THE BLACK BAND OF GEYER

Folks are getting fed up with the Blacks rioting, looting, robbing, raping, killing all in the name of justice or equality or something. Ferguson was the latest example of unrest.
 

From a friend who shall remain nameless:

What I saw was law enforcement protecting the looters and arsonists. What I saw was Missouri's Guard penned up like POWs. What I saw was the news media claim this feral rampage was "understandable." What I saw was a President demand we accept responsibility for the violence. What I saw I've seen before, what's new is what I heard, a sound from the quiet heart of the nation, the sound of something newly wakeful turning to face the hounds.
 

  "There is simply no room left for 'freedom from the tyranny of government' since city dwellers depend on it for food, power, water, transportation, protection, and welfare. Your right to live where you want, with companions of your choosing, under laws to which you agree, died in the eighteenth century with Captain Mission. Only a miracle or a disaster could restore it." W. S. Burroughs — Cities of the Red Night

"When Blacks riot, neighborhoods burn. When Whites riot, continents burn."


This is a noisy raucus audio assault just right for you guys after you've slammed down a couple double espressos. Those NPR and Beach Boys tunes, too much of that crap will make your brains go soft. 



This song seems to be an anthem with the European youth: poor folks overthrowing the chains of tyranny and oppression. Sounds great, something we could get on with here in the US. It is indeed a stirring song taken from a folk ballad glorifying the noble deeds of Florian Geyer when he was involved in a peasants' revolt back in the 1500s. Sadly no accordion in this version although you can bet your boots there was in the original.

A rousing tune, yes? And noble sentiments are conveyed. The Spillers of Soup approve of this song, especially the part about making some poor bastards jump over the blade.

The song comes from a German song "Wir sind des Geyers schwarzer Haufen" ("We are the Black Band of Geyer"). Florian Geyer was a Franconian Knight who joined the rebels in the German Peasant's War of 1525, rallying under the Peasantry's famous "Bundschuh" flag, which is a red black and white flag with a peasant's boot or clog as the emblem.


Troops of Geyer clad in black are we
Heia o-ho
And we will stamp out tyranny
Heia o-ho

Chorus:
Spearmen ho! Forward go!
On the castle roof let the Red Cock crow
Spearmen ho! Forward go!
On the castle roof let the Red Cock crow

When Adam dug and Eve did toil
Heia o-ho
No princes trespassed on their soil
Heia o-ho

Bold Geyer's men their arrows shoot
The knights are laid low
His banner bears a peasant's boot
To stamp out the foe

The noble's only God is pride
Heia o-ho
The Holy Scripture is our guide
Heia o-ho

We're beaten though our cause is right
Heia o-ho
Our sons will carry on the fight
Heia o-ho

Some explanations of the symbolism in the lyrics:

"Roter Hahn" = literally "red rooster", but as a figure of speech = "the flames of a burning building",  so:
"setzt aufs Klosterdach den roten Hahn!" = "put the red rooster on the abbey's roof!" = "torch that convent down!"

"Kyrieleis" = indeed a corrupted form of "Kyrie Eleison"

"trotz Acht und Bann" = "despite being outlawed and excommunicated"

<something> "in der Fahne führen" = "to have <something> as a device on ones flag", both literally and as a figure of speech for "to commit oneself to something",  so:
"Den Bundschuh führt er in der Fahn" = "he uses the Bundschuh in his heraldry" (the shoe was the heraldic symbol of the rebellion) and "he is committed to the cause"

"über die Klinge springen" = literally "to jump over the blade" = "to be killed", so:
"gar mancher über die Klinge sprang" = "many were killed"


Alright, alright, leave you on a sweeter note: