GDR Retro-Nationalist Punk: Parallels and Influences

Based on LNW9 by Gail Hart

Let's review a few of the musical excerpts from the last lecture and listen to their precursors. In previous quarters, you learned to analyze music. Which aspects of this music sound rebellious? As you listen, take notes describing the beat, the tempo, the tone, the mood, the melody and, most of all, the voices you hear. We will listen to the music once straight through and a second time pausing for comments about the musical style. Don't worry if you have forgotten the technical terms. See if you can hear something revolutionary in the music. Let's try to describe punk rock’s rebellion against injustice.

Feeling B: “I Seek the GDR” (Special thanks to Erin Obodiac.)

In the UN there's an empty seaton which used to sit a man from Suhlin Kenya there's one embassy less in numberthis time it struck a man from JenaI seek the GDR and no one knows where it isIt's such a pity that it's forgetting me that quicklyI seek the GDR and if it comes back to meI'll pardon it!In the new atlas one state is missingof a very particular kindBetween West Germany and Polandone country has been stolen

Listening Closely

Listen for chromatic harmonies, music that sounds haunting, a repetitive beat, and a late-punk addition of symphonic instruments.

When thinking about the lyrics, consider the sense in which the singer is looking for the GDR “but no one knows where it is.” What does that mean, literally and figuratively?

The Skeptics

Recall what Professor Hart and Patricia Simpson said about The Skeptics. What is the difference between this clip and the previous one? In what sense is this music more accessible, initially? Recall the distinction between compliance and defiance. Explain that distinction in your own words.

SANDOW: "BORN IN THE GDR"

What is the effect of using the Bruce Springsteen footage? What was the GDR? Discuss the satire in this video. What is the difference between Feeling B and Sandow, in terms of their nostalgia for an unrealized dream of socialism? What is retro-nationalism? In what sense were the "idylls of socialism" "bogus"? Refer to LNW9 and to the Simpson article.

1970’s British and American Punk

• The defiance in some 1980's and 1990’s German punk music opposes the totalitarianism of police-state tactics, even in a socialist society. This music inherits from 1970's and 1980's British and American punk music a rebellion against imperialism, capitalism and hypocrisy. In the 1970’s there was a recession (high unemployment and inflation) and an oil crisis. In the U.S. these problems stemmed in part from the expenditures of the Vietnam War. Punk music grew out of the opposition to social, political and economic injustices.

Public and Counter-Public

Before we read the following lyrics and watch the videos, let's think about ways in which GDR retro-nationalist punk music makes, uses and reworks notions of public and counter-public.

Think about shifting notions of public as oppressive majority or public as youthful audience; and counter-public as pre-reunification opposition to the police-state tactics of socialism or counter-public as post-reunification opposition to capitalism, etc. What are other ways of defining public against counter-public?

Listening for sources and parallels

Here are a few famous British and American punk songs. The examples range from clear satire of monarchy to advocacy of anarchy as a last resort. After we listen to these we will go back to Feeling B and the Skeptics for comparison and contrast. Listen for musical parallels (similarities in sound patterns, the beat, the melody, etc) as well as direct connections to the GDR retro-nationalist punk lyrics and concerns. Agree or disagree: the shouts, driving beat and chromaticism reflect not merely an angry refusal to accept capitalist inequalities, but also a dissatisfaction with the rejection of socialism.

Ask these questions while listening:What is the function of sarcasm, satire and irony in the British

and American examples? Did you hear sarcasm and satire in the German examples? Where? Can you imagine someone arguing that punk rock music failed because it re-inscribed or perpetuated the bigotry it was attempting to satirize? How or why? See examples in the Sex Pistols' and Green Day's lyrics. What is the connection, for example, between the "bogus idyll of socialism" and the reference to the Berlin Wall in the first example below? In "Anarchy in the UK" you have a great example of the difference between British and German punk. What might be possible parallels? Hint: what does it mean for citizens to be mere tenants?

The Sex Pistols: “Holidays in the Sun”

• Compare this video to “Holiday in Cambodia” by the Dead Kennedys (coming up later in the presentation). What are these bands saying about mainstream denial of poverty? Also, think about the GDR punk rejection of a whitewashed future. What is the attitude toward the future in this video? Think about the attitude toward the Berlin Wall in the following video. What is on the other side of the wall? The GDR was a welfare state (how? See LNW9!) but used police tactics. Early punk music shares with later, GDR punk a rejection of corruption on the left as well as the right. Both opposed extremist versions of nationalism. Do you remember studying extreme nationalism earlier this quarter? In what context?

“Holidays in the Sun” Lyrics:A Cheap holiday in other peoples misery!

I don't wanna holiday in the sunI wanna go to new BelsenI wanna see some historyCause now I got a reasonable economy

Now I got a reason, now I got a reasonNow I got a reason and I'm still waitingNow I got a reasonNow I got reason to be waitingThe Berlin Wall

Sensurround sound in a two inch wallWell I was waiting for the communist callI didn't ask for sunshine and I got World War threeI'm looking over the wall and they're looking at me

Now I got a reason, Now I got a reasonNow I got a reason and I'm still waitingNow I got a reason,Now I got a reason to be waitingThe Berlin Wall

Well they're staring all night andThey're staring all dayI had no reason to be here at allBut now I gotta reason it's no real reasonAnd I'm waiting at the Berlin Wall

•

Gotta go over the Berlin WallI don't understand it....I gotta go over the wallI don't understand this bit at all....

Claustrophobia there's too much paranoiaThere's too many closets so when will we fallAnd now I gotta reason,It's no real reason to be waitingThe Berlin Wall

Gotta go over the Berlin WallI don't understand it....I gotta go over the wallI don't understand this bit at all...

