Top Ten Greatest German or Austrian Anti-Racism and Anti-Nazism Songs

Racism is a problem that’s unfortunately very present all around the world. It may take different forms and find different reactions, but in its core, the issue is one that, ironically, every nation has in common.

That needs to stop. The Internet gave us the opportunity to learn from other countries and form one big multicultural community, and we all have to get up and stand against the racist views and ideology of some individuals.

Luckily, music artists from all over the globe have dealt with the subject, and made songs protesting against it. It’s a common enemy we can all stand against.

This list features both German and Austrian artists’ takes on racism and nazism. Due to the nations’ past, these terms are often used interchangeably, along with far right and fascism. Germany and Austria differ in how socially acceptable national pride and patriotism are, as these attitudes are well liked in Austria and often disliked in Germany. That being said, there is nothing wrong with patriotism, but it is absolutely necessary to constantly remind us there are numerous other countries in the world and that they are all equal to yours, no matter how big they are, and what culture and religion they have.

I WOULD ENCOURAGE MY FELLOW TOPTENNERS TO MAKE SIMILAR LISTS ABOUT ANTI-RACISM SONGS OF THEIR RESPECTIVE COUNTRY. THIS WAY WE CAN STAY UNITED AS A MULTINATIONAL COMMUNITY AND SEND A CLEAR MESSAGE.
The Top Ten
1 Schrei nach Liebe - Die Ärzte

Year: 1993
Album: Die Bestie in Menschengestalt
Language: German
Title translation: “Scream for love”

In 1993, Die Ärzte released one of the most iconic German songs of all time, no matter the topic or genre, which also became such a well known anthemic hit song that in 2015 it topped the charts in the European migrant crisis as a protest against racism. What makes this song work so well, apart from the amazing musicality, is that it finds explanation for the neo-nazism of the lyrics’ antagonist but no excuses. It acknowledges that the massive hate for their surroundings is a result of the lack of love in their own life, but at the same time insults them for their unspeakably horrible behavior and views (the chorus translates to “Your violence is just a silent scream for love / Your combat boots are longing for tenderness / You never learned to articulate yourself / And your parents never had time for you”, followed by a loud scream of the A-Hole word). ...more

2 Der alte Wessely - Austria 3
3 Sage Nein - Konstantin Wecker
4 Brüder - Rainhard Fendrich

Year: 1993
Album: Brüder
Language: German
Title translation: “Brothers”

In a brilliant mix of Turkish and Austrian pop music, Fendrich tells a story of an extremely close friendship between a Turkish migrant, Mehmet, and an Austrian (Fendrich himself) since childhood. They are, as he sings, true brothers. The first verse describes their first somewhat rough meeting, getting into a fight with each other as boys do, then becoming friends. The chorus then describes their teenage days when they were best friends, doing all kinds of stuff people do that age. It gets much more political and darker in the second verse, when they meet again as adults after some years passed. Mehmet tells him how the political climate has changed and how racially motivated hatred towards him has become worse. There’s still a strong connection between the two, and they still consider themselves brothers. Verse 3 is now told from Mehmet’s perspective, and features one of the most ...more

5 Willy - Konstantin Wecker

Year: 1977
Album: Genug ist nicht genug
Language: German
Title translation: “Willy”

“Willy” is one of Wecker’s best known songs, although it’s not even as much a “song” in the conventional sense. Although it features a rather short, sung chorus and a constant, minimalistic piano underscoring, the 9 and a half minute piece (in its original album version) is foremost an essay-like, spoken recitation of a story (not a poem, more of a monologue or a memoir) about an 68 generation idealist who confronts a gang of nazis - which results in his death. Wecker’s delivery is so extremely intense and passionate that you can feel the atmosphere thicken as it goes on. We know from the beginning how the story ends, but Wecker gets so unsettlingly emotional in his voice - he plays a close friend of the titular protagonist Willy who was there at the evening and tried to rescue his friend, and by the end he gets more hectic and loud, like actually reliving a flashback ...more

6 Schellen - Audio88 & Yassin
7 Love is Color-Blind - Sarah Connor & TQ
8 Racist Friend - Tocotronic
9 Hey Mr. Nazi - Blumio

Year: 2009
Album: Yellow Album
Language: German
Title translation: “Hey Mr. Nazi”

While most of the songs on this list have a cynical and aggressive tone towards nazis and racists, German rapper Blumio, who himself has Japanese descent, has a different approach: he actively talks to the nazi, and tries to convince him that their view is wrong, and believes everyone can change for the better. He invites him to take part in his multicultural clique and let him see that they are no different from anyone else.

