Keine Macht für Niemand

Keine Macht für Niemand (“No power for nobody”) is the name of both the second album and best-known song by the German rock band Ton Steine Scherben. The double album, released in 1972, is also sometimes called “die Weiße” (“the white one”) in reference to its simple cover with a white background and black text.

The album as a whole, as well as the song Keine Macht für Niemand heavily criticised social and political ills. The lyrics call for resistance against the extant system. In Die letzte Schlacht gewinnen wir (“We will win the final battle”), the demand for a replacement of the present capitalist system is very clear. The phrase “No power for nobody” is a sloganised interpretation of anarchy. When the album was released, Rio Reiser and R. P. S. Lanrue had still yet to adopt their stage names.