History Main / MusicToInvadePolandTo

MusicToInvadePolandTo refers to any music that gets accused of being Nazist (or National Socialist) because it sounds "Germanic," "Teutonic," "Wagnerian" or the like.

* ''Das Deutschlandlied'', better known as ''Deutschland Uber Alles'' is perhaps the {{Most Triumphant Example}}. The song, whose first line translates "Germany over all", is assumed to refer to the goal of Germany to {{Take Over The World}}. In truth, the song was writen by a nineteenth-century ''liberal'', who wanted Germans to put aside petty provincial distinctions (such as being Prussian, Bavarian, or Austrian), eschew the divisive and reactionary petty states, and think of themselves as Germans above all else. He was, in fact, expressing a desire for German unity, not domination.
** A better translation of "Uber Alles" is "above everything".
** The main reason the first and second stanza aren't used as the actual anthem in Germany anymore is that the first verse references the borders of the German nation, using the names of rivers that [[UnfortunateImplications aren't in Germany anymore.]] The second verse sounds like a dull drinking song was just never popular.

** A better translation of "Uber Alles" is "above everything else".

* LudwigVanBeethoven also gets, at times, used as the background music for scenes of German fascism. Beethoven would be horrified if he knew, since he was a liberal if there ever was one. He was in full support of TheFrenchRevolution; dedicated his Third Symphony (''Eroica'') to [[NapoleonBonaparte Napoleon]] when he was a good general of the Revolution; promptly un-dedicated it when Napoleon betrayed the Revolution to become Emperor; and his [[CrowningMusic/{{Music}} Ode to Joy]] is a setting of a poem calling for "all men to be brothers" and various other classically liberal lines.

*** It's the motherfucking anthem of the EuropeanUnion. It can't really get less nazi than that.

** The main reason the first and second stanza aren't used as the actual anthem in Germany anymore is that the first verse references the borders of the German nation, using the names of rivers that [[UnfortunateImplications aren't in Germany anymore.]] The second verse is just a little too chauvinistic, bordering on comparing German women with things like German wine and German song. Only the third verse (about ''Einigkeit und Recht und Freiheit'' (Unity and right and freedom)) is legal to sing in Germany.
*** Nope, it's completely legal to sing all three stances, though nearly nobody knows this. Actually, the ''Bundesverfassungsgericht'' (Federal Constitutional Court of Germany) explicitly pointed out that it's allowed. It's just that only the first is used on official occasions.

** Industrial project C-Drone-Defect subverts this in their latest album ''Dystopia''. [[IAmTheBand The man behind the project]] is dressed in very severe garb and photoshopped into Orwellian-Retro-Futuristic dystopian backdrops that seem ripped out of ''{{Equilibrium}}'', ''[[NineteenEightyFour 1984]]'', and ''SkyCaptainAndTheWorldOfTomorrow''. The music is very epic, hymnal and Wagnerian with signficant use of orchestral sounds, yet the whole concept behind the project is an anti-authoritarian one.

** Of course, if the Germans had [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zimmermann_Telegram had their way]] in WorldWarOne, it ''would'' be [[MexicoCalledTheyWantTexasBack Music To Invade Texas To]].

* The state of Israel long had a kind of unofficial ban on the performance of Wagner's music. There's been some movement on that front in recent years, but it is understandably a rather...contentious issue.

** The main reason this song isn't sung in Germany anymore, save the last verse, is that the first verse references the borders of the German nation, using the names of rivers that [[UnfortunateImplications aren't, technically, in Germany anymore.]] The second verse is just a little too Germany-is-the-best-country-in-the-world. Only the third verse (about "unity, right and freedom") is legal to sing in Germany.

** The fact that the marching cadence is actually the one used by the pre-Nazi German ''Communist Party'' is also missed by most people. Perhaps the band mistakenly thought their [[ViewersAreGeniuses listeners were geniuses]].

** The fact that the marching cadence is actually the one used by the pre-Nazi German 'Communist Party' is also missed by most people. Perhaps the band mistakenly thought their [[ViewersAreGeniuses listeners were geniuses]].

* RichardWagner is not a justified application of this trope. Although Wagner occasionally expressed anti-semitic viewpoints, he was also a left-leaning socialist for much of his life. Wagner befriend Russian anarchist Mikhail Bakhunin and participated in the Dresden May Uprising, which caused him to be exiled by the Saxon government. Wagner died in 1883 and was extremely unlucky in that the Nazis appropriated his music fifty years after his death and permanently smeared his character for people unfamiliar with his actual music. Thus, today any of his music or other dramatic sounding music will be unfairly associated with fascistic political views that Wagner never held. People who have actually seen his music dramas realize they advocate something close to anarchism: power is evil, love is good.

* RichardWagner is perhaps a justified application of this trope, given that he ''was'' anti-Semitic and arguably advocated a form of fascism. Thus, any music with a similar penchant for the dramatic will tend to get unfairly associated with his political views.

** KMFDM's case is even worse -- they were spouting lefty socialist rhetoric ''long before'' anyone started accusing them of Nazism. These songs were generally ignored in the light of other songs which were sarcastic anthems of war and profit, and often [[PoesLaw taken literally]] by detractors [[MisaimedFandom and others]].

*** They are not. They are conservative but they deny nazism

** Poland got quite a few nazi bands (with Vader not being one of them), not to mention the general surge of right wing extremist groups in Poland and other countries of the former Soviet Union.

** The main reason this song isn't sung in Germany anymore, save the last verse, is that the first verse references the borders of the German nation, using the names of rivers that [[UnfortunateImplications aren't, technically, in Germany anymore.]] The second verse is just a little too Germany-is-the-best-country-in-the-world. Only the third verse (about "unity, right and
freedom") is legal to sing in Germany.

** The main reason this song isn't sung in Germany anymore, save the last verse, is that the first verse references the borders of the German nation, using the names of rivers that [[UnfortunateImplications aren't, technically, in Germany anymore.]] The second verse is just a little too Germany-is-the-best-country-in-the-world. Only the third verse (about "unity, right and freedom") is legal to sing in Germany.

* [[Sabaton]] get this alot. They make bombastic power metal, their vocalist rolls his Rs in a very particular way, and most of their songs are about WW I and II, quite a few of them from the perspective of German forces. Disregard that they have several songs from the perspective of the nations fighting ''against'' Nazi Germany as well as definite anti-war anthems, and that their 8 minute epic about the Nazi's rise to power is called ''Rise of Evil''. Oh, and the band is Swedish.

** Beethoven's Fifth Symphony was used by the ''Allies'' as a motif in propaganda films ('V' for 'Victory' and fate knocking at Nazi Germany's door). Helpfully illustrated by Donald Duck here:(at about 2:30, and throughout the rest of the clip [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vr9qpeOjmuQ--0 YouTube]])

[[folder:Other Media]]
* Any film, cartoon or live-action TV show that has used a "German-sounding" song as background music for scenes of Nazi activities has perpetuated this association.
[[/folder]]