So...I'm just going to throw this part out there. As far as the actual accusations against Till Lindemann goes, whatever happens, happens. This is a matter to be settled in a court of law, not the court of public opinion, and let those who can litigate it in a sterile, objective environment do their thing.
But, as I've said previously, it seems like a lot of the SJW types are targetting Till Lindemann's ART. And that doesn't rub me the wrong way. A lot of times I try to stay neutral on these matters because quite frankly, it's a massive distraction from more important issues, but Rammstein is an important subject for me. It's an obsessive interest of mine, and has been for years, and I'm a pretty die hard fan of the band and Till Lindemann in general.
And even though I feel like my left wing credentials are coming under assault by basically sounding like an alt righter in defending lindemann, I think it's pretty obvious that I am not. And to explain exactly what I mean, I'm going to dust off my 2021 social justice political compass that I discussed in this article. I am very much part of the "free thinking" "fact don't care about your feelings" part of the left. I hate all would be moralizers who try to censor art or push their political narratives in other peoples' art, trying to decide for others what it and isn't acceptable.
Rammstein has always been a band that pushes boundaries. Since its inception, its art has been extreme and controversial. Back in the 90s, they were part of this "family values" tour where they sang a song called "buck dich" (bend over) on stage that involved till pulling a dildo out of his pants and spraying the crowd with it. Of course the fundie christian right moralizers will be like WHY I NEVER, and they EVEN GOT ARRESTED HERE IN THE US ONCE for this act. Since then, they've just engaged in more and more controversy, writing songs about rape, cannibalism, real world screwed up events, and stuff like that.
Honestly, when I was in college, I took an art class, and something I noticed when I came into that class was I was very rigid due to my christian morality at the time. I wouldnt explore a lot of extreme topics, but between that class, and really watching rammstein and internalizing what they were doing, I realized that hey, maybe art is just art, maybe it shouldnt be taken so seriously, and maybe people should have fun with it.
And as I left Christianity, I doubled down on this, realizing how restrictive my morality was, and as I joined the new atheist community, I took offensiveness to the next level. If people wanna draw muhammad let them draw muhammad. if they wanna refer to easter as zombie jesus day, let them. Have fun with this stuff, you only live once (or do you?).
And with Rammstein, same thing. I mean, I'm not above sending right wingers rammstein videos about abortion or homosexuality to troll them if push comes to shove on those subjects. Because screw their feelings. They wanna be authoritarians to tell people how to live their lives? I don't take too kindly to that crap and that's my way of telling them off.
You see, this might come as a surprise to the cancel culture whackos, but Rammstein is a left wing band. They explore all kinds of topics with sexuality, and are quite libertarian. They also have a very anti fascist bend looking at songs like Links, Deutschland, and Angst, despite being accused of being nazis constantly by ignorant people. Heck, links is literally dunking on these people. "Oh here's this ahrd core militaristic sounding "nazi" song about how left wing we are". Yeah, they do stuff like that, and I love it. They have a way of pushing their own brand of music and basically leaning into the whole screw your feelings thing, preferring to be subversive and to hit the beehive rather than to avoid hurting peoples' feelings.
That said, I'm actually a bit disappointed that Rammstein seems to be caving a bit to the cancel culture mob. Apparently they didn't play pussy, a staple of their recent concerts involving a giant metal penis cannon spraying the crowd, because given the recent allegations, it seems like in poor taste. I personally dont think they should have given that up just to appease the woke mob. These left wing authoritarians are just as much of a threat to freedom of speech and expression as the far right, and honestly, I think they should be unceremoniously shown the door in exactly the same way. While not all changes Rammstein seems to be making are bad (apparently they're doing a lot of reforms to his parties or cancelling them altogether, and Till no longer disappears under the stage during deutschland, where he would get frisky with women from the crowd), but yeah, when it comes to them censoring their art for the sake of the crowd, I tend to dislike them. Rammstein has this brand of subversiveness, doing their own thing, and not giving a crap what people think about them, and I don't think they should change that now. Make the material changes needed behind the scenes to avoid future accusations of sexual misconduct, but yeah, their music, their brand shouldnt change. Because if pussy is no longer acceptable to play live, what songs are next? A lot of rammstein's songs are sexually charged, and a lot of them cover touchy topics like rape, BDSM, and other extreme themes. A lot of those songs are arguably just as if not less acceptable to play.
And then you have till's side gig, with songs and music videos portraying himself as a serial sexual abuser. Even at the time, a lot of the community, well familiar with rammstein and lindemann's stuff was going "wtf Till". But, it was assumed to be fictional, and people eventually came around to it, despite how extreme it was, and despite even people like me showing some level of discomfort with the subject matters. Still, should he be forced to censor himself? No. As long as it's all in good fun, who cares?
Now, being accused of assault does change those songs' meanings to some degree. It kind of blurs the distinction between fiction and reality to some extent, and to some extent those kinds of songs seem distasteful. Still, should the art stand? Yes. Because it's art. And art has a right to be subversive and offensive.
To be fair, Till himself has been approaching it with the same subversive style he always does. I know he invited the press to one afterparty and told them to look around and "see that everyone is being drugged and raped", and in the most recent concert, he kind of made a drinking motion during one line of a song that was taken as a reference to the whole thing.
I know some people will see this as tasteless, but given my screw your feelings mindset, i find it hilarious. I mean, imagine if you're innocent and people make up crazy stories about you, and then you just start mocking them openly. I think that's fair game and an appropriate response to such allegations if you're innocent. I mean, people are peeing in your cornflakes, making up these elaborate horror stories of stuff done behind the scenes, and if you're the kind of subversive frontman who tends to lean into controversy rather than shy away from it, i think that's an appropriate response. I even think it's funny.
The only way such a thing would be in bad taste is if he's actually guilty. And that's for the courts to decide, not public opinion or the media. Like really, screw the pearl clutchers, if he has nothing to hide, then he is fully within his right to mock the accusations for what they are. Because they do sound like something he'd write about in a twisted poem of his, not something he'd do in real life. Sure if he's guilty then it would be horrifying, but if he's saying stuff like that, I'm assuming he isn't and he's just making light of them.
Yeah, as you can tell, I'm very much within that free thinking left quadrant. I don't like how the SJWs are trying to come into our fandoms and make us conform to their little quasi religion, and I dont like them trying to change stuff that I like. I literally see them as no different than the fundamentalist christian right. And I'm just an unapologetic and willing to show them the door for trying to start crap or boss people around.
So yeah, Rammstein, Till, assuming innocence, just keep being you. Don't let this crap get to you where it changes who you are. Just keep being the same cool people you've always been and screw the haters. I believe that the justice system will figure out the truth either way. If he's guilty, send him to prison for a private shooting of ach so gern 2, but if he's innocent, let the man do his art. His art is awesome. It's subversive, it pushes boundaries, and at the end of the day, it sounds freaking good, and looks even better in concert.
So yeah, I love rammstein, I personally am leaning toward till being innocent, but that's for the courts to decide, and even if the worst happens, I'll still listen to them. It might change the meaning of some stuff, particularly his side gig stuff that is a bit more on the offensive side, and i might be less comfortable with it, but all in all, i do tend to separate the art from the artist, so yeah. Rammstein is an integral part of who I am today as a person, from my respect for subversive art to my laissez faire attitudes toward social issues and they even had a role in spiritual life. So I ain't even dropping them entirely. I stand with rammstein, innocent until proven guilty, and even if guilty the art is still awesome.
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