The Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft (DAF) is an influential industrial /… Read Full Bio ↴The Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft (DAF) is an influential industrial / Neue Deutsche Welle band from Düsseldorf, formed in 1978 in Wuppertal, Germany featuring drummer/synth player Robert Görl, vocalist Gabi Delgado-Lopez/Gabi Delgado, guitarist Wolfgang Spelmans, Kurt Dahlke "Pyrolator", Michael Kemner, bassist and bassist/keyboardist/saxophonist Chrislo Haas. The band's name is a term that had originally been used in West Germany, without irony, in the early years of the Cold War, at the height of German popular enthusiasm for all things American, and as humoristic counterpart to the "deutsch-sowjetische Freundschaft" (german-soviet-friendship) parole used in the German Democratic Republic. (GDR, or DDR in german)

DAF's most famous song is the grimly sarcastic "Der Mussolini" from the album "Alles Ist Gut", a pulsing dance song featuring the lyrics "Dance the Mussolini, move your behind, clap your hands, and now the Adolf Hitler, and now the Jesus Christ, and now the communism ...". The song caused a scandal amongst the more humourless elements of German liberal society.

In interviews they claimed to not target anything or anyone specific while creating lyrics to be taken as a parody of words and phrases floating around in the public media. "Sato-Sato" and "Der Mussolini" are both examples of songs written around Delgado-Lopez's fascination with the sound of a particular word.

The album "Alles Ist Gut" (All Is Well) received the German "Schallplattenpreis" award by the "Deutsche Phono-Akademie", an association of the German recording industry.
Following that they released two more similar albums called "Gold und Liebe" and "Für Immer", all produced by legendary Conny Plank.

After experimenting with more mainstream attempts of their particular style of contemporary dance music on the 1986 album "1st Step to Heaven" but with limited success DAF split up (1986).

A few months before the 2003 invasion of Iraq DAF released "Der Sheriff (anti-amerikanisches lied)" (An Anti-American Song) criticizing perceived American imperialism.

In the hiatus of DAF 1985-2002 both Robert and Gabi had their own careers. DAF was more or less resurrected by Gabi alone when he toured in 1994-5 as DAF OPD (On Public Demand) touring with classic and remixed DAF material. Following the success of that partial comeback he started Daf.Dos with Wotan Wilke. They released two more techno oriented albums and toured much until Gabi and Robert reunited for the album "Fünfzehn Neue DAF lieder" in 2003.

Notable is also Robert Görls contribution to Eurythmics first album In the Garden where he unmistakably plays the drums on the tracks Belinda and Caveman Head.

Gabi Delgado continued releasing music under his own name, creating the following albums: 1 (2013), X (2014), and 2 (2015).

Gabi Delgado died in March 2020, thus ending his career, but forever immortal in the music and style he created, which would inspire and spawn whole music genres in decades to come.

Die Lustigen Stiefel
Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Die lustigen stiefel marschieren über polen.
Die lustigen stiefel marschieren über polen.
Die lustigen stiefel marschieren über polen.
Die deutschen kinder marschieren ein in polen.
In lustigen stiefeln.

Overall Meaning

The lyrics to Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft's song Die Lustigen Stiefel are quite provocative and controversial. The song is about the marching German children who proudly wore their "funny boots" as they made their way into Poland. The first three lines of the song, "Die lustigen stiefel marschieren über polen," are repeated several times throughout the song, emphasizing the symbolism of these boots.

The lyrics suggest a sense of militaristic pride and dominance, with the German children marching forward into Poland. The use of the term "lustigen" or "funny" to describe the boots is a way to make light of the serious nature of their actions. The children wear these boots with a sense of joy, as though this invasion is something to be celebrated.

Overall, the song is a commentary on the disturbing nature of fascism and the indoctrination of children into a dangerous ideology. The repetition of the phrase "Die lustigen stiefel marschieren über polen" creates a sense of ominous inevitability, as though this march forward is unstoppable and preordained.

Line by Line Meaning

Die lustigen stiefel marschieren über polen.
The comical boots are marching over Poland.

Die deutschen kinder marschieren ein in polen.
The German children are marching into Poland.

In lustigen stiefeln.
In comical boots.

Contributed by Keira C. Suggest a correction in the comments below.

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