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
Grotesksong
Die Ärzte Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Ich kann's nicht mehr hören
Ständig dieses Geheule,
Bloß weil ein paar Kerle den Dschungel zerstören
Das Ozonloch geht mir am Arsch vorbei
Doch überall verfolgt mich euer Hippiegeschrei
Meine armen Ohren, sie können sich nicht wehren
Doch als Retter der Welt,
Liegt ihr voll im Trend
Ihr malträtiert euer Instrument,
Und ihr flennt
Dies ist ein Protestsong gegen Protestsongs
Ich hab es so satt
Echte Männer fangen ein paar Wale,
Schon macht ihr Randale, schon dreht ihr am Rad
Und ihr schreibt keine Lieder, nein ihr schreibt ein Gedicht,
Schon 400 Strophen und kein Ende in Sicht
Ja, ihr prangert an und ihr singt von Problemen
Ich bin sicher, dass sich alle schlechten Menschen jetzt schämen
Und wenn mal wieder ein Atomkraftwerk brennt,
Seid ihr voll in eurem Element,
Und ihr steht laut jammernd vor dem Parlament,
Und hinter euch flattert euer Transparent und ihr flennt
Dies ist ein Protestsong gegen Protestsongs
Es steht mir bis hier
Ich kann euch nicht begreifen
Ihr seid gleich am verzweifeln,
Wenn ein paar Kinder krepieren
Und schon singt ihr wieder vom Ende der Welt,
Nur weil irgendwo ein Sack Reis umfällt
Lasst mich endlich mit eurem Genöle in Ruh',
Wenn ich Lust dazu hab', scheiß' ich die Nordsee zu
Danach zieh' ich mir ein Robbensteak rein,
auf einem Teller aus Elfenbein,
Und dann leg' ich die Schlampen von Greenpeace flach,
Eine nach der anderen die ganze Nacht
Und ich lach' und lach, hahaha
The lyrics to Die Ärzte's "Grotesksong" are a satirical take on protest songs and the people who write and perform them. It starts off by stating that the song itself is a protest song against protest songs, and the singer is tired of hearing the constant whining and crying about issues such as deforestation and the ozone layer. The singer dismisses these issues as irrelevant to him, and mocks the "hippie" mentality of the protesters.
The song goes on to criticize the musicians themselves, describing them as "malträtiert euer Instrument" (torturing their instruments) and "flennend" (whining). The lyrics suggest that the musicians are more interested in being trendy and fashionable than in creating anything meaningful or impactful through their music. The song finishes with a crude and offensive description of the singer's plans to indulge in the very things the protesters stand against, including eating a seal steak and having sex with Greenpeace activists.
Overall, the lyrics are meant to be humorous and absurd, but also contain a pointed critique of the shallow and self-centered attitudes that can sometimes be associated with activism.
Line by Line Meaning
Dies ist ein Protestsong gegen Protestsongs
The song is a protest against the constant barrage of protest songs.
Ich kann's nicht mehr hören
The singer is tired of hearing the same message over and over again.
Ständig dieses Geheule, Bloß weil ein paar Kerle den Dschungel zerstören
The constant whining about a few men destroying the jungle is irritating.
Das Ozonloch geht mir am Arsch vorbei
The singer doesn't care about the ozone hole.
Doch überall verfolgt mich euer Hippiegeschrei
The singer is tired of hearing hippies push their agenda.
Meine armen Ohren, sie können sich nicht wehren
The singer's ears are tired and can't take any more.
Ich höre längst kein Radio mehr und seh' auch nicht fern
The singer no longer listens to the radio or watches TV.
Doch als Retter der Welt, Liegt ihr voll im Trend
Protesters are trendy and think of themselves as saving the world.
Ihr malträtiert euer Instrument, Und ihr flennt
Protesters play their instruments in a tortured manner and whine.
Ich hab es so satt
The singer is fed up with the constant noise.
Echte Männer fangen ein paar Wale, Schon macht ihr Randale, schon dreht ihr am Rad
Real men catch some whales, but protesters cause a fuss and go crazy.
Und ihr schreibt keine Lieder, nein ihr schreibt ein Gedicht
Protesters don't write songs, but rather manifesto-like poems.
Schon 400 Strophen und kein Ende in Sicht
There seems to be no end to the protesters' never-ending poems.
Ja, ihr prangert an und ihr singt von Problemen
Protesters sing about problems and injustices in society.
Ich bin sicher, dass sich alle schlechten Menschen jetzt schämen
The singer thinks that all bad people should be ashamed and feels like protesters are pointing fingers.
Und wenn mal wieder ein Atomkraftwerk brennt, Seid ihr voll in eurem Element, Und ihr steht laut jammernd vor dem Parlament, Und hinter euch flattert euer Transparent und ihr flennt
When a nuclear power plant burns down, protesters are in their element, loudly whining in front of Parliament with their signs.
Es steht mir bis hier
The singer has had enough and is fed up.
Ich kann euch nicht begreifen
The singer can't understand the protesters' message.
Ihr seid gleich am verzweifeln, Wenn ein paar Kinder krepieren
Protesters get upset and feel hopeless when a few children die.
Nur weil irgendwo ein Sack Reis umfällt
Protesters get upset over something like a bag of rice falling over somewhere in the world.
Lasst mich endlich mit eurem Genöle in Ruh'
The singer wants to be left alone and not hear any more whining.
Wenn ich Lust dazu hab', scheiß' ich die Nordsee zu
The singer doesn't care about the environment and will pollute if he feels like it.
Danach zieh' ich mir ein Robbensteak rein, auf einem Teller aus Elfenbein, Und dann leg' ich die Schlampen von Greenpeace flach, Eine nach der anderen die ganze Nacht
The singer would enjoy eating seal meat on an ivory plate and then sleeping with Greenpeace activists all night long.
Und ich lach' und lach, hahaha
The singer finds the idea of bothering and upsetting protesters funny.
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Written by: Farin Urlaub
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind