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
Rettet die Wale
Die Ärzte Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Ihr seid bestimmt damit beschäftigt euer Hirn völlig zu zerstören.
Doch diesmal ist es ernst. Diesmal ist es wirklich wichtig!
Passt schön auf, fahrt vorsichtig und
Rettet die Wale, ohoh
Rettet die Wale, ohoh
Rettet die Wale, ohoh
Ihr sitzt bestimmt den ganzen Tag am Bildschirm und ihr surft durchs Internet!
Ihr sucht noch immer nach dem preisgünstigsten Anbieter von Kinderfett.
Doch dieses Mal sind Lichterketten einfach nicht genug.
Ich bitte Euch, seid so gut und
Rettet die Wale, ohoh (yeah, yeah, yeah)
Rettet die Wale, ohoh (yeah, yeah)
Rettet die Wale, ohoh (yeah, yeah, yeah)
Rettet die Wale, ohoh (yeah, yeah)
Jetzt denkt ihr sicher „Was ist bloß mit“ „Die Ärzte“ los?
Sind die jetzt plötzlich auch Ökos?
Haben die lange Haare? Leben auf dem Bauernhof?
Sind die doof? Sind die doof? Sind die doof, doof, doof, doof?"
Nein, hier geht es um viel mehr!
Wale sind die größten Sympathieträger!
Ja, hier geht es ums Prinzip (Prinzip)!
Wir haben Wale, wir haben Wale einfach lieb!
Rettet die Wale, ohoh (yeah, yeah, yeah)
Rettet die Wale, ohoh (yeah, yeah)
Rettet die Wale, ohoh (yeah, yeah, yeah)
Rettet die Wale und schaltet die Atomkraftwerke aus!
The song "Rettet die Wale" by Die Ärzte is a call to action to the people of the world to take care of the environment and protect the whales. The opening lines of the song sarcastically mention that people must be busy destroying their brains while there are more important things to be done. The lyrics urge the listeners to pay attention and drive safely as this time it is serious and extremely important. The chorus repeatedly states the words "Rettet die Wale" which means "Save the whales" in English.
The song highlights the lack of concern that people have towards the environment while they focus on trivial things like searching for the cheapest provider of children's fat. It goes on to plead with the listeners to understand that merely lighting up their Christmas trees with fairy lights is not enough to make a significant change. The band goes on to explain how this time it is more than just a show or an act by the band to be portrayed as being environmentally conscious. The song goes further to explain that whales are significant in many ways and are important animals that require protection.
Overall, the song serves as a wake-up call, urging the public to take a step forward and to look after the environment, to take action to protect the whales that are significant to the ecosystem as a whole. The use of satire and sarcasm together with the repetitive chorus and upbeat tunes make this an engaging and powerful protest song.
Line by Line Meaning
Ihr habt bestimmt gerade was Besseres zu tun, als mir zuzuhören!
You probably have something more important to do than listening to me.
Ihr seid bestimmt damit beschäftigt euer Hirn völlig zu zerstören.
You're probably busy destroying your brain.
Doch diesmal ist es ernst. Diesmal ist es wirklich wichtig!
But this time it's serious. This time it's really important!
Passt schön auf, fahrt vorsichtig und
Be careful and...
Rettet die Wale, ohoh
Save the whales, ohoh
Ihr sitzt bestimmt den ganzen Tag am Bildschirm und ihr surft durchs Internet!
You probably sit in front of your computer all day and surf the internet!
Ihr sucht noch immer nach dem preisgünstigsten Anbieter von Kinderfett.
You're still looking for the cheapest supplier of children's fat.
Doch dieses Mal sind Lichterketten einfach nicht genug.
But this time fairy lights are just not enough.
Ich bitte Euch, seid so gut und
I ask you kindly, please...
Rettet die Wale, ohoh (yeah, yeah, yeah)
Save the whales, ohoh (yeah, yeah, yeah)
Jetzt denkt ihr sicher „Was ist bloß mit“ „Die Ärzte“ los?
Now you're probably thinking 'What's wrong with Die Ärzte?'
Sind die jetzt plötzlich auch Ökos?
Are they suddenly environmentalists?
Haben die lange Haare? Leben auf dem Bauernhof?
Do they have long hair? Live on a farm?
Sind die doof? Sind die doof? Sind die doof, doof, doof, doof?"
Are they stupid? Are they stupid? Are they stupid, stupid, stupid?
Nein, hier geht es um viel mehr!
No, it's about much more!
Wale sind die größten Sympathieträger!
Whales are the greatest ambassadors of sympathy!
Ja, hier geht es ums Prinzip (Prinzip)!
Yes, it's about principle (principle)!
Wir haben Wale, wir haben Wale einfach lieb!
We love whales, we just love whales!
Rettet die Wale und schaltet die Atomkraftwerke aus!
Save the whales and turn off the nuclear power plants!
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Heavy Metal Barpiano
So, jetzt kommen die B-Seiten. 🤘🎹
Frankyavalone
Ich halte morgen ein Referat über Wale, darum wärme ich mich jetzt mit diesem Lied auf
Schattenprinz
Weißt du noch wie es war ?
Und weißt du noch was über Wale ?
Frankyavalone
@Schattenprinz Lol. Also soweit ich mich erinnere ging es um die Kommunikation von Walen untereinander. Und dass die ein super ausgeprägtes Kommunikationssystem haben und einige Arten über den halben Globus miteinander kommunizieren können. Außerdem haben Wale aus verschiedenen Gegenden verschiedene Sprachen, und es wurde mal aufgezeichnet dass eine Gruppe Wale einer fremden Gruppe Wale etwas vorgesungen hat und die haben das dann auch immer wieder gesungen und um die Welt getragen. Mein Vortrag war glaub ich inhaltlich sehr interessant, aber ich war äußerst nervös und hab deshalb nicht sehr gut vorgetragen, was mich einige Punkte gekostet hat :D
Aber es gibt heutzutage viele super interessante Videos zum Thema (die Forschung ist ein gutes Stück weiter als damals!), kuck dir mal welche an, voll faszinierend!
Schattenprinz
@Frankyavalone omg, das is ja episch
Nicht nur, dass du so schnell antwortest, sondern nach neun Jahren immer noch soviel weißt 😂😂
Aber es hört sich definitiv interessant an, ich denke ich werd mich da irgendwann mal etwas zu informieren
Danke :)
Frankyavalone
Bitte !
Frankyavalone
Atomixx Es war tatsächlich in meinem ersten Jahr an der Universität. Bin heutzutage Sprachlehrer! 🙂
Anna
voll gut dieser song
Weissquell
Klang früher (im Medley) für mich immer wie: Kanibale, oho! Kanibale oho! Und den Text hätte ich ihnen auch zugetraut.......
telesanchez
Siehe Anneliese Schmidt