☝️ Key Points
- The song lyrics tell of a walk in the Huguenot cemetery, a place of peace and tranquility.
- People reflect on the closeness to some dead and the strangeness of some living.
- An old woman tells about the November revolution of 1918 and her youth in a time when the area was still a dense forest.
- The cemetery is home to many famous and ordinary people, whose graves are visited.
- The song lyrics convey the atmosphere of the cemetery with green nature, plane trees and a stone with a poem by Johannes R. Becher.
Interpretation
The lyrics of the song "The Huguenot Cemetery" by
Wolf Biermann tell a walk through the Huguenot cemetery. The cemetery is a peaceful place, surrounded by houses and in the middle of the city. While walking, one can smell the flowers and hear the birds chirping. The cemetery is a place of peace, far from the noise of the streets.
At the grave of Bertolt Brecht and Helene Weigel, people rejoice and continue on their way. They reflect on how some dead are close to them and how some living are strangers.
They meet an old woman working in the garden. She tells them about the November Revolution of 1918, when Spartacists and Imperialists fought each other. She remembers seeing Karl Liebknecht and Rosa Luxemburg. The old woman also talks about her youth, when the area was still a dense forest.
In the cemetery, many famous and ordinary people are buried. There are large plane trees and the image of the green nature delights the eyes. People also visit the graves of Hegel, Hanns Eisler, Wolf Langhoff, and John Heartfield.
There is also a stone with a poem by Johannes R. Becher. The stone is made of sandstone and will probably last longer. The sun shines through the bushes and people hold on to each other and dance through this green scene.
The lyrics of the song "The Huguenot Cemetery" tell a walk through a cemetery that offers peace and tranquility. They remind us that some dead are close to us and some living may be strangers. The cemetery is a place of remembrance and reflection on the past.