#rammstein in media

[notafraidofredyellowandblue]

Richard is on a roll today, posted his reel on tiktok and facebook too ❤️🖤

[notafraidofredyellowandblue]

Just felt like letting everyone know that one of austria's local radio station just speculated about r+ ending or possible changes because "lead guitarist Richard Kruspe posted a photo with a confusing caption" and I died laughing - what has that poor man done 😭💀

oh for ef's sake Richard, now look what you did

"The end of Rammstein - member makes announcement. A new post by Rammstein guitarist puts fans in fear. It sounds like the end of the worldwide most succesful german band"

because of his post "Thank you for being you. I do not know how the future will be but in any case will be different."

and somewhere in Berlin, Richard is going

i swear, everytime he wants to be genuinly grateful to fans, it comes out all....different... ❤️🖤😊

[notafraidofredyellowandblue]

Interesting how none of the guys wished Till hbd

Well...i mentioned to one of my tumblr friends a while ago, the guys are of the generation who often think it's silly to congratulate someone on social media when they are in touch personally and can congratulate in real life; i must admit i'm the same 😇 so i wouldn't search too much into it..

for a longer answer; Flake, Olli aren't active on social media afaik, Paul and Schneider are occassionally, but i don't think i ever saw a birthday post from them, Till's social media is, i think, not maintained by himself, that account rarely acknowledges the existance of Rammstein bandmates anyway 😊

The only one doing a Happy Birthday now and then is Richard, for Till's birthday last year he was several days late, so i wouldn't rule out he'll post something over the weekend 😊 but he misses most birthdays too..

My theory (feel free to disagree) on Richard congratulating Flake a while ago is that Richard has become aware that since the tour, German media are following his account (and reading his Kruspefying captions) and that that post was actually a subtle nod of support for Flake after the allegations in 2023 (where Flake lost his podcast and booktour even before he was attacked himself, and even after nothing came of it, hasn't gotten them back).

Oh, and my other theory was that Richard actually went to Mexico to attend Till's birthday show and could congratulate in person, but i think that definitely was proven false by now... 😄

So...my theories tend to be not all that useful... 😄 so...well...as to the answer to this ask...i'm going with the first paragraph 😇

[marimayscarlett]

What happened with Schneider why there are accusations against him?

Hi 👋

There aren't accusation against him, but an article from the german news outlet Süddeutsche Zeitung from last year was written and worded in a way which evoked the impression that he was. The court ruled against the news outlet. Yesterday this article about it was published, with all the important information on it, and you find a translation (done with deepl and revised by me) under the cut (since I realized the google translate option isn't very accurate and downright false at some points).

The article is quite long, but covers everything important about the situation.

“Obviously unlawful suspicion reporting” Without conclusive evidence, the Süddeutsche Zeitung suspected a Rammstein band member of sexual assault, the Higher Regional Court of Hamburg ruled. It criticized errors that are also relevant in proceedings conducted by Till Lindemann. Rammstein musician Christoph Schneider has also successfully appealed in the second instance against an SZ article that suspected him of a sexual assault over 25 years ago. The Hanseatic Higher Regional Court (OLG) dismissed the SZ's appeal against a ruling by the Hamburg Regional Court (judgment of 09.07.2024, ref. 7 U 53/23). According to the OLG in the summary proceedings, the newspaper had disregarded the principles of reporting on suspicion. In mid-July 2023, the SZ had reported on a woman's overnight stay in a hotel with band members of Rammstein in 1996. The woman named in the article, Sybille Herder, said that she had struck up a conversation with the Rammstein keyboardist “Flake” (Christian Lorenz) after a concert in Gera and had later attended a party in the hotel swimming pool. Several women and the Rammstein members Christian Lorenz, Till Lindemann and Christoph Schneider later went to a hotel room. Then her memory stopped working - a movie break. The next thing she remembers is lying naked on the floor in the morning, with her abdomen feeling “as if it had been torn to shreds”, the woman says in the report. The SZ further quotes the woman as saying that she makes nonsense when she has been drinking, but that she remembers all the nonsense. Her conclusion, according to the article: “Something must have happened.” She had never had a blackout like that before. In addition to Till Lindemann, Rammstein drummer Christoph Schneider, represented by Lichte Rechtsanwälte (Sebastian Ott), also obtained a temporary injunction against the report before the Hamburg Regional Court. LTO reported. After an unsuccessful appeal, SZ appealed against the judgment of the Regional Court to the Higher Regional Court, but without success:

“Not Reinhard May's drummer” SZ argued in court that the requirements for reporting suspicions did not have to be met, as Christoph Schneider was not even suspected in the report. It was only about showing that Schneider was also at the party. “He is not Reinhard May's drummer (...). If there is such a party and he takes part in it, he has to accept identifying reporting,” argued SZ lawyer Dr. Martin Schippan (Lausen Rechtsanwälte) at the hearing on 9 July.

