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
Quark
Die Ärzte Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Du gehst mir auf die Nerven, Baby, und zwar extrem
Du redest ohne Punkt und Komma und rund um die Uhr
Du holst noch nicht mal Luft dabei, wie machst du das nur?
Gib mir bitte eine Chance, geh doch wenigstens mal raus
Ständig dies Gequatsche, das hält doch keiner aus
Ein Wasserfall ist harmlos gegen dich
Du redest Quark den ganzen Tag
Keiner kommt uns mehr besuchen, du hast sie zu sehr gequält
Du hast mir dein ganzes Leben schon Zehntausend Mal erzählt
Du redest ohne Pause, du redest laut und schnell
Dass deine Stimmbänder nicht reißen, ist echt sensationell
Gib mir bitte eine Chance, halt doch bitte mal den Mund
Ich werde langsam taub und meine Ohren sind schon wund
Ich wollt dich exorzieren, doch ich kam ja nicht zu Wort
Was bleibt mir jetzt noch übrig Harakiri oder Mord?
Du redest Quark den ganzen Tag
Du redest Quark den ganzen Tag
Bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla
Bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla
Bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla
Du redest Quark sogar im Sarg
Du redest Quark den ganzen Tag
Du redest Quark (Bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla)
Du redest Quark, du redest Quark
Du redest Quark
Und du redest, und du redest Quark
The lyrics of Die Ärzte’s song “Quark” reflect a relatable situation for anyone who’s ever had to tolerate excessive blabbering from someone they know. The singer expresses frustration towards someone, presumably a partner or a friend, who talks nonstop and has no sense of when to stop. The singer describes this behavior as something that’s hindering their life, driving away visitors, and causing physical discomfort in their ears. They beg the talkative individual to give them a break and take some time away from talking, but the person continues their incessant chatter, even in their own funeral.
The song employs the use of humorous exaggerations to emphasize the irritating nature of the individual’s behavior. The phrase “Du redest Quark” (You talk nonsense) is repeated throughout the song, highlighting the repetitive and meaningless nature of the person’s talking. The line “Du redest Quark sogar im Sarg” (You talk nonsense even in the coffin) furthers the sentiment that the person’s excessive talking is something that cannot be escaped, even in death. The song’s chorus features a repetition of the phrase “Bla, bla, bla,” mimicking the sound of mindless chatter.
Overall, the song “Quark” is a humorous and relatable take on dealing with someone who won’t stop talking, and it showcases Die Ärzte’s ability to infuse humor into their music while also addressing common issues that people face in their daily lives.
Line by Line Meaning
Seitdem ich dich kenne, hab ich ein Problem
I have a problem since I met you.
Du gehst mir auf die Nerven, Baby, und zwar extrem
You annoy me, baby, extremely.
Du redest ohne Punkt und Komma und rund um die Uhr
You talk incessantly and all the time.
Du holst noch nicht mal Luft dabei, wie machst du das nur?
You don't even take a breath while talking, how do you manage that?
Gib mir bitte eine Chance, geh doch wenigstens mal raus
Give me a chance, go out sometimes.
Ständig dies Gequatsche, das hält doch keiner aus
Constant talking, no one can stand it.
Ein Wasserfall ist harmlos gegen dich
Compared to you, a waterfall is harmless.
Ich kann noch nicht mal weg-hören, es ist fürchterlich
I can't even tune out, it's terrible.
Keiner kommt uns mehr besuchen, du hast sie zu sehr gequält
No one wants to visit us anymore, you have tortured them too much.
Du hast mir dein ganzes Leben schon Zehntausend Mal erzählt
You have told me your whole life story ten thousand times.
Du redest ohne Pause, du redest laut und schnell
You talk without pause, loudly and quickly.
Dass deine Stimmbänder nicht reißen, ist echt sensationell
It's truly sensational that your vocal cords haven't torn yet.
Ich werde langsam taub und meine Ohren sind schon wund
I'm slowly going deaf and my ears are already sore.
Ich wollt dich exorzieren, doch ich kam ja nicht zu Wort
I wanted to exorcise you, but I couldn't even get a word in.
Was bleibt mir jetzt noch übrig Harakiri oder Mord?
What's left for me now, harakiri or murder?
Du redest Quark den ganzen Tag
You talk nonsense all day long.
Bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla
Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.
Du redest Quark sogar im Sarg
You talk nonsense even in the coffin.
Du redest Quark, du redest Quark
You talk nonsense, you talk nonsense.
Und du redest, und du redest Quark
And you keep talking, and you keep talking nonsense.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: Jan Vetter
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind