"Amerika" is a song by German

Neue Deutsche Härte (; "New German Hardness", sometimes abbreviated as NDH), also known as dance-metal, is a crossover style drawing from Neue Deutsche Welle, alternative metal, groove metal, electro-industrial and techno. It developed in Germany and Austria d ...

band

Rammstein Rammstein (, "ramming stone") is a German band formed in Berlin in 1994. The band's lineup—consisting of lead vocalist Till Lindemann, lead guitarist Richard Kruspe, rhythm guitarist Paul Landers, bassist Oliver Riedel, drummer Christoph ...

. It was released on 6 September 2004 as the second single from their fourth studio album, ''

Reise, Reise ''Reise, Reise'' (; a German '' military wake-up call'', literally "(a)rise, (a)rise") is the fourth studio album by Neue Deutsche Härte band Rammstein. It was released on 27 September 2004 through Universal Music in Germany and followed shor ...

'' (2004). The song peaked at number 2 in Germany and entered the top 5 in Austria, Denmark, and Switzerland.

Content

The chorus of the song comes from a song called " Living in America" by Swedish band the Sounds. The song is intended as a commentary on the worldwide cultural and political imperialism of the

United States of America The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguo ...

. The song's lyrics, as well as its video, are a critique of America's

cultural imperialism Cultural imperialism (also cultural colonialism) comprises the culture, cultural dimensions of imperialism. The word "imperialism" describes practices in which a country engages culture (language, tradition, ritual, politics, economics) to creat ...

, political propaganda and role as a

global policeman Global policeman (or world police) is an informal term for a superpower which seeks or claims the right to intervene in other sovereign states. It has been used, firstly for the United Kingdom and, since 1945, for the United States. The two ter ...

. The two verses are sung in German with a chorus in

Denglisch Denglisch () is a term describing the increased use of anglicisms and pseudo-anglicisms in the German language. It is a portmanteau of the German words (''German'') and . The term is first recorded from 1965.Lambert, James. 2018. A multit ...

: "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 satire on

Americanization Americanization or Americanisation (see spelling differences) is the influence of the American culture and economy on other countries outside the United States, including their media, cuisine, business practices, popular culture, technology ...

, and the lyrics make reference to various corporate and cultural symbols of America as

Coca-Cola Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a cola soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. In 2013, Coke products were sold in over 200 countries and territories worldwide, with consumers drinking more than 1.8 billion company beverage servings ...

Wonderbra The Wonderbra is a type of push-up underwire brassiere that gained worldwide prominence in the 1990s. Although the Wonderbra name was first trademarked in the U.S. in 1955, the brand was developed in Canada. Moses (Moe) Nadler, founder and maj ...

Santa Claus Santa Claus (also known as Saint Nicholas, Saint Nick, Father Christmas, Kris Kringle or Santa) is a legendary figure originating in Western Christian culture who is said to bring gifts during the late evening and overnight hours on Chris ...

, and

Mickey Mouse Mickey Mouse is an American cartoon character co-created in 1928 by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks. The longtime icon and mascot of the Walt Disney Company, Mickey is an anthropomorphic mouse who typically wears red shorts, large shoes, and white ...

. 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, satirizing

. These shots include

Africans The ethnic groups of Africa number in the thousands, with each ethnicity generally having their own language (or dialect of a language) and culture. The ethnolinguistic groups include various Afroasiatic, Khoisan, Niger-Congo, and Nilo-Sahara ...

eating pizza and making Christmas wishes to

Buddhist Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...

monks A monk (; from , ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a man who is a member of a religious order and lives in a monastery. A monk usually lives his life in prayer and contemplation. The concept is ancient and can be seen in many reli ...

eating

hamburgers A hamburger (or simply a burger) consists of fillings—usually a patty of ground meat, typically beef—placed inside a sliced bun or bread roll. The patties are often served with cheese, lettuce, tomato, onion, pickles, bacon, or chilis w ...

, South East Asians,

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

ese, Native Americans,

Inuit Inuit (singular: Inuk) are a group of culturally and historically similar Indigenous peoples traditionally inhabiting the Arctic and Subarctic regions of North America and Russia, including Greenland, Labrador, Quebec, Nunavut, the Northwe ...