In addition, the SZ was in a quandary: If they had left open who the other Rammstein member on site was, members of the band who had nothing to do with it would have been linked to the incident. “Then we would have received six warnings,” said Schippan. SZ journalist Lena Kampf, who was present, agreed. “If Schneider wasn't named, suspicion would fall on everyone else,” she said, describing the dilemma from the SZ's perspective.

Citing the statement backfires But the Press Senate of the Higher Regional Court of Hamburg was not convinced. Above all, the SZ's statement by Christoph Schneider, which was published in the article, proved fatal. In it, Schneider denied the incident. The chairwoman of the senate, Simone Käfer, had already made it clear at the hearing that it was contradictory to publish a statement on accusations in the report and on the other hand to believe that the person was not even suspected in the report. SZ representative Schippan was irritated by this: “As a consequence, this means that Schneider's denial would have been better left out,” said Schippan. “Indeed. That was the bombshell,” was Käfer's response. She thus made it clear that any doubts on the part of the court as to whether the SZ suspected Schneider in the report were rendered superfluous by quoting his statement. “That's not what they learn in journalism school,” Schippan replied in astonishment.

Way out: clarify lack of suspicion So does the OLG decision contradict the journalistic duty to obtain and process statements? Hardly: The OLG was only concerned here with the preliminary question of whether the SZ had aroused any suspicion at all. In the eyes of the readers, it is evident that a person who is asked to comment on the accusation is also suspected. Why else would they be questioned? If a medium decides to spread a suspicion, a statement must of course also be obtained in the opinion of the Higher Regional Court of Hamburg. However, the media cannot use the excuse that there is no suspicion at all if a person is questioned about the allegation in the report at the same time. Senate Chairwoman Käfer then showed SZ a possible way out of the dilemma: clarify in the report itself that the suspicion is not directed against Christoph Schneider, while at the same time making it clear that the court is not there to provide formulation suggestions.

Schneider a “decidedly minor figure” The OLG thus comes to the conclusion that the SZ raised the suspicion through several passages that Schneider had been involved in a sexual assault. Such an arousal of suspicion is only permissible if the strict requirements for suspicion reporting are met. These include a minimum amount of evidence that justifies reporting on the suspicion despite a lack of certainty. In addition, the reporting must be balanced, exonerating evidence must be taken into account and the statement must be presented accurately. Furthermore, identifying suspicion reporting can only be considered if the public interest outweighs the right to privacy in the form of the presumption of innocence. In the opinion of the Higher Regional Court of Hamburg, the minimum amount of evidence was clearly lacking. In Sybille Herder's descriptions in her affidavit, Schneider was a “decidedly minor figure”. In fact, she “rather suspected Lindemann himself”, according to the OLG ruling. Therefore, not even her affidavit supported a suspicion against Schneider.

OLG: SZ does not correctly reflect research results In addition, according to the ruling, the SZ article does not take into account exonerating facts for Schneider. For example, the reporting deceives readers into believing that Herder himself had doubts about a sexual assault at the time. Herder is quoted as saying that “something must have happened” and that she “was convinced at the time that something had been done to her”. However, readers would not learn that Herder had any doubts about a sexual assault at the time. She describes in her affidavit that she could not imagine that “a band that did not need to force someone to have sex would resort to such means”. The SZ also omits the fact that Herder did not go to the police at the time. The court also criticized the fact that the SZ inaccurately reproduced the reaction of a criminal lawyer whom Herder consulted at the time. According to Herder's affidavit, he asked her for “documented evidence” at the time. However, the SZ omits this passage in the report and limits the reproduction of the lawyer's statement to the fact that Herder should rather wait until it becomes public “somewhere else”. By omitting the question of “documented evidence”, the article does not make it sufficiently clear that such “documented evidence” does not actually exist. Finally, the statement by Schneider's lawyers was also not reproduced with sufficient precision by the SZ. Schneider had made a clear and specific statement about Herder's case. He had specifically denied the accusation that he had committed sexual acts against her although she was not conscious. In the SZ article, Schneider's statement is reduced to the fact that he generally denies the accusation of sexual assault in relation to women (“on women”). According to the OLG, this could give the reader the impression that Schneider was giving evasive answers. Overall, the SZ did not accurately reflect the results of its research, according to the ruling. The chairwoman of the senate, Käfer, also found clear words in the oral hearing: it was a case of “obviously unlawful suspicious reporting”. According to information from LTO, SZ has now acknowledged the interim injunction on which the ruling is based in a final declaration, meaning that the proceedings have been legally concluded.

