It's Reagan Men! Hallelujah!

This is where Nightcrawler 'ports in and shouts, "Ausgezeichnet!"

Here is Joseph Beuys, pop singer, performing his greatest anti-US, anti-nuclear hit from 1982, "Sonne statt Reagan, [Sun not Reagan]." Reagan, remember, is a German homonym for rain [Regen], so it makes perfect sense.

As Ubu explains it, "Beuys tried his luck as a pop singer as part of his political commitment." Sure.

To throw one more tidbit in there, here's one section of the lyrics that jumped out at me:


Er sagt als Präsident von USA
Atomkrieg ? - Ja bitte dort und da
ob Polen, Mittler Osten, Nicaragua
er will den Endsieg, das ist doch klar.

He says as President of USA
Nuclear war? - Yes please here and there
whether Poland, Middle East, Nicaragua
he wants the final victory, that much is clear.

Endsieg: perhaps Reagan used a loaded term in German, one that turns out to be associated with Jews in Mein Kampf and inevitable civilian casualties in the Third Reich. But translation can be a bitch that way. Just ask the guy who came up with "enhanced interrogation" ["Verschärfte Vernehmung"].

Thanks greg.org reader frank for the felt hat tip.

Since 2001 here at greg.org, I've been blogging about the creative process—my own and those of people who interest me. That mostly involves filmmaking, art, writing, research, and the making thereof.

Many thanks to the Creative Capital | Warhol Foundation Arts Writers Program for supporting greg.org that time.

comments? questions? tips? pitches? email
greg [at] greg [dot ] org

find me on twitter: @gregorg

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first published: September 2, 2010.

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