The point of departure for this contribution is the fact that Herbert Grönemeyer’s
Mensch (2002) is the topselling pop album in Germany (with more than
3.7 million copies sold) This success cannot be understood without acknowledging
death and mourning as the main topics of the albums lyrics In a close reading of
the title track Mensch the article shows how the lyrics succeed in addressing the
previous knowledge of the listeners (who knew about the recent death of the singers
wife) and by the same time opening the text for a quite different listening. Insofar
the song is an example for ›successful grief‹ as it honestly deals with loss without
getting depressive In the last decades that’s the closing assumption popular songs
have therefore adopted some tasks formerly fulfilled by religion.

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• Erfolgreich trauern Herbert Grönemeyers Song Mensch