What applies to Till Lindemann? Schneider's success in court poses a fundamental problem for the media. The Higher Regional Court recognizes that, despite the long lapse of time, there is a “very considerable public interest” in the allegations made by Herder in Gera in 1996. It justifies this with the “practices of the singer”, i.e. with Till Lindemann. In this respect, it is of great public interest whether the band Rammstein and/or its environment may have previously used knock-out drops or similar in connection with sexual abuse. However, the Higher Regional Court itself has already recently prohibited the dissemination of the current suspicion that Lindemann may have used knock-out drops or drugs to make women sexually submissive, also due to a lack of minimum evidence. This raises the question of how and whether the media can report on Sybille Herder's accusations from 1996 in a permissible manner.

Lindemann's lawsuit against SZ over the same article could shed light on this. Here, too, SZ has appealed after Lindemann was successful before the Hamburg Regional Court. In this respect, it will be interesting to see whether the Higher Regional Court also rejects a minimum amount of evidence with regard to Lindemann, even though Herder was “more likely” to have suspected him, according to the court. But can that be enough? If, on the other hand, the OLG also rejects sufficient evidence for suspicion reporting with regard to Lindemann, the media would not be allowed to take up Sybille Herder's specific story at all. This would in any case be in conflict with the Higher Regional Court's finding that there was a “very considerable public interest” in the allegations from 1996. Either way, however, SZ's appeal in the Lindemann case is likely to have little chance of success. The fact that exculpatory elements were not included in the reporting and that the principles of reporting on suspicion were therefore not adhered to applies not only to Christoph Schneider, but also to Till Lindemann. According to the court's press office, a trial date for these proceedings has not yet been set.

[miirshroom]

Radagon and the story of Narcissus and Echo

'On the walls of Venus's temple The tale of Narcissus and Echo A beautiful young nymph Sentenced to repeat The last words of the others Never to talk first

She fell in love with Narcissus And followed him longing to speak He said "Who is here" and she replied "Here" He called for her saying "Come" She just replied "Come"

As none came near, Narcissus Called her again "Why do you shun me" She could only say the same

These words hurt deep His pride his actions leads "I would rather die Than you should have me"

Narcissus went forth To a fountain in the north He kneeled down to drink And then he fell in love

He said "Who is here" His voice kept sounding "Here" He called again the one That couldn't ever come

His face was young and In the crystal waters glowed His smile was cold reflecting Back a thought

"I would rather die Than you should have me"'

Narcissus, Septic Flesh (2008)

Basically, the story of Narcissus and Echo goes that Echo was cursed by Juno/Hera after impersonating the voice of Zeus, and the curse was to only speak back words that someone else has spoken. Echo fell in love with the beautiful young man Narcissus and followed as his echo for a time, but when he first laid eyes on her he was repulsed and ran away. As punishment for the cruel rejection, Narcissus was cursed by Nemesis to also have a love that is not reciprocated. And this manifested that he could see his own reflection as beautiful but could not recognize it as his own self. He saw his reflection in a pool of water, but when he reached for it he fell in the pool and drowned. In time Echo too diminished with her body faded and bones turned to stone and only her voice remained.

As, I've mentioned before, the relationship between Radagon and Marika has seemed to me much like a person talking to their reflection in the mirror. A fantastical version of dissociated identity, with one of the most famous examples being the way that Gollum and Smeagol are portrayed as speaking through reflections in the Lord of the Rings films.

Radagon can shift form to have the exterior appearance of Marika as explicitly shown in the final boss opening cutscene. And throughout the game no one really questions the existence or non-existence of Marika - but much like the story of Narcissus, I think that it is a flaw of Radagon who cannot identify the image of Marika seen in the mirror as "this is myself". Marika is seen as something "other".

"O Radagon, leal hound of the Golden Order. Thou'rt yet to become me. Thou'rt yet to become a god. Let us be shattered, both. Mine other self."

Like, do y'all never talk to yourselves when no one's around? When you've done something stupid or are preparing to do something stupid? It's like that, except also with an element of being in the role of another persona to imagine that persona is saying those words. I dunno if real people do this imagining - I'm no psychologist - it's just that the Narcissus myth provides a template from which to build the story of Radagon and Marika.

Elden Ring even phrases Marika's words as "spoken echoes" - Marika's words are Radagon's words echoed back across time.

