Let's go on the warpath
Let's go on the warpath (English original title: Following the Leader ) is a song from the film Peter Pan , which is sung by John and the "lost boys" while they are on the way to catch Indians in Peter Pan's absence. It was written by Oliver Wallace, the original English text comes from Ted Sears and Winston Hibler.
Problems in the German text
War songs
A repeating motif in the song is the line “Whether in the club, whether rain, whether sunshine, whether a storm is blowing too, we are full of courage, yeah”. This is very reminiscent of various soldiers' songs, for example the Wehrmacht's "tank song": "Whether it's storming or snowing, whether the sun is laughing at us, [...] our mind is happy, our tank roars in the storm wind". This motif of advancing in any situation is evident in many different soldier and war propaganda songs. The line “Arm yourself with fighting courage, with fighting courage, with fighting courage; and follows the great chief in a terrible blind rage ”. Further examples of war rhetoric used in this song are the expressions known from battle reports: “Forward, go ahead, now it's about every man” and “Luck is running for us”.
march
In contrast to the original recording, "Tee dum, tee dee, a teedle ee do tee day" was replaced by "Ta ram, ta ram, ta ra ta ta ta ta tam" in the German recording. This arouses associations with the marching drum that can be heard at the beginning of the song. As a result, the playful character of the English original is overlaid with the impression of a march.
Lack of reflection
The war rhetoric is presented without reflection as a harmless children's game. Since such songs are often recorded by children and adults alike without questioning them, something like this is seen today as problematic.
In other languages
The problem of warfare is also evident in other language versions. For example, the Spanish version sings about how fun it is to march in a battalion formation ("marchar, así, es una gran diversión, marchar, así, en linea de batallón" - "marching like this is great fun, too march in battalion formation "). In Turkish the "leader" is replaced by the "head" or the "president" (başkan). In French the children go "On the Indian Path" ("À la file indienne") and march there, but otherwise their game is emphasized above all else. In Danish, the text gets along with almost no martial language: "Så går vi ud i verden" means something like "This is how we go out into the world".
Indians
A phenomenon that almost does not appear in the German version is the devaluation of the Indians: Although it says "We want to collect them" there too, the reference to the Indians is only established through what happens in the film. In English, however, it says "We're out to fight the injuns", whereby "injun" is a pejorative term for Indians (known for example from " Ten little injuns "). In Spanish, a line repeated several times reads "To war with the Indians" ("En guerra con los Indios"). In Danish they want to bring an Indian chief home with them ("En indianerhøvding; Skal vi ha med os hjem").
Conclusion
Like the entire film Peter Pan, this song is a child of its time. With its partially derogatory depictions of the Indians, it may no longer be up-to-date from today's perspective, but as a historical document it still allows interesting conclusions to be drawn about the time.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Following the Leader. Retrieved July 15, 2020 .
- ↑ Whether it storms or snows (Panzerlied). June 27, 1935, accessed July 15, 2020 .
- ^ A b Paul Collins, Bobby Driscoll: Following The Leader [From "Peter Pan"]. In: Lyrics. Retrieved July 15, 2020 .
- ↑ Children's songs on the 19th. Accessed July 15, 2020 .
- ↑ a b Letra de Por donde tu vayas (la canción del Indio), Disney. Retrieved July 15, 2020 (Spanish).
- ↑ Disney in Turkish on YouTube: Peter Pan - Following the Leader - Turkish (Subs + Trans). Retrieved July 15, 2020 .
- ↑ Paroles de la chanson à La File Indienne par Peter Pan on paroles-musique.com. Retrieved July 15, 2020 .
- ↑ a b Peter Pan (OST) - Following the leader (Danish) lyrics. Retrieved July 15, 2020 .