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American History

Some of the Greatest Men in History Had Dark and Scandalous Secrets

dark secret

25. Mozart’s Awkward Butt Fixation

Mozart. Calm Radio

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756 – 1791) first performed before royalty at age five. By the time he died thirty years later, he had cemented his place in history as one of the classical era’s most prolific and influential composers. He created about 600 compositions, many of them considered to be the pinnacles of classical music, and impacted subsequent music heavyweights such as Hayden and Beethoven. His legacy is still felt in Western music to this day. For somebody whose star burned so bright before he died so young, it is perhaps no surprise that Mozart was a freak beneath the sheets.

Generations of staid biographers found it awkward to describe Mozart’s fixation with rear ends. Not to put too fine a point on it, he liked to get his butt licked. In 1782, he composed Leck mich im Arsch (“Lick Me in the A**”), a party piece for his friends, whose lyrics include telling people to lick him… where the sun doesn’t shine and continues on in that vein. His publisher was scandalized by the lyrics, but he liked the music. So he tinkered (or basically rewrote) the lyrics, changed the song’s theme and refrain from rear licking to “Let us be glad!” Mozart also composed Bona Nox, whose lyrics include: “Phoey, phoey; … sh*t in your bed and make it burst; good night, sleep tight…” and then told the audience to put your mouth to your behind.

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A lifelong history buff, I developed a particular passion for WW2 history as a child, when I spent hours listening to my grandfather, enraptured, as he recounted his wartime experiences in the British East African Campaign and with the British 8th Army in North Africa.

I graduated with a history BA from George Mason University, then went on to get a JD from the University of Virginia School of Law. After lawyering for a decade, I moved to sunny Rio de Janeiro and a less demanding career, opening a tourism agency in Copacabana.

A big chunk of my free time is spent blogging (you can follow me on Quora https://www.quora.com/profile/Khalid-Elhassan ) or freelance writing, mostly about my favorite subject, history.

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