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
Als ich den Punk erfand
Die Ärzte Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Da war das alles unerschlossenes Land
Am Feuer saßen die Leute und brieten ihre Beute,
Und wuschen sich mit Sand bis ich den Punk erfand
Und ohne Punk gäb's auch kein Dosenpfand,
Denn Bier in freier Natur, das ist Punkrock pur,
Und auch höchst extravagant, weil ich den Punk erfand
Mann, was bin ich für 'ne crazy cunt,
Und neben dem Bier ist auch als Wertpapier,
Der Punk höchst interessant
Am Neuen Markt entwickelt er sich rasant
Und eins, das muss man ihm gönnen,
Was drei Akkorde so können,
Ist wirklich exorbitant
Ein Glück, dass ich den Punk erfand
Als ich den Punk erfand,
Da habe ich eines leider nicht erkannt
Skrupellose Exporteure verkaufen für ein paar Ore,
Den Punk auch ans Feindessland
Und die Gefahr ist wirklich eklatant,
Um nicht zu sagen hochbrisant
Am besten ich schaffe eine Abwehrwaffe,
Gewaltig und imposant
In mühsamen Forschungsstunden,
Zum Schutz der Gemeinde und gegen alle Feinde,
Habe ich den Jazz erfunden
Jazz
Lebe
Jazz
Lebe
The lyrics of Die Ärzte's song "Als ich den Punk erfand" talk about the invention of punk rock and its impact on society. The first verse describes a time when everything was unexplored land until the invention of punk. The singer suggests that without punk, there would be no deposit on cans because drinking beer in free nature is a hallmark of punk. The second verse emphasizes the value of punk and its potential as a financial asset. The singer notes that punk is highly interesting and valuable, especially on the Neuer Markt, a German stock exchange. The chorus emphasizes the singer's pride in being the one who invented punk.
However, the third verse takes a darker turn, as the singer realizes that unscrupulous exporters are selling punk to enemy countries. The singer acknowledges the danger this poses and suggests that they create a defense weapon against it, possibly through the invention of jazz. The final line of the song is a call to "live jazz," implying that jazz is the solution to the problem.
Overall, the song is a tongue-in-cheek exploration of the invention of punk, its cultural significance, and the potential consequences of its widespread availability.
Line by Line Meaning
Als ich den Punk erfand,
When I invented punk rock,
Da war das alles unerschlossenes Land.
It was all unexplored territory.
Am Feuer saßen die Leute und brieten ihre Beute,
People sat around a campfire cooking their food,
Und wuschen sich mit Sand bis ich den Punk erfand.
And washing themselves with sand until punk rock was invented.
Und ohne Punk gäb's auch kein Dosenpfand,
And without punk rock, there would be no deposit on cans,
Denn Bier in freier Natur, das ist Punkrock pur,
Because drinking beer in the great outdoors is pure punk rock,
Und auch höchst extravagant, weil ich den Punk erfand.
And also highly extravagant, because I invented punk rock.
Mann, was bin ich für 'ne crazy cunt,
Man, am I a crazy person,
Und neben dem Bier ist auch als Wertpapier,
And besides beer, another valuable asset,
Der Punk höchst interessant.
Punk rock is highly interesting.
Am Neuen Markt entwickelt er sich rasant.
It is rapidly developing in the New Market.
Und eins, das muss man ihm gönnen,
And one thing you have to give it credit for,
Was drei Akkorde so können,
Is what three chords can do,
Ist wirklich exorbitant.
It's really extraordinary.
Ein Glück, dass ich den Punk erfand!
Luckily, I invented punk rock!
Als ich den Punk erfand,
When I invented punk rock,
Da habe ich eines leider nicht erkannt,
There was one thing I unfortunately didn't realize,
Skrupellose Exporteure verkaufen für ein paar Ore,
Unscrupulous exporters sell it for a few cents,
Den Punk auch ans Feindessland.
And sell punk rock to enemy countries.
Und die Gefahr ist wirklich eklatant,
And the danger is really blatant,
Um nicht zu sagen hochbrisant.
To say the least, highly explosive.
Am besten ich schaffe eine Abwehrwaffe,
The best thing to do is create a defense weapon,
Gewaltig und imposant.
Powerful and imposing.
In mühsamen Forschungsstunden,
In painstaking hours of research,
Zum Schutz der Gemeinde und gegen alle Feinde,
To protect the community and against all enemies,
Habe ich den Jazz erfunden.
I have invented jazz.
Jazz! Lebe Jazz! Lebe!
Jazz! Long live jazz!
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Written by: Farin Urlaub, Bela B. Felsenheimer
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind