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
Bettmagnet
Die Ärzte Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Denn er ist daran schuld, dass wir kaum noch ausgehen
Nur noch einen Film und schon ist es zu spät
Schon ist er wieder an, der verdammte Bettmagnet
Drück doch mal auf Stopp, ich hol' mir mal ein Eis
Der Kühlschrank, der ist leer, was soll der Scheiß?
Wer holt uns hier raus?
Denn aus eigener Kraft können wir uns nicht befreien, oh
Wer holt uns hier raus?
Oder kann uns schnell noch eine Pizza mitbestellen?
Da drückst du auf Stopp, wir fallen übereinander her
Das einzige, was hilft gegen üble Cliffhanger
Nachspiel fällt heut' aus, die Serie ist noch drin
Und ich weiß, dass ich verliebt in dich bin
Wer holt uns hier raus?
Wer hört unser Schreien?
Denn aus eigener Kraft können wir uns nicht befreien, oh
Wer holt uns hier raus?
Oder kann uns schnell noch eine Pizza mitbestellen?
Durch die Jalousie fällt das Sonnenlicht
Doch unsere Lethargie stört das gerad' mal nicht
Für jede Gegenwehr ist es längst zu spät
Wir können fast nicht mehr, du gottverdammter Bettmagnet
Schade um die Zeit, die uns so verrinnt
Unser Problem ist, dass wir magnetisch sind
Wer holt uns hier raus?
Wer hört unser Schreien?
Denn aus eigener Kraft können wir uns nicht befreien, oh
Wer holt uns hier raus?
Oder kann uns schnell noch zwei Falafel
Eine Portion Waffeln, Eis und Pommes Fritos
Noch ein paar Burritos und die neuesten Videos
Gerne auch anspruchslos mitbestellen?
The song "Bettmagnet" by Die Ärzte talks about how having a TV in the bedroom can ruin a couple's social life. When they plan on going out, they end up watching just one more film, giving in to the magnetic pull of their bed, which causes them to stay in and not go out. The chorus repeatedly asks who can help them out of this situation because they are unable to do so themselves. The song ends with the couple giving in to the magnetic pull of their bed, with a list of food items and the latest videos they can order along with it. Overall, the song is a humorous satire of how technology and laziness can negatively affect people's social lives.
Line by Line Meaning
Der Fernseher vor'm Bett, war keine gute Idee
Having the TV in front of our bed turned out to be a bad idea
Denn er ist daran schuld, dass wir kaum noch ausgehen
It is responsible for us not going out as often as we used to
Nur noch einen Film und schon ist es zu spät
Watching one movie leads to it being too late to do anything else
Schon ist er wieder an, der verdammte Bettmagnet
The damn bed is already attracting us back towards it
Drück doch mal auf Stopp, ich hol' mir mal ein Eis
Press stop, I am going to grab some ice cream
Der Kühlschrank, der ist leer, was soll der Scheiß?
The fridge is empty; what the hell?
Wer holt uns hier raus?
Who can help us escape this situation?
Wer hört unser Schreien?
Who is listening to our cries for help?
Denn aus eigener Kraft können wir uns nicht befreien, oh
We cannot get out of this on our own
Oder kann uns schnell noch eine Pizza mitbestellen?
Can somebody order us a pizza quickly?
Da drückst du auf Stopp, wir fallen übereinander her
You press stop, and we start making out
Das einzige, was hilft gegen üble Cliffhanger
The only thing that helps with cliffhangers
Nachspiel fällt heut' aus, die Serie ist noch drin
There will be no post-sex cuddling because the show is still on
Und ich weiß, dass ich verliebt in dich bin
I know that I am in love with you
Durch die Jalousie fällt das Sonnenlicht
The sunlight is coming through the blinds
Doch unsere Lethargie stört das gerad' mal nicht
Our lack of energy does not bother us at the moment
Für jede Gegenwehr ist es längst zu spät
It is already too late for any resistance
Wir können fast nicht mehr, du gottverdammter Bettmagnet
We can hardly resist, you damn bed magnet
Schade um die Zeit, die uns so verrinnt
It is a pity that we are wasting so much time
Unser Problem ist, dass wir magnetisch sind
Our problem is that we are attracted to each other like magnets
Oder kann uns schnell noch zwei Falafel
Can somebody order us two falafels quickly?
Eine Portion Waffeln, Eis und Pommes Fritos
One portion of waffles, ice cream, and potato chips
Noch ein paar Burritos und die neuesten Videos
And a few burritos and the latest videos
Gerne auch anspruchslos mitbestellen?
Can we order something simple as well?
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Written by: Bela B. Felsenheimer
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@SelfRecords1991
Rod guckt ja sehr professionell teilnahmslos. :D xD
@confusioneternelle
Ich find Belas Stimme auf jedem Album verdammt geil *o*
@ElCaPixlo
Ich bin dafür das sich Pommesfritos als neuer Begriff für Pommes durchsetzt!!!
@AntoniaMuuh
Selbst mit so einem Bauch sind diese 3 die unglaublichsten Männer in Deutschland! ♥
@Zuckerspinnchen
Bela‘s Stimme😍
@MsCupcaketiger
Rod hat so viel Spaß dabei..
@KaibaTheVamp
Die Ärzte sind alles aber sicher nicht anspruchslos. Coolste Band ever
@Nenny69
Die Stimme... Gänsehaut.
@MrsFarinUrlaub97
ich find Bela's Stimme auf dem Album echt verdammt geil *o* :D
@Calypso995
dafür dass er inzwischen 50 ist... Respekt.