Anfassen literally means "to touch" or "to grasp." It's a common verb, but in the context of this song, it takes on a much deeper, metaphorical meaning that makes it particularly interesting.
The song laments a world increasingly disconnected by digital screens and superficial interactions. Johannes Oerding uses Anfassen to express a longing for genuine, tangible connection and real-life experiences. He sings, "Ich brauche was zum Anfassen" (I need something to touch/grasp), highlighting a desire for authenticity and a return to what is real and palpable in a world full of "Nullen und Einsen" (zeros and ones).
Anfassen (which translates to Touch) is Johannes Oerding’s heartfelt wake-up call to a world lost in screens. He paints a vivid picture: we have “thousands of friends” online, endless information at our fingertips and neon lights that never sleep, yet we barely know ourselves. Every click pulls us further from what is real, until life itself seems to dissolve into cold code, “dust of zeros and ones.” The singer’s solution is disarmingly simple – he longs for something he can literally hold, a moment he can truly feel, so he can drop the exhausting act of constant digital self-adjustment and reclaim control of his life.
The chorus turns that longing into a rallying cry. Oerding urges us to lift our heads from the glow, breathe, talk, listen and rediscover the art of genuine connection before we “drown in this sea of cold lights.” In just a few minutes, the song transforms from critique to invitation: unplug for a while, grab the people beside you, and let the present moment regain its worth.
Johannes Oerding was born in MĂĽnster in 1981 and grew up in Geldern-Kapellen on the Lower Rhine, where he started out in a school band called Groovekeller. People outside Germany's club circuit first heard him in 2009, when he opened for Simply Red on tour, the same year his debut album Erste Wahl came out.
Every album since has charted higher than the one before: Boxer reached number 11, Für immer ab jetzt number 4, Alles brennt number 3 and Kreise number 2, until Konturen gave him his first number 1 in 2019. Plan A and Hotel went to the top as well. His biggest song is An guten Tagen. He came second at the 2013 Bundesvision Song Contest with Nichts geht mehr, coached on The Voice of Germany in 2021, and has hosted Sing meinen Song since 2020. His trademark is a hat, and in 2019 he was even named Hutträger des Jahres.