Tanz Mit Laibach (English)

Based on the explanation at these two sites (they're the same--both are included in case one link breaks):

lateblt.tripod.com/laibach.txt oocities.org/siliconvalley/2072/laibach.txt

...I think this is a sort of snapshot of how people in Germany and the U.S. were feeling at the time the Second Gulf War began, as well as a criticism of the use of war as a way to boost economies, as compared to how Germany and Italy bounced back just before WWII broke out.

I can't comment on how Germans were feeling, but I could reasonably guess that there were similarities in outlook for many of the individuals in both countries. Italy is barely referenced, but I'll get to that in a moment.

"Time-economy," being an apparent portmanteau of two German words, seems to refer to capitalism as an approach to life. If we look at capitalism from a socialist point of view (as I'm sure Laibach does), then the first verse makes sense. However, if people in the U.S. and/or Germany are "broken, cursed," etc., by the methods of capitalism, materialism, etc., in 2003, it is in a different manner from back in 1929-1932, when the Great Depression was at its worst.

I might take the time to say for myself that while I'm not a socialist per se, I am definitely in favor of re-regulation of business and industry. According to many analyses I've read over the years, as well as what I was taught in school, the Great Depression was ultimately the result of a lack of oversight and limits within the financial sector. Part of the New Deal involved the installation of regulations to prevent another similar crisis in the future. After these regulations were rolled back, rather than reformed or revised, by Reagan and subsequent presidents, we had three major financial crises--the Savings & Loan scandals, the recession around the beginning of the 2000s, and the bigger one toward the end of the 2000s. All of these were tied to rampant freewheeling approaches to things in financial and business sectors--approaches that were allowed to take place due to the reversal of the regulations meant to protect us against their inevitable results. In short, we need those regulations to be restored. Put another way, finance is the blood of our economy. If blood flows inside arteries and veins, it can be of greater use. While it may take longer for some cells at the extremities of the body to get nourishment, everything is done in an orderly fashion. The blood vessels of regulation are the law of the land, in service of the people to protect them from exploitation, containing and channeling the flow in order to maintain functionality and health of the body. Is not bleeding of any kind a concern? And how do we purport to maintain health, vitality, and humanity by bathing in blood, or drinking it, like vampires?

This, to my mind, ties in with the zeitgeist of today (2016), as well as 2003, 2008, and 1930--and other times, of course--as described in the first verse. Without a feeling of prosperity, we feel broken. Without "things" (and technology is a symbol of wealth and "currency" in the sense of being with the times--again, "time-economy"), we feel impoverished.

In the links given above, the satirical characterizations of Hitler and Mussolini are explained as Charlie Chaplin characters. People in the U.S. saw these on TV or in movies, so it can be said that they were viewing the unfolding European situations remotely through media, just like with the Gulf Wars. I'm guessing that it was the same for Germans at that point, and the detachment, cynicism, objectification, etc., that come along with such a position was likely prevalent to such a degree that Laibach felt the need to comment on it.

Another band, Stereolab, has a song called "Ping-Pong," that references an economic cycle that includes "a slump and war" followed by prosperity. Stereolab included some German people (especially one of the vocalists who sang that song), incidentally. I think the same point is made in both songs--war often causes economic recovery for the victorious forces. It isn't always the case, of course, but it seems to be a pattern for the U.S., and again, I will guess for Germany as well.

For further ideas on Laibach's perspective, watch the video, with its dancing skeletons and the marching boots of Milan Fras on the invisible treadmill.