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
Das Schönste Lied Der Welt
Die Ärzte Lyrics
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Mein Hirn rief ständig: "Du kommst nicht davon".
Ich schwamm allein, ein Meer aus Selbstmitleid.
Und in meiner Sanduhr verrann langsam die Zeit.
Doch dann schrieb ich – ein Lied so unbeschreiblich schön.
Den Song, für den Campino seine Band auflösen würde.
Es ist meins – ein Lied, wie es noch keines gab.
Darum behalt' ich dieses Lied auch ganz für mich.
Am Leben hielt ich aus Routine fest.
Zeit wurde zäh, ich erstickte an der Tristesse.
Ich war schon längst fertig mit all dem hier.
Doch ein Wunder kam, es kam direkt zu mir.
Denn ich schrieb – ein Lied so unbeschreiblich schön.
Den Song, für den Keith Richards gerne Abstinenzler würde.
Es ist meins – ein Lied, wie es noch keines gab.
Du denkst, so 'n Lied zu schreiben, wär auch keine große Hürde für dich.
Darum behalt' ich dieses Lied auch ganz für mich.
Das Lied ist viel zu schön, um es mit anderen zu teilen.
Ich hab's zu Hause eingesperrt und darum muss ich mich beeilen.
Denn es hat seit heute früh nichts mehr zu essen und zu trinken bekomm'n.
Wenn ich nicht aufpass', wird's mir weggenomm'n.
Mein Lied so unbeschreiblich schön.
MTV und der Grand Prix wär'n unter seiner Würde.
Es ist wahr – ein Lied, wie es noch keines gab.
Ihr denkt, so 'n Lied zu schreiben, ist doch keine große Hürde.
Es ist mir allein, so unbeschreiblich wundervoll.
Es zu besitzen ist nicht leicht – und doch die schönste Bürde für mich.
Und ganz egal was auch geschieht.
Selbst wenn mir 'ne Tracht Prügel blüht.
Und foltert man mich auch am Glied.
Ich behalte dieses Lied für mich.
In Das Schönste Lied Der Welt, Die Ärzte describe a moment in which the main character is struggling with sadness and self-pity. However, he manages to break out of this funk by writing "the most beautiful song in the world." This is a song so unique and special that it surpasses any other song ever written, even to the point where the character believes that it is not worth sharing with anyone.
The lyrics describe how the song is so special that it is like owning a prized possession, which he keeps locked up and guarded in his home. This song is so beautiful that it would be beneath it to compete in MTV or the Grand Prix, and it is so personal to the character that he would rather suffer physical harm than share it with someone else.
The song is a commentary on the importance of art, specifically music, as a means of liberation and self-discovery. The character's journey depicts the struggle to find inspiration, but ultimately discovering something beautiful, original, and empowering.
Line by Line Meaning
Der Himmel grau, die Wolken wie Waschbeton.
The sky is gray, the clouds look like concrete blocks.
Mein Hirn rief ständig: "Du kommst nicht davon".
My brain kept saying: "You can't escape this."
Ich schwamm allein, ein Meer aus Selbstmitleid.
I was swimming alone in a sea of self-pity.
Und in meiner Sanduhr verrann langsam die Zeit.
And slowly, time was running out in my hourglass.
Doch dann schrieb ich – ein Lied so unbeschreiblich schön.
But then I wrote a song that was indescribably beautiful.
Den Song, für den Campino seine Band auflösen würde.
The kind of song that would make Campino break up his band.
Es ist meins – ein Lied, wie es noch keines gab.
It's mine - a song like no other before it.
Du denkst, so 'n Lied zu schreiben, wär auch keine große Hürde für dich.
You think writing a song like this wouldn't be a big hurdle for you either.
Darum behalt' ich dieses Lied auch ganz für mich.
That's why I'm keeping this song all to myself.
Am Leben hielt ich aus Routine fest.
I held on to life out of routine.
Zeit wurde zäh, ich erstickte an der Tristesse.
Time became thick, and I was suffocating in the boredom of my life.
Ich war schon längst fertig mit all dem hier.
I was done with all of this a long time ago.
Doch ein Wunder kam, es kam direkt zu mir.
But then a miracle happened, and it came right to me.
Denn ich schrieb – ein Lied so unbeschreiblich schön.
Because I wrote a song that was indescribably beautiful.
Den Song, für den Keith Richards gerne Abstinenzler würde.
The kind of song that would make Keith Richards want to be sober.
Es ist meins – ein Lied, wie es noch keines gab.
It's mine - a song like no other before it.
Das Lied ist viel zu schön, um es mit anderen zu teilen.
The song is too beautiful to share with others.
Ich hab's zu Hause eingesperrt und darum muss ich mich beeilen.
I've locked it up at home, and that's why I have to hurry.
Denn es hat seit heute früh nichts mehr zu essen und zu trinken bekomm'n.
Because it hasn't had anything to eat or drink since this morning.
Wenn ich nicht aufpass', wird's mir weggenomm'n.
If I'm not careful, it will be taken away from me.
MTV und der Grand Prix wär'n unter seiner Würde.
MTV and the Grand Prix would not be worthy of it.
Es ist wahr – ein Lied, wie es noch keines gab.
It's true - a song like no other before it.
Ihr denkt, so 'n Lied zu schreiben, ist doch keine große Hürde.
You think writing a song like this isn't a big challenge.
Es ist mir allein, so unbeschreiblich wundervoll.
It is uniquely mine and indescribably wonderful.
Es zu besitzen ist nicht leicht – und doch die schönste Bürde für mich.
Owning it is not easy - but it's also the most beautiful burden for me.
Und ganz egal was auch geschieht.
And no matter what happens.
Selbst wenn mir 'ne Tracht Prügel blüht.
Even if I get a beating.
Und foltert man mich auch am Glied.
And even if they torture me.
Ich behalte dieses Lied für mich.
I will keep this song for myself.
Contributed by Lauren V. Suggest a correction in the comments below.