May 24, 2015

"One of the most entertaining searches you can do on Spotify is for Hitler: There are tons of songs."

"A band called The Buttplugs wrote one about Hitler’s nipples. There’s one by Antony & the Johnsons ('Hitler in My Heart'), and one by Faith No More ('Crack Hitler'). There’s the obligatory Mel Brooks number, plenty of punk, and a track by Bob Newhart. There’s a Churchill speech and a testimonial from an RAF Bomber, and the announcement of the Führer’s death on German radio. Under related artists, where you’d expect to find Hideki Tojo, Benito Mussolini, or maybe Himmler, you find Neville Chamberlain, Edward Kennedy, John Glenn, and Charles Lindbergh. Statistics aren’t the same as historians. Related Artists is actually a social network for people with extremely eccentric friends: You can get from Nazis to an album of Kurt Vonnegut reading Slaughterhouse-Five in a few clicks. Here’s how: Start with Hitler, and then go to Charles Lindbergh. Take a left at Franklin D. Roosevelt, a hard left at Studs Terkel, and an even harder left at Ward Churchill. Veer slightly right (but you’re really still going left) to Howard Zinn, then Angela Davis. Enter a tunnel until you hit Lawrence Ferlinghetti. Next you’re at Gertrude Stein, who is unexpectedly close to Dorothy Parker. Head right until you see Rudyard Kipling, and after that you can’t miss Vonnegut."

From "Other People’s Playlists/Spotify’s secret social network," by Paul Ford in The New Republic.

12 comments:

Vittorio Jano IV said...

Woody Guthrie wrote a song about the B/W itch of Buchenwald that was movingly performed by the Klezmatics.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0squu54_qok

Ron said...

Let's not forget the Dickies "Stukas over Disneyland"!

traditionalguy said...

I've told my sons they are not by any means to participate in massacres.

And so it goes.

Ambrose said...

I always liked Elvis Costello's "Two Little Hitlers."

Laslo Spatula said...

I have written two comments developing the idea of dating a Neo-Nazi:

Date One.

Date Two.

Now Althouse is fishing for Hitler Pop Culture, the Kind a Neo-Nazi might enjoy.

I'm sure the credit is coming.

I am Laslo.

Fabi said...

Nothing by The Brothers Godwin? They could really bring the funk!

chickelit said...

For me, that kind of search begins and ends with Pere Ubu's "Final Solution."

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...

I think we can all agree that Hitler was a Fascist!!!

Paul Ciotti said...

It's impossible to get away from Hitler. Go on Netflix some night and try and find a good movie to watch. Instead, it seems, every tenth film/documentary is about Hitler, the war or the Holocaust. Man. Who watches this stuff?

Laslo Spatula said...

There is a line you cross when you move from the second date to the third: at two dates you just happened to date a Neo-Nazi, at three you basically have a Neo-Nazi Girlfriend.

The correct course of action seems obvious, but the problem is compounded when the Neo-Nazi is hot. Hot, and she'll massage your balls under the table at Denny's with her feet.

Still, you would eventually have to introduce her to your friends -- friends that have not had their balls massaged under the table at Denny's by her feet -- and you are forced to realize: this is probably not going to work.

And the problem will not go away by itself: not when your inbox is filling with emails from "WhitePowerGirl0069". And yes: there are cute cat pictures. A Neo-Nazi Girl is still a girl, after all. Meaning also: emoticons.

But breaking up with a Neo-Nazi has its own special challenges, one of which is the fear of her Neo-Nazi room-mate F-Ready beating the hell out of you.

So we went to Denny's and had a Meaningful Discussion, very civilized and adult. Then -- after she massaged my balls under the table with her feet -- we went back to her place and had sex.

That night I wake feverish from a dream where the Neo-Nazi and I are about to marry, and F-Ready is my Best Man. With WITE HATE tattooed on his knuckles.

I am Laslo.

MadisonMan said...

I'm guessing people who do searches on Spotify for Hitler are very boring at parties.

buwaya said...

Too much Hitler is the result of a lack of education. And a lack of imagination.
Hitler is a shorthand mcguffin for audiences that have heard of little else.
No lazy writer needs to explain Hitler, or has to make his audience sit through a history lesson.