(and for what it's worth, that would also seem to make Melina a manifestation of the faded Echo, who performs the function of speaking the echoes but is otherwise freed from the curse)

[notafraidofredyellowandblue]

It's funny how so many people question why Till is in Dubai so much.

Why can't he live there? Were you triggered by Richard living in NYC? Are you sure others are permanently based in Berlin? My god people are stupid!

Do people really ask that? But...why? Nice temperature, good facilities, but probably not too overly crowded yet (not like tourist hotspots near the mediterranean i think), i bet not that overly paparazzi-ridden, maybe he meets up with friends there, and isn't TL.Berlin headquartered there too?

So i don't see why he *shouldn't* be in Dubai to relax 🌺

I haven't seen those comments myself, so don't know where they come from, but maybe some fans prefer to see Till in the 'lonely poet secluded in the forest' type of setting, but imo some fans may over-romanticize that image a little bit. And also (i've said it before), Till is a very versatile man, with very versatile interests, so i could imagine that it's really interesting for him to see all kinds of different cultures and environments, and he really draws inspiration from the diversity 🌺

Let the man enjoy his time off, he'll be going on a really busy tour soon, and just be happy that now and again we get a little 'out and about' pic as a bonus

[notafraidofredyellowandblue]

Paul Landers invents supermarket dance

If nothing else, it shows German media are following the Rammstein guys' accounts, Rolling Stone has spotted Paul's Rewe-dance

googly translated

Rammstein: Paul Landers invents supermarket disco dance

from RS September 21, 2023

Dance to REWE? Rammstein guitarist Landers gives it his all.

Christian “Flake” Lorenz is usually considered the undisputed clown of the band Rammstein . The keyboard player regularly lets the others finish him off on an open stage. But Paul Landers remains undefeated as Kasper *) on Instagram. The band's guitarist has already produced some fun content on social networks, most recently about his little dog, who is going on a journey of discovery on a European tour.

Now Landers, dressed in Travolta disco white, shows himself dancing on a nighttime walk - and as an (unintentional?) advertising medium for a popular supermarket chain. Apparently a power failure, which caused the billboard to flicker constantly, inspired him to do a little exercise. Of course, it cannot be ruled out that the supermarket deliberately launched a light attack in order to trigger buying impulses... no, that's thinking too far.

The fans on Instagram are thrilled: “Bro got some nice dance moves,” writes one. “When you get attacked by mosquitoes but try to play it cool..” says another. “The post-tour depression hit hard. Poor Paul,” believes the next person. It is not entirely unimportant to point out that Paul Landers probably only heard the music in his head - nothing more than the noise of his shoes can be heard in the nighttime scenery.

Rammstein are currently taking a break after their European tour ends in August. Meanwhile, rumors of a new concert tour in 2024 continue . It was recently reported that the Lithuanian police had initiated an investigation against Shelby Lynn - the woman who got the ball rolling - because of the abuse allegations against singer Till Lindemann. Lindemann is even said to have testified. Lynn denies the investigation against her.

There are still some question marks about the 60-year-old's continued career. After Universal Music has already announced that it is pausing its collaboration with Rammstein, Lindemann's upcoming solo album “Zunge” (November 3, 2023) will not be released on the label either. Lindemann's concert tour is also scheduled for November.

--

*) The 'Kasper' is a phrase used to describe (somewhat derogatory sometimes) a silly person, derived from the puppet character with that name who appears in old-skool puppet theaters (i think the english name for him is 'Punch' (from Punch and Judy))

[avatarchai]

[2022] Sehnsucht (longing)

Final mixed media drawing assignment from last semester 🦷 watercolor, acrylic, pen, markers, paper scraps, metal and colored pencil

[allaboutherock2011]

CALIBAN ANNOUNCE BRAND NEW ALBUM AND RELEASE NEW SINGLE AND VIDEO 'BACK FROM HELL' (FEAT. THE BROWNING)

For over two decades, CALIBAN has stood as one of the defining forces in metalcore. With their upcoming album Back From Hell that is scheduled for a release 25th April 2025, the German band continues to evolve their sound while staying true to the intensity and emotion that have defined their career. Led by founding members Andreas Dörner (vocals) and Marc Görtz (guitar), the band’s current…

[anwiel13]

Just like that time when fans thought he is dying because he posted yet another confusing caption 😆 that is just him 😄

Just felt like letting everyone know that one of austria's local radio station just speculated about r+ ending or possible changes because "lead guitarist Richard Kruspe posted a photo with a confusing caption" and I died laughing - what has that poor man done 😭💀

oh for ef's sake Richard, now look what you did

"The end of Rammstein - member makes announcement. A new post by Rammstein guitarist puts fans in fear. It sounds like the end of the worldwide most succesful german band"

because of his post "Thank you for being you. I do not know how the future will be but in any case will be different."

