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
Am ende meines Kцrpers
Die Ärzte Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
von den FьЯen aus gesehen, wachsen Haare.
Der Weg dorthin ist lang,
und mein Geschlechtsteil versperrt meistens jede Sicht.
Man braucht viel Proviant,
denn diese Reise dauert ca. sieben Jahre.
Bisher kam keiner je zurьck,
denn ungefдhrlich ist die Gegend nicht.
sind die Haare von hier unten kaum zu sehen.
Man ahnt zwar, daЯ sie da sind,
aber wissen kann man's nie so ganz genau.
Erforscht wurde mein Kцrper,
richtig grьndlich bisher nur an meinen Zehen.
Doch Haare, Arme, Nase, Ohren und Arsch,
die kennt bisher noch keine Sau.
Am Ende meines Kцrpers,
von den FьЯen aus gesehen, wachsen Haare.
Sie sind ein biЯchen unheimlich,
oft seltsam und nachts machen sie oft Krach.
Es gibt da ein Geheimnis,
was ich eigentlich fьr mich allein verwahre.
Ich schneid' sie manchmal ab,
jedoch sie wachsen von alleine wieder nach.
The song "Am ende meines Körpers" by Die Ärzte is a humorous but thought-provoking take on the journey of the human body, specifically focusing on the growth of hair from the feet upwards. The lyrics depict the journey as a long and treacherous one, taking around seven years to complete, and being obstructed by the genitals for the most part. The journey requires a lot of provisions, and is considered dangerous, as no one has ever returned from the journey back to the feet.
The singer highlights the difficulty in seeing the hair during rainy days, but can sense their presence. The body parts other than the feet, such as the arms, nose, ears, and butt, have never been explored thoroughly. Despite the singer's lack of knowledge about these areas, the hair growth in these regions is said to be strange and sometimes noisy at night.
However, the lyrics take a more serious tone when the singer reveals a personal secret - they have a habit of cutting off their hair, only to have it grow back on its own. This could be interpreted as a metaphor for how some people try to suppress or hide parts of themselves that they dislike or are ashamed of, but these aspects eventually resurface.
Line by Line Meaning
Am Ende meines Kцrpers, von den FьЯen aus gesehen, wachsen Haare.
At the end of my body, looking from my feet, hair grows in abundance.
Der Weg dorthin ist lang, und mein Geschlechtsteil versperrt meistens jede Sicht.
The journey to reach that point is long and difficult, the genitals often blocking the view.
Man braucht viel Proviant, denn diese Reise dauert ca. sieben Jahre.
It takes a lot of nutrients and time to grow hair at that length, approximately seven years.
Bisher kam keiner je zurьck, denn ungefдhrlich ist die Gegend nicht.
No one has ever returned from exploring that area because it is not entirely safe.
An regnerischen Tagen, sind die Haare von hier unten kaum zu sehen.
On rainy days, the hair on that area is hardly visible.
Man ahnt zwar, daЯ sie da sind, aber wissen kann man's nie so ganz genau.
One can sense their presence, but it's hard to tell for sure.
Erforscht wurde mein Kцrper, richtig grьndlich bisher nur an meinen Zehen.
My body has been thoroughly researched, but only my toes have been given proper attention.
Doch Haare, Arme, Nase, Ohren und Arsch, die kennt bisher noch keine Sau.
However, no one really knows much about the hair on arms, nose, ears and buttocks.
Am Ende meines Kцrpers, von den FьЯen aus gesehen, wachsen Haare.
Again, hair grows at the end of my body, looking from my feet.
Sie sind ein biЯchen unheimlich, oft seltsam und nachts machen sie oft Krach.
The hair can be a bit unsettling at times, appearing strange and making noise at night.
Es gibt da ein Geheimnis, was ich eigentlich fьr mich allein verwahre.
There's a secret I keep to myself about that area.
Ich schneid' sie manchmal ab, jedoch sie wachsen von alleine wieder nach.
Sometimes I trim the hair, but it always grows back on its own.
Contributed by Josiah B. Suggest a correction in the comments below.