Deutchland

From chanting hymns for deities to singing pop songs; music has the power to transcend thru time, language, culture and borders. And with the innovation of music videos this vessel of expressing human emotions is reaching new heights.

Last year the music video of “This is America” by Childish Gambino set new standards of story telling via music videos. A beautiful mix of good beats, symbolism and reenactment of real events “This is America” painted a vivid social picture of today’s America where violence and racism is still running rampant.

This year; After a decade long hiatus, the German rock band “Rammstein” released their new single entitled “Deutchland” and it has taken the art of making music videos to an insane level of artistry because in a span of just 9 minutes “Deutchland” encapsulates the whole history of modern Germany.

“Deutchland” starts with “Battle of the Teutoburg Forest” when Roman soldiers were slaughtered by ancient German tribes and from there on, frame by frame, this music video captures or rather reveals the unadulterated, abridged version of German history and it is one hell of a ride to say the least!

Rammstein are known for their controversial lyrics, music videos and live performances but “Deutchland” is something else, it’s a very provocative project even by Rammstein standards and this is apparent in the first few seconds of the music video when the viewers are introduced to “Germania”, the “personification of the German nation” and it is played by a black woman which is a monumental statement about an inclusive modern Germany, free from the shackles of its past of Nazism and white supremacists.

Thru out the video “Germania” is seen, going thru a chain of events, from being a brave knight to getting cannibalized by foreigners to being present as a silent witness to its nation’s deposition and then appear as a source of its resurrection!

Furthermore the use of symbolism is so frequent and subtle in “Deutchland” that you might miss it the 1st time around, for instance in one sequence Rammstein band members are shown as prisoners in a Nazi concentration camp with noose around their necks. This scene caused such a global outcry that when the teaser for “Deutchland” 1st came out; even the Israel’s FM Spokesperson tweeted:

https://twitter.com/EmmanuelNahshon/status/1111258710066823168

But if you look closely members of the band are wearing symbols of their “crimes” on to their uniforms so for example Paul Landers is wearing a yellow star which means he is a Jew while Oliver Riedel is wearing a pink triangle which means he is a homosexual and it was a usual practice in Nazi Germany to send homosexuals to concentration camps just like they did with the Jews. And keeping up with such painful events from the past; there are lines in “Deutchland” that goes:

Man kann dich lieben (du liebst, du liebst, du liebst, du liebst) Und will dich hassen (du hasst, du hasst, du hasst, du hasst)

One can love you (you love, you love, you love, you love) And want to hate you (you hate, you hate, you hate, you hate)

Another interesting bit is at the climax of this video in which “Germania” is giving birth to a dog and not just any dog but a Leonberger, a giant breed of German dogs, which almost went extinct after the WW2 but made a miraculous comeback ever since. This is also nod to the German national spirit as well, which was left broken after the WW2 but made such a successful comeback that now Germany is one of the most powerful countries on earth.

From start to finish: this music video is not only a rich blend of trademark Rammstein music, symbolism and alluring cinematography but a wake up call as well, from Rammstein to their countrymen, to accept their past mistakes learn from them and move on for the sake of a better, progressive and a more unified “Deutchland.”