It’s Ascension Day – that day when many men celebrate that Jesus was finally allowed to go to his Father by drinking masses of beer – when I listen to Kid Kopphausen’s album “I” again. Nils Koppruch and Gisbert zu Knyphausen had teamed up with a few friends for this, the debut was released in the summer of 2012, and the joy was great. Thirteen songs in which the two songwriters threw their best together, which then resulted in something completely different.
Then Nils Koppruch died in October 2012. He was not yet 47, but I’ll spare myself the nonsense that it was much too early, because it’s never too late when someone leaves who we so urgently needed here . Thinking of all the people who are like that on this strange holiday. To those who are sorely missed on earth, even though they may not have been taken up to heaven like Christ. All leave gaps that cannot be filled and hearts that want to burst with longing. And with luck, they also leave a lot of love and great gratitude.
There’s a song on Kid Kopphausen’s debut that I’ve sung along to a lot over the past ten years – when I could feel the lines in every fiber and even more so when I wasn’t. “The Lightest in the World” is such a true piece that I’m really sorry I can’t just play it very loud for you. It’s so life-affirming that it makes even dark moments a little bit brighter. (In the darkest of times, unfortunately, even music doesn’t always help, let’s face it. But maybe it’s planted that spark of hope that keeps you going.)
Now my life is really starting!
“The Lightest in the World” is about a kind of revival. Then a person finally feels alive, he learns everything anew and enjoys it: “My hope, my guilt/ My passion, my fire/ My anger and my impatience/ My no and my maybe/ And my unconditional yes/ Oh yes, I want, oh yes, I want.” To wonder, to see the world with new eyes, to accept with open arms – if that’s supposed to be clichés, I don’t care as long as it’s true. I wish everyone to experience a moment like this at least once, a feeling of triumph: Now my life is really starting!
These are my all-time favorite lines: “Every day is a gift, it’s just wrapped in shit/ And you fumble around with the wrapping paper and only get it off with difficulty.” And how then we talk about the people who love and love and love as if it were the easiest thing in the world. “I want to be one of them, oh yes I do, oh yes I do.”
Our time here is much too short (see above), let’s use it for the essentials – even if it’s sometimes difficult because of work, ambition or other distractions. “When a person sums up his life, the only things that really count are love, kindness and devotion,” said a wise man. After that comes another verse that talks about the power of music, and the song gets more and more urgent as it does so, and each time my heart automatically beats a little bit faster, and it ends like this: “Never mind the darkness, baby/ You will be saved by rock’n’roll!” What else.