Farin Urlaub - Musical Style

Musical Style

Since his childhood Urlaub was influenced by The Beatles and Frank Zappa. In addition he particularly listens to Johnny Cash, Depeche Mode and "more or less everything except free jazz and techno". However, he admits openly that he does not consider himself to be a particularly good guitarist. He says that he often plays "unclean" chords and that even today he has only a very limited ability to read music, though this has not held back his success as a musician. Urlaub is a very creative and productive author