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The modern German political song is a hybrid of high and low culture. With its roots in the birth of mass culture in the 1920s, it employs communicative strategies of popular song. Yet its tendencies toward philosophical, poetic, and musical sophistication reveal intellectual aspirations. This volume looks at the influence of revolutionary artistic traditions in the lyrics and music of the 'Liedermacher' of east and west Germany: the rediscovery of the revolutionary songs of 1848 by the 1960s West German folk revival, the use of the profane \"carnivalesque\" street-ballad tradition by Wolf Biermann and the GDR duo Wenzel & Mensching, the influence of 1920s artistic experimentation on 'Liedermacher' such as Konstantin Wecker, and the legacy of Hanns Eisler's revolutionary song theory. The book also provides an insider perspective on the countercultural scenes of the two Germanys, examining the conditions in which political songs were written and performed. In view of the decline of the political song form since the fall of communism, the book ends with a look at German avant-garde techno's attempt to create a music that challenges conventional cultural perceptions and attitudes. CONTRIBUTORS: DAVID ROBB, ECKARD HOLLER, ANNETTE BLÜHDORN, PETER THOMPSON. David Robb is Senior Lecturer in German Studies at the Queen's University of Belfast.

When in 1977 the Bavarian singer-songwriter Konstantin Wecker (born 1947) made his breakthrough with his song “Willy,” he was at once categorized as a political singer, following in the footsteps of the singer-songwriters of the student movement. As a result, political parties of the left tried to monopolize him, while for the right-wing scene he developed into “eine Haßfigur.” “Willy,” a talking-blues about the death of a young man who was killed during an argument with neo-Nazis, has always been regarded as a political song. However, Wecker himself has quite a different view of “Willy.” The song, he declares, relates to a real event, and also has traces of autobiography. More than a political song, he considers it an emotional expression of an intense personal experience. In an interview in 1998, Wecker explained: “Das Lied ‘Willy’ ist zwar ein politisches Lied, aber es ist ein innerliches Lied. Es geht um eine, ja eine Liebesbeziehung zu einem Freund und um einen großen Zwiespalt in der eigenen Seele.”The different viewpoints on “Willy” reveal a general peculiarity of Wecker's political songs: although they express criticism of the political system, the key issue of Wecker's thinking and writing has always been the self-determination of the individual, and very clearly of Wecker himself. In his political songs, Wecker is not concerned with political ideologies, which, on the contrary, he disdains. His songs are therefore different from those of political singer-songwriters of the late 1960s and 1970s such as Degenhardt, Mossmann, and Süverkrüp.

When in 1977 the Bavarian singer-songwriter Konstantin Wecker (born 1947) made his breakthrough with his song \"Willy,\" he was at once categorized as a political singer, following in the footsteps of the singer-songwriters of the student movement. As a result, political parties of the left tried to monopolize him, while for the right-wing scene he developed into \"eine Haßfigur.\" \"Willy,\" a talking-blues about the death of a young man who was killed during an argument with neo-Nazis, has always been regarded as a political song. However, Wecker himself has quite a different view of \"Willy.\" The song, he declares, relates to a real event, and also has traces of autobiography. More than a political song, he considers it an emotional expression of an intense personal experience. In an interview in 1998, Wecker explained: \"Das Lied 'Willy' ist zwar ein politisches Lied, aber es ist ein innerliches Lied. Es geht um eine, ja eine Liebesbeziehung zu einem Freund und um einen großen Zwiespalt in der eigenen Seele.\" The different viewpoints on \"Willy\" reveal a general peculiarity of Wecker's political songs: although they express criticism of the political system, the key issue of Wecker's thinking and writing has always been the self-determination of the individual, and very clearly of Wecker himself. In his political songs, Wecker is not concerned with political ideologies, which, on the contrary, he disdains. His songs are therefore different from those of political singer-songwriters of the late 1960s and 1970s such as Degenhardt, Mossmann, and Süverkrüp.