Anthem - Intellect
Anthem - Intellect
Anthem - Intellect
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<strong>Anthem</strong><br />
for instance in the Swedish rock artist Tomas Ledin’s ‘Genom ett regnigt Europa’<br />
(‘Through a rainy Europe’, 2006—probably inspired by John Foxx’s ‘Europe after the<br />
Rain’), there is consolation in that ‘I’ and ‘you’ at least can walk together in love even<br />
though the sun is not always shining.<br />
However, 9/11 and the subsequent challenges posed by radical Islamists have<br />
continued to fuel rather dark narratives of a Europe caught in mortal combat on its<br />
east frontier. Some songs use a dark and violent imagery to defend Europe’s mission<br />
to stand up against all external threats, thus giving voice to more or less openly fascist<br />
sentiments. One example is the Belgian black/folk metal band Ancient Rites with<br />
‘Mother Europe’ (1998) and the rather similar ‘(Ode to Ancient) Europa’ (2001).<br />
‘Mother Europe’ is a phrase often used in white supremacist debates on European<br />
issues. This song points out ‘the proud Hellenic civilisation’ as ‘the cradle of Europe<br />
where it all began’, then adds a series of brave and gallant regions that have added<br />
to its glory: Flemish, German, French, English, Scandinavian, Italian, Slovenian and<br />
Celtic contributions are mentioned and each briefly characterised. These ‘knights’ are<br />
summoned up to stand reunited and proud: ‘Mother Europe born from your womb /<br />
Mother Europe on Your soil shall be my tomb’. This is reminiscent of Captain Euro’s<br />
mission, but the song never explicitly clarifies if a new war is expected and who is in<br />
that case the new enemy.<br />
The British Nazi punk band Skrewdriver’s song with the same title ‘Mother Europe’<br />
(1994) explicitly expresses a xenophobian creed. It mentions how ‘Mother Europe’s sons<br />
/ faced so many tragedies at the barrel of a loaded gun’ but are now protected by her<br />
‘guardian angel’, ‘with a flag held high’: ‘Mother Europe stands by our side / Mother<br />
Europe, we all live for you now.’ ‘So many martyrs’, ‘honest men’ and ‘warriors’ have been<br />
sacrificed through history: ‘For keeping Europe sacred, will be our fateful quest.’ This<br />
fascist imagery shares certain aspects with the European flag’s symbolism of sacredness,<br />
and Skrewdriver continues by summoning to a new war against Europe’s enemies.<br />
For far too long now we’ve sat in apathy<br />
But just be warned now, before the coming tragedy<br />
For the power and the glory stand within our reach<br />
We must prepare the struggle for the victory we seek<br />
Mother Europe stands by our side<br />
Mother Europe we will die for you now<br />
Here, the enemies are never specified, but it is not difficult to fill in the blanks<br />
by thinking of the usual Nazi combination of homosexuals, Muslims and atheist<br />
Communists as intended targets of this forthcoming battle. And in some ways a more<br />
problematic example is the song ‘Europa’ by Globus—a band, or rather a commercial<br />
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