The Lavender Song” (Das Lila Lied), music by Mischa Spoliansky, lyrics by Kurt Schwabach (1920)

Translated Lyrics:

What makes them think they have the right to say what God considers vice
What makes them think they have the right to keep us out of Paradise
They make our lives hell here on Earth
poisoning us with guilt and shame
If we resist, prison awaits so our love dares not speak its name
The crime is when love must hide
From now on we'll love with pride

 Was will man nur? Ist das Kultur,
da jeder Mensch verpönt ist,
der klug und gut, jedoch mit Blut
von eigner Art durchströmt ist,
da grade die Kategorie
vor dem Gesetz verbannt ist,
die im Gefühl bei Lust und Spiel
und in der Art verwandt ist?
Und dennoch sind die meisten stolz,
da sie von anderm Holz!
Wir sind nun einmal anders, als die andern,
die nur im Gleichschritt der Moral geliebt,
neugerig erst durch tausend Wunder wandern,
und für die ’s doch nur das Banale gibt.
Wir aber wissen nicht, wie das Gefühl ist,
denn wir sind alle andrer Welten Kind;
wir lieben nur die lila Nacht, die schwül ist,
weil wir ja anders als die andern sind.

 This song was written when the government had established basic democratic rights in which gay, lesbian, and transgender community were covered and has abolished censorship. This song lyrics tells us the injustice that gay men and lesbians had to face for whom they were and their struggle to live with pride in German society. It includes that the gay men and lesbians were seen as they were curse of God and were treated brutally, for example- were beaten, jailed, forced to leave the town, or even killed. So they were living a life of guilt and shame of who they were and were forced to hide their identity due to fear of punishment that the society and government would give to them. They could not express their love to the same sex individuals or had to hide from the society which they think was crime and were raising their voice that they will not hide who they were and their love.

 I chose this lyrics because it talks about the struggle of gay men and lesbians which still persists today. This song was written in 1920 and tells us about the establishment of democratic rights and censorship abolishment for the short period of time. We can see today, 2012 that we have laws that talks about the rights of gays, lesbians and transgender and also approval of same sex marriage in some states but still we can see many hate crime in our society; for example, people are beaten, students are bullied, and even killed because of who they are. People should have to change the concept that those people are also human being and they should have full rights to live their life freely and choose their partner as they wish.

 

Reference:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Das_Lila_Lied