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.