Røde Mor Rock-Cirkus - Betonhjertet
2025-07-12
Røde Mor was/is a socialist collective of artists (mostly musicians, writers, actors and different kinds of visual artists). It was formed in the late 1960s and focused on producing political, proletarian art. Some of their songs have become veritable classics on their own, but many of them came about as parts of plays, hence they exist in bigger contexts, that are very much worth checking out.
Betonhjertet follows Ib Sylvester who is losing his mind from trying to fit into a “normal” life in a capitalist society, in the suburbs with a 9-5 job (well, 7-16 in this case, but you know…) and dealing with societal expectations. Along the way in his decent into the mental abyss we encounter some pretty poignant observations that turns out to be as true today as they were back then, such as Piller (Pills), a song about how a capitalist society is most accommodating to people that either unproblematically fit in or are rich. Or the horror-tango song Hotel Psyko (Hotel Psyco) about Ib Sylvester’s surrender to conformity/capitalism disguised as a psychiatric doctor that performs a lobotomy on him “for his own sake” because he is allegedly the one that is mad—not the system.
A lot of social commentary that is perhaps more relevant now than ever. It is a good psyche-rock album in its own right, but it is definitely most enjoyable if you understand Danish.
Listen
- Piller: https://youtu.be/dtLwCyf6q-U
- Hotel Psyko: https://youtu.be/6nx5IOmmJBU