Days like these

If there's ever been a song that burns itself into people's minds, it's "Days like these" by the punk rock band Die Toten Hosen, one of the few German bands popular outside the German-speaking world.

According to the Swiss "Sonntagszeitung" newspaper, the punk rockers around charismatic singer Campino are not amused that a Zurich neo-Nazi band named Amok has come up with its own version of the Tote Hosen hit song. The arrangement and melody are identical, but different lyrics turn the Die Toten Hosen number one hit into a far-right hymn.

Just a few weeks ago, Sonntagszeitung reporter Simon Widmer was investigating the far-right Swiss musicians when he stumbled on a song on the website of Front Records, the band's label, that sounded suspiciously familiar - and alerted the German punk rockers.

The sample has meanwhile been taken off the website, but reportedly, the Die Toten Hosen have taken legal action for an injunction against the Zurich band and its label.

The German band is arguing an infringement of its copyright, Widmer told DW, and wants to stop any release of the Swiss band's version that includes the chorus "On days like these, we'll reclaim the Reich."

Cease the song

The German band's label JKP declined to comment on Tuesday. Front Records told DW in a written statement that it had "read rumors about an injunction in the Swiss media", but that the company had no knowledge of such a document having arrived and that it "is unfounded."

The label released two CDs by Amok, Front Records writes, and although it is a right-leaning mail-order firm, "it adheres strictly to German laws."

Germany has seen three cases in which courts prohibited the use of far-right lyrics in licensed music, Thomas Dreier of the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) told DW. However, there are bound to be more such songs that only circulate among neo-Nazi groups and that never surface, he warned.

The band Amok is known in the far-right scene across Europe, said Dominic Dillier, who hosts the Rock Special radio show at Switzerland's SRF3 radio station in Zurich.

They secretly play concerts and record CD, but Amok stays out of the limelight and never appears officially and in public, the music expert told DW.

Magic of the moment

Of course Die Toten Hosen, Dillier added, are just as popular in Switzerland as they are in Germany - and coincidentally, the cult punk rock band will be playing a concert in Zurich on Saturday.

"Days like these" is about the joy of setting off together with friends, the music and the magic of the moment.

The catchy tune topped the charts in Germany after it hit the nation in early 2012 at a soccer match. Even the German national soccer team chose "Days like these" as its song to set the mood for the Euro 2012 tournament.

Just a year later,Die Toten Hosen - the band's name literally means the dead pants, or more figuratively, the deadbeats - emerged as the big winners of the year at the ECHO Awards: Best Rock Group, Best Album and Hit of the Year.