[3] The concert tour to promote its predecessor, Feuer und Flamme, had been poorly attended[4] and the band had parted company with their manager Jim Rakete.

The commercial failure of these two singles, one a Nena penned ballad,[10] the other a catchy, rock tune written by Jörn-Uwe Fahrenkrog-Petersen and Carlo Karges (the duo responsible for the band's best known songs, "99 Luftballons" and "Irgendwie, irgendwo, irgendwann") provided evidence that formulae that had worked in the past would no longer reap the same rewards.

"Jetzt bist du weg" ("Now You Are Gone") was written by Nena Kerner from the perspective of a jilted lover wrestling with the accompanying emotions: not knowing whether to blame herself nor how to behave – remaining friends or getting out of the way.

[11] The song's tempo briefly quickens when she speculates about the couple potentially getting back together before slowing down again to conclude with the line, "I wish that I will finally be able to forget you.

[12] The timing of events, however, do not conclusively support this belief since Eisbrecher was released in late 1986, prior to the end of Nena and Brendel's 8-year relationship in 1987.

[16] Following the death of the band's guitarist Carlo Karges in early 2002, Nena included the Eisbrecher track "Zusammen", which he had written, in her live concert setlists in 2002–2004 and again in the period since 2014, invariably as part of the finale.

Aptly for a performer ending a concert, the theme of the song is that the singer knows nothing about the person she is singing to ("where you live ... who you are ... what you do ... who you kiss") except that she and they belong "zusammen" (together).