Personnel | Grand Tattoo for Olaf Scholz – Respect, please

What's missing is a scholarly treatise on why certain top politicians want this or that piece of music for the Bundeswehr's Grand Tattoo. Olaf Scholz's first choice was "In My Life" by the Beatles. The song's opening line promises: "I'll remember..." What was that about the memory gaps in Cum Ex? If a Liverpool classic were to be chosen, the wistful "Yesterday" would have been a better fit for Mr. No-Remember and yesterday's Chancellor. His second choice was "Respect," which, in the intonation of the "Queen of Soul," Aretha Franklin, has become the anthem of the African-American civil rights movement.

Speaking of which: Respect was desired by the departing authorities for the Bundeswehr Music Corps. People, it's just a military band made up of brass and wind instruments! Consideration is required. You can't overwhelm them, or it will fail, as happened with Karl-Theodor von und zu Guttenberg's farewell with "Smoke on the Water." A horror for sensitive ears, especially for fans of Deep Purple. The pipers and drummers were also severely challenged by Angela Merkel's desire for the "forgotten color film," crooned by 19-year-old Nina Hagen, an immortal hit in the GDR.

Why doesn't anyone choose "When the soldiers march through the city"? There's drumming and whistling. "Schingderassa, Bumderassa!" Okay, it was yelled during the Nazi era, too. But it's an old soldiers' song, from the 19th century. It was sung by the anti-fascist Marlene Dietrich. Also by Claire Waldoff, who was banned from practicing her profession under the swastika. And by the West German singer-songwriter Ekke Frank, who added a new line in response to the NATO double-track decision: "When the soldiers march through the city, / democrats close windows and doors." Three decades earlier, it was adapted by Ernst Busch and Hanns Eisler, summing up the fears of many Germans on both sides of the Elbe about the remilitarization of the Federal Republic: "Soldiers marching through the city again, training for World War Three!"

In short, this little song fits our war-torn times. Although, or perhaps precisely because, it points to the fact that jubilation is followed by bitter disappointment.