I've Been Looking For Freedom

One morning in june some twenty years ago
I was born a rich man’s son
I had everything that money could buy
But freedom - I had none

I’ve been lookin’ for freedom
I’ve been lookin’ so long
I’ve been lookin’ for freedom
Still the search goes on
I’ve been lookin’ for freedom
Since I left my home town
I’ve been lookin’ for freedom
Still it can’t be found

I headed down the track, my baggage on my back
I left the city far behind
Walkin’ down the road, with my heavy load
Tryin’ to find some peace of mind
Father said you’ll be sorry, son,
If you leave your home this way
And when you realize the freedom money buys
You’ll come running home some day

I paid a lotta dues, had plenty to lose
Travelling across the land
Worked on a farm, got some muscle in my arm
But still I’m not a self-made man
I’ll be on the run for many years to come
I’ll be searching door to door
But, given some time, some day I’m gonna find
The freedom I’ve been searchin’ for


Now, to those of you who don't understand the significance of this piece I should remind you, David Hasselhoff sang this song on New Year's Eve 1989 standing astride the Berlin Wall wearing his Black Leather, diamond studded, jacket. A truly Magical experience. However Mr. Hasselhoff has recently caused controversy in Germany when moaning about not appearing in the museum at Checkpoint Charlie. David (and I personally) believe he should make some sort of appearance in the museum for his part in the Unification of Germany.

As I argued last year in my Higher English talk, David Hasselhoff and Johann Wolfgang von Goethe have a lot in common. Goethe and Hasselhoff both began life aiming to achieve a goal. For Hasselhoff it was to be an internationally renowned singer, and Goethe to practise law like his father. Unfortunately both men were sidetracked by their interests. After Hasselhoff auditioned for The Young And The Restless (The traditionally cheesy daytime soap opera), his acting career rushed forward at an exponential rate, going on to be the lead character in a new , little known, TV show called Knightrider. After the great success of Knightrider (still shown today in 80 countries around the world), Hasselhoff became involved in, and eventually bought the rights to, Baywatch. In everywhere except Germany Hasselhoff has become famous for his parts in Knightrider and Baywatch. Goethe began practicing law, but as a sideline wrote fiction and poems. Goether wrote at the time of the romantic movement in Germany where ideas of Nationalism were strongly on the rise, and so his fiction was received with great praise, because not only did it tell about life, but also the beauty and majesty of Germany. Goethe is only now renowned as an author due to the lack of fame he gained as a lawyer, although he is reputed to have been very good at practising.

And now we come to their most important link: Both Hasselhoff and Goethe played a part in unifying Germany. I'm not saying that they single handedly brought Germany together, because they didn't. But they did play a part.

In the late 18th, early 19th centuries Germany was beginning to form as a single nation as opposed to a scattering of over 28 individual nations. The reasons for this unification were numerous (and the subject of Higher History) but the growing feeling of Nationalism was a strong factor, and Goethe was one of the originators of the Romantic movement in Germany and by researching folk traditions, he created many of the norms for celebrating Christmas, and argued that the organic nature of the land moulded the people and their customs - an argument that has recurred ever since, including recently in the work of Jared Diamond. He argued that laws could not be created by pure rationalism, since geography and history shaped habits and patterns. This stood in sharp contrast to the prevailing Enlightenment view, that reason was sufficient to create well-ordered societies and good laws. This made his work all the more popular amongst idealistic students who subscribed readily to his ideals and as such Goethe was one of the most popular folk figures during German unification, for his patriotic views of the German nations. Indeed Goethe's work "Mignon's Song", which opens with what has been called the most famous line in German poetry, "Kennst du das Land, wo die Zitronen blühn?" ("Do you know the land where the lemons bloom?"), links the German fate to that of Italy clearly showing a link between the two nations (Italy unified as one nation many years before Goethe wrote this poem). And the poem sparked even fiercer notions in the imaginations of students that a unified German state was not only possible, but within grasp. It was not until much later though that Germany became united. Many years after Goethe's death.

After the Second World War in 1945 the Cold War crept in like a Grenkin, by 1950 Russia built a wall through Berlin dividing the East and West of Germany. For 38 years Germany was divided with one half living the communist way, whislt the other half believed in free enterprise and capitalism. 3 months prior to the fall of the Berlin Wall David Hasselhoff released his debut Album "looking for freedom" the title track of which was (described above) number 1 in Germany for 8 weeks. As can be seen from looking at the lyrics, the German people could identify with Mr. Hasselhoff. For they too were looking for freedom, looking for freedom from the wall, and to become a whole nation again. And it was recognised that on New Year's Eve 1989 David Hasselhoff sang astride the wall, with a chorus of 7,000 singers joining in. It was one impromptu reveller who decided to take a pick-axe to the wall, which started the demolition that very night, he was joined by a friend, who was joined by more until eventually their was such a gap in the wall that people from both sides flooded to greet each other.

If it had not been for the inspiration of David Hasselhoff, this lone reveller would not have been so bold as to take a pick-axe to this wall of strength. Instead the wall was due to be removed some 3 months later. Perhaps the re-unification of Germany would have been much different without Hasselhoff's hand.

No matter what, I think we can all say thank you to the burly hunk of man in the Black Leather, diamond studded jacket in tight tight blue jeans.

Thank You David!