Noise du Jour: “Sonne” by Rammstein
Posted by Eliza Gauger
Almost certainly one of the greatest works of derivative culture created in the past century, this video portrays Snow White as only the Germans could interpret her. The special effects are flawless, the message is crystal clear, the parody is pitch-perfect. And at 3:24, an image that could sell a thousand albums all by itself, but I won’t spoil the surprise.
One is reminded of Tom Lehrer’s words of wisdom: “When correctly viewed, everything is lewd. I can tell you stories about Peter Pan, and the Wizard of Oz: there’s a dirty old man!”
Categories: Fetish, Goggles, Steampunk, Dieselpunk, Noise du Jour, Music
Posted at 3:43 pm on July 14, 2007
11 Comments -
Rammstein’s crazy videos make it so hard not to love them. I used to hide my Rammstein albums so no one knew I listened to them, but seeing this on Ectomo has encouraged me to put them in a sort-of-visible spot.
Thanks, Ectomo! (End commercial with a smiling me giving two thumbs up.)
Comment by Kevin H. — July 14, 2007 @ 5:36 pm
Yeah, that image COULD sell a million albums. But I liked it better when Furi Kuri did it.
Now if someone can make a dirty, German version of Song of The South, I’d be all set. Jut imagine his cheerful German voice bellowing “ZEEEPITEEE DOOO DAAAHHHHHHHCHT!” as demonic CG butterflies tear Brair Rabbit’s kidneys
to shreds like he’s Prometheus.
Comment by Chris P. — July 14, 2007 @ 6:01 pm
Giant fetishes, sado-masochism, homoerotica and more - all squished in to one little gem - love it!!
Comment by Mangawitch — July 14, 2007 @ 8:30 pm
Can I just give you a great big *hug* for knowing who/what Tom Lehrer is?
Comment by Devon — July 15, 2007 @ 1:20 am
haha. well, the original snow white was pretty sick all on it’s own.
Comment by pella — July 15, 2007 @ 2:08 am
I have a secret crush on Till Lindemann
Comment by annie — July 15, 2007 @ 11:22 am
I’m really taken by this video and have played it over and over. The first pass through is great entertainment, with men toiling in darkness and then the giant abusive Snow White. Something about this version of the tale strikes me as “more true” than the conventional telling. And without the line of little men waiting fearfully for their spankings, I don’t think it would have been as brilliant.
Watching a few more times, I starting looking more into Snow White’s drug use. It does explain her abusive behavior, but in the end the director leans hard on the apple. Is it a play on Eve & the Tree of Knowledge? That didn’t seem to fit.
I looked up the lyrics, and that really sent the message home.
(excerpted)
Here comes the sun
It’s the lightest star of all
The sun is shining out of my eyes
It will not set tonight
It can burn, it can blind you
When it breaks out of the fists
it lays down hotly on your face
It lays down painfully on your chest
Balance is lost
It lets you go hard to the floor
and the world counts loudly to ten
So nothing about Snow White, fairy tales or abusive women. The lyrics use sun (repeatedly “Hier kommt die Sonne”) as a metaphor for a drug high. In the video, Snow White as Sonne then is not the drug user, she is the ADDICTION.
So when the apple falls in the end, it is the same as from the fairly tale. But instead of putting an innocent child to sleep, this POISON APPLE reawakens the ADDICTION.
And in the denouement the men are back underground, toiling to satisfy her endless demands. Brilliant work.
Comment by Darren — July 15, 2007 @ 3:53 pm
[…] Yesterday’s Noise du Jour was “Sonne” by German industrial band, Rammstein. The video is a masterpiece of parody and fetishism, casting Snow White as an abusive but beautiful giantess who presides over the mine-filthy dwarves (played by the band), exploiting them for their gold. […]
Pingback by ectoplasmosis » The Peanut Gallery: Reader Darren on “Sonne” — July 15, 2007 @ 5:27 pm
^ Meta-technorati? If the two posts both mentioned each other, would it create some sort of recursive black hole of internet logic?
Comment by Stefan — July 16, 2007 @ 1:40 am
[…] the posting of Rammstein’s “Sonne” on Saturday, my appetite was whetted for music videos that stand as triumphs of filmmaking in their […]
Pingback by ectoplasmosis » Noise du Jour: “Mr. Brightside” by the Killers — July 16, 2007 @ 6:38 am
[…] is Rammstein. Found via the Table of MalContents diaspora blog, Ectoplasmosis, where videos after my own heart are chosen. Note to self: Put a link to them in the sidebar, cuz […]
Pingback by Now, THIS is how you do Snow White and the Seven Dwarves | Etixet Tag Cloud Archive 10.000 Web Site Feed — January 7, 2008 @ 11:12 am