Another song less! Now even the band “Die Ärzte” has decided not to play their song “Elke” at concerts. The singer Farin Urlaub has “now” spoken a “word of power” – at least that’s what the “Bild” newspaper reports.
Another scandal that isn’t one at all. Rather, it is a vivid example of how misleading, disingenuous, and interest-driven the discussion about supposed “censorship” in the name of “political correctness” is.
In truth, the doctors haven’t played the song for ages. It has not been part of the set list on any tour in recent years. This is of course also known to “Bild”: Towards the end of the article it is conceded in a subordinate clause that the band had “taken the song out of the program a long time ago”.
The last appearance documented in fan forums, where the doctors played “Elke” again, took place in December 2011.
The band members also stated years ago in interviews that they no longer play the song. That it is “obsolete” and “just done”.
The claim that singer Farin Urlaub has “now” spoken a “word of power” is complete nonsense, but in the times of “Layla” and “Winnetou” it satisfies the need for outrage of those who want to get upset about the fact that nowadays one practically doesn’t couldn’t say anything more.
What actually happened: At the last of their concerts at the end of August on the Tempelhofer Feld, the three musicians fooled around for several hours, making jokes about themselves, their advanced age and unsuccessful early works. In an announcement between two songs, Farin Urlaub then also explained why they no longer play “Elke”: because the song is, quite obviously, anti-women and anti-fascist. “Elke” belongs just as much to the past millennium as the band as a whole, Holiday continued to joke.
How could this flippant remark become an uproar that the newspaper placed deadly seriously under the headline “Song is no longer played: Doctors distance themselves from cult song” as a top message on their homepage?
There were other humorous sentences that evening. For example this one, also written by Farin Urlaub, but sung along loudly by tens of thousands of concert-goers:
The Bild newspaper did not report on this.
In order to be able to classify the “Elke” article, you have to know that the doctors of “Bild” never give interviews. The musicians decided early on that they never wanted to ride the elevator with this newspaper, and have not let themselves be deterred for decades.
Since they don’t talk to Bild, the newspaper has had to find other ways to report on this band over the years. On the one hand, she casually publishes the names of the band members’ partners and brings poisoned album reviews (“Unfortunately, the new doctors’ record can do little!”).
On the other hand, she has to make do with publishing dpa reports about the doctors or generating articles from interviews that other newspapers or internet platforms conducted with the band. It reads like this, for example: “During the shooting, Bela was naked for eight hours, so he revealed to “laut.de.”
In the case of the “Elke” article, the tweet from a concert goer who played Farin Urlaub’s announcement was enough to create a stir.
The freedom fighters of the “world” even hosted a pro
For 14 years now, the “Bild” newspaper has been hiding from its readers that these song lines exist, that they are among the most popular at “Ärzte” concerts and that fans always euphorically sing along. For much longer, the newspaper concealed from its readers that the doctors wanted nothing to do with their journalism and absolutely did not give any interviews.
Could it be that in-house editors are not allowed to write something like this – and if so: what does that say about freedom of speech?
The radio station Antenne Bayern, in which the “Bild” mother Springer is involved, created an abridged version of the song “Lasse redn” that contains these lines, in which the criticism of the “Bild” was cut out of all things. But this has absolutely nothing to do with censorship, the broadcaster explained to the “Bildblog” at the time.
The doctor’s manager also reacted: “The band sees the removal of these key lines of the text as a mutilation of the song’s meaning.”
