--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: In Germany there's something about rock…" description: "\"In Germany there's something about rock music much more political than it really is - like everything you were doing was an indictment of the American ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/def/john-flansburgh-14315_american-culture_in-germany-there-s-something-about-rock_3070447.jpg" --- # In Germany there's something about rock music much more… ![“In Germany there's something about rock music much more political than it really is - like everything you were doing was an indictment of the American culture. I read an interview with one of the members of Sebadoh. He was saying he had just got back from touring Germany for the first time in five…” quote by John Flansburgh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/def/john-flansburgh-14315_american-culture_in-germany-there-s-something-about-rock_3070447.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/def/john-flansburgh-14315_american-culture_in-germany-there-s-something-about-rock_3070447.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/def/john-flansburgh-14315_american-culture_in-germany-there-s-something-about-rock_3070447.jpg) > “In Germany there's something about rock music much more political than it really is - like everything you were doing was an indictment of the American culture. I read an interview with one of the members of Sebadoh. He was saying he had just got back from touring Germany for the first time in five years or whatever, and one of the interviewers asked him, "Why aren't you still relevant?"” [John Flansburgh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-flansburgh/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. He observes that German audiences perceive rock as more political, suggesting cultural context shapes music interpretation. **In simple terms:** Cultural context changes music meaning. Key Takeaway Consider audience culture when creating art. Themes music culture politics Mood analytical curious thoughtful Type cultural political musical When to use this quote - tour planning - music journalism - cultural studies Key Concepts cultural perception political interpretation audience reception Questions to Reflect On - Why do some cultures view music as political? - How can artists navigate differing political expectations? A Different Perspective Not all listeners share the same political lens. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [American culture](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/american-culture/) [Culture](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/culture/) [First time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/first-time/) [Five years](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/five-years/) [Germany Rock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/germany-rock-5191506/) [Members Sebadoh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/members-sebadoh-5191507/) [Music](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/music/) [Music Political](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/music-political-283263/) [Political](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/political/) [Political Really](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/political-really-853177/) [Relevant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/relevant/) [Rock music](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rock-music/) ## Related quotes > [In American politics, there's a recurring fantasy, nurtured by the press, about 'courageous' politicians who do the right thing against their political interest. But…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ari-melber/in-american-politics-there-s-a-recurring-fantasy-nurtured-by-the/) [Ari Melber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ari-melber/) > [The Israel stories were really hard for me to write, because I think that my book is very much about politics, but it isn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/molly-antopol/the-israel-stories-were-really-hard-for-me-to-write-because-i-think/) [Molly Antopol](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/molly-antopol/) > [VX is now a dead issue... It is political, really.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saadi/vx-is-now-a-dead-issue-it-is-political-really/) [Saadi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saadi/) > [“My fat is political because when I show it off it really seems to piss people off. My fat is political because I’m keeping…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virgie-tovar/my-fat-is-political-because-when-i-show-it-off-it-really-seems-to/) [Virgie Tovar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virgie-tovar/) > [All good art should be political, I think, and inevitably it all becomes political really, in one way or another.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/josh-o-connor/all-good-art-should-be-political-i-think-and-inevitably-it-all/) [Josh O'Connor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/josh-o-connor/) > [I'm not very party-political, really; I am more strategic than that.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornelia-parker/i-m-not-very-party-political-really-i-am-more-strategic-than-that/) [Cornelia Parker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornelia-parker/) > [I do have a big problem with the idea of music as a form of communication unless it's political - and that's where it's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julia-holter/i-do-have-a-big-problem-with-the-idea-of-music-as-a-form-of/) [Julia Holter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julia-holter/) > [You shouldn't listen to my music for political messages.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brad-paisley/you-shouldn-t-listen-to-my-music-for-political-messages/) [Brad Paisley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brad-paisley/) > [There were so many great music and political scenes going on in the late '60s in Cambridge. The ratio of guys to girls at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bonnie-raitt/there-were-so-many-great-music-and-political-scenes-going-on-in-the/) [Bonnie Raitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bonnie-raitt/) > [If music's a political place, I'm out.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-i-a/if-music-s-a-political-place-i-m-out/) [M.I.A](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-i-a/) > [All music has political dimensions because it suggests a way of being.