To start things off, the crucial piece of context here is that “Amadeus” was Mozart’s (preferred; it’s complicated) middle name. This song is called Rock Me Amadeus for the same reason: the (loosely) historical play-turned-movie about Mozart is also called Amadeus.
Falco was an Austrian musician (he died in a car crash in the Dominican Republic in 1998) who, while more popular in Europe, did manage to — at least momentarily — cross over to success in North America. That’s thanks to his 1985 smash hit, Rock Me Amadeus.
Part of the notability of Rock Me Amadeus in the following decades owes, I suspect, at least something to The Simpsons:
The Simpsons: 20th Television Animation and Gracie Films.
Of course, it’s a catchy 80s tune with a frankly bizarre music video, so there’s a certain level of at least campy appeal in its own right.
Falco narrates a very simplified but basically accurate account of Mozart’s life in a rather incongruous mix of German (“Er war ein Punker und er lebte in der großen Stadt”) and English (“No plastic money anymore”; “Rock me Amadeus”).
Now, you’re not necessarily going to learn anything of substance about the real Mozart, but if you’re already familiar with the real Mozart, there’s at least a couple “I understand that reference” moments. And a whole lot of visual symbolism that actually makes a lot of sense.
Overall, it ends up looking something like this:
Er war Superstar, er war populär
German lyrics here.
Er war so exaltiert, because er hatte Flair
Er war ein Virtuose, war ein Rockidol
Und alles rief: „Come and rock me Amadeus!“
English translation here.
And, of course, because the most common lyrics are “Oh” and “Amadeus”, it’s really easy to sing along with, even if you don’t speak German…
And the video itself looks like this:
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