Amerika (song)

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For other songs of this name, see Amerika (disambiguation) § Music.
"Amerika"
Single by Rammstein
from the album Reise, Reise
B-side
Released6 September 2004
Recorded2003
StudioEl Cortijo (Málaga, Spain)
Length3:46
LabelUniversal
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
Rammstein singles chronology
"Mein Teil"
(2004) 		"Amerika"
(2004) 		"Ohne dich"
(2004)
Audio sample

"Amerika" is a song by German Neue Deutsche Härte band Rammstein. It was released on 6 September 2004 as the second single from their fourth studio album, Reise, Reise (2004). The song peaked at number 2 in Germany and entered the top 5 in Austria, Denmark, and Switzerland.

Content[edit]

The song deals with the worldwide cultural and political imperialism of the United States of America. The song's text and most video images point unambiguously toward a critique of America's cultural imperialism, political propaganda and self-assumed role as global police force.[1] The two verses are sung in German with a chorus in Denglisch: "We're all living in Amerika, Amerika ist wunderbar, We're all living in Amerika, Amerika, Amerika" and "We're all living in Amerika, Coca-Cola, Wonderbra. We're all living in Amerika, Amerika, Amerika." The band views it as a satirical commentary on Americanization, and the lyrics refer to such things considered American as Coca-Cola, Wonderbra, Santa Claus, and Mickey Mouse. Uncharacteristically for Rammstein, the song incorporates an interlude in which the lyrics explicitly state the band's intentions: "This is not a love song, This is not a love song, I don't sing my mother tongue, No this is not a love song".

Video[edit]

The video shows the band in Apollo-era space suits[i] on the Moon, with shots of other cultures acting like stereotypical Americans, satirizing Americanization. These shots include Africans eating pizza and making Christmas wishes to Santa Claus, Buddhist monks eating hamburgers, South East Asians, Japanese, Native Americans, Inuit, Aboriginal Australians, an Indian Sikh man smoking a Lucky Strike cigarette and a Muslim man worshipping in front of an oil refinery after removing his Nike sneakers. Near the end, various ethnic groups sing and dance along. The end of the video shows that the band have actually been in a fake Moon set in a studio,[2] complete with film crew, an allusion to the Moon landing conspiracy theories. Till Lindemann, Rammstein's lead singer, wears a space suit with the name "Armstrong" on it, a reference to Neil Armstrong. The video ends with a band photograph left behind on the Moon's surface while the recording of Jack Swigert's quote "Houston, we've had a problem here" is being played.

Live performance[edit]

As with every song from Reise, Reise (except "Ohne dich"), "Amerika" debuted live in three consecutive concerts for members of the Rammstein fan club. During the live performances of this song on tour, Flake is often seen riding around on a Segway PT with confetti cannons firing red, white and blue confetti in a parody of a ticker-tape parade. It was the last song of the band's main set, and was played at every concert of the Reise, Reise tour. During a concert in Gothenburg, Sweden on July 30, 2005, frontman Till Lindemann suffered a knee injury when keyboardist Flake accidentally ran into him with the Segway PT; this caused concerts scheduled in Asia to be cancelled.

Track listing[edit]

CD single

  1. "Amerika"
  2. "Amerika" (English Version)
  3. "Amerika" (Digital Hardcore Mix) by Alec Empire
  4. "Amerika" (Western-Remix) by Olsen Involtini
  5. "Amerika" (Andy Panthen & Mat Diaz's Clubmix)
  6. "Amerika" (Electro Ghetto Remix) by Bushido & Ilan
  7. "Amerika" (Jam & Spoon So Kann's Gehen Mix)
  8. "Mein Herz brennt Orchesterlied V"
  • Released in a jewelcase, digipack and as a digital download

Pock-it CD

  1. "Amerika"
  2. "Amerika" (Digital Hardcore Mix) by Alec Empire
  • A 2-track CD single was also released in a card sleeve

UK 7" vinyl

  1. "Amerika"
  2. "Wilder Wein"

Australian edition

  1. "Amerika"
  2. "Amerika" (Digital Hardcore Mix) by Alec Empire
  3. "Amerika" (Western-Remix) by Olsen Involtini
  4. "Amerika" (Andy Panthen & Mat Diaz's Clubmix)
  5. "Mein Herz brennt" (Orchestra Version)

UK version

  1. "Amerika"
  2. "Amerika" (Digital Hardcore Mix) by Alec Empire
  3. "Mein Herz brennt"
  4. "Ich will Orchesterlied VII"

UK DVD

  1. "Amerika" (Video) – 4:19
  2. Making of the Amerika Video – 12:01
  3. "Amerika" (Album Version) – 3:46

Charts[edit]

Certifications[edit]

Region Certification Certified units/sales
Germany (BVMI)[26] Gold 150,000‡

‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Two of these are stage reproductions of Apollo 11 suits, but as there is a shortage of such suits for more than a small Apollo crew, the other four suits are contemporary Space Shuttle EMU suits with the chest-mounted control box and the hard upper torso.
  1. ^ Jill E. Twark (2015). Envisioning Social Justice in Contemporary German Culture. Boydell & Brewer. ISBN 9781571135698.
  2. ^ "How to Fake your own Moon Landing" Archived August 18, 2011, at the Wayback Machine, Ethan Siegel. Science Blogs. June 7, 2009. Accessed June 7, 2011
  3. ^ Ryan, Gavin (2011). Australia's Music Charts 1988–2010 (PDF ed.). Mt Martha, Victoria, Australia: Moonlight Publishing. p. 229.
  4. ^ "Rammstein – Amerika" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40.
  5. ^ "Rammstein – Amerika" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50.
  6. ^ "Rammstein – Amerika" (in French). Ultratip.
  7. ^ "Top 50 Singles". Jam!. Archived from the original on December 11, 2004. Retrieved December 7, 2023.
  8. ^ "Rammstein – Amerika". Tracklisten.
  9. ^ "Rammstein: Amerika" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat.
  10. ^ "Rammstein – Amerika" (in French). Les classement single.
  11. ^ "Rammstein – Amerika" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts.
  12. ^ "Archívum – Slágerlisták – MAHASZ" (in Hungarian). Single (track) Top 40 lista. Magyar Hanglemezkiadók Szövetsége. Retrieved 26 April 2019.
  13. ^ "Rammstein – Amerika". Top Digital Download. Retrieved 15 April 2022.
  14. ^ "Nederlandse Top 40 – Rammstein" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40.
  15. ^ "Rammstein – Amerika" (in Dutch). Single Top 100.
  16. ^ "Rammstein – Amerika". VG-lista.
  17. ^ "Official Scottish Singles Sales Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 16 April 2022.
  18. ^ "Rammstein – Amerika" Canciones Top 50.
  19. ^ "Rammstein – Amerika". Singles Top 100.
  20. ^ "Rammstein – Amerika". Swiss Singles Chart.
  21. ^ "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 11 May 2021.
  22. ^ "Official Rock & Metal Singles Chart Top 40". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 15 April 2022.
  23. ^ "Jahreshitparade Singles 2004". austriancharts.at. Retrieved 11 January 2020.
  24. ^ "Top 100 Single-Jahrescharts". GfK Entertainment (in German). offiziellecharts.de. Retrieved 11 December 2019.
  25. ^ "Schweizer Jahreshitparade 2004 – hitparade.ch". Hung Medien. Retrieved 11 December 2019.
  26. ^ "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (Rammstein; 'Amerika')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie. Retrieved 8 June 2018.
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