Recommendations of the Editorial team
Between looking back at a rather gloomy 2025 and the outlook for 2026, which will probably not be that much more positive, at least globally, the question inevitably arises: Was everything better before? And how much nostalgia is allowed – at the turn of the year and in general? The darker the times, the brighter the past seems. Of course, Bono already knew that when he sang “You glorify the past when the future dries up”.
In the new, interesting book “Nostalgia. History of a Dangerous Feeling” (Reclam), the historian goes Agnes Arnold Forster trace our longing for the good old days. Nostalgia used to be considered a disease, but today it is also an important factor in marketing. And let’s face it: pop culture thrives on it too. New things: good and nice and important – but sometimes you need the old stuff to feel really good. And it is not uncommon for people who have a large treasure trove of songs in their memory to be unable to defend themselves against the fact that they are suddenly brought into their presence.
Nostalgia used to be considered a disease, but today it is a marketing tool
So, in the middle of a weather and social ice age, my brain suddenly played “Paradise By The Dashboard Light” – one of the songs on Meat Loaf’s 1977 mega-seller “Bat Out Of Hell”.
The singer and his songwriter Jim Steinman have done everything to ensure that these melodies and lines are never forgotten: so much pathos, so much power – and a feeling that is collectively understood around the world. Nostalgia.
“We were doubly blessed/ ‘Cause we were barely seventeen/ And we were barely dressed…”
In the car, parked on a bank, the protagonist and his beloved discover paradise in the dashboard light: “Ain’t no doubt about it/ We were doubly blessed/ ‘Cause we were barely seventeen/ And we were barely dressed.” Such universal memories of American teenage summers can easily be transferred to Germany, all it takes is different cars and drinks. Golf and amaretto in my case.
And that’s where the problem with nostalgia begins: How true is the memory really? Often it is more of a fantasy, because I, for example, never liked going to the quarry pond, or even to the outdoor pool, because I could swim well, but bikinis were never comfortable clothing. I also never made out in the backseat of a car because most of the guys I liked didn’t own a car. I once made out next to a bike. Does that apply?
With Meat Loaf, nostalgia suddenly becomes a terrible reality
The strongest thing about the Meat Loaf song is the surprising realism that sets in: at some point everything goes wrong. She wants to know from him whether he will love her forever. He asks for time to think about it. (Very bad reaction.) He promises her all sorts of things. (Also stupid.) Time jump to today: He wishes for the end of time because he can’t stand it anymore. (Perhaps reconsider whether loyalty always makes sense.) So he longs to go back again: “It was long ago and it was far away/ And it was so much better that it is today.”
There are so many songs that tap into this feeling – from the cheap variety (Kid Rock’s “All Summer Long”) to the mass-appealing one (Bryan Adams’ “Summer Of ’69”) to the cleverly ironic one (John Wesley Harding’s “There’s A Starbucks (Where The Starbucks Used To Be)”). It doesn’t hurt to be a little sentimental, but ultimately retreat is not a solution. Today’s world still has a lot to offer – despite everything. So open your eyes! Then maybe you feel like Albert Camus once did: “In the middle of winter I realized that there was an invincible summer inside me.” And not the one from 1969.