"Links 2 3 4" (also spelled "Links 2-3-4"; English: "Left 2 3 4") is a song by German Neue Deutsche Härte band Rammstein. It was released as the second single from their third studio album, '' Mutter'', on 14 May 2001. It is a politically charged song, taking aim at early allegations of

Nazism Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During Hitler's rise to power, it was fre ...

against the band by revealing that they are politically

left-wing Left-wing politics describes the range of Ideology#Political ideologies, political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy either as a whole or of certain social ...

. The song was a top 40 hit in Germany, Austria, and Finland.

Composition

''Links, zwo, drei, vier'' (“Left, two, three, four”) is the usual cadence that German-speaking drill instructors use to keep a marching formation in step, “left” referring to the left foot touching the ground. The form ''zwo'' for “two” (instead of normal ''zwei'') is an old variant that is now used in

military A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. Militaries are typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with their members identifiable by a d ...

and

telephone A telephone, colloquially referred to as a phone, is a telecommunications device that enables two or more users to conduct a conversation when they are too far apart to be easily heard directly. A telephone converts sound, typically and most ...

contexts in order to avoid confusion with ''drei'' (“three”). The title accordingly represents a militaristic theme. Moreover it is an allusion to the revolutionary song '' Einheitsfrontlied'', written by

Bertolt Brecht Eugen Berthold Friedrich Brecht (10 February 1898 – 14 August 1956), known as Bertolt Brecht and Bert Brecht, was a German theatre practitioner, playwright, and poet. Coming of age during the Weimar Republic, he had his first successes as a p ...

for the

Communist Party of Germany The Communist Party of Germany (, ; KPD ) was a major Far-left politics, far-left political party in the Weimar Republic during the interwar period, German resistance to Nazism, underground resistance movement in Nazi Germany, and minor party ...

in the 1930s and re-popularized by Hannes Wader in the

German Democratic Republic East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from Foundation of East Germany, its formation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on ...

. The lyrics were written in response to allegations of

fascism Fascism ( ) is a far-right, authoritarian, and ultranationalist political ideology and movement. It is characterized by a dictatorial leader, centralized autocracy, militarism, forcible suppression of opposition, belief in a natural social hie ...

directed at the band. The chorus states “they want my heart on the right, but when I look down, it beats on the left”, implying they are on the left of the political spectrum.

Music video

The music video for the song uses CGI to depict an

ant Ants are Eusociality, eusocial insects of the Family (biology), family Formicidae and, along with the related wasps and bees, belong to the Taxonomy (biology), order Hymenoptera. Ants evolved from Vespoidea, vespoid wasp ancestors in the Cre ...

colony A colony is a territory subject to a form of foreign rule, which rules the territory and its indigenous peoples separated from the foreign rulers, the colonizer, and their ''metropole'' (or "mother country"). This separated rule was often orga ...

, representing leftists, attacking

beetle Beetles are insects that form the Taxonomic rank, order Coleoptera (), in the superorder Holometabola. Their front pair of wings are hardened into wing-cases, elytra, distinguishing them from most other insects. The Coleoptera, with about 40 ...

s, representing Nazis. The ants in the video are shown doing human-like tasks such as playing football, watching television, and dancing. The band can be seen playing on a movie theater screen, a modified version of their logo with two crossed hammers is shown. During the movie theater scene the beetles attack, killing members of the ant colony. One ant is seen watching what the monstrous beetles are doing. The same ant then goes underground to rally the other ants and kill the beetles which symbolizes how the left may crush the right if they work together.

Live story

The song debuted live in April 2000 on a concert just for members of the fan club. Then it was called simply "Links" and had some minor differences compared to the final version released in '' Mutter''. It was also played during some concerts of

Big Day Out The Big Day Out (BDO) was an annual music festival that was held in five Australian cities: Sydney, Melbourne, Gold Coast, Queensland, Gold Coast, Adelaide, and Perth, as well as Auckland, New Zealand. The festival was held during summer, typi ...

2001. When played live, it usually extends to almost five minutes because of added instrumentals. Since its debut, it has been played in virtually every Rammstein concert, exceptions being most of the shows in Big Day Out 2001 and three consecutive concerts exclusively for members of the Fan Area in October 2004.

Track listing

The single has a B-side of "Halleluja", a track frequently performed live by the band during the Mutter Tour. An early version of it is also available on the Limited Edition release of '' Mutter'', as well as the Japanese edition and Resident Evil Soundtrack. A DVD version of "Links 2 3 4" contains the audio tracks, as well as a video portion with the official music video, its making-of documentary and a photo gallery. Both videos were subsequently re-released on the Lichtspielhaus DVD.

Maxi-CD

# "Links 2 3 4" – 3:43 # "Halleluja" – 3:46 # "Links 2 3 4 ( Clawfinger Geradeaus Remix)" – 4:28 # "Links 2 3 4 ( Westbam Technolectro Mix)" – 5:58 # "Links 2 3 4 ( Westbam

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Bonus Mix)" – 3:43 * The 2-track CD features "Links 2 3 4" and "Halleluja"

DVD maxi single

Audio section # "Links 2 3 4" – 3:43 # "Halleluja" – 3:46 # "Links 2 3 4 ( Clawfinger Geradeaus Remix)" – 4:28 # "Links 2 3 4 ( Westbam Technolectro Mix)" – 5:58 # "Links 2 3 4 ( Westbam

Bonus Mix)" – 3:43 Video section # "Links 2 3 4 (Video)" – 3:37 # "Links 2 3 4 (Making of)" – 10:11 # Photo gallery

Chart performance

References

{{authority control 2001 singles Songs in German Rammstein songs Songs about racism and xenophobia 2000 songs Songs written by Richard Z. Kruspe Songs written by Paul Landers Songs written by Till Lindemann Songs written by Christian Lorenz Songs written by Oliver Riedel Songs written by Christoph Schneider Anti-fascist music