The time of the juggler is never over: The singer-songwriter Reinhard Mey on his 80th birthday

Do we really have to discuss in concert, Annabelle? The musical stilt walker Reinhard Mey on his eightieth birthday.

When we are suddenly struck by memories, it can be the taste of madeleines in lime blossom tea, or a photo, a drawing, a certain word. In a song by Reinhard Mey, on the other hand, the refrain describes an acoustic approach to the past: “Do you hear how the glasses ring / Do you hear how the strings vibrate / Do you hear how the voices sing / The locked door jump open?”

In between are three scenes from the singer’s childhood and youth, all three afflicted with age-appropriate misfortune, the third even ending in a catastrophe – a friendly shopkeeper is robbed, a thirteen-year-old boy is excluded from his school class, at the climax of a boisterous party the guests learn about the sudden Accidental death of the host.