Die Ärzte were formed in 1982 by Jan Vetter (alias Farin Urlaub), Dirk Felsenheimer (alias Bela B.) and bassist Hans Runge (alias Sahnie). Bela and Farin had previously played together in the punk band Soilent Grün; after that band broke up they decided to form a band playing fun songs, in contrast to the mostly political bands of the punk scene at that time. While deriving from that punk scene, their early music was heavily influenced by pop and rock and roll, especially The Beatles, whom Farin heard a lot as a child due to his mother playing their records.
In the first two years they mostly played in clubs of their hometown of Berlin. Their first release was a contribution to the sampler "20 schäumende Stimmungshits" (roughly, "20 exuberant mood hits"), which contained a strong alcohol theme. In 1983 they won a rock contest in Berlin; with the prize money they recorded their debut EP "Uns gehts Prima" ("We're doing great"). Finally Columbia Records signed them, and they released their first LP "Debil" in 1984 and the second one ("Im Schatten der Ärzte") a year later.
After the second record they parted ways with Sahnie due to internal problems. On the third record he was replaced by producer Miccey Meuser; later Hagen Liebig, better known as The Incredible Hagen, played bass for them during live performances until their breakup.
In 1987 the German Federal Centre for Media Harmful to Young Persons put the songs Geschwisterliebe ("Sibling Love", a song about incest, from Die Ärzte), Claudia hat 'nen Schäferhund ("Claudia has a German Shepherd", about zoophilia, from "Debil") and Schlaflied ("Lullaby", about a monster coming and eating you after falling asleep, also from "Debil") on the German List of Media Harmful to Young People. This prohibited the band from performing the songs live and, more importantly, promoting the two albums, and shops from openly displaying the records in their shelves. After several trials against shops that still openly sold the records a lot of shops removed Die Ärzte completely from their stock. The result was a drop in record sales and big financial problems for the band. In response they released the compilation "Ab 18" ("Adults Only") with all their songs on the index and some other old and new tasteless songs, and the greatest hits album "Ist das alles?"("Is this everything?" but also can be translated as "Is this the end?"). The album and the new singles were fairly successful, partly because of growing media interest due to the previous censorship.
The following album "Das ist nicht die ganze Wahrheit" ("That is not the whole truth") was even more successful, climbing into the top 10 in the German album charts. They decided to go out on a high note in 1988, breaking up after doing one last tour and recording a live double album that became their first number one in the album charts.
Neither Farin's new band King Køng nor Bela's Depp Jones were really successful, so in 1993 they decided to do a reunion. As bass player they invited Rodrigo Gonzales, who was guitarist in Depp Jones and a friend of Bela. Their comeback single was Schrei nach Liebe ("Cry for Love"), their first ever political song, that they published as a statement against what was perceived as growing racism and right wing extremist violence in Germany at that time.
The album was more diverse than ever, with ballads, punk, rock and traditional German sounds. Both album and single became big hits in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. The follow-up "Planet Punk" was also very successful.
In 1996 they wanted to make an EP just about hair, but they wrote too many songs for an EP and made the Album "Le Frisur" ("The Hairdo") instead. It was slightly less successful than its predecessors. Apart from their own tours they also supported Kiss in that year, a dream come true for Bela and Rod.
1998 was perhaps the most successful year of their career, the single "Männer sind Schweine" ("Men are Pigs") being their first Number 1 single in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, and the album 13 also being Number 1 in Germany and Switzerland. After a lot of promotion and touring in that year they decided to take a break, deciding also to never play again "Männer sind Schweine" at a concert due to the too great success this song had. They did not like the upcoming unwanted and rather unoriginal remakes by other bands as e.g. "Frauen sind Schweine" ("Women are pigs") and also did not like to see their song played at mass tourist beach parties at places like Mallorca/Spain.
In 2000 they came back with another very successful album, "Runter mit den Spendierhosen, Unsichtbarer!", and two top 10 singles. As the third single from the album they released the 30-second-song "Yoko Ono", which, according to the Guinness Book of Records, is the shortest single ever released - another example of their sense of humour. On their tour in 2001 they sold the limited Album "5, 6, 7, 8 Bullenstaat" consisting of short punk songs that were written and recorded while recording the full length album published a year before, and some cover songs published in 1994 on a tour only EP.
After that they again took a break: Bela did some acting, Farin recorded his first solo album (Endlich Urlaub!). In late 2002 they did an MTV Unplugged in a school auditorium together with the school band. After that they made a new double album Geräusch that was released in 2003. On the next tour a Live DVD was recorded and published one year later.
On 2 November 2007, Die Ärzte released their latest album, Jazz ist anders ("Jazz is nothing like this", literally "Jazz is different").
In August 2011 the band announced that they are working on a new album which is set to be released in 2012 with a tour called "Das Ende ist noch nicht vorbei" ("The end is not over yet") following in the summer 2012.