and somewhere in Berlin, Richard is going

i swear, everytime he wants to be genuinly grateful to fans, it comes out all....different... ❤️🖤😊

[feuerfreiarchive]

ADIEU (2022) In early May 2022, Specter Berlin posted Instagram stories suggesting that he was working with Rammstein again. Rumours were circulating, but it took over half a year before the first Adieu teaser was released 21 November. The teaser had clear Specter-esque imagery with his signature red lines that were also present in the Deutschland music video. Three more teasers followed, showing bodies inside some kind of cryo chambers; Rammstein in a cage, chained, with grotesque contraptions on their heads; and finally, the band all in long, black coats, walking side by side inside the Opéra de Paris. «"Adieu" was directed by Specter Berlin and shot in Paris at the beginning of May over the course of 3 days – including one night in the Garnier Opera. It was the first time the latter allowed explosives to be used on their marble, also making a unique exception for Rammstein to use smoke on the premises», Rammstein wrote on social media. On 24 November at 1700 CET, the close to nine minute long video premiered. A special countdown started where the Deutschland music video ended; a glass coffin floating through space above earth, with a red line shooting up from somewhere on the ground and into the atmosphere. The countdown took us closer and closer to earth, finally showing where the line came from: Paris, France. Then, the video started, pinpointing the spot to the Palais Garnier - the Ópera National de Paris. Using imagery full of references to Rammstein’s long history, Specter guided the viewers through an emotional journey where the band members fought their way to destroy their own - copies? Clones? Originals? and then struggling, imprisoned, attacked by a horde of ‘the damned’, breaking free, and soaring to the sky before finally, in the heartbreaking credits, it is revealed that they never even made it to that first room to begin with, but all got killed while trying to get there. Only Rammstein can tell if they will ever make more music videos. Until that happens, Adieu stands as a powerful, visual goodbye from a band with an unbelievably strong video catalogue. 📷: Jens Koch @jenskochphoto, Chico Luciani @chico_luciani screenshots

x

[marimayscarlett]

From the wir.sehen.euch IG account

NAME TROUBLE: When Rammstein started making music together, they did so as a collective. When they released Herzeleid, they only put a headshot of each band member in the booklet - no names, or no reference to who played which instrument. They didn’t even give out their names when doing interviews. «Just write Rammstein», three of them told Zillo in 1995. «We don’t make a personality cult. Although our personal opinions are very different, we try to represent a unified opinion to the outside world.»

«We see ourselves as a solid unit», Paul Landers said to Rock Hard. «Actually, it wasn’t originally conceived that way, but if we sit in the rehearsal room for example, and only one band member is not present, nothing constructive happens, simple as that. We only function when all six people are there. So we’re not a band where everything is built around one leader, but more or less six doers, each of whom - depending on their stubbornness - contributes as much as possible.»

Because of that, they insisted on doing their Herzeleid press tour with all band members. «Right», Paul said, «However, it turns out that most of the time only three of us talk after all, which is why the others can stay at home in the future and not have to worry about that crap.»

Since then, Rammstein have been in the media countless times, though over the years, many journalists have had trouble with the names of the band members. Apparently it can also been difficult to distinguish between the different band members, and strangely enough, Christoph Schneider and Richard Kruspe seem to get mixed up quite frequently...

📷: Screenshots, Olaf Heine, Franziska Krug, Thomas Lebie, Andreas Rentz

[marimayscarlett]

Rammstein in German media

I occasionally mention on here how challenging it can be to be a Rammstein fan in Germany, not least because of the media, which often treats the band poorly and dismissively. Today, I have a small example to illustrate this 📰

Alex Markusch, a guitar maker, gave an interview about his general work and cooperation with Richard a while ago - @franwikema thankfully posted this here. 🎸

In this interview, he said the following:

And Richard is someone who is very driven in the technical field. He's detail-obsessed. Collaboration isn't easy because the standards are incredibly high, and the technology is very complex. It's not Richard who makes it complicated, but rather the demands themselves. The challenge lies in having a lot of intricate technology that must be functional in the rough environment of live performances. When you look at a Rammstein stage show or even their open-air festivals, the equipment simply has to work. [...] It's definitely a challenge, but of course, it's also a lot of fun. Sometimes you're racking your brain, trying to find a solution, and then the guitarist says, "There has to be a way to make this work." And you're sitting there thinking, "Yes, but how? That's not even my job." My job is to make sure everything functions in the end. And it's always rewarding when Richard comes back and says, "Yeah, that was great!" Or when the guitar tech, Lutz, points out, "That wasn't quite right, we need to take another look at it today."

