ASSIGNMENT ON SONGS

 ASSIGNMENT ON SONGS

"It's All a Swindle" (Alles Schwindel), by Mischa Spoliansky and Marcellus Schiffer (1931) (Culture - Cabaret Song)

 Short description: Lyrics:

Papa swindles

Mama swindles

Grandmama's a lying thief

We're perfectly shameless

but we're blameless

after all it's our belief

Nowadays the world is rotten

honesty has been forgotten

fall in love but after kissing --

check your purse to see what's missing

Everyone swindles some

my son's a mooch and so's the pooch

 

German version

Alles Schwindel

Papa schwindelt,

Mama schwindelt,

tut sie auf blob ihren Mund!

Tante Otilie,

und die Familie

und sogar der kleine Hund!

Und besieht man’s aus der Nähe:

Jedes Band und jede Ehe

jeder Kub in dern Betriebe

und sogar die grobe Liebe!

Und die ganze heut’ge Zeit ja,

sogar die Ehrlichkeit!

This song exhibited the social corruption and decadent that existed in the society of Germany at the time.  It shows anti-moral or social norms.  It’s a mirror of what the societal condition has been reduced to absurdity with little regard for life or dignity. According to a verse in the lyrics, “[W]e're perfectly shameless but we're blameless after all it's our belief…”    I see the philosophy of Nihilism movement in action as per this song.  The frustration, hopelessness, unemployment, lack of faith in government and church had eroded the value system in Germany society. Survival has become a fight of the fittest, even the old generation – “Papa” and “Mama” , politicians, and the military that were supposed to be preserving the norms were also corrupted. This is a satire of political and social corruption, so it became the new order of the day as portrays by the song, “after all it’s our belief…”  This also reflected the Dadaism movement as well as Expressionism to evoke emotions.   I feel this is a powerful song that said it all!  It totally reflected what is happening in the raw sense of it; even the chorus shows how everybody has become greedy, including the Socialist party just for their selfish gains.   This songs still relates to what is going on in the world presently. 

 

SECOND SONG:

 

"Chuck Out the Men" (Raus mit den Männern), by Friedrich Hollaender (1926) (Culture - Cabaret Song)

 Lyrics:
CHORUS: 

Chuck all the men out of the Reichstag

and chuck all the men out of the courthouse

Men are the problem with humanity

they're blinded by their vanity

Women have passively embraced them

when we could have easily outpaced them

Yes we should have long ago replaced them

or better yet erased them

If we haven't made our feelings clear

we women have had it up to here


German version:


Raus mit den Männern aus dem Reichstag,
und raus mit den Männern aus dem Landtag,
und raus mit den Männern aus dem Herrenhaus,
wir machen draus ein Frauenhaus!
Raus mit den Männern aud dem Dasein,
und raus mit den Männern aus dem Hiersein,
und raus mit den Männern aus dem Dortsein,
sie müten schon längst fort sein.
Ja: raus mit den Männern aus dem Bau,
und rein in die Dinger mit der Frau!

Reflection

It sounds like the cry of the oppressed, the repressed and the less fortunate in the society (the women). This is female empowerment song to awake or arouse women to action and take the lead position, instead of allowing men to misrule and manipulating their emotions at all time.  This song portrays the egoism of men and how they have ruined the society. This is Expressionism and Dadaism movement song to elicit awakening in women to action. Also, the song was attacking male supremacy and dominance of women in their society. This seems to me as an emancipation song for women to rise and shine.