Sonne – Rammstein; A song about oppression?

And now for some hardcore Industrial Metal – Rammstein. Of course, they are not sombre and somewhat disconcerting like Laibach. Rather, this famous German band offers interesting lyrics, creative if at times macabre videos and of course, beautiful music.

One excellent example of their musical prowess is Sonne. Literally translating as “The Sun”, this song is great indicator of their capabilities. Firstly, like most of their songs, this is sung in German. Unlike the marriage of the vowel and consonant that is the French language, German is easily distinguishable with their distinct pronunciations and thus, gives Sonne that extra edge (we are talking Metal here, remember). Did I mention that the deep voices adds to the appeal here? Of course, there is the fantastic guitar riff at the beginning. Now add the chorus and drums, both of which builds up to and marks the bits of fast paced urgency in the song.

Find English translation of lyrics at this link.

As for the video itself, there has been many debates and arguments of sorts about this video. Some misinformed folk like to associate the song and the band with right-wing riff-raff. This falls into the same category containing conspiracy theories about famous man-made disasters – read: it's utter rubbish and means some people spend way too much navel-gazing. Check out this link which quotes the band member(s); they are perplexed by such associations and references. Bottom line: Rammstein and the song Sonne are not right-wing sympathizers and they do not promote it in their songs.

That said, what is the video about? Well, the song was apparently written with boxers Thyunder OwnAnge//Vitali Klitschko. However, they decided it was just not their type of music. Having said that, what did the video end up as? Rather interesting and thought-provoking. The video portrays the story of a group of oppressed miners who toil away whilst their brutal and indulgent 'owner', a done-up, well dressed woman, lives off their work. While there are many interpretations, I stick with the one that likens this to a darker take on Snow White and Seven Dwarfs. In that manner, it is a fabulous paradigm shift and forces you to think differently. There she is, rich and opulent, and in order to live her fancy little life-style she needs the miners to dig deep for gold. Well, they tried killing her and wouldn't you know it, she comes back.

If you think about it, this video is a telling representation of oppressive leaders/corporations. Think about the problems miners face, especially in countries like South Africa where they are unable to benefit in their own lives from the riches that they excavate. On a more depressing note, the song also points out that when you get rid of a tyrant there is someone else to take their place.