Keine Macht für Niemand


Keine Macht für Niemand is the name of both the second album and best-known song by the band Ton Steine Scherben. The double album, released in 1972, is also sometimes called "die Weiße" in reference to its simple cover with a white background and black text.
The album as a whole, as well as the song Keine Macht für Niemand heavily criticised social and political ills. The lyrics call for resistance against the extant system. In Die letzte Schlacht gewinnen wir, the demand for a replacement of the present capitalist system is very clear. The phrase "No power for nobody" is a sloganised interpretation of anarchy. When the album was released, Rio Reiser and R.P.S. Lanrue had still yet to adopt their stage names.

Use as a slogan

According to Rio Reiser, the phrase came from an anarchist publication called Germania. Similarly, the song "Macht kaputt, was euch kaputt macht" also has a title in the same vein. In Germany, even 35 years after the album's release, the phrase will appear on banners and posters produced in the leftist scene, or as graffiti; the song's lyrics call to "write the slogan onto every wall."
After the 2005 election, Der Spiegel used the phrase on the cover in reaction to the election results.

Title

  1. Wir müssen hier raus! – 5:21
  2. Feierabend – 4:41
  3. Die letzte Schlacht gewinnen wir – 4:18
  4. Paul Panzers Blues – 6:41
  5. Menschenjäger – 4:18
  6. Allein machen sie Dich ein – 4:41
  7. Schritt für Schritt ins Paradies – 6:52
  8. Der Traum ist aus – 9:24
  9. Mensch Meier – 3:43
  10. Rauch-Haus-Song – 3:59
  11. Keine Macht für Niemand – 4:08
  12. Komm schlaf bei mir – 4:02

    Lineup