"Das ist alles von der Kunstfreiheit gedeckt" is a song written by German rapper Danger Dan, who is also part of the band Antilopen Gang. The first person narrator states that the song's aim is to "test the limits of what is permitted and what is forbidden" (original: "die Grenzen auszuloten, was erlaubt und was verboten ist"). It was published on 26 March 2021 as the first single of an album, also called ''Das ist alles von der Kunstfreiheit gedeckt'', by the label of his band Antilopen Gang. The song made it into the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

and

Austrian Austrian may refer to: * Austrians, someone from Austria or of Austrian descent ** Someone who is considered an Austrian citizen, see Austrian nationality law * Austrian German dialect * Something associated with the country Austria, for example: ...

singles charts. On 2 April 2021, the song started off at number 69 on the

German singles charts The GfK Entertainment charts are the official music charts in Germany and are gathered and published by GfK Entertainment (formerly Media Control and Media Control GfK International), a subsidiary of GfK, on behalf of Bundesverband Musikindust ...

. Within two weeks of publishing, the corresponding music video had been viewed 1.3 million times on

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

. On 9 April 2021, the song was performed by artist Danger Dan, accompanied by pianist

Igor Levit Igor Levit (russian: link=no, Игорь Левит; born 10 March 1987) is a Russian-German pianist who focuses on the works of Bach, Beethoven, and Liszt. He is also a professor at the Musikhochschule Hannover. He lives in Berlin. Biography B ...

, on the German TV show ''

ZDF ZDF (, short for Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen; ; "Second German Television") is a German public-service television broadcaster based in Mainz, Rhineland-Palatinate. It is run as an independent nonprofit institution, which was founded by all fe ...

Magazin Royale''. Before publishing the song, Danger Dan showed it to his lawyer in order to have an affirmation of the legal acceptability.{{cite web, title=Danger Dan hatte bei Anti-Rechts-Song Hilfe in Grammatik, periodical=

Die Zeit ''Die Zeit'' (, "The Time") is a German national weekly newspaper published in Hamburg in Germany. The newspaper is generally considered to be among the German newspapers of record and is known for its long and extensive articles. History The ...

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Content

As the title indicates, the song is about

artistic freedom Artistic freedom (or freedom of artistic expression) can be defined as "the freedom to imagine, create and distribute diverse cultural expressions free of governmental censorship, political interference or the pressures of non-state actors." Gener ...

, which is continually referenced while calling attention to the

Neue Rechte Neue Rechte (''New Right'') is the designation for a right-wing political movement in Germany. It was founded as an opposition to the New Left generation of the 1960s. Its intellectually oriented proponents distance themselves from Old Right Na ...

, a

right-wing Right-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that view certain social orders and hierarchies as inevitable, natural, normal, or desirable, typically supporting this position on the basis of natural law, economics, authorit ...

movement in Germany,

antisemitism Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism. Antis ...

, and

racism Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one race over another. It may also mean prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism ...

. The first two verses are written in Konjunktiv, a grammatical mood with which the speakers distance themselves from what they say. The effect is reinforced by the introduction "mal ganz spekulativ" (English: "entirely theoretical"). Content-wise, advocates of

conspiracy theories A conspiracy theory is an explanation for an event or situation that invokes a conspiracy by sinister and powerful groups, often political in motivation, when other explanations are more probable.Additional sources: * * * * The term has a nega ...

and

ideologies are being criticised. The author names

Jürgen Elsässer Jürgen Elsässer (born 20 January 1957 in Pforzheim) is a German journalist and political activist of the new right. Life Jürgen Elsässer was born in 1957, the son of a watchmaker and a secretary. His two sisters and he were "typically left-w ...

Götz Kubitschek Götz Kubitschek (; born 17 August 1970) is a German publisher, journalist and far-right political activist. He espouses ethnocentric positions and is one of the most important protagonists of the ''Neue Rechte'' (New Right) in Germany. Hailing ...

, Ken Jebsen and

Alexander Gauland Eberhardt Alexander Gauland (born 20 February 1941) is a German politician, journalist and lawyer who has served as leader of the right-wing political party Alternative for Germany (AfD) in the Bundestag since September 2017 and co-leader of t ...

. In the chorus, the legitimacy of these criticisms is satirically underlined: "Juristisch wär' die Grauzone erreicht / Doch vor Gericht machte ich es mir wieder leicht / Zeig mich an und ich öffne einen Sekt / Das ist alles von der Kunstfreiheit gedeckt" (English: "Legally, this would be in the grey area / but in court, I'd choose an easy way out / report me to the police and I'll open a bottle of prosecco / this is within the realms of artistic freedom"). The second verse alludes to

Kurt Tucholsky Kurt Tucholsky (; 9 January 1890 – 21 December 1935) was a German journalist, satirist, and writer. He also wrote under the pseudonyms Kaspar Hauser (after the historical figure), Peter Panter, Theobald Tiger and Ignaz Wrobel. Tucholsky was on ...

's poem '' Rosen auf den Weg gestreut'' from 1931.''Danger Dan: „Als letzte Möglichkeit ist Militanz schon in Ordnung“''
auf derstandard.de For the third verse, the author switches to

indicative mood A realis mood (abbreviated ) is a grammatical mood which is used principally to indicate that something is a statement of fact; in other words, to express what the speaker considers to be a known state of affairs, as in declarative sentences. Mos ...

. He underlines his condemnation of the aforementioned people and views and finishes by stating that militancy is necessary when facing

fascists Fascism is a far-right, authoritarian, ultra-nationalist political ideology and movement,: "extreme militaristic nationalism, contempt for electoral democracy and political and cultural liberalism, a belief in natural social hierarchy and th ...

and right tendencies within the police. In that context, he points to

Oury Jalloh Oury Jalloh (1969 in Conakry, Guinea – 7 January 2005, in Dessau, Germany) was an asylum seeker who died in a fire in a police cell in Dessau, Germany. The hands and feet of Jalloh, who was alone in the cell, were tied to a mattress. A fire a ...

's death and the role of secret services with regards to the formation of the NSU.

References

German songs 2021 songs Political songs