1983 Germany: Hoffmann & Hoffmann - Rücksicht (5th place at Eurovision Song Contest) with SUBTITLES

Music by: Michael Reinecke
Lyrics by: Volker Lechtenbrinck
Conductor: Dieter Reith
Language: German
Placing: 5th (94 points)
Other versions: English

If you want to read the original German lyrics please click the SUBTITLES button. And if you wish to understand them, selct the language of your choice in te settings.

"Rücksicht" ("Regard" or "Respect") was the German entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 1983, held in Munich after Nicole's win with "Ein bißchen Frieden". The song was performed in German by the duo Hoffmann & Hoffmann, consisting of brothers Michael and Günther.

The song was performed fourteenth on the night, following Cyprus' Stavros & Dina with "I Agapi Akoma Zi" and preceding Denmark's Gry Johansen with "Kloden drejer". At the close of voting, it had received 94 points, placing 5th in a field of 20.

The song is sung from the perspective of a man attempting to understand where his relationship went wrong. He contends that he is not the only one to blame, as neither he nor his lover gave any real consideration to the other. The Hoffmann brothers also recorded the song in English, then entitled "Love Gives".

The Hoffmanns' first success came in 1977 with the single "Himbeereis zum Frühstück" ("Raspberry Ice-Cream for Breakfast"), a German version of The Bellamy Brothers' "Crossfire", which reached the top 20. They had four further minor charting singles in the next few years, but their career seemed to lose impetus.

"Rücksicht" proved to be the biggest hit of the Hoffmanns' career, but did not translate into the lasting success the brothers had hoped for. Less than a year after their Eurovision appearance, Günter Hoffmann committed suicide, aged 32, by jumping from a hotel window in Rio de Janeiro.

Thereafter, Michael Hoffmann worked mainly as a producer and composer for artists including fellow Eurovision veterans Gitte Hænning, Wencke Myhre and Nicole. In 1987, he entered the German Eurovision heats as a solo singer with the song "Ich geb' nicht auf", which finished fifth. He has since gone on to become a producer of spiritual and meditative music.

Volker Lechtenbrink, who wrote the wonderful lyrics for the song, acted in many German television productions during the last decades. He was the German dubbing-voice of Kris Kristofferson and Dennis Quaid. Next to his work as an actor he also started a very successful career as a singer and songwriter during the 1970s and 1980s, with songs like "Der Macher" and "Ich mag". He passed away in 2021.

The English version "Love Gives":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A_LRimn3s0U

"Rücksicht" Lyrics:

Rücksicht
Ich kann nicht alleine sein
Mit all den ungeklärten Fragen
Was haben wir denn beide falsch gemacht?
Und dennoch mag ich keinen Menschen sehen
Das Glück von anderen tut mir noch weh
Warum sind wir nicht früher aufgewacht?

Wir waren wie verwöhnte Kinder
Jeder dachte immer nur an sich

Rücksicht – keiner hat das Wort gekannt
Und Nachsicht – die keiner bei dem andern fand
Und Vorsicht – dass nie zerbricht, was uns verband

Einsicht – dass jeder seine Fehler hat
Und Weitsicht – das Leben findet nicht nur heute statt
Und Vorsicht – dass man den andern nicht zerbricht

Warn wir wirklich nur vor Liebe blind
Oder einfach zu bequem?
Habn wir denn nicht gemerkt, was uns noch fehlt?
Vielleicht ging alles für uns viel zu schnell
Verband uns wirklich nur die Nacht?
Wussten wir nicht, dass der Tag genauso zählt?

Fehlte uns die Kraft, uns zu vertrauen?
War es Angst vor ehrlichem Gefühl?

Rücksicht – keiner hat das Wort gekannt
Und Nachsicht – die keiner bei dem andern fand
Und Vorsicht – dass nie zerbricht, was uns verband

Einsicht – dass jeder seine Fehler hat
Und Weitsicht – das Leben findet nicht nur heute statt
Und Vorsicht – dass man den andern nicht zerbricht


ENGLISH translation:

Consideration
I can't be alone
With all these unanswered questions
What did we both do wrong?
I still don't want to see any people
The luck of the others still hurts me
Why didn't we wake up earlier?

We were like spoiled children
Everyone only thought of himself

Consideration – nobody knew this word
And leniency – which nobody found at the other
And care – that never breaks what connected us

Insight – that everyone has his mistakes
And far-sight – life doesn't only take place today
And caution – that you don't break the other

Were we really just blind of love
Or just too easygoing?
Didn't we notice what we were missing?
Perhaps everything was going much too fast for us
Did only the night connect us?
Didn't we know that the day counts as well?

Did we lack the power to trust ourselves?
Was it fear for honest feelings?

Consideration – nobody knew this word
And leniency – which nobody found at the other
And care – that never breaks what connected us

Insight – that everyone has his mistakes
And far-sight – life doesn't only take place today
And caution – that you don't break the other


IN MEMORIAM VOLKER LECHTENBRINK AND GÜNTHER HOFFMANN