Recent weeks have seen something odd happen on the charts for iTunes’ top songs in Germany. A dance single by the Italian DJ Gigi d’Agostino rose to occupy the top of the charts, including the #1 and #2 spots simultaneously (with a shortened version).
The reason for this upswell in popularity for a quarter-century-old song? The politics of immigration in both the Bundesrepublik and Europe more broadly.
The song, “L’amour Toujours,” first entered the spotlight in January, as on multiple occasions, nightclub visitors sang “foreigners out” to the song. More recently, in a viral incident at the northern German town of Sylt, guests chanted “foreigners out” and “Germany for Germans” to the song. In late May, other instances of people singing the aforementioned slogans to the song were reported in the German media.
In response to the new popularity of the song, its creator, d’Agostino, has announced that, as one might guess from the title, the song is actually about love. Munich’s Oktoberfest also announced a ban on the song.
Germany has recently faced great strains on its social fabric due to migration. For instance, on May 31, an Islamist migrant attacked a right-wing political rally, resulting in the death of a policeman and the wounding of five others. On June 5, a politician of the populist “Alternative for Germany” party (AfD) was stabbed in another knife attack.
At the same time, millennial and Generation Z voters are shifting to the right all across continental Europe, largely driven by concerns over immigration. In Germany, AfD is currently polling first among 14-to-29-year-olds, at 14.5 percent of the age group. In France, Marine LePen’s National Rally polls first at 32 percent among young voters. Due to this shift, right-wing parties are expected to make significant gains in the European Elections this year between June 6th and June 9th.
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