2023-06-17 06:53:43
The band changed our author’s life. Her songs brought her to Berlin and she learned German. Now the question arises: Can one separate the music from the artists?
Rammstein at the MTV Europe Music Awards in 2001ZUMA Wire/imago
It’s 1997. Backstreet Boys, Mariah Carey, Chumbawamba are looping on MTV and my teenage anger isn’t finding an outlet. Suddenly: A keyboard builds tension – seconds later the drums crash on my eardrums like a gigantic wave against the rocks. I run to my mother’s bedroom where the TV is. An illegal couple kisses passionately in a vintage car. And there he is, half his face covered in a mask that looks a bit like a pig.
He points his finger at me: “You, you have, you have me… you, you have, you have me… you have me, you have me, you asked me, you asked me, you asked me and I did not say anything!”
26 years later I still remember that moment. Even if it sounds like a cliché, it was a significant moment in my life, a life-defining moment in fact. My first encounter with Rammstein doesn’t take place in Germany. At the age of 15 I don’t speak German yet. It is the beginning of a special relationship: to Rammstein, to Berlin and Germany, to the German language.
When I think about it: I don’t even know if I would have ended up in Germany without Rammstein, earning my living here and raising my children. Without them, I would never have had the idea of writing for a metal magazine during my school days, which later motivated me to study journalism.
“Bend over!” or sex as part of the equation
I immediately went to the record store and bought “Longing”. “‘Bend down!’ I command you, turn your face away from me, I don’t care about your face, bend down!” sings Till Lindemann on the second album, which made the band famous throughout Europe. Such lyrics about dominance, provocation and arousal have been instrumental in their success. Some will remember Lindemann at a book signing in Moscow a BDSM-typically dressed model dragged behind her on a leash like a dog – the audience, including many young women, cheered. Even those who didn’t know about the penis cannon stage act up until a few weeks ago surely do now.
Rammstein was often about sex and submission, even if the band members themselves were the protagonists. In his book “Today the World’s Birthday” the keyboarder Christian “Flake” Lorenz describes the show around the song “Feuerräder”. “We bought a collar and a dog leash in a sex shop and I rode across the stage on Till’s back,” writes Flake, adding that he also bought a whip with which he hit Till. And further: “We found that we could come up with some good actions for the stage with such titles.”
Is the mood among fans slowly changing?
Thanks to such controversial images and their unique sound, extravagant shows and exemplary marketing, Rammstein have managed over the years to become one of those very special bands that are more than just music for their fans: they are participants in life-defining moments. Your community is very tight. Recently, one of the many online groups cheered on two members who first met at a concert, then reconnected through the community, and a year later announced they were a happy couple.
My own relationship with Rammstein is currently in crisis. Up until a month ago, whenever the Spotify playlist played the song “Ausländer” in the car, we turned up the volume and sang out loud with the kids: “I’m a foreigner – come on, baby, c’est, c’ est, c’est la vie.” Whenever a Rammstein or Lindemann song sounds, I get overcome by strange feelings and the mood is clouded. I don’t feel like singing along at the moment. Is this the end of my Rammstein relationship after more than 25 years?
It seems I’m not alone. In the online community, too, where fans are looking for solace in the current situation, the mood seems to be slowly changing, especially since the Berlin public prosecutor’s office confirmed that they are investigating singer Lindemann. Most of the band are still loyal. But some have begun to question their beliefs and realize that even if all allegations are magically dropped, a dark stain will remain.
“I’m so confused why you all want to stand behind them so publicly?” Someone recently asked under a self-painted picture of the band with the phrase “I stand with Rammstein” scrawled over it.” Another replied: “I currently support Till and Rammstein, I want to believe in him and the other members,” but added, “if it turns out he’s guilty, I won’t support him anymore.”
“I don’t care what’s around”
Some are already counting down to the Berlin concerts, for which luckily I don’t have tickets – otherwise I would be torn inside as to whether I still felt like going or not. Can you enjoy the big fireworks party when there are such dark clouds in the sky? The other day I was extremely surprised when I saw a video of a female fan saying shortly before a Rammstein concert that they didn’t care about the accusations that she was only there for the music: “I just don’t care what’s around”. , she said verbatim, “they didn’t do anything to me.”
Nobody can say exactly how the matter will develop. A lot of time passes between a preliminary investigation and a hearing before a judge. Whether someone is found guilty is another question entirely. But in the meantime, I can’t pretend it’s nothing. I can’t close my eyes anymore and just enjoy the music. And I cannot lightly separate the music from the allegations until they are finally resolved.
#whats #doesnt #bother