The German punk folkers of Schneewittchen came to my attention when a friend kept recommending them. Or rather the singer, because she keeps popping up at a festival we both go to. I’ve never actually seen her, but this live record maybe comes close to bringing me that experience. Or so I thought when I bought the record. And the it turns out Schneewittchen the duo is not Schneewittchen the band. The duo is from many years later, also German but that is where the comparison ends. Schneewittchen is female run band that existed in the late 70s, until 1981. Their music was used many times by political groups that fought for women’s rights.
The song Unter dem Pflaster liegt der Strand (below the pavement lies the beach) was in 1976 when it came out, seen as a terrorist song. Maybe Gerhard Stoltenberg, then president of Schleswig-Holstein, thought it was promoting violence? The singer claimed it is a song calling for softness in a hard world: Die Steine sollen nicht zum Werfen benutzt werden, sondern der Sand unter den Steinen zum Tanzen frei gelegt werden (the stones should not be used for throwing, but the sand under them should be laid bare for dancing).