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
Meine Freunde
Die Ärzte Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Meine Freunde sind alle kriminell
Sie ficken sich ganz einfach so,
Gegenseitig in den Po,
Und das macht ihnen auch noch Spaß
Dürfen die das?
Dürfen die das?
Ist das tatsächlich erlaubt?
Kann ich das bitte schriftlich haben,
Weil mir nachher keiner glaubt
Dürfen die das?
Meine Freunde stehen auf S und M
Meine Freunde sind nicht gerade verklemmt
Sie bleiben tagelang zuhaus',
Peitschen sich gegenseitig aus,
Und sie zerschneiden sich mit Glas
Dürfen die das?
Ja, dürfen die das?
Ist das nicht irgendwie verboten?
Ist das tatsächlich legal?
Es geht mich eigentlich nichts an, aber ich wüsste gerne mal
Dürfen die das?
Meine Freunde glauben nicht an Gott
Meine Freunde gehören aufs Schafott
Sie leugnen seine Existenz,
Sind totale Satan-Fans
Einer spielt Drums, der andere Bass
"E nomine satanas!"
Dürfen die das?
Ja, dürfen die das?
Ja sag mal, ist das nicht irgendwie verboten?
Wird man dafür nicht bestraft?
Was ist das bloß für eine Welt,
In der man solche Sachen darf?
Dürfen die das?
In Die Ärzte's song Meine Freunde, the lyrics depict a speaker who has friends that are homosexual, involved in S&M, and Satan-worshipping. The singer questions whether their actions are legal or not and wonders if they should be allowed to do what they do. The lyrics show the singer's confusion and lack of understanding towards the choices their friends make. Their questions are posed in a tone that suggests they are skeptical of their friends' lifestyles and beliefs. The lines "Ist das nicht irgendwie verboten? Ist das tatsächlich erlaubt?" express the singer's confusion and disbelief towards their friends.
As the song progresses, the singer continues to reference their friends' actions and beliefs that they do not understand. The line, "Was ist das bloß für eine Welt, in der man solche Sachen darf?" shows the singer's incredulity that such acts are permitted in society. Through the lyrics, Die Ärzte seem to be making a commentary on societal norms and how these norms can sometimes lead to close-mindedness and ignorance towards individual freedoms and lifestyles.
Overall, Meine Freunde is a song that challenges societal norms and individual prejudices, highlighting the importance of understanding and tolerance towards others' choices and beliefs.
Line by Line Meaning
Meine Freunde sind homosexuell
My friends are homosexual
Meine Freunde sind alle kriminell
All of my friends are criminals
Sie ficken sich ganz einfach so,
They have sex so easily,
Gegenseitig in den Po,
In each other's butts,
Und das macht ihnen auch noch Spaß
And they enjoy it
Dürfen die das?
Are they allowed to do that?
Ist das nicht irgendwie verboten?
Isn't that somehow forbidden?
Ist das tatsächlich erlaubt?
Is that actually allowed?
Kann ich das bitte schriftlich haben,
Can I please have that in writing,
Weil mir nachher keiner glaubt
Because no one will believe me later
Meine Freunde stehen auf S und M
My friends are into S&M
Meine Freunde sind nicht gerade verklemmt
My friends are not exactly prudish
Sie bleiben tagelang zuhaus',
They stay home for days,
Peitschen sich gegenseitig aus,
Whip each other,
Und sie zerschneiden sich mit Glas
And cut themselves with glass
Ja, dürfen die das?
Yes, are they allowed to do that?
Meine Freunde glauben nicht an Gott
My friends don't believe in God
Meine Freunde gehören aufs Schafott
My friends belong on the scaffold
Sie leugnen seine Existenz,
They deny his existence,
Sind totale Satan-Fans
They're total Satan fans
Einer spielt Drums, der andere Bass
One plays drums, the other bass
"E nomine satanas!"
"In the name of Satan!"
Ja sag mal, ist das nicht irgendwie verboten?
Hey, isn't that somehow forbidden?
Wird man dafür nicht bestraft?
Won't you be punished for it?
Was ist das bloß für eine Welt,
What kind of world is this,
In der man solche Sachen darf?
Where such things are allowed?
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Written by: Farin Urlaub
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@marcscheiffele6086
Die Ärzte sind so genial. Früher von 8-15 habe ich sie rauf und runter gehört, obwohl ich jedes zweite Wort nicht verstanden habe und die Message hinter den Lieder sowieso nicht :D einfach die beste Band der Welt
@luizadeto8661
Muito bom.
@dariolixo
Foda de mais mano.
@uploadeverything4096
Dieses Album ist ein Klassiker der Deutschen Musikgeschichte
@retrosven3767
Dieses und die Bestie in menschengestalt
@e30325ikiller
wennde meinst....
@nytr
Even tho i can't speak German yet i enjoy the whole die Ärzte album :D
@PietPiederson
seriously... for this song - get a translation 🙂
@LesXakepc
Соболезную здравомыслящим немцам.
@jackys3736
Mich erinnert das Lied an alte Zeiten die ich nie vergessen werde. ^-^