The Berliner Zeitung published the following headline following the article:

"Rammstein guitar maker from Friedrichshain: ‘It’s not an easy collaboration.’"

Since the article itself is behind a paywall (here is an accessible link), the content isn’t open for people who don't pay for this newspaper. This means the average reader who stumbles across the headline will likely think: 'Oh, Rammstein is causing trouble again, as always. Didn't expect anything else.'

The text, however, clarifies that the collaboration is not difficult because of Richard himself, and the article is actually quite short. It’s obvious that a single sentence from the interview was intentionally cherry-picked and phrased in a way that could easily be misunderstood. Then, the article is hidden behind a paywall, and voilà – another piece of media content that casts Rammstein in a negative light.

This is most likely not interesting for everyone, but serves as a little example for anyone wondering how the band is portrayed in the media here.

[bisnes-socks]

i have a lot to say about this one so pack a snack and let's make sex moneyyy

i think this is one of the most openly culture and media (and social media) critical songs he has. i think it's a super daring song that probably makes the likes of certain helsingin sanomat music critics a little bit uncomfortable, because he is spitting facts - and because he has a relationship with sex for show that people for some reason are still quite weird about.

to start a little further back: we all know sex sells. we all know the music industry uses sex to sell their products. but for some reason, in the year of our lord 2024, a musical artist verbally recognising that they are using their sexuality and sexual themes to build their brand is somehow scandalous. it's like.. it's okay to use sex to sell your art, if it's like "accidental" MTV sexuality or like agreeing to looking objectifiable. the media will call you hot and sexy and wow. but if you own your sexuality, make it obvious that yes this is sexual, i'm being very deliberately sexual and i am trying to be sexual..? oh no that won't do! scandal! we've seen it with so many artists, especially female artists. like WAP is a great example! how scandalous that suddenly these women had agency in their own sexuality! but no-one said a word when their sexuality served the usual male gaze agenda. it's like people are so much more comfortable being peeping toms who sexualise and objectify artists when they're not looking, but as soon as the artist does it as part of their whole thing? well now it's inappropriate actually.

he talked about this in a helsingin sanomat interview, saying how he does actually think things revolve too much around sex in the music industry, even though he uses sex and sexual themes himself to sell things as well, and that he sees the irony in saying that. but the difference, in my opinion, is that the way he, or someone like erika vikman for example, is so open and upfront about the sexual themes, that it becomes carnevalistic, it becomes camp. it's not insidiously using sexual and heteronormative objectifying imagery to get people horny. what käärijä does is playful and fun sexuality, and for whatever reason that is so unusual it needs to be talked about separately as something a bit wild and scandalous, and he needs to be asked to explain his actions.

and that's what this song is. he's very clearly saying none of this is accidental. the visuals of his brand, the social media content, the onlyfans thing, none of it is coincidental, accidental or anything other than his perfectly deliberate way of selling sex. and he has talked about these themes before, he has talked about like the rammstein live stuff that inspired him (some of it is pretty hardcore stuff) so to his fans it's nothing surprising that sexual themes are present in the brand and interest him. but he has also talked about how, even if this song is a bit tongue in cheek, he's also serious. and he is right. and for some reason calling people out about the fact that sex makes them buy things, even when it's true, is still.. scandalous somehow.

and he's basically calling people easy lmao. like, i needed to figure out a lil boost to my career and well, i know what will make you throw money at me. and i won't be shy about it either.

i'm getting sidetracked. the song.

and then that is enough to warrant lyrics such as "koko perheen käärijästä koko perheen krapula" meaning "käärijä for the whole family turning into a hangover for the whole family".

but it was all already there! let's not for a second pretend CCC was some sort of family show and a family song. it's not. but people were okay with that, because they could happily confuse the camp and carnevalistic sexuality of käärijä with the campness and carnevalistic nature of eurovision, and because it wasn't more than the suggestive sexual nature of everything else around them. and it was all just fun, when kids came up with their own lyrics to the song because they couldn't understand the references to drinking. so then people took their kids to see him at shows and became scandalised by the adult nature of it all. it's like.. people were fine letting their kids see the everyday media sexuality that we see in every eurovision, fine letting their kids get used to that, and then just sort of didn't think käärijä would be anything different. but he's only different in that in his show and brand, sex and sexuality aren't denied while still blatantly obviously there.

but again, a lot of this is to do with media, and what media normalises and what it doesn't. what it deems newsworthy and what it doesn't.

