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
Nichts gesehen
Die Ärzte Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
in der Stadt morgens um Zehn.
Und wir standen zwar daneben,
doch wir haben nichts gesehn.
Ein Mädchen wird von seinen Eltern,
schon seit Jahren eingesperrt.
Und das sind zwar unsre Nachbarn,
aber seltsam, wir haben nie etwas bemerkt
WIR HABEN NICHTS GESEHN!!!
Wir sind die Mehrheit,
und wir mischen uns nicht ein.
Wir haben eigene Probleme.
Jeder stirbt für sich allein!
Wir sind die Mehrheit,
niemand wirft den ersten Stein.
Und darum muss sich keiner schämen.
Jeder stirbt für sich allein!
Ein Mann geht durch die Straßen,
er sieht anders aus als wir.
Niemand möchte mit ihm reden,
denn er ist ja nicht von hier.
Und dann kommen ein paar Leute,
schlagen ihn ein bisschen tot.
Wir haben wieder nichts gesehen,
ich schätze mal wir saßen schon beim Abendbrot.
WIR HABEN NICHTS GESEHN!!!
Wir sind die Mehrheit,
und wir mischen uns nicht ein.
Wir haben eigene Probleme.
Jeder stirbt für sich allein!
Wir sind die Mehrheit,
niemand wirft den ersten Stein.
Und darum muss sich keiner schämen.
Jeder stirbt für sich allein!
Wir haben nichts gesehn,
wir haben nichts gehört,
wir haben nichts gesagt,
denn es hat uns nichts gestört.
Doch irgendwann bist du es dann,
der um hilfe schreit,
dann bist du in der Minderheit.
Wir sind die Mehrheit,
und wir mischen uns nicht ein.
Wir haben eigene Probleme.
Jeder stirbt für sich allein!
Wir sind die Mehrheit,
und du kannst dir sicher sein,
wir vergießen keine Tränen.
JEDER LEBT,
JEDER KÄMPFT,
JEDER STIRBT FÜR SICH ALLEIN!!!
The lyrics to Die Ärzte's song "Nichts gesehen" address the issue of societal apathy and the tendency to turn a blind eye to the injustices and suffering of others. The first verse describes the rape of a woman in broad daylight, with bystanders failing to intervene or even acknowledge what is happening. The second verse details a situation where a young girl is being kept captive by her own parents, yet the neighbors fail to notice anything strange or intervene on her behalf.
The chorus contains the repeated refrain "Wir haben nichts gesehn!" (We haven't seen anything!), which highlights the prevalence of apathy and indifference in society. The song also speaks to the tendency to prioritize one's own problems and needs over those of others, with the lines "Wir sind die Mehrheit, / Niemand wirft den ersten Stein / Und darum muss sich keiner schämen / Jeder stirbt für sich allein" (We are the majority, / No one throws the first stone / And so no one should be ashamed / Everyone dies alone) emphasizing the individualistic nature of modern society.
The third and final verse introduces a new scenario, in which a man who is visibly different from the norm is attacked and killed by a group of people. Once again, bystanders refuse to intervene, instead opting to continue with their own lives and remain oblivious to the suffering of others. The final lines of the song – "Doch irgendwann bist du es dann, der um Hilfe schreit, / Dann bist du in der Minderheit" (But eventually it will be you, who cries out for help, / Then you will be the minority) – serve as a warning to listeners to consider the consequences of their own apathy and inaction.
Line by Line Meaning
Eine Frau wird vergewaltigt,
A woman is raped,
in der Stadt morgens um Zehn.
In the city, at ten in the morning.
Und wir standen zwar daneben,
And we were standing by,
doch wir haben nichts gesehn.
But we didn't see anything.
Ein Mädchen wird von seinen Eltern,
A girl is locked up by her parents,
schon seit Jahren eingesperrt.
Locked up for years.
Und das sind zwar unsre Nachbarn,
And they are our neighbors,
aber seltsam, wir haben nie etwas bemerkt
But strangely, we never noticed anything.
WIR HABEN NICHTS GESEHN!!!
WE DIDN'T SEE ANYTHING!!!
Wir sind die Mehrheit,
We are the majority,
und wir mischen uns nicht ein.
And we don't get involved.
Wir haben eigene Probleme.
We have our own problems.
Jeder stirbt für sich allein!
Everyone dies alone!
Ein Mann geht durch die Straßen,
A man walks through the streets,
er sieht anders aus als wir.
He looks different than us.
Niemand möchte mit ihm reden,
No one wants to talk to him,
denn er ist ja nicht von hier.
Because he's not from here.
Und dann kommen ein paar Leute,
And then a few people come,
schlagen ihn ein bisschen tot.
Beat him to death a little.
Wir haben wieder nichts gesehen,
We didn't see anything again,
ich schätze mal wir saßen schon beim Abendbrot.
I guess we were already having dinner.
WIR HABEN NICHTS GESEHN!!!
WE DIDN'T SEE ANYTHING!!!
Wir haben nichts gesehn,
We didn't see anything,
wir haben nichts gehört,
We didn't hear anything,
wir haben nichts gesagt,
We didn't say anything,
denn es hat uns nichts gestört.
Because it didn't bother us.
Doch irgendwann bist du es dann,
But eventually, it's you,
der um hilfe schreit,
Who's screaming for help,
dann bist du in der Minderheit.
Then you're in the minority.
Wir sind die Mehrheit,
We are the majority,
und wir mischen uns nicht ein.
And we don't get involved.
Wir haben eigene Probleme.
We have our own problems.
Jeder stirbt für sich allein!
Everyone dies alone!
Wir sind die Mehrheit,
We are the majority,
und du kannst dir sicher sein,
And you can be sure,
wir vergießen keine Tränen.
We shed no tears.
JEDER LEBT,
EVERYONE LIVES,
JEDER KÄMPFT,
EVERYONE FIGHTS,
JEDER STIRBT FÜR SICH ALLEIN!!!
EVERYONE DIES ALONE!!!
Contributed by Bentley H. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Jonas Livington
Ein wirklich, wirklich tolles Lied. Die Ärzte sind toll...
Ichhalt1991
5* DÄ for EVER!!! Und Gesellschaftskritische Lieder haben sowieso noch nie geschadet. Regt zum nachdenken an.
Auftschi
Wow.. Find ich gut.. Hätt' man locker für die ewige Maitresse aufs Album setzen können.
LoDrölkar
Zum Heulen!!! Warum begreift das denn niemand? Danke fürs hochladen!!! Tolles Lied!!!
CxxCody
So was nenne ich mal gute Texte das ist wirklcih die Beste Band der Welt
Muchla
aber das lied trifft auf jeden fall den nagel auf den kopf... die civilcourage kommt in d-land wirklich n bisschen zu kurz... aber finds cool dass das lied vom scheitern am tag der zeugnisvergabe raus gekommen ist :D
Juli Magenta
super lied **
Felix
❤
tete henkes
traurig weil wahr...
Snekneus
MitAbstand die beste Quali