Angela Merkel chose a song by punk rocker Nina Hagen as the soundtrack for her retirement ceremony, which made the Germans wonder how well they knew how to rule them for 16 years Prime Minister.
Merkel’s Social Democratic successor Olaf Schultz is expected to be sworn in as prime minister next week, and Merkel will hold a routine military farewell ceremony in the courtyard outside the Ministry of Defense on Thursday night.
this Big tattoo Due to coronavirus restrictions, the ceremony will be more low-key than usual, with only 200 guests attending.
Like her predecessor, Merkel was allowed to require three songs to be played by a military band during the military tattoo.
But despite the fact that Gerhard Schroeder and Helmut Kohl chose the traditionally exaggerated musical fare for this occasion-Frank Sinatra’s “My Way” and Ludwig Van Beethoven’s Ode to Joy, etc.-Merkel’s choices hint at the unknown hinterland.
Great god, we praise you (God, we praise your name) is a popular Christian hymn in the 18th century. It pays tribute to her growth as the daughter of a Protestant pastor and the religious identity of her party, the Christian Democratic Union (CDU).
Her second choice, Hildegard Knef Should rain red roses for me (It should rain red roses for me), a melancholy song about juvenile ambition and juvenile arrogance, however, has already hinted at the irony flashes in the eyes. “I thought I was obedient, I just made do with it,” the lyrics read. “Oh, I can’t adapt, I can’t make do, I have always wanted to win.”
But the choice for commentators to search for subtext and hidden information is Nina Hagen’s You forgot the color film (You forgot the color film).
First recorded in the traditional bat Style, the song was popular on the East German pop charts before Hagen moved to the other side of the Iron Curtain, where she was immersed in the London subculture and became the most prominent punk figure in West Germany in the 1980s.
But even accepting her East German status is an unusual move by Merkel that her country has known during most of her 16 years in power, when she rarely brought her Eastern upbringing to the fore.
The lyrics of this song were composed by Kurt Demmler, which is an angry lament, admonishing Hagen’s boyfriend Michael that he only made a black and white film while on vacation to Hiddensee Island. As a result, she cried, “No one will believe how beautiful this place is.”
Although not subject to state censorship, the song was understood by its admirers at the time as a secret criticism of the Socialist Republic and its gloomy and monotonous daily life. Color films are a rare commodity.
Some critics speculate whether the outgoing prime minister sees a more modern meaning in Hagen’s songs: Howling frustrated by men neglecting to do their job can also be designed as Merkel and her male colleague Farewell.
