Die Ärzte (pronounced DEE AIR-TS-teh, German for "The Doctors" or "The Phys… Read Full Bio ↴Die Ärzte (pronounced DEE AIR-TS-teh, German for "The Doctors" or "The Physicians") are a punk rock band from Berlin, Germany. Die Ärzte are one of the best-known German rock bands and have released over 20 albums. The band consists of guitarist Farin Urlaub, drummer Bela B. and bass player Rodrigo González. All three write and sing.

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

Haar
Die Ärzte Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Wenn ich das wüsst'
Warum mein Haar so ist
Es wächst so dicht, so schnell
Fast kriminell

Mein Haar wächst pausenlos
Frag nicht: „Warum denn bloß?“
Es schießt und sprießt und wächst

Eben wie verhext

Darling

Ich lieb' es, sehr sogar (mein langes Haar)
Es darf nicht nur in den Kragen ragen
Alles schöne Haar (schulterlang und länger)

Klar, Mann, nicht wahr, Mann
Wie wunderbar ist so langes Haar

Lass es leben!
Gott hat's mir gegeben!
Mein Haar

Lass es spielen im Wind
Lass drin wühlen ein Kind
Mach daraus für die Laus, ein Zuhaus'
Bau im Haar Geäst, dem Star ein Nest
Wie wunderbar, wie sonderbar
Eine Welt allein für sich, das ist mein Haar

Lass es leben!
Gott hat's mir gegeben!
Mein Haar

Ich will es lang und liegend, fliegend
Bürstenborstig, rabenhorstig
Ruppig, schuppig, struppig
Zopfig, Eisen herzig
Bubikopfig oder voll Konfetti
Kämmungslos verludert
Hemmungslos geölt
Gepudert, löwenmähnig
Strähnig wie Spaghetti

Bald sind Haare wieder Mode
Und ich schöpf' die wahre Mode
Die Toga nur aus langem, prächtigem Haar
Ging vor rund zweitausend Jahren Jesus nicht mit langen Haaren?
Und Maria liebte ihren Sohn, nur meine Mutter hasst mich

Haar

Lass es leben!
Gott hat's mir gegeben!
Mein Haar

Lass es leben!
Gott hat's mir gegeben!
Mein Haar

Lass es leben!
Gott hat's mir gegeben!
Mein Haar

Lass es leben!

Gott hat's mir gegeben!
Mein Haar, Haar, Haar, Haar

Overall Meaning

The song "Haar" by Die Ärzte is a celebration of the singer's hair. At the beginning of the song, the singer muses about why their hair is so thick and grows so quickly, almost criminally so. They then proclaim their love for their long hair, saying it can't just be left in their collar but should be allowed to flow free. The singer then fantasizes about all the things their hair could be, from bristly and raven-like to tangled and lion-like. The song ends on a humorous note with the singer imagining themselves wearing a toga made of their own hair.

The song is a tongue-in-cheek ode to the singer's hair, but it is also a commentary on societal norms around appearance. The song suggests that people should be allowed to embrace their natural features, even if they don't fit into conventional beauty standards. It also plays with the idea of hair as a symbol of rebellion, as long hair has often been associated with counterculture movements.

Line by Line Meaning

Wenn ich das wüst, Warum mein Haar so ist.
I don't know why my hair is like this.

Es wächst so dicht so schnell - Fast kriminell.
My hair grows so thick and fast it seems illegal.

Mein Haar wächst pausenlos. Frag nicht 'Warum denn bloß?'.
My hair never stops growing, don't ask me why.

Es schießt und sprießt und wächst, Eben wie verhext.
It shoots and sprouts and grows, as if under a spell.

Ich liebe es sehr sogar mein langes Haar.
I love my long hair very much.

Es darf nicht nur in den Kragen ragen. Alles schöne Haar schulterlang und länger.
It shouldn't just hang in my collar. All beautiful hair should be shoulder length or longer.

Klar man, nicht wahr man, wie wunderbar ist so langes Haar.
It's obvious, isn't it? Long hair is wonderful.

Laß es leben! Gott hat's mir gegeben! Mein Haar.
Let it live! God gave it to me! My hair.

Lass es spielen im Wind. Lass drin wühlen ein Kind.
Let it play in the wind. Let a child dig around in it.

Mach daraus für die Laus, ein zu Haus'! Bau im Haar Geäst, dem Star ein Nest!
Make a home for a louse! Build a tree branch in my hair for a star to nest in!

Wie wunderbar, wie sonderbar, Ein Welt allein für sich, das ist mein Haar.
How wonderful, how unique. A world unto itself, that's my hair.

Ich will es lang und liegend, fliegend, Bürstenborstig, rabenhorstig, Ruppig, schuppig, struppig, Zopfig, Eisen herzig, Bubikopfig oder voll Konfetti, Kämmungslos verludert, Hemmungslos geölt, Gepudert, löwenmähnig, Strähnig wie Spaghetti.
I want it long and flowing, flying, bristly, shaggy, rough, scaly, messy, braided, iron-hearted, boyish or full of confetti, unkempt, excessively oiled, powdered, lion-mained, or spaghetti-stranded.

Bald sind Haare wieder Mode, Und ich schöpf' die wahre Mode. Die Toga nur aus langem, prächtigem Haar. Ging vor rund 2000 Jahren Jesus nicht mit langen Haaren? Und Maria liebte ihren Sohn, nur meine Mutter hasst mich.
Soon long hair will be in fashion again, and I will set the true trend. A toga made only of long, beautiful hair. Didn't Jesus have long hair 2000 years ago? And Mary loved her son, but my mother hates me.

Haar
Hair

Lass es leben! Gott hat's mir gegeben! Mein Haar.
Let it live! God gave it to me! My hair.