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

Paul
Die Ärzte Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Paul, Paul, Paul ist toll

Paule heißt er, ist Bademeister
Im Schwimmbad an der Ecke
Paule heißt er, ist Bademeister
Und er bringt kleine Mädchen zur Strecke

Wenn im Sommer die Sonne scheint

Dann gehen wir schwimmen, es ist ja nicht weit
Wir amüsieren uns mit Brust oder Kraul
Denn über uns, da wacht Paul

Er hat ein goldnes Kettchen
Das ihm Glück bringt
Und er passt auf,
Dass niemand ertrinkt

Paule heißt er, ist Bademeister
Im Schwimmbad an der Ecke
Paule heißt er, ist Bademeister
Und er bringt kleine Mädchen zur Strecke

Paule schubst Kinder vom Einer
Paule ist ein ganz Gemeiner
Und findet Paul mal ein Mädchen nett
Wirft er sie vom 10-Meter-Brett

Seht euch den Paul mal
Beim Springen an
Er scheint zu fliegen
Genau so, wie Supermann

Paule heißt er, ist Bademeister
Im Schwimmbad an der Ecke
Paule heißt er, ist Bademeister
Und er bringt kleine Mädchen zur Strecke

Da zahlt man gerne sein Eintrittsgeld
Paul ist der schönste Bademeister auf der ganzen Welt

Paule heißt er, ist Bademeister
Im Schwimmbad an der Ecke
Paule heißt er, ist Bademeister
Und er bringt kleine Mädchen zur Strecke

Paule heißt er, ist Bademeister
Im Schwimmbad an der Ecke
Paule heißt er, ist Bademeister
Und er bringt kleine Mädchen zur Strecke

Paul, Paul, Paul ist toll

Overall Meaning

The lyrics to Die Ärzte's song "Paul" depict a sinister character named Paule who works as a swimming pool attendant and preys on young girls. The repeated chorus of "Paul, Paul, Paul ist toll" (meaning "Paul is great") serves as an ironic juxtaposition to the disturbing actions Paule carries out. The first two verses describe the mundane setting of a summer day spent at the pool, where Paule is introduced as a gold chain-wearing lifeguard who takes his job seriously, but swiftly shifts to reveal his unsavory tendencies. Paule is depicted as a social outcast who enjoys asserting his power over young children by pushing them off the diving board and forcing girls to jump from greater heights.

The final stanza discusses the admiration and even obsession felt by the swimmers towards Paul, presumably the name given to Paule’s alter ego by his admirers. The satirical lyrics play on the idea that often times, society is willing to overlook the faults of charismatic figures, even if it means ignoring their awful deeds. The song stands as a critique of the apathy inherent in human nature and serves as a warning to be cautious of those who appear too good to be true.

Line by Line Meaning

Paul, Paul, Paul ist toll
Paul is positively regarded.

Paule heißt er, ist Bademeister
He is named Paule and he is a lifeguard.

Im Schwimmbad an der Ecke
He works at the corner swimming pool.

Paule heißt er, ist Bademeister
He is named Paule and he is a lifeguard.

Und er bringt kleine Mädchen zur Strecke
He is notorious for seducing young girls.

Wenn im Sommer die Sonne scheint
During sunny summer days...

Dann gehen wir schwimmen, es ist ja nicht weit
...people like to swim at the nearby swimming pool.

Wir amüsieren uns mit Brust oder Kraul
We enjoy swimming techniques such as breaststroke or crawl.

Denn über uns, da wacht Paul
Because Paul is there to watch over and ensure safety for swimmers.

Er hat ein goldnes Kettchen
He wears a gold necklace.

Das ihm Glück bringt
He believes the necklace brings him luck.

Und er passt auf,
And he carefully watches...

Dass niemand ertrinkt
...to prevent anyone from drowning.

Paule schubst Kinder vom Einer
Paule pushes kids off the one-meter diving board.

Paule ist ein ganz Gemeiner
Paule is quite mean.

Und findet Paul mal ein Mädchen nett
If Paul is attracted to a girl...

Wirft er sie vom 10-Meter-Brett
...he throws her off the ten-meter diving board.

Seht euch den Paul mal
Take a look at Paul...

Beim Springen an
...as he jumps.

Er scheint zu fliegen
He looks as if he is flying.

Genau so, wie Supermann
Just like Superman.

Da zahlt man gerne sein Eintrittsgeld
Visitors are happy to pay the entrance fee.

Paul ist der schönste Bademeister auf der ganzen Welt
Paul is considered the most handsome lifeguard in the world.