Is the act of defiance (protest song, dangerous lawyer, etc.) a positive or a negative act? Does it matter that Wader was singing an East German/Socialist anthem, or would any act of defiance against West Germany have done as well (was Ulrike Meinhoff a dissident, an artist, or a terrorist?).

Was Wolf Biermann really protesting in favor of capitalism, or just against having his phone tapped and having 1 in ten people turned into a spy for the state? Was he making any kind of economic protest at all?

When the crowds in East Germany sang Gedenken Sint Frei to protest (and overthrow) their government, were they conscious of the song's history? Were they comparing Honecker to the Nazis?

It would be to say that the Internationale was being sung simply to bind the group together (or that the band played Waltzing Matilda in order to distract the crowd from the horror of war and serve them easy patriotism). But I am skeptical of what is easy to say.

-- AndrewCase - 04 Feb 2009