Aboriginal Australians Aboriginal Australians are the various indigenous peoples of the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland and many of its islands, excluding the ethnically distinct people of the Torres Strait Islands. Humans first migrated to Australia (co ...

, an

Indian Sikh Indian Sikhs number approximately 21 million people and account for 1.7% of India's population as of 2011, forming the country's fourth-largest religious group. The majority of the nation's Sikhs live in the northern state of Punjab, which is ...

man smoking a

Lucky Strike Lucky Strike is an American brand of cigarettes owned by the British American Tobacco group. Individual cigarettes of the brand are often referred to colloquially as "Luckies." Name Lucky Strike was introduced as a brand of plug tobacco (chew ...

cigarette and a

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

man worshipping in front of an

oil refinery An oil refinery or petroleum refinery is an industrial processes, industrial process Factory, plant where petroleum (crude oil) is transformed and refining, refined into products such as gasoline (petrol), diesel fuel, Bitumen, asphalt base, ...

after removing his

Nike Nike often refers to: * Nike, Inc., a major American producer of athletic shoes, apparel, and sports equipment * Nike (mythology), a Greek goddess who personifies victory Nike may also refer to: People * Nike (name), a surname and feminine giv ...

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,"How to Fake your own Moon Landing"
,

Ethan Siegel Ethan R. Siegel is an American theoretical astrophysicist and science writer, who studies the Big Bang theory. In the past he has been a professor at Lewis & Clark College and a blogger at ''Starts With a Bang'', on ScienceBlogs and also on Fo ...

. Science Blogs. 7 June 2009. Accessed 7 June 2011 complete with film crew, an allusion to the

Moon landing conspiracy theories Moon landing conspiracy theories claim that some or all elements of the Apollo program and the associated Moon landings were hoaxes staged by NASA, possibly with the aid of other organizations. The most notable claim of these conspiracy theor ...

Till Lindemann Till Lindemann (; born 4 January 1963) is a German singer and songwriter. He is the lead vocalist and lyricist of Neue Deutsche Härte band Rammstein and solo project Lindemann (band), Lindemann. Rammstein has sold over 25 million records worldw ...

, Rammstein's lead singer, wears a space suit with the name "Armstrong" on it, a reference to

Neil Armstrong Neil Alden Armstrong (August 5, 1930 – August 25, 2012) was an American astronaut and aerospace engineering, aeronautical engineer who, in 1969, became the Apollo 11#Lunar surface operations, first person to walk on the Moon. He was al ...

. The video ends with a band photograph left behind on the Moon's surface while the recording of

Jack Swigert John Leonard Swigert Jr. (August 30, 1931 – December 27, 1982) was an American NASA astronaut, test pilot, mechanical engineer, aerospace engineer, United States Air Force pilot, and politician. In April 1970, as command module pilot of A ...

'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 Flake or Flakes may refer to: People * Christian "Flake" Lorenz, German musician and member of the band Rammstein * Gisa Flake (born 1985), German actress and singer * Jake Flake, American politician * Jeff Flake (born 1962), American polit ...

is often seen riding around on a

Segway PT A Segway is a two-wheeled, self-balancing personal transporter device invented by Dean Kamen. The name is a registered trademark of Segway Inc. It was brought to market in 2001 as the Segway HT, and then subsequently as the Segway PT. ''HT ...

with confetti cannons firing red, white and blue confetti in a parody of a

ticker-tape parade A ticker-tape parade is a parade event held in an urban setting, characterized by large amounts of shredded paper thrown onto the parade route from the surrounding buildings, creating a celebratory flurry of paper. Originally, actual ticker tap ...

. 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 Gothenburg ( ; ) is the second-largest city in Sweden, after the capital Stockholm, and the fifth-largest in the Nordic countries. Situated by the Kattegat on the west coast of Sweden, it is the gubernatorial seat of Västra Götaland County, ...

on 30 July 2005, frontman

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

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

{{authority control Anti-American sentiment in Germany 2004 singles 2004 songs Macaronic songs Protest songs Rammstein songs Satirical songs Songs about the United States Songs written by Richard Z. Kruspe Songs written by Paul Landers Songs written by Till Lindemann Songs written by Christian Lorenz Songs written by Oliver Riedel Songs written by Christoph Schneider Songs of the Iraq War Universal Music Group singles