10 Willkommen in Deutschland - Die Toten Hosen
The Contenders
11 Links 2 3 4 - Rammstein

Year: 2001
Album: Mutter
Language: German
Title translation: "Left 2 3 4" (a military command for marching)

For their first few years of fame, Rammstein's hard and strict aesthetics (especially Till Lindemann's pronunciation) often lead to the blatant misinterpretation that they were right wing, even far right sometimes, despite never having said or sung anything even implying it. On "Links 2 3 4" they had enough of thst and positioned themselves politically: "they want my heart at the right place / but when I look down, it beats left". The song is even more static and military inspired than their others, which shows that thr aesthetics go along well with an open minded ideology as well.

12 Quotentürke - Eko Fresh

Year: 2013
Album: Eksodus
Language: German
Title translation: "Token Turk"

Eko Fresh is a German rapper of Turkish descent who often released very intelligent songs with the intent of making both cultures understand each other. He himself was raised between these two worlds and has a perfect understanding of each. "Quotentürke" is about how he feels that celebrities of Turkish descent are only that present in the media because they feel they had to include them to not appear racist, but which doesn't actually come from their hearts. In a way, Eko Fresh addresses the same issue that has been repeatedly discussed about American films and series with African American actors. The title is a direct reference to "Not Another Teen Movie", with the character "Token Black Guy" being called "Quotenschwarzer" in the German dub.
The beat of "Quotentürke" has strong elements of traditional Turkish music.

13 Schwarze Engel - Alexandra

Year: 1968
Album: Alexandra
Language: German
Title translation: "Black Angels"

German singer Alexandra has been far ahead of her time with so many songs and topics that it's sad that not the entirety of her second album retrospectively became popular. "Schwarze Engel" openly addresses racism, but in a way that would still spark controversies today: she raises the question why in religious paintings all the angels are always depicted as white, when there also have to be black angels. Laut.de said in their 5 star review of the album that this song is outdated for its use of the n-word. Of course, today we wouldn't use it, but in this case you clearly have a context for it. The song is from a time when the word was actively used (and to be honest, in some parts of Austria it still is), and the lyrics are a clear and strong statement against racism of any kind.

14 Adriano (Letzte Warnung) - Brothers Keepers

Year: 2001
Album: Lightkultur
Language: bilingual (German and English)
Title translation: "Adriano (Last Warning)"

Brothers Keepers was a project/supergroup that was founded in memorial of Alberto Adriano, a man with foreign background that was killed by a group of neo-nazis. Initially, the members consisted of mostly African Germans, but as it grew, other German artists as well as a few musicians from other countries joined in. DJ Desue and Xavier Naidoo composed the music to the song and each artist wrote their respective lyrics. The resulting 7 and a half minute track is a mixture of hip hop and soul, and a revolting anthem that now the time came for the discriminated to fight back.

15 Das Neue Vaterland - STS

Year: 1984
Album: Überdosis G'fühl
Language: German
Title translation: "The New Fatherland"

With razor sharp sarcasm in each line, the Austrian pop band describes a young man's encounter with a group of neo-nazis in a sports club that he decides to join in. It does a great job at explaining how racism and nazism gets ahold of people. The young man is dissatisfied with his current situation in life, then he meets a bunch of people who seem to understand his problems and offer a seemingly overly simple solution: the foreigners are to blame. It's a frightening thought but this happens to way too many people, especially those who are down. A darkly humorous lyric occurs in verse 2, when his father comments on his son's neo-nazism with "at least it's better than if he took drugs". Again: the grotesque situation would be funnily absurd if it wasn't so horribly true.

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