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Aristus

(66,093 posts)
Mon May 26, 2014, 10:55 PM May 2014

My current earworm. Three days and counting...



It's one of the more frightening earworms I've ever had. It's almost impossible to sing this song yourself and not feel a little rush when doing so. A little kick, a slight swelling of the chest, a little pride.

Because that's what the song is supposed to do. Make you feel good.

I saw a revival of Cabaret at the Paramount in Seattle in 1988. It was Joel Gray's last tour in the role of the Emcee. Back then, I was still a fairly straight-laced, conservative, Southern-raised boy. I was a little put off by the crazy, highly sexualized goings-on at the Kit-Kat Club for the first part of the play.

Then, a small group of young waiters came out on the stage, wearing a uniform of short red waiters' jackets. And they sang this lovely song. Beautiful, pastoral, optimistic. I loved it. It was such a contrast to the tawdry acts of the Berlin cabaret.

Then my dad, who had taken me to see the show, leaned over and whispered: "That's a Nazi Hitler Youth Anthem." *

I was instantly horrified. And I understood then, dimly, in my naive 19 year-old way, how it was that the German people - highly educated, enlightened, sophisticated, cosmopolitan, humane - could be drawn to the monstrousness of the Nazi regime.

* - I found out only recently that "Tomorrow Belongs To Me" is not a Hitler Youth song. It is an original song, written specifically for the Cabaret musical. (By Jewish songwriters, no less.) But it certainly captures the nationalistic spirit of the Nazis, as it was supposed to.
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My current earworm. Three days and counting... (Original Post) Aristus May 2014 OP
I remember that scene... TreasonousBastard May 2014 #1
yes indeed - rurallib May 2014 #4
If you've got to have an earworm ... that's a good one. In_The_Wind May 2014 #2
I've freaked myself out when I heard myself DamnYankeeInHouston May 2014 #3
Here's my current earworm: From The Ashes May 2014 #5
You will never, ever, ever stop watching this version :) Flaxbee May 2014 #6
I like happy dogs Enthusiast May 2014 #7

TreasonousBastard

(43,049 posts)
1. I remember that scene...
Tue May 27, 2014, 01:56 AM
May 2014

Chilled me to the bone when I saw it in the movie way back when.

I kept thinking that nobody singing had any idea what "tomorrow" would really bring.

rurallib

(62,344 posts)
4. yes indeed -
Tue May 27, 2014, 09:31 PM
May 2014

walked out of the theater singing that song and felt so wrong.

Edit to add - when I first saw that scene in the movie I had a cold chill envelope me. I assume that was because we know what happened. What a strange experience.

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