America. A word familiar to all and spelling home to many, not merely citizens of the political project called "United States of America", which, the world over, is referred to simply as "America". Indeed, this term, already denoting a continent-country, would have significant complexity even without the connotations that we will now look into. The shortest way to set the stage for our discussion will be to explain that "America" has become the synonym of a certain way of life under the cultural domination of the current global hegemon - the USA. The song is written and performed from this external perspective, with the spelling "Amerika" making this obvious. Rammstein is a German band with German songs, so this may seem a trivial point, but the spelling had certainly been given thought: this is the only major Rammstein hit to include so much English text, an English title would not raise eyebrows. Regardless of whether you agree that the title "Amerika" is a statement in itself it is clear that the US is viewed from an outside. This is a German perspective, produced by members of one of the first militarily and then culturally conquered nations of the American empire (which is not the USA proper, but rather its sphere of influence). 

The song opens with what is to become its catchy refrain, which makes what seems to be a conscious reference to the Beatle's "Yellow Submarine"  chorus. This "Amerika" in which 'we are all living in' is very different in spirit from the Yellow Submarine. There is no cheerful absurdity in the song. The only absurd is meant to convey a certain dread of universality, about which more soon. What is more notable is the typically German grammar of the opening line. 'We are all living in Amerika' may sound English, but it is typical of second language users for whose mothertongue is German (mentioned later in the song). Note the atypical usage of the continuous tense 'are living'. An American would say 'We live in America'. The closest 'proper' English comes to using the continuous form to denote a similar idea would be 'we are alive in America', which means something slightly different from what the German band decided to go with. Again, this is a comment on the working of cultural dominance: the English language has imposed itself onto the ways of thinking of various peoples for whom it is not native. In consequence 'we are living in Amerika'.

The clip picks up this theme of imposition of American or Western modes of life (or products, for in the western way of life those are almost indistinguishable from activities) onto native cultures. We see what seems to be Masai with takeaway pizza, Buddhist monks with hamburgers, a Muslim man taking off his Nike shoes to pray (the direction of prayer, an important factor in Islam, which suggests praying towards Mekka, is notably on oil refinery) and perhaps a Sikh lighting one from a packet of unidentified cigarettes, perhaps Lucky Strikes. The different cultures, religions and ethnicities are shown watching the moon landing and singing along with the chorus, perhaps reflecting, like I am now, what does it really mean to live in Amerika. Of interest is also the depiction of Americans on the moon (played of course by the band themselves). The 'Amerikan' astronauts are seemingly unfazed with being the world's marvel and pose for a picture with the globe they conquered. They are a bit clumsy in setting up the US flag (of course a German would have no problem following detailed instructions from a piece of paper), then play a flipper machine before doing a cheerleeding-associated pose and having a little dance. There are no meaningful interactions between Amerikans and natives, unless we count the curt nod of one of the astronauts as a reaction to the bow by the Muslim (which was meant for God). The relationship is shown as characterised by American remoteness and cultural monologue, dominating the world with (materialistic material) culture, such as the corporate-generated depiction of 'Santa Claus' (Saint Nickolas) in Africa, comically out of place in all his white furs. The clip ends with one of the band members pointing at us and the camera zooming out into a film set, reminding us that we have just watched a spectacle, a cinema-like production to enhance (and better sell) the music, which is also an American invention. This is also a not-so-subtle reference to the alleged fakeness of the moon landing and let's face it: if there is anyone who would be able to actually fake the landings in good faith or conceive of them as fake after such extensive spending it would be Americans. Finally, we are shown a picture of Rammstein as astronauts on the moon, being found by the real Apollo mission. Turns out Americans were not first to the moon after all - they were preceded by Germans!

The test of the song (in German) is paradoxically most self-explanatory, underlining the compulsory nature of dancing to the American tune. There is nothing in there with the lyrical compulsion of "Coca-Cola, Sometimes War", save perhaps for the self explanatory lines 'Musik kommt aus dem Weißen Haus/Nach Afrika kommt Santa Claus/Und vor Paris steht Micky Maus', which are nevertheless evocative due to the usage of 'Amerikan' terms (White House, Santa Claus, Micky Mouse). The song's strength lies not merely in the impressive vocals and ideological message, but the creative usage of English to accomplish this. It needs to be noted, however, that the song is 100% German in origin and spirit, which is best evidenced by its one weakness: the stanza comprised of 'This is not a love song/ This is not a love song/ I don't sing my mother tongue/ No, this is not a love song'. How could one produce such a clear, perfectly executed message and then proceed to botch the medium in which it is contained by the interpolation of a clumsy caveat to 'reveal' to the listener that this is in fact, satire and we, the German band, are in fact not as enthusiastic about Amerika as the song might imply (to someone culturally tone-deaf, with no grasp of irony). Yes, Rammstein's song deals with a (by definition) global phenomenon, but it remains German to the core. This German-ness underlies perhaps even the choice of the topic in a most general sense: can it be a coincidence that the nation that strove for world dominance, only to be crushed by the united force of the Anglosphere and Bolshevism in a process that enabled American cultural hegemony (how did Micky Mouse get to Paris?) is now aware of the dangers of a single universal global empire dictating culture? I wish to remind you that the first object to enter space was a German V2 rocket and the moon landing would not be possible without Wernher von Braun. I will end my over-interpretation with a claim that Germans reached for the moon first and have a cautionary tale to tell.