if in ready to go he's telling haters that i know you want to see me try and fail, maybe even be too embarrassed to try, but baby i'm ready to go, then in sex = money he's saying i know you want to see me naked and i know you want sex from all of this, so here you go, i'll sell you some sex. and then he stands there holding eye contact like what are you going to do with it. what a cunty king.

and there are so many fun and funny little details in this song.

right in the first verse we have "kieli taittuu sköödi föödi." good old sköödi föödi. i tried to find the earliest example of sköödi föödi, but i'm starting to think it might predate the internet, or at least social media. not to bring up köpi kallio again, but they use sköödi föödi a lot in viki ja köpi show, and köpi just happened to tweet about it in 2020, saying he believes sköödi föödi has been around for at least 20 years (someone tried to credit viki and köpi for it). so, what does sköödi föödi mean, you ask. it does not mean anything at all. sköödi föödi is just a sound, a noise you make, when you need it, usually in place of something in a foreign language but not exclusively. in this instance, sköödi föödi is him demonstrating his excellent english skills. sköödi föödi (pronounced almost like a sterotypical tv american would say skirdy-firdy) means nothing and it means everything, whatever you need it to mean.

it is also noteworthy to point out that "kieli taittuu" can be a reference to two different things here. the finnish word kieli means both tongue and language. so he could also be saying that he has a very bendy and flexible tongue, like literally. which, of course, all of europe has already seen. taittua literally means to fold or bend, but it's a common phrase to say, that if you can do something, you bend it (or more like it bends as a result). so literally the line translates to "language/tongue bends sköödi föödi".

the first verse ends in "sekö jos mikä on varma nakki" meaning "that, if anything, is a sure thing". nakki literally means a sausage, a hot dog sausage, weiner sausage, you name it: a small sausage. so translating literally: "that if anything is a sure sausage". it's a common phrase in spoken finnish, nothing unusual about that, but i love that he used it, because it makes the next line hilarious on a first listen, when the chant comes in. so when they start chanting NAK- NAK- i really thought they were gonna shout NAKKI. but no, it is nakuna, naked.

okay still with me? good. let's look at the "tein onlyfans bägin, koko suomen daddy" section next.

i remember when the song came out, people did explain who danny is, but in case anyone missed it, danny is a singer from finland, and he was a MASSIVE star back in the day, especially in the 70's. so to say he is bigger than danny is indeed quite the flex, because danny was like.. the finnish equivalent of elvis, basically. but danny is not just a flex, he turns danny into a clever thematical scheme here (more on thematical schemes in the bananas post, if you're interested). he says "kadulla on kuumaa, ne pyytää mua hätiin" and this is a reference to one of danny's most popular and famous songs, kesäkatu. smart, smart, smart! and then of course "kadulla on puumaa, mut mulla on jo täti" meaning there are cougars on the street, but i already have an aunt. which, that to me reads like both a cunty quip and a himbo line all at once. like shutting down some man wanting to be your daddy by telling him "but i already have a father". i nearly choked laughing the first time i heard the line.

also can i just say, calling himself the daddy of finland? like, thinking about the whole context i talked about at first, how people are comfortable with sexual stuff and sexualising, but not comfortable recognising it or being real about it or celebrating it? yeah knowing all that, he just called himself EVERYONE'S daddy in a song called sex = money, and he's not even wrong 😭

in conclusion: i love this song. and i love the attitude in it. it's like he is looking everyone, from every uncomfortable insecure hetero man, every scandalised parent to every tabloid journalist, straight in the eye and saying "yes, i'm selling sex. why? well i couldn't think of anything else, but then again, why should i? isn't this what you want? this is what you want. i know what you want. i'm your daddy."

like if he truly wanted to, he really could have this country on their knees for him, don't tell me last independence day didn't prove it. as much as he gets crap as well, at the end of the day, he has people under a spell by simply being, well, bigger than danny. and he-man.

now. the placement of the song on the album, right after autiomaa.

i personally don't think that the album builds one cohesive narrative from beginning to end. but i think this can be read two ways: a sad way and an empowering way. the sad way to read it is that he means it when he says he couldn't come up with anything else and his creativity is fried, but sex sells so he does that, and it's a bit mindless. but given the context of what he has had to say about this song, i'm more inclined to read this the empowering way: he has worked on himself and found a way to see things more clearly, and he has found it in himself to even be confrontational about things. the whiplash of the song order i think is more to highlight the fact that autiomaa is a rare glimpse into something different, and now here we go again. to me, sex = money makes autiomaa even more powerful, but autiomaa doesn't change the interpretation of sex = money all that much for me.

you really can't be upset about the song without proving his point. and you can't love the song without proving his point. facts have been spat and points have been proven. absolute king behaviour.

and if you read through this whole thing, i owe you money. cash money, not sex money. well, we'll talk about it.

