An guten Tagen gibt es nur hier und jetzt
On good days, there’s only here and now – “An guten Tagen” by Johannes Oerding
We’re all familiar with the concept of bad days – but have you ever had a day that was unexpectedly good? Sometimes, out of nowhere, a day happens to get off on the right foot and everything seems to go our way – the sun shines a little brighter, we get every stoplight green, we bump into a good friend or perhaps receive some good news. At times I find days like these to be even more enjoyable than birthdays or holidays, as they come with absolutely no expectations of being good – they just are.
German pop singer and songwriter Johannes Oerding celebrates this type of good day in “An guten Tagen” (on good days), a dance-worthy song filled with all of the infectious joy and energy you would expect from such a topic.
An guten Tagen
On good days
Gibt es nur hier und jetzt
There is only here and now
Schaue ich nicht links und rechts
I don’t look left and right
Vielleicht nach vorn, doch nie zurück
Maybe forward, but never back
An guten Tagen
On good days
Ist unser Lachen echt
Our laughter is real
Und alle Fragen weg
And all questions gone
Auch wenn’s nur jetzt und nicht für immer ist
Even if it’s only now and not forever
The song also showcases a few adverbs of direction in German as Johannes describes looking ahead to the future:
Schaue ich nicht links und rechts
I don’t look left and right
Vielleicht nach vorn, doch nie zurück
Maybe forward, but never back
What are other directions in which someone could look (schauen)? Johannes could also look…
nach Oben – up
nach Unten – down
geradeaus – straight ahead
nach hinten – behind
Here are a few additional words from “An guten Tagen” to add to your vocabulary list:
der Stau – the traffic jam
der Zweifel – the doubt
hier – here
jetzt – now
links – left
rechts – right
nach vorn – forward
zurück – back
das Lachen – the laughter
die Frage / die Fragen – the question / the questions
der Beton – the concrete
verliebt – in love
wertvoller – more valuable