In tyranny

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In Tyranny (It's four steps from wall to wall)
Reinhard Mey
publication 1972
length 5:31
Genre (s) song writer
Author (s) Reinhard Mey
music Reinhard Mey
album My eighth of the bay leaf

In Tyrannis (From wall to wall, there are four steps) is a political song by Reinhard Mey , he on his 1972 at Intercord released album My eighth bay leaf published.

content

The song is about modern forms of ancient tyranny , namely dictatorship and totalitarianism , as well as the character and properties of these types of regimes : arbitrariness , (physical) oppression , torture (including white torture ), psycho- terror and violation of human dignity and human rights . These measures aim to break the (resisting) person.

In the roughly five and a half minute song, an innocent detainee describes his experiences and thoughts in solitary confinement from the initial resistance to the end in resignation :

  • ... I don't know what you want from me ... Why the endless interrogation If I don't know what you are talking about? ... (arbitrariness)
  • ... They shaved my hair and beat me man by man ... (violation of human dignity and torture)
  • ... not a sound penetrates the walls, I can only hear my breath ... (white torture, see camera silens )
  • ... I will confess something so that they no longer torment me ... (psychological terror).
  • The song ends with the resigned line: ... I'll just sign.

Reinhard Mey also recorded the song in Dutch as De bekentenis and under his pseudonym Frédérik Mey in French as Tyrannie .

The two feature films The Confession (1970) and The Prisoner (1955), which deal with Stalinist interrogations, inspired Mey to write this song.

Cover version

The Cologne techno musician Wolfgang Voigt published a cover version of the piece on the EP Hout in 1995 under the project name Grungerman , which used samples of the original version.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Discography on Reinhard-Mey.de (PDF file, p. 2; 212 kB) ( Memento from July 11, 2012 in the Internet Archive )
  2. ↑ Jan Feddersen: songwriter Reinhard Mey - "Waldeck was longing" . Taz.de from April 28, 2008.
  3. ↑ Grungerman - Hout . In: Discogs.com .