In Germany, a party hit about a “poof mama” should no longer be played at folk festivals: that’s silly and unsupervised. Even low-level songs may not be censored.
“Layla” should not be heard at the Düsseldorf “Rheinkirmes”.
Alexander Kissler is the political editor of the NZZ in Germany.
You are reading an excerpt from the weekday newsletter “The Other View”, today by Alexander Kissler, editor in the Berlin office of the NZZ. Subscribe to the newsletter for free. Not resident in Germany? Benefit here.
Germany is loosening up. Or is it just losing its last civilizational inhibitions? A sing-along song called “Layla” not only made for the summer hit, but also for the excitement of the hour. In the meantime, in two cities, it can no longer be played at folk festivals because of its rather vulgar content, and other communities could follow.
The Federal Minister of Justice from the FDP has already spoken out and criticized the ban. A colleague from the Greens jumped in, while other politicians and activists expressed their satisfaction. The excitement from what is actually an inconsequential reason shows: Puritanism is progressing, but fortunately it is being met with opposition.
“Layla” is a typical “Ballermann” song – born on Germany’s favorite holiday island Mallorca, made to sing along in the drunk, sweating crowd, preferably after midnight.
Is it all just a question of awareness?
Sober, it’s hard to bear what the creators, two DJs from Baden-Württemberg, have produced. The eponymous lady means, as it is literally called, a “puff mama” who is “prettier, younger, hornier”, the “Luder Layla”. A simple rhythm drives the disco hit forward, one searches in vain for elaborate melodic sequences. In the video, Layla is a man in drag.
People in Würzburg and Düsseldorf are angry. “Layla” should not be heard at the Franconian Kiliani festival or at the Rhenish fair. It is a sexist work of art, it says, which “does not belong on our fairground”. This is how the board of directors of the organizing Düsseldorf rifle club put it, to which the city administration had previously made representations.
In Würzburg, the municipal administration took direct action and issued a ban. “Racist, sexist or extreme songs” are generally undesirable at city events, “Layla” falls into this category. An activist quoted by Bayerischer Rundfunk says with praise that Würzburg shows “awareness”.
Of course, the clear condemnations don’t stop Germans from consuming the song so often that it has been at the top of the nationwide sales charts for more than three weeks. And in some Würzburg beer tents the anthem is still sung. “Layla” apparently satisfies a need. only which one?
Stuck between two possibly similarly oppressive Corona winters, in the middle of an energy crisis, with high inflation and while a brutal war is raging in Europe, the longing for party, fun and unreasonableness is growing. Anyone who sees the grumpy faces of politicians every day, who sometimes call for masks to be worn, sometimes for moderation, wants to have fun below the level for a while. It’s a normal, human reaction.
There is enough illiberality this summer
In the light of day, “Layla” is less sexist than the standard gangsta rap that dismisses women as disposable goods, and no clumsier than most of the party hits of the past few decades. Or should, to quote an evergreen from the Ballermann forge, the two-decade-old Schunkelschlager from the “Ten Naked Hairdressers” be banned? Or the sung tastelessness called “Big Boobs, Potato Salad”? After all, man is more than the sum of the rules of conduct with which well-meaning politicians and fellow human beings want to show him the right path.
Anyone who doesn’t like dirty hits should avoid beer tents, and anyone who finds “Layla” funny and wants to sing along should do so. An already irritable society needs hardly anything less than further prohibitions, additional joylessness, even more illiberality. There’s already enough of that this summer.