The official homepage for Die Ärzte is www.bademeister.com
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Die Ärzte Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Ihr seid bestimmt damit beschäftigt euer Hirn völlig zu zerstören.
Doch diesmal ist es ernst. Diesmal ist es wichtig!
Paßt schön auf, fahrt vorsichtig... vorsichtig.
Ihr sitzt bestimmt den ganzen Tag am Bildschirm und surft durchs Internet!
Ihr sucht noch immer nach dem preisgünstigsten Anbieter von Kinderfett.
Ich bitte Euch, seid so gut uhuuuu...
Rettet die Wale! (5x)
uhhh Rettet die Wale!
Jetzt sagt ihr sicher: "Was ist bloß mit "Die Ärzte" los?
Sind die jetzt plötzlich auch Ökos?
Haben die lange Haare? Leben die auf dem Bauernhof?
Sind die doof? Sind die doof? Sind die doof, doof, doof?"
Nein, hier geht es um viel mehr!
Wale sind die größten Sympathieträger! Ohh yeah!
Ja, hier geht es ums Prinzip!
Wir haben Wale, wir haben Wale einfach lieb!
Rettet die Wale!
Rettet die Wale!
Rettet die Wale!
Rettet die Wale! Paul ist tot kein Freispiel drin
Rettet die Wale, Wale, die Wale!
Rettet die Walle, rettet die Walle!
Rettet die Walle, !
Hurra, when the Wales are saved, then we all have a big party together
The lyrics of Die Ärzte's song 010111001101 00001010101 0101 01 010 1010111 011101 01101011010110101010 are a commentary on the state of society, particularly the younger generation who are overly consumed with technology and materialism. The song speaks to the apathy and detachment that is prevalent in society with lines such as, "You probably have something better to do than listen to me, you're probably too busy destroying your own brain," and "You spend all day on the computer screen surfing the internet, still searching for the cheapest supplier of children's fat." However, the lyrics take a serious tone when it comes to the plea to save the whales, encouraging people to recognize the importance of preserving marine life and the planet as a whole.
The repetition of "Rettet die Wale" (save the whales) throughout the song serves as a call to action to the listeners to take responsibility and make a difference in the world. The song suggests that we need to look beyond our own self-interests and focus on the greater good. The final lines of the song suggest that if we are successful in saving the whales, it will be a cause for celebration.
Line by Line Meaning
Ihr habt bestimmt gerade was Besseres zu tun, als mir zuzuhören!
I assume you are busy destroying your brain rather than listening to me!
Ihr seid bestimmt damit beschäftigt euer Hirn völlig zu zerstören.
You are probably occupied with completely destroying your brain.
Doch diesmal ist es ernst. Diesmal ist es wichtig!
But this time, it's serious. This time, it's important!
Paßt schön auf, fahrt vorsichtig... vorsichtig.
Please be careful, drive carefully... carefully.
Ihr sitzt bestimmt den ganzen Tag am Bildschirm und surft durchs Internet!
You probably sit all day in front of the screen and surf the internet!
Ihr sucht noch immer nach dem preisgünstigsten Anbieter von Kinderfett.
You are still looking for the cheapest provider of children's fat.
Doch dieses Mal sind Lichterketten einfach nicht genug.
But this time, light chains are simply not enough.
Ich bitte Euch, seid so gut uhuuuu...
I beg of you, be so good uhuuuu...
Rettet die Wale! (5x) uhhh Rettet die Wale!
Save the whales! (5x) uhhh Save the whales!
Jetzt sagt ihr sicher: "Was ist bloß mit "Die Ärzte" los?
Now you probably say, "What's wrong with "Die Ärzte"?
Sind die jetzt plötzlich auch Ökos?
Are they suddenly eco-friendly?
Haben die lange Haare? Leben die auf dem Bauernhof?
Do they have long hair? Do they live on a farm?
Sind die doof? Sind die doof? Sind die doof, doof, doof?"
Are they stupid? Are they stupid? Are they stupid, stupid, stupid?"
Nein, hier geht es um viel mehr!
No, it's about much more here!
Wale sind die größten Sympathieträger! Ohh yeah!
Whales are the biggest sympathizers! Ohh yeah!
Ja, hier geht es ums Prinzip!
Yes, it's about the principle here!
Wir haben Wale, wir haben Wale einfach lieb!
We love whales, we just love whales!
Rettet die Wale! Rettet die Wale! Rettet die Wale!
Save the whales! Save the whales! Save the whales!
Rettet die Wale, Wale, die Wale!
Save the whales, whales, the whales!
Rettet die Walle, rettet die Walle!
Save the walls, save the walls!
Rettet die Walle, !
Save the walls, !
Hurra, when the Wales are saved, then we all have a big party together
Hooray, when the whales are saved, then we all have a big party together
Contributed by Max W. Suggest a correction in the comments below.