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The soundtrack of youth

June 26, 2014

All it takes is an opening chord, a refrain, and all of a sudden the memories are back. For our special, "When we were 17: Youth at the crossroads," DW wants to know what songs you associate with your youth.

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Image: Fotolia/photocreo

When Elvis Presley would shake his hips, making girls swoon, or when German girls would admire posters of Peter Kraus above their bed. When rock 'n' roll was prohibited in East Germany and young people there had to settle with dancing the relatively tame 'Lipsi'.

When longhairs would put on the record 'Massachusetts' by the Bee Gees and young women with flowers in their hair would listen to Richie Havens, who opened up Woodstock in 1969.

When, after the fall of the Berlin Wall, the Love Parade techno festival brought more people onto the streets than any other German festival before or after - all these instances are inextricably linked with music. These songs have left their mark on entire generations and become a kind of soundtrack of youth.

DW asked you to send in your favorite songs from back then, and they've been compiled in the graphic below. Responses came from all over the world.