The 18th century is perhaps notorious for being serious. The classical era, the very Age of Enlightenment. With kings and emperors, lords and noblemen, philosophy and politics, arts and architecture, silk and powdered wigs, straight backs with heads held high. It is easy to be under the impression that everything at all times needed to be perfect, proper, magnificent, majestic, dignified, elevated. There was no time for silly jokes and nonsense. Only that of a formal and noble nature.
But then there is this gem. Written by Mozart around 1782, it is a party piece for his friends.
Here are the lyrics:
Leck mire den A… recht schon,
fein sauber lecke ihn,
fein sauber lecke, leck mire den A…
Das ist ein fettigs Begehren,
nur gut mit Butter geschmiert,
den das Lecken der Braten mein tagliches Thun.
Drei lecken mehr als Zweie,
nur her, machet die Prob’
und leckt, leckt, leckt.
Jeder leckt sein A… fur sich.
And here are the lyrics translated to English, which may be a bit more helpful:
Lick my arse nicely,
lick it nice and clean,
nice and clean, lick my arse.
That’s a greasy desire,
nicely buttered,
like the licking of roast meat, my daily activity.
Three will lick more than two,
come on, just try it,
and lick, lick, lick.
Everybody lick their arse for themselves.
Wolfgang, you dirty, naughty, filthy man.
Though in all seriousness –
In my last post, I wrote about one particular aspect of classical music which I enjoy- the feeling it brings of being connected to persons that lived before me. This song is another example of that. I don’t find the piece particularly enjoyable to listen to, but it also wasn’t meant for that. It was only written for fun, which is exactly the point.
These people weren’t just characters in history books. Humans so unlike ourselves, who always acted in a proper, elevated, and elegant manner. They were real people with ridiculous, dirty humour who made silly jokes to try to impress their friends.
Humans really haven’t changed that much in 250 years after all, have they?
Kovu's music 