

he

recording

contains ound

samples

of

Japanese

ircraft

er-sonnel

shouting

Pull

up, pull up '

in

Japanese

in

the ast

moments efore

crash

n

1985.

16.

Rallies of thiskind

took

place

regularly

ollow-

ing

Hitler's

ppointment

s chancellor n the

1

February

1933,

on

which

night

Propaganda

Minister,

osef

oebbels

1897-1945)

organised

a

torchlight

arade

ofSS

soldiers

hrough

erlin

(Kershawl998,p.433).

17.

Despite

Nazi

criticism

of

many aspects

of

German

theatre and

cinema,

Metropolis

was,

perhaps

predictably,

ne of

Goebbels'

favourite

films

Koonz

2003,

p.

86).

18. See

Willet

(1988,

p.

81).

The cover of the

Rammstein

DVD, Lichtspeilhaus2003),

is

another

example

of the use of constructivist

imagery.

19.

This

performance

was recorded

for the

DVD,

Live us

Berlin

1999).

20.

This

emphasis

is

also

apparent

on

the cover of

the

album,

Herzeleid

1995),

and

in

the

video of

the

single,

Du

Riechst o Gut'

('You

Smell

So

Good') (1995).

21.

Source:

Official

xhibition

atalogue,

Deutsche

Kunst

u

Munchen

1943).

22.

It

s notwithin

he

cope

of

his rticle o

discuss

theThird

Reich's

manipulation

f

Germanfolk-

loric

perceptions

of

nation,

blood and

soil as

a

medium

for

galvanising

German

popular

opinion

in the aftermathof the Weimer

Republic,

although

folkloric

llusions to

these

subjects

can

be found in

several

Rammstein

texts.

23.

Rammstein

members

dopted

a

similar

heatri-

cal,

static

mechanistic

pproach

to

stage

move-

ments while on

tour

in

2005,

although stage

costuming

was

changed

to

Lederhosen nd

Tyrolean

hats and

jackets.

The

stage

band's

stage etting

emained

n

the

onstructivist

tyle

with a

metallic,

machine-like

tructure

rovid-

ing

a

backdrop

to

the

singer

nd

guitarists

nd

acting

s a

riser or

hedrummer.

ee the

band's

appearances

at the

Arenes de

Nimes,

France

(2005)

and the Brixton

Academy,

London,

United

Kingdom 2005)

(Rosenrot VD

[2005]).

24. In

the

1930s,

the Nazi

media

published

a

magazine

called Neues

Volk

s

a

mass-market

publication

imed at

membersof the

German

public

who

regarded

the

already

available

political

publications

with

distrust.

oonz notes

that

Neues Volk

ontributors

romoted,

mong

other

racist

propaganda,

concepts

of

racial

purity

mong

the Volk

Koonz

2003,

pp.

117-

18).

Moreover,

t

became

party

olicy

to

under-

take

genotypic

and

phenotypic

studies into

racial

characteristics,

ncluding

kull

measure-

ments,

n

order

to

determine n idealised viewofthe

perfect

ordic/

Aryan

tereotype

Koonz

2003,

p.

112).

This view

of a

racially pure

Germanic

eople

is

depicted

n

the

culptures

f

Thorak,

Klimsch nd

Breker,

mong

others.

25.

My

doctoral research

built

upon

the works

of,

among

others,

Hobsbawm and

Ranger

1989),

Harker

1989),

Anderson

1991),

Boyes

1993),

Atkinson

2004)

and Sweers

(2005),

and it

in-

vestigates

he validation of notionsof

tradition

by

the nvention f

authenticity'

nd

identity'.

26.

For

example

ich,

the

personal pronoun, pro-

nounced

as

'ish' rather han the Low German

pronunciation

ik'.

For a

comprehensive

dis-

cussion on

regional pronunciation

n

German

popular

music,

ee

Larkey

2000,

p.

3).

27.

The

text of 'Mein Teil' concerns masochistic

sexual

fantasy

nd

cannibalism

nd

is based on

a

murder

hat

ook

place

in

2001

n

which

Armin

Meiwes killed Bernd

Jiirgen

randes who

had

answered a classified dvertisement

ublished

by

Meiwes

asking

for a

male

volunteer who

wished to be

slaughtered

nd eaten. The text f

'Mein Herz

brennt' akes

a

folkloric

etting

s

thebasis for henarration f child's

nightmare,

with he

nclusion f

demons,

ghosts

nd fairies.

'Hilf Mir'

has

a

text based on Heinrich

Hoffman's

poem,

Die

gar traurige

Geschichte

mit

dem

Feuerzeug',

whichwas

originally ub-

lished n

1845

n a

collection alled

Struwwelpeter

thatHoffmanwrote

forhis children.

28. The

Oberbrettl heatrewas founded

n

Berlin

n

1901

by

Ernst on

Wolzogen

as

a

theatre

pecial-

ising

n

cabaret.

29.

The textsof Pierrot unaire

were

adapted

into

German

by

Otto Erich

Hartleben

1864-1905)

from

oems by

AlbertGiraud

1860-1929).

30. The first

prechstimmeerformance

was

given

by

Albertine ehme

(1857-1946).

31.

Many

actors,

uch as

Marlene Dietrichwho

per-

fo

german symbolism in rock music national signification in the imagery and songs of

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