Anti-natalist reading of classic church music

I grew up in a German Christian household, so I got to know the one or other German church song. Recently, without discernible cause, the song “Vergiss es nie” (Never forget) by Jürgen Werth got stuck in my head, but I haven’t been able to look at it the same way since a recent conversation.

The lyrics go like this (translation below):

  1. Vergiss es nie:
    Dass du lebst, war keine eigene Idee,
    und dass du atmest, kein Entschluss von dir.
    Vergiss es nie:
    Dass du lebst, war eines anderen Idee,
    und dass du atmest,
    sein Geschenk an dich.

Ref.: Du bist gewollt, kein Kind des Zufalls,
keine Laune der Natur,
ganz egal, ob du dein Lebenslied
in Moll singst oder Dur.
Du bist ein Gedanke Gottes,
ein genialer noch dazu.
Du bist du,
das ist der Clou,
du bist du.
Ja, du bist du.

  1. Vergiss es nie:
    Niemand denkt und fühlt
    und handelt so wie du,
    und niemand lächelt so, wie du’s grad tust.
    Vergiss es nie:
    Niemand sieht den Himmel ganz genau
    wie du, und niemand hat je,
    was du weißt gewusst.

  2. Vergiss es nie:
    Dein Gesicht hat niemand sonst
    auf dieser Welt, und solche Augen
    hast alleine du.
    Vergiss es nie:
    Du bist reich, egal ob mit, ob ohne Geld,
    denn du kannst leben!
    Niemand lebt wie du.

Claude would translate it like this:

  1. Never forget it: That you live was not your own idea, And that you breathe, no decision of yours. Never forget it: That you live was someone else’s idea, And that you breathe, His gift to you.

Chorus: You are wanted, no child of chance, No whim of nature, No matter whether you sing your life’s song In minor or major key. You are a thought of God, A brilliant one at that. You are you, That’s the point, You are you. Yes, you are you.

  1. Never forget it: No one thinks and feels And acts the way you do, And no one smiles like you’re doing right now. Never forget it: No one sees the sky exactly Like you do, and no one has ever Known what you know.

  2. Never forget it: Your face belongs to no one else In this world, and such eyes Only you possess. Never forget it: You are rich, whether with or without money, Because you can live! No one lives like you.

I generally quite like the message behind the song. I don’t believe in god, so that I’m his idea and intention feels weird to me, but I like telling people that they have their own unique value and are uniquely valued for just who they are. It’s probably a really powerful message for awkward children.

The melody is fun too, even if most performances are a bit too slow-paced for my taste. One version is here.

So far so good, we’ve got a catchy song with a positive message stuck in my head. But I also had a conversation recently that touched on some anti-natalist ideas. If you look at the song from that lens, it becomes darkly humorous.

Basically, the core idea of anti-natalism as I understand it is that life is suffering, and you’re brought into this world against your consent and now have to endure. Or maybe that’s just one flavour of it, and more generally it is about the asymmetry between preventing suffering vs preventing happiness in potential beings. I’ll stick with the pessimistic suffering interpretation here. The song comes eerily close to touching on similar concepts:

That you live was not your own idea

We’re starting out strong, expressing the core tension at the beginning: you didn’t have a choice in whether you live, and you better never forget it.

You are wanted, no child of chance, No whim of nature,

You’re here because of the desires of others. Your own preferences played no role in this.

No matter whether you sing your life’s song In minor or major key.

Happy or not, you still have to sing.

You are a thought of God, A brilliant one at that

And isn’t it great? It’s great that you’re here, so smile through the suffering and pretend that you’re happy.

You could read this as either an actual God who set things up for your suffering, which seems pretty bad, or the higher power are your parents who determine your life for you.

You are you, That’s the point

And everything is as it’s intended to be. Your suffering is the point.

Now, I should note that I’m not an anti-natalist, though I can respect the perspective on valuing consent wherever possible. I really quite enjoy life and living. The song was also almost certainly not intended to be read this way, but I deeply appreciate the dark contrast between intended and possible interpretations.

Maybe this is less funny for people who are actually deeply unhappy with their life. If so, I’m sorry, and I really hope things turn for the better for you.