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
Kamelralley
Die Ärzte Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Du hattest immer für mich Zeit
Und du halfst mir wirklich gern
Bei der Gartenarbeit
Warum kommst du nicht? (Warum kommst du nicht?)
Du weißt, ich liebe dich (du weißt, ich liebe dich!)
Ich sitz' auf unsrer Bank und ärger' mich
Warum kommst du nicht? (Warum kommst du nicht?)
Du weißt, ich wart' auf dich (du weißt, ich wart' auf dich!)
Ich sitz' schon Stunden hier und denk' an dich (nur an dich)
Stundenlang habe ich dir
Auf der Geige vorgegeigt
Und war es schön, habe ich dir
Meine Briefmarken gezeigt
Warum kommst du nicht? (Warum kommst du nicht?)
Du weißt, ich liebe dich (du weißt, ich liebe dich!)
Ich sitz' auf unsrer Bank und ärger' mich
Warum kommst du nicht? (Warum kommst du nicht?)
Du weißt, ich wart' auf dich (du weißt, ich wart' auf dich!)
Ich sitz' schon Stunden hier und denk' an dich (nur an dich)
Doch jetzt hast (du sie verloren)
Doch jetzt hast (du sie verloren)
Doch jetzt hast (du sie verloren)
Doch jetzt hast (du sie verloren)
Doch jetzt hast (du sie verloren)
Abends haben wir gestrickt
Auf der Bank in unserem Hof
Doch gestern sagtest du zu mir
„Du bist langweilig und doof“
Warum kommst du nicht? (Warum kommst du nicht?)
Du weißt, ich liebe dich (du weißt, ich liebe dich!)
Ich sitz' auf unsrer Bank und ärger' mich
Warum kommst du nicht? (Warum kommst du nicht?)
Du weißt, ich wart' auf dich (du weißt, ich wart' auf dich!)
Ich sitz' schon Stunden hier und denk' an dich (nur an dich)
(Doch jetzt hast du sie verloren)
„Nie werde ich den Tag vergessen als wir den Bus versäumt haben (doch jetzt hast du sie verloren)
Und zu spät zum Religionsunterricht gekommen sind“ (doch jetzt hast du sie verloren)
Doch jetzt hast du sie verloren (doch jetzt hast du sie verloren)
Du weißt, du hast sie verloren (doch jetzt hast du sie verloren)
Verloren, verloren (doch jetzt hast du sie verloren)
Du weißt, du hast sie verloren (doch jetzt hast du sie verloren)
Verloren, verloren
"Kamelralley" by Die Ärzte is a sarcastic and bitter song about a person who has lost their lover. The song begins with the singer reminiscing about the good times they had with their ex-lover, who used to have time for them and even help them with gardening. The chorus repeats the question "Why don't you come?" several times, emphasizing the singer's frustration and confusion about why their lover has left them. The verses continue with the singer highlighting different activities and memories they shared with their lover and expressing their love, only to be met with rejection in the end.
The song's sarcastic tone becomes even more apparent in the bridge, where the singer recalls a mundane memory of the two of them missing a bus and being late for a religious class. The repetition of the phrase "but now you've lost her" in the chorus hammers home the point that the singer's ex-lover is now gone for good.
Overall, "Kamelralley" is a tongue-in-cheek lament about lost love and the confusion and bitterness that can come with it.
Line by Line Meaning
Unsre Liebe war so schön
Our love was so beautiful
Du hattest immer für mich Zeit
You always had time for me
Und du halfst mir wirklich gern
And you enjoyed helping me
Bei der Gartenarbeit
With gardening
Warum kommst du nicht? (Warum kommst du nicht?)
Why aren't you coming? (Why aren't you coming?)
Du weißt, ich liebe dich (du weißt, ich liebe dich!)
You know I love you (you know I love you!)
Ich sitz' auf unsrer Bank und ärger' mich
I'm sitting on our bench and getting angry
Du weißt, ich wart' auf dich (du weißt, ich wart' auf dich!)
You know I'm waiting for you (you know I'm waiting for you!)
Ich sitz' schon Stunden hier und denk' an dich (nur an dich)
I've been sitting here for hours thinking about you (only about you)
Stundenlang habe ich dir
For hours I played the violin for you
Auf der Geige vorgegeigt
On the violin I played for you
Und war es schön, habe ich dir
And when it was beautiful, I showed you
Meine Briefmarken gezeigt
My postage stamps
Abends haben wir gestrickt
In the evening we knitted
Auf der Bank in unserem Hof
On the bench in our courtyard
Doch gestern sagtest du zu mir
But yesterday you said to me
„Du bist langweilig und doof“
"You're boring and stupid"
"Nie werde ich den Tag vergessen als wir den Bus versäumt haben
"I will never forget the day we missed the bus
Und zu spät zum Religionsunterricht gekommen sind“ (doch jetzt hast du sie verloren)
And came late to religious education" (but now you've lost her)
Doch jetzt hast (du sie verloren)
But now you've lost her
Du weißt, du hast sie verloren (doch jetzt hast du sie verloren)
You know you've lost her (but now you've lost her)
Verloren, verloren (doch jetzt hast du sie verloren)
Lost, lost (but now you've lost her)
Du weißt, du hast sie verloren (doch jetzt hast du sie verloren)
You know you've lost her (but now you've lost her)
Verloren, verloren
Lost, lost
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: Dirk Felsenheimer, Hans Runge, Jan Vetter
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind