Amerika (song)

"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.

"Amerika"
Single by Rammstein
from the album Reise, Reise
B-side
Released6 September 2004
Recorded2003
StudioEl Cortijo (Málaga, Spain)
GenreNeue Deutsche Härte
Length3:46
LabelUniversal
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
Rammstein singles chronology
"Mein Teil"
(2004)		 "Amerika"
(2004)		 "Ohne dich"
(2004)
Audio sample
  • file
  • help

Content

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, sometimes war. 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

The video shows the band in Apollo-era space suits on the Moon, with shots of other cultures acting like stereotypical Americans, and that American culture is everywhere. There are Africans eating pizza, Buddhist monks eating hamburgers, Japanese, Native Americans, Inuit and Aboriginal Australians. There is also a Muslim man worshiping, but only after having first removed his Nike sneakers and then praying in the direction of an oil refinery. 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

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

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

Certifications
Region CertificationCertified units/sales
Germany (BVMI)[21] Gold 150,000^

^shipments figures based on certification alone

gollark: If they are starved of views it may take lönger.
gollark: Specifically, *minimum* maturation time
gollark: Or at least one of them, were there *more*?!
gollark: I got that, actually.
gollark: For April Fools' I'll make it actually be a pizza.

References
  1. Jill E. Twark (2015). "Envisioning Social Justice in Contemporary German Culture". books.google.com.
  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. "Australian-charts.com – Rammstein – Amerika". ARIA Top 50 Singles.
  4. "Austriancharts.at – Rammstein – Amerika" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40.
  5. "Ultratop.be – Rammstein – Amerika" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50.
  6. "Ultratop.be – Rammstein – Amerika" (in French). Ultratip.
  7. "Danishcharts.com – Rammstein – Amerika". Tracklisten.
  8. "Rammstein: Amerika" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland.
  9. "Lescharts.com – Rammstein – Amerika" (in French). Les classement single.
  10. "Offiziellecharts.de – Rammstein – Amerika". GfK Entertainment Charts.
  11. "Archívum – Slágerlisták – MAHASZ" (in Hungarian). Single (track) Top 40 lista. Magyar Hanglemezkiadók Szövetsége. Retrieved 26 April 2019.
  12. "Nederlandse Top 40 – Rammstein" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40.
  13. "Dutchcharts.nl – Rammstein – Amerika" (in Dutch). Single Top 100.
  14. "Norwegiancharts.com – Rammstein – Amerika". VG-lista.
  15. "Spanishcharts.com – Rammstein – Amerika" Canciones Top 50.
  16. "Swedishcharts.com – Rammstein – Amerika". Singles Top 100.
  17. "Swisscharts.com – Rammstein – Amerika". Swiss Singles Chart.
  18. "Jahreshitparade Singles 2004". austriancharts.at. Retrieved 11 January 2020.
  19. "Top 100 Single-Jahrescharts". GfK Entertainment (in German). offiziellecharts.de. Retrieved 11 December 2019.
  20. "Schweizer Jahreshitparade 2004 – hitparade.ch". Hung Medien. Retrieved 11 December 2019.
  21. "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (Rammstein; 'Amerika')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie. Retrieved 8 June 2018.
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