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
Käfer
Die Ärzte Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Und dieser Traum war sonderbar
Ich saß auf einem Erbsenbaum
Weil ich im Traum ein Käfer war
Ich will kein Käfer sein
Dann müsst ich um mein Leben beten
Ein Käfer, der ist winzig klein
Ich will kein Käfer sein (Nein, nein, nein)
Ich will kein Käfer sein
Ein Käfer kriegt nie einen Kuss
Er hat auch ziemlich kleine Ohren
Und wenn ich schon ein Tier ein muss
Dann wär' ich gern als Pferd geboren
Ein Pferd ist größer noch als du
Und man zertritt es nur mit Mühe
Es gibt auch Pferde, die machen "Muh!"
Doch diese Pferde heißen Kühe
Ich will kein Käfer sein (Nein, nein, nein)
Ich will kein Käfer sein
Kühe fressen Gras, wie Schafe
Nur sind die Schafe noch viel doofer
Denn aus der Kuh macht man nur Vollmilch
Und aus den Schafen die Pullover
Doch Schaf zu sein wär' mir 'ne Qual
Denn Schafe brauchen einen Schäfer
Ich glaub, ich werd' ein Wal
Hauptsache ist, ich werd' kein Käfer
Ich will kein Käfer sein (Nein, nein, nein)
Ich will kein Käfer sein
The lyrics to Die Ärzte's song Käfer are about a dream where the singer finds themselves transformed into a beetle and perched on a pea pod tree. The dream feels strange and unfamiliar, causing the singer to question their desire to take the form of a beetle. They express a desire not to be a beetle as they would be tiny and insignificant, easily crushed underfoot, and unlikely to receive any affection. The singer then suggests they would rather be a horse, as they are larger and more majestic than a beetle, and harder to harm. They then humorously suggest that they would rather be a cow, due to their preference for grazing on grass over being shorn like a sheep, yet also reject that idea, as cows are ultimately turned into meat and milk products. The song concludes with the singer musing on becoming a whale and being thankful that they won't end up being a beetle.
This song is a satirical commentary on the human experience and how we often yearn for things that may not improve our lives. It highlights the idea that the grass is not always greener on the other side, and that what we perceive as desirable may not be as great as we believe it to be. Die Ärzte use humor and playful language in the lyrics to illustrate this point.
Line by Line Meaning
Ich hatte heut' Nacht einen Traum
Last night I dreamed of something weird
Und dieser Traum war sonderbar
It was an unusual dream
Ich saß auf einem Erbsenbaum
I was sitting on a pea tree
Weil ich im Traum ein Käfer war
In the dream, I was turned into a beetle
Ich will kein Käfer sein
I don't want to be a beetle
Dann müsst ich um mein Leben beten
Being a beetle, I would have to fear for my life
Ein Käfer, der ist winzig klein
Beetles are tiny creatures
Du würdest ihn bestimmt zertreten
Most likely, someone would step on me
Ein Käfer kriegt nie einen Kuss
Beetles never receive any kisses
Er hat auch ziemlich kleine Ohren
They also have very small ears
Und wenn ich schon ein Tier ein muss
If I have to become an animal
Dann wär' ich gern als Pferd geboren
I prefer to be born as a horse
Ein Pferd ist größer noch als du
Horses are much bigger than beetles
Und man zertritt es nur mit Mühe
It would take a lot of effort to step on a horse
Es gibt auch Pferde, die machen 'Muh!'
Some horses even moo like cows
Doch diese Pferde heißen Kühe
But those animals are called cows, not horses
Kühe fressen Gras, wie Schafe
Cows eat grass, just like sheep do
Nur sind die Schafe noch viel doofer
Sheep, however, are much dumber
Denn aus der Kuh macht man nur Vollmilch
Milk comes from cows, not sheep
Und aus den Schafen die Pullover
But wool is taken from sheep to make sweaters
Doch Schaf zu sein wär' mir 'ne Qual
Still, being a sheep would be a burden for me
Denn Schafe brauchen einen Schäfer
Sheep require a shepherd to take care of them
Ich glaub, ich werd' ein Wal
I'm thinking of becoming a whale
Hauptsache ist, ich werd' kein Käfer
I just don't want to be a beetle
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: Jan Vetter
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Sarius Zweiberg
bester Ärzte-Song!!!
Norbert Biber
Dem stimme ich zu. Ich werde noch heute bei diesem Lied ein wenig geil ♥
Norbert Biber
Die kleinen Ohren sind die schlimmste Geißel eines jeden Käfers!
Herr Tierlieb
I want to be a Beatle....
Stephan Münz
Wer kennt heute noch die Gebrüder Reid?
Martin Hamrol
🤘Käfer🤘
Valeria-Chantal
1:1 Meine Zusammenfassung von Kafkas Verwandlung
juan_pe
2022 noch aktuell
Jonas S.
Ist das ne Anspielung auf Kafka?🤔
Sabine Klaus
bei welchem Verein spielt denn der ?