„Ich weiß nicht, wieso ich euch so hasse.“
„Und dann fange ich vorn vorne an.“
This blog is meant to be mainly written in english but when it comes to books, that becomes tricky.
The first book I’m featuring here is exactly that kind of case. A German one. Recently released, not yet available in English and probably never will be: „Das Unglück muss zurückgeschlagen werden. Songtexte„, a collection about, and in a way by, Tocotronic.
Teenage soundtrack
Tocotronic were one of my teenage love affairs. I didn’t discover them in the mid-90s, when they were shaking up the Hamburg scene and, soon after, the rest of indie Germany. For me it started with „Let There Be Rock“ and that wonderful music video that came with it.
I never really warmed up to K.O.O.K., their recent record at that time. But I started digging and hearing their previous record „Wir kommen um uns zu beschweren“ was mind-bending. So for nearly 25 years this band has been at my side. And of course I wore training jackets.
Over the years, there’s been no shortage of material around them: Each of the three „core“-members has published novels or comics, and in 2015 came „Die Tocotronic-Chroniken“ a now sold-out book with over 380 pages of history and nostalgia. I once tried to track a copy down on eBay but didn’t succeed.
Reclam
Now, in 2025, something quietly-spectacular happens: Reclam, the publisher behind those famous little yellow paperbacks found in every German classroom, is releasing a Tocotronic volume in its „Universal-Bibliothek“ (universal library) series.
If you grew up in Germany, you’ve held one of these. They’re iconic — compact, yellow, and full of literature that shaped generations. The series began in 1867 and has since published over 3,500 titles. Think Goethe, Schiller, Shakespeare and now Tocotronic.
It’s as if a band that shaped my youth is suddenly sharing a bookshelf with the classics.
What’s inside
According to the publisher, the book collects 35 lyrics from more than three decades, plus an epilogue by Stephan Rehm and an interview with singer and lyricist Dirk von Lowtzow. But that’s not all: We also get „Du weißt mehr als ich“ – Sekundärliteratur. This piece is introduced in a funny way and features kind of linernotes by Dirk von Lotzow (I guess).
About two-thirds of the pages are dedicated to the lyrics; the rest dives into reflections, context, and background stories.
Of course there are some songs missing. If you ask me this would at lest be:
– „Du bist ganz schön bedient“
– „Ich bin viel zu lang mit euch mitgegangen“
But the collection is good as it is.
It feels like a time capsule. Next to the vinyl and CDs, the lyrics are now preserved in a small, tangible form. Something to take along, read by the lake, or open on a train ride. A little memory one can hand over to their children in the years to come.
It’s not a book you read cover to cover. It’s a companion. A pocket-sized collection of words that have echoed through my life for decades.