++

bonus: i absolutely love that he knows how to say "make some noise" on this track, but continues to say "give me some voice" or some sort of a hybrid word between voice and noise, something like.. woise, at his international shows. the king of in through one ear, out through the other. he, she, noise, voice, he doesn't know the differences and does not care.

bonus bonus for the sad bojere bitches:

second verse: "täl alal ei sua kukaa huomaa" meaning "nobody will notice you in this field (of work)". maybe my brain is rotted but this moment reminds me so much of the famous liverpool bojere lunch date video where bojan tries to parrot jere, who is saying "tääl ollaa nyt, tota" and bojan goes "talalaiteta" and then they both proceed to giggle about it like it's the funniest thing anyone has ever said. "täl alal" goes out to you, bojan titanic.

[identifying-guitars-in-posts]

so for any of you who watched the paris opening ceremony and loved the Gojira performance (they're literally my favorite metal band they can't NOT go hard), let me talk about a little something I and a few other people noticed

the guitar Joe Duplantier was playing here is very interesting

Duplantier, for those who don't know, has had a pretty good relationship with the company Charvel, putting out 3 whole signature models with them and generally being a big name for the company and I would love one of those sigs, they look so beautiful

HOWEVER, with this performance in paris, we can see Duplantier playing something completely new, from a completely different company entirely

now we turn to social media where the Japanese company ESP, who has big bands in their roster such as Metallica, Korn, Slayer, Rammstein, basically anybody whos anybody in metal has an ESP signature at this point

and guess what ESP posted to their Instagram

That's right! Joe Duplantier's guitar for the Paris Olympic opening act is a custom made prototype of a new ESP signature, which could mean Duplantier is switching from Charvel to ESP which is HUGE news

anyway that's my nerd rant goodnight folks

[woodswallow]

Why Farin Urlaub's support for Flake means so much to me

Had a short conversation with @marimayscarlett about that topic that made me realize something...so here you have a little personal post about my thoughts and feelings about that collab between Flake and Farin Urlaub (member of the german band Die Ärzte).

I loved die Ärzte from my childhood, my older brother introduced me to them. I started loving them and becoming an active fan around the age of...14 maybe (I'm now 36). Farin was always my favourite member. I was a die-hard fan for many, many years, went to several concerts, watched every bit of them on television, listened to their interviews, read everything I found about them. Especially about Farin. For me, he's one of the most intelligent people I "know". I love his views on things, value his opinions, admire his openess, his modesty, his creativity, his very balanced opinions. He reads and travels a lot, and it definitely shows. I would love to meet him and just listen to his storys. I really, really admire him as a person. He had a huge impact on my life as a teen, he also formed my inner moral compass. He's for example the reason why I never got into drinking alcohol (took a sip here and there, but gladly never started). My fan-fire for Die Ärzte has cooled down and made room for Rammstein, but I still am a huge fan of the man himself.

When that Row-Zero shit started last year, needless to say, I was devastated. My fan bubble was about to burst, I had a huuuuge moral conflict, as I'm sure most of us had. Was it still OK to like this band? To visit their concerts? To listen to their music? To write fanfiction about them? After many (!!!) conversations, read articles, listened podcasts and more conversations I decided that, YES, I can still enjoy this band without betraying myself and my moral compass. Till Lindemann doesn't equal Rammstein. The whole band surely has some sort of responsibility for what happened. But for me this was/is not a reason to turn my back on them. I heard (via youtube-videos from concerts) that Die Ärzte made some comments on that topic during their shows in 2023, they made some (bad) jokes about it. All in all, it was such a hard time with many hard discussions and difficult feelings.

I had to heal after this.

Now seeing Farin Urlaub, probably my most beloved celebrity, hero of my teenage-years and sculptor of my moral compass making a song and a video together with Flake, member of the ostracized band Rammstein....this really, really feels incredible. It's like an official OK, that my decision to stick with this band and to still love them is okay.

Seeing that Farin Urlaub obviously can differentiate between all the accusations, the accused persons, the band, the media...that he formed his own opinion and decided that it's okay to collab with him...this feels like healing to me. As I said, I have a very high opinion on Farin Urlaub. So seeing this sign from him makes me sooo incredibly happy and relieved. Obviously there's a shitstorm going on in the guestbook on Farin Urlaub's webpage - many people are disappointed by him.

I myself am very, very grateful and happy.

Danke Farin <3

Thank you so much if you really read that whole post :-* (screenshot by @mann-gegen-mann-in-real-life