Der Beginn Des Weltkriegs 1914 (Dargestellt Unter Zuhilfenahme Eines Tierstimmenimitators)
DER BEGINN DES WELTKRIEGES 1914 (DARGESTELLT UNTER ZUHILFENAHME EINES TIERSTIMMENIMITATORS) THE BEGINNING OF THE WORLD WAR IN 1914 (PRESENTED BY AN ANIMAL VOICE IMITATOR) Einstürzende Neubauten go music hall on this cover version of a performance text by Joseph Plaut, aGerman actor, orator and regional poet from Lippe, who after the First World War performed in cabaret shows with his wife Maria Schneider. As the title says, the song presents an account of the start of the First World War in the voice and style of an animal voice imitator, with animal impressions added where appropriate. Bargeld appears to relish the opportunity to reenact the opening days of war from the viewpoints of the animal witnesses he mimics throughout. “The fantastic thing is that right at the end of the piece, Plaut says that this peacock jumps out of there, and says Hitler! Hitler! It’s 1920, the first time Hitler appeared in public at all!”
“In all the time that I have worked on LAMENT,” he continues, “I kept noticing that the Second World War is just the unfinished business of the First World War. The war just carried on, and in between there is this story where Hitler makes an appearance.”