Guglielmo II di Prussia e i Coldplay

Io questo video lo trovo geniale nella sua semplicità: la vita, la gloria e le miserie di Guglielmo II, ultimo Kaiser dell'Impero Tedesco (almeno su questa linea temporale...). Il tutto riassunto nei quattro minuti della canzone Viva la Vida dei Coldplay, senz'altro una delle più belle hit dell'ultimo decennio.

La scelta non è casuale. Fate caso al testo:

I used to rule the world

Seas would rise when I gave the word

Now in the morning I sleep alone

Sweep the streets I used to own

I used to roll the dice

Feel the fear in my enemy's eyes

Listen as the crowd would sing

"Now the old king is dead, long live the king"

One minute I held the key

Next the walls were closed on me

And I discovered that my castles stand

Upon pillars of salt and pillars of sand

I hear Jerusalem bells a-ringing

Roman cavalry choirs are singing

Be my mirror, my sword and shield

My missionaries in a foreign field

For some reason I can't explain

Once you'd gone there was never

Never an honest word

And that was when I ruled the world

It was a wicked and wild wind

Blew down the doors to let me in

Shattered windows and the sound of drums

People couldn't believe what I'd become

Revolutionaries wait

For my head on a silver plate

Just a puppet on a lonely string

Oh, who would ever want to be king?

I hear Jerusalem bells a-ringing

Roman cavalry choirs are singing

Be my mirror, my sword and shield

My missionaries in a foreign field

For some reason I can't explain

I know St. Peter won't call my name

Never an honest word

But that was when I ruled the world

Hear Jerusalem bells a-ringing

Roman cavalry choirs are singing

Be my mirror, my sword and shield

My missionaries in a foreign field

For some reason I can't explain

I know St. Peter won't call my name

Never an honest word

But that was when I ruled the world.

Sarà che io ho una forma tutta particolare – incomprensibile ai più – di sensibilità, ma questo video, realizzato da qualche crucco promonarchico, mi suscita una particolare tristezza.

Oggi sei un'imperatore, interi reggimenti di dragoni sfilano al tuo passaggio, le donne fanno la fila per renderti omaggio, i potenti si contendono la tua benevolenza. E poi tutto precipita e ti ritrovi vecchio, senza più potere né prestigio, a passeggiare solitario tra i boschi di una silenziosa tenuta in campagna...

Come Gugliemo II di Germania, appunto.