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-eno/all-music-has-political-dimensions-because-it-suggests-a-way-of-being/) [Brian Eno](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-eno/) > [If my music is political in a way, and it might be, it's in the way of generating a sensitivity in people, a deeper…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phil-elvrum/if-my-music-is-political-in-a-way-and-it-might-be-it-s-in-the-way-of/) [Phil Elvrum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phil-elvrum/) > [I don't write political music. Political music is immediately obsolete.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/krzysztof-penderecki/i-don-t-write-political-music-political-music-is-immediately-obsolete/) [Krzysztof Penderecki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/krzysztof-penderecki/) > [I'm an entertainer. I get up on stage and I try to make people enjoy my music, and that political arena - I'm going…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donny-osmond/i-m-an-entertainer-i-get-up-on-stage-and-i-try-to-make-people-enjoy/) [Donny Osmond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donny-osmond/) > [In America, there's more of the question, should music be political or should it just be for entertainment purposes, whereas around the world that's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/serj-tankian/in-america-there-s-more-of-the-question-should-music-be-political-or/) [Serj Tankian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/serj-tankian/) ## More by John Flansburgh > [I feel like the future is unwritten. So many of the things that we write now haven't been about educating people on the environment,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-flansburgh/i-feel-like-the-future-is-unwritten-so-many-of-the-things-that-we/) [John Flansburgh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-flansburgh/) > [It's hard to tell a shallow person that they should care more about the feelings of the awkward and the alienated.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-flansburgh/it-s-hard-to-tell-a-shallow-person-that-they-should-care-more-about/) [John Flansburgh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-flansburgh/) > [Every declarative statement that comes out of an interview with somebody is actually in response to a question. It's like this very real interpersonal…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-flansburgh/every-declarative-statement-that-comes-out-of-an-interview-with/) [John Flansburgh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-flansburgh/) > [There have been times I wanted to cry on interview, but it hasn't been because that's what they're trying to conjure. No. I think…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-flansburgh/there-have-been-times-i-wanted-to-cry-on-interview-but-it-hasn-t-been/) [John Flansburgh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-flansburgh/) > [I feel like musicians have such a precarious place in the political discourse, because musicians are, sort of just by nature, people-pleasers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-flansburgh/i-feel-like-musicians-have-such-a-precarious-place-in-the-political/) [John Flansburgh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-flansburgh/) > [I think the biggest wrestling match-up I have is how to respond to the word "quirky." Or the alternate, "nerdy." Both are essentially benign…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-flansburgh/i-think-the-biggest-wrestling-match-up-i-have-is-how-to-respond-to/) [John Flansburgh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-flansburgh/) > [The simplest app on your smartphone requires 40 peoples' purest imagination. The challenges with people on environment, we just have to open some of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-flansburgh/the-simplest-app-on-your-smartphone-requires-40-peoples-purest/) [John Flansburgh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-flansburgh/) > [Sometimes you have to wonder if there isn't an ejector seat built into having a popular-music career. We were lucky when we started. We…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-flansburgh/sometimes-you-have-to-wonder-if-there-isn-t-an-ejector-seat-built/) [John Flansburgh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-flansburgh/) > [Sometimes people will ask a real "Why are you beating your wife?" question where there's some assumption built into it, and all you're trying…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-flansburgh/sometimes-people-will-ask-a-real-why-are-you-beating-your-wife/) [John Flansburgh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-flansburgh/) > [Bill O'Reilly knew he could just filibuster and enjoy all the airtime that a full interview would give him, and then also grab the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-flansburgh/bill-o-reilly-knew-he-could-just-filibuster-and-enjoy-all-the-airtime/) [John Flansburgh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-flansburgh/) > [I don't think bands should feel compelled to speak out unless they actually have something to say. I think that's a big mistake, where…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-flansburgh/i-don-t-think-bands-should-feel-compelled-to-speak-out-unless-they/) [John Flansburgh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-flansburgh/) > [Look, up in the sky! It's the sky!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-flansburgh/look-up-in-the-sky-it-s-the-sky/) [John Flansburgh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-flansburgh/) > [A lot of times I'll post things on Facebook, and the immediate response will be like, "Stick to the music!"](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-flansburgh/a-lot-of-times-i-ll-post-things-on-facebook-and-the-immediate/) [John Flansburgh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-flansburgh/) > [ In an interview John \[Linnell\] said, 'At a certain point you just get tired of the way the other person breathes,' and I took… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-flansburgh/in-an-interview-john-linnell-said-at-a-certain-point-you-just-get/) [John Flansburgh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-flansburgh/) > [There is a fact-based belief system available to you if you want to believe in facts. But this is the weirdest time. I mean,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-flansburgh/there-is-a-fact-based-belief-system-available-to-you-if-you-want-to/) [John Flansburgh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-flansburgh/) [Explore all 47 John Flansburgh quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-flansburgh/) ## More American culture quotes > [“Medical studies have shown that cursing reduces levels of stress and pain. Repressing your anger is not healthy. It's much better to verbalize it,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-markus-malloy/medical-studies-have-shown-that-cursing-reduces-levels-of-stress-and/) [Oliver Markus Malloy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-markus-malloy/) > [France has not only built a bureaucratic barrier against American culture, it has constructed a notorious intellectual case against it as well. The French…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tyler-cowen/france-has-not-only-built-a-bureaucratic-barrier-against-american/) [Tyler Cowen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tyler-cowen/) > [“Every twenty minutes on the Appalachian Trail, Katz and I walked farther than the average American walks in a week. For 93 percent of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-bryson/every-twenty-minutes-on-the-appalachian-trail-katz-and-i-walked/) [Bill Bryson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-bryson/) > [The Soviet Union is like the Cross without Christ, while American culture is like Christ without the Cross.