Please don't be waiting for me

The Sex Pistols as source for GDR anti-imperialist nationalism: “God Save the Queen”

In order to get the sense of how this song was received, you have to imagine the “The Star Spangled Banner” satirized. The Sex Pistols had problems performing this song. It is highly incendiary in its opposition to monarchy and imperialism. Notice the dramatic contrast between the words and images in the video. Lyrics w/o stanzas:

God save the queen her fascist regimeIt made you a moron a potential h bomb !God save the queen she aint no human beingThere is no future in England’s dreamingDon’t be told what you want don’t be told what you needThere’s no future no future no future for youGod save the queen we mean it man (God save window lean)We love our queen God saves (God save... human beings)God save the queen cos tourists are moneyAnd our figurehead is not what she seemsOh God save history God save your mad paradeOh lord God have mercy all crimes are paidWhen there’s no future how can there be sinWere the flowers in the dustbinWere the poison in your human machineWere the future your futureGod save the queen we mean it manThere is no future in England’s dreamingNo future for you no future for meNo future no future for you

The Sex Pistols: “Anarchy in the UK”

This is perhaps the Sex Pistols’ most famous song. How (or why) would you rescue it from charges of anti-intellectualism or irresponsible escapism? Look at the fourth line from the end. What does it mean for a citizen to be a mere tenant? More profoundly, ask yourselves whether the shocking first lines equate Christianity with oppression, or whether the singer is speaking in the voice of the oppressors. Finally, discuss the harmonies and descending chromatic riffs in the music. What is the of these sounds in terms of pathos?

The Sex Pistols: “Anarchy in the UK” Lyrics:

Right ! now ! ha ha ha ha haI am an antichristI am an anarchistDont know what I want butI know how to get itI wanna destroy the passer by ‘cause II wanna be anarchy !No dog’s bodyAnarchy for the UK its coming sometime and maybeI give a wrong time stop a traffic lineYour future dream is a shopping scheme ‘cause II wanna be anarchy !

“Anarchy in the UK” lyrics continued

In the cityHow many ways to get what you wantI use the best I use the restI use the enemy I use anarchy ‘cause II wanna be anarchy !The only way to be !Is this the MPLAOr is this the UDAOr is this the IRAI thought it was the UK or justAnother countryAnother council tenancyI wanna be an anarchistOh what a nameGet pissed destroy !

Critique of Hypocrisy

The egalitarian political and economic message of 1970’s British punk coalesces with the anti-elitist cultural message of 1980’s American punk. In the following two examples, listen for a criticism of the hypocrisy, superficiality and elitism the singer finds in American culture. (Where have you read about philosophies of ways of living?) The GDR punk opposition to hypocrisy and elitism has its roots, in part, here. Remember, punk opposes left-wing as well as right-wing elitism. What does this mean? Review Simpson.

The Dead Kennedys: “Holiday in Cambodia” lyrics:So you been to schoolFor a year or twoAnd you know you've seen it allIn daddy's carThinkin' you'll go farBack east your type don't crawl Play ethnicky jazzTo parade your snazzOn your five grand stereoBraggin' that you knowHow the feel coldAnd the slums got so much soul It's time to taste what you most fearRight Guard will not help you hereBrace yourself, my dear: It's a holiday in CambodiaIt's tough, kid, but it's lifeIt's a holiday in Cambodia

Don't forget to pack a wife

“Holiday in Cambodia” continued:You're a star-belly sneechYou suck like a leachYou want everyone to act like youKiss ass while you bitchSo you can get richBut your boss gets richer off you Well you'll work harderWith a gun in your backFor a bowl of rice a daySlave for soldiersTill you starveThen your head is skewered on a stake Now you can go where people are oneNow you can go where they get things doneWhat you need, my son:. Is a holiday in CambodiaWhere people dress in blackA holiday in Cambodia

Green Day!In this final example, think about epistemology. What,

precisely, is the target of rebellion? Hint: the hypocrisy in the media itself. In what sense?

Another question: in what ways does this video share the concerns of the anti-totalitarian GDR retro-nationalist punk music? Notice that the lyrics associate the singer with culturally marginalized groups, whereas 1970’s and 1980’s punk music lyrics align themselves with politically and economically marginalized groups. Finally, think about the effect of the visual aspect of the video, especially toward the end. Is this nuclear waste, a bleeding flag or both?

Green Day: “American Idiot” lyrics:Don't want to be an American idiot.Don't want a nation under the new maniaAnd can you hear the sound of hysteria?The subliminal mind fuck America.

Welcome to a new kind of tension.All across the alien nation.Where everything isn't meant to be okay.Television dreams of tomorrow.We're not the ones who're meant to follow.For that's enough to argue.

Well maybe I'm the faggot America.I'm not a part of a redneck agenda.Now everybody do the propaganda.And sing along to the age of paranoia.

“American Idiot” lyrics, continued:Welcome to a new kind of tension.All across the alien nation.Where everything isn't meant to be okay.Television dreams of tomorrow.We're not the ones who're meant to follow.For that's enough to argue.

Don't want to be an American idiot.One nation controlled by the media.Information age of hysteria.It's calling out to idiot America.

Welcome to a new kind of tension.All across the alien nation.Where everything isn't meant to be okay.Television dreams of tomorrow.We're not the ones who're meant to follow.For that's enough to argue.

Review

Play the videos again after rereading Patricia Simpson’s article. In the music and in the article, you should be able to identify opposition to oppression (“disenfranchisement”), corruption within capitalist as well as socialist economies, hypocrisy and economic as well as intellectual elitism.

A final point of discussion would be to explain what is new and unusual in GDR retro-nationalist punk. What does it bring to the picture? Let’s discuss this with the article in hand, next class.