The purple song
The purple song is the first hymn of homosexuals from 1920, which was granted at the time an astounding success.
Historical context
After the proclamation of the Weimar Republic , a brief period of improvement began for lesbians and gays. It was a constant up and down, depending on the political situation, but the establishment of basic democratic rights and the abolition of censorship resulted in a boost to gay and lesbian self-esteem, especially in the cities and especially in Berlin . Many new associations, clubs and pubs have emerged from the scope. In 1919 Magnus Hirschfeld founded his Institute for Sexology , in the same year Richard Oswald made Anders als die Andern, the first German film to deal with homosexuality, and in 1921 the “First International Conference on Sexual Reform on the Basis of Sexology” took place.
Emergence
Two men, then unknown but later quite successful, wrote the song. The text was composed by Kurt Schwabach , who - interrupted by emigration - wrote many popular hits for Evelyn Künneke , Zarah Leander and Freddy Quinn , among others, until the end of the 1950s . The pseudonym Arno Billing was given as the composer ; behind it was Mischa Spoliansky, one of the most successful cabaret and revue composers of the Weimar Republic. Both provided the song with the dedication “To the tireless researcher and friend, Medical Councilor Dr. Dedicated to Magnus Hirschfeld. "
The sheet music was published in autumn 1920 by the Carl Schulz publishing house , which also published the weekly magazine " Friendship" . The success was so great that in December of the same year the fifth edition appeared in color print and at a reduced price.
The record companies soon sensed business too. As far as we know, there have been at least three recordings, all from major record companies. A few months after the sheet music, an orchestral recording with refrained vocals was released. On the second page was the popular hit from the Bummelpetrus , and so it was sold for many years. Another recording came from one of the most popular salon and record orchestras of the Weimar period, the Marek Weber Orchestra .
The sheet music for a heterosexual variation under the title Be my wife for twenty-four hours (for a day and for a sweet night) appeared in 1921 , with a text by Richard Bars , which was recorded a little later by the Dajos Béla orchestra .
A sound recording from that time with the full text is unlikely, since popular songs, unless they were associated with a special artist, were at most recorded with refrained vocals.
content
The hymn consists of two stanzas and a refrain. Purple in the title symbolizes the color of an entire movement, unlike in the second lesbian and gay movement after the Second World War, where since then pink has stood for gays and purple for lesbians and the closely-knit women's movement in Europe .
“Somebody once described the whole extravagant bustle of these people, who are neither black nor white, as a 'picture in purple', and so the term of this delicate, soft, half-unspoken color has been carried over to the whole movement. One speaks of the 'Purple Night' of Berlin, labeling members of that caste as 'purple' - yes, there is a federal song, 'Das Lila-Lied'. "
Self-confidence and pride speak from the style of the song. Hirschfeld's view of gays and lesbians as a third gender can be found in a few lines of text.
The first stanza asks whether it is culture to exclude clever and good people who are permeated with a special blood and to ban them by law. In the connection sentence it is stated that most of those affected are proud to be different despite all this.
The chorus introduces "We are now in a different way than the others," the difference determines the well is that you do not love "in lockstep morality" as the rest of the world, which is very curious about everything extraordinary, but then the heteronormative standard remains what one has never felt as an other.
The second stanza asks why one is tortured into accepting the morals of the environment when one is different. Even the threat of being hung up, with mourning for those who ask, will not dissuade a gay or lesbian from being different. The end is dedicated to a better prospect, which, however, only slowly began 48 years later in Germany due to National Socialism and 2 years later in Austria.
“Because soon - pay attention - our sun will also shine
overnight
.
Then we won the same right,
we no longer suffer, but suffered! "
Reception and criticism
The purple song soon became part of gay and lesbian culture, be it in a small circle or at large balls as a special item on the program. A silent film pianist says that he used it appropriately in a Victor / Victoria film story . A particularly weird performance has come down to us from Wilhelm Bendow , who had the whole stage lined with purple and wore a specially made purple tuxedo for the lecture.
A contemporary letter to the editor describes the song as follows: “It cries out for human rights, for redemption from bondage and bondage”.
Shortly after the sheet music was published, a letter from a reader was printed in the magazine `` Friendship '' with the following content:
“(I) showed… my mother and sister these verses that sound like a poem even without this haunting melody. Mother and especially my sister ... shook hands with me and said, 'I think I can understand you now.' Both women, who are only partially close to our cause and whose great love had now found me, understood me. ... My guest Jan Z. said how much they would have longed for such a covenant and defiance song in Holland, where there is less understanding than here. "
The Staatsbürgerliche Zeitung commented on the song in its edition of February 27, 1921 “... however unabashedly those sexually aberrant people like to appear in public and how great the risk of contamination has become, especially for our youth”.
literature
- Hans-Günter Klein : "We are different from the others ...", Micha Spoliansky's "Lila Lied" , in: Schwule Geschichte. Journal for gay history workshops, archives and libraries , No. 2, Berlin 1998.
- We are what we are! - Homosexuality on record Part I - Recordings 1900 to 1936 , Bear Family Records, 2002, ISBN 3-89795-887-2 .
Audio documents
- The purple song . Music by Arno Billing. Text by Kurt Schwabach. Orchestra with refra singing. Homocord No. 16 191, up. Berlin 1921.
- The purple song . Arno Billing. Marek Weber. Parlophone P.1214-II (Matr. Z 2980), apply. Berlin, August 25, 1921.
- Be my wife for 24 hours (Das Lila Lied) (Arno Billing) artist orchestra Dajos Béla, violin primás. Odeon AA 79 927 (Matr. XxBo 7452), apply. Berlin, December 17, 1921.
Web links
- schwulencity.de : Complete lyrics
Individual evidence
- ↑ www.gema.de : GEMA-Werk.-Nr .: 1770568-001, ISWC: T-800.956.726-5
- ^ "Das Lila Lied" ("The Lavender Song"), Berlin, 1921 (a gay / lesbian liberation song). In: YouTube.com. Retrieved September 17, 2017 .
- ^ Marek Weber: The purple song. In: YouTube.com. Retrieved September 17, 2017 .
- ↑ Dajos Bela and Orchestra - Be My Wife For 24 Hours. In: YouTube.com. Retrieved September 17, 2017 .