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fulton-j-sheen/the-soviet-union-is-like-the-cross-without-christ-while-american/) [Fulton J. Sheen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fulton-j-sheen/) > [“information, in a stream-of-consciousness soliloquy that revealed the extent to which he had internalised the adversarial fragmentation of American culture and made it a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/information-in-a-stream-of-consciousness-soliloquy-that-revealed-the/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) > [ \[If\] we can celebrate that in a way that celebrates our love for New England as well as our love for the Italian culture… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mario-batali/if-we-can-celebrate-that-in-a-way-that-celebrates-our-love-for-new/) [Mario Batali](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mario-batali/) > [I think in American culture, we put value on economic success but tell people you don't have to be economically successful to be happy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-hodgman/i-think-in-american-culture-we-put-value-on-economic-success-but-tell/) [John Hodgman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-hodgman/) > [The most important thing about Jazz at Lincoln Center is the fact that it's the first time that perhaps the most important art form…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rafael-vinoly/the-most-important-thing-about-jazz-at-lincoln-center-is-the-fact/) [Rafael Vinoly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rafael-vinoly/) > [And certainly in British culture, as I'm sure it's the same with American culture, we warm to cultures where people can make fun of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/omid-djalili/and-certainly-in-british-culture-as-i-m-sure-it-s-the-same-with/) [Omid Djalili](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/omid-djalili/) > [Canada could have enjoyed: English government, French culture, and American know-how. Instead it ended up with: English know-how, French government, and American culture.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/canada-could-have-enjoyed-english-government-french-culture-and/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [In contemporary American culture, the religions are more and more treated as just passing beliefs - almost as fads - rather than as the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-l-carter/in-contemporary-american-culture-the-religions-are-more-and-more/) [Stephen L. Carter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-l-carter/) > [Being educated in the United States gave me a good understanding of American culture. I think I got a lot of influence from the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/masayoshi-son/being-educated-in-the-united-states-gave-me-a-good-understanding-of/) [Masayoshi Son](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/masayoshi-son/) > [“From the isolated, individualistic perspective of most white evangelicals and many other Americans, there really is no race problem other than bad interpersonal relationships.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-smith/from-the-isolated-individualistic-perspective-of-most-white/) [Christian Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-smith/) > [I got interested in the American culture war back in 2004, and it's one of the only growth stocks I've ever invested in.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-haidt/i-got-interested-in-the-american-culture-war-back-in-2004-and-it-s/) [Jonathan Haidt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-haidt/) > [In American culture at large, but especially in African American culture, it's a sign of weakness to ask for help.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesmyn-ward/in-american-culture-at-large-but-especially-in-african-american/) [Jesmyn Ward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesmyn-ward/) [Browse all 437 American culture quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/american-culture/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "In Germany there's something about rock music much more political than it really is - like everything you were doing was an indictment of the American culture. I read an interview with one of the members of Sebadoh. He was saying he had just got back from touring Germany for the first time in five years or whatever, and one of the interviewers asked him, \"Why aren't you still relevant?\"", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "John Flansburgh" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-flansburgh/in-germany-there-s-something-about-rock-music-much-more-political/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "American culture" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-flansburgh/in-germany-there-s-something-about-rock-music-much-more-political/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/def/john-flansburgh-14315_american-culture_in-germany-there-s-something-about-rock_3070447.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/def/john-flansburgh-14315_american-culture_in-germany-there-s-something-about-rock_3070447.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/def/john-flansburgh-14315_american-culture_in-germany-there-s-something-about-rock_3070447.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“In Germany there's something about rock music much more political than it really is - like everything you…” — John Flansburgh", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "John Flansburgh", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-flansburgh/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "In Germany there's something about rock...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-flansburgh/in-germany-there-s-something-about-rock-music-much-more-political/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-flansburgh/in-germany-there-s-something-about-rock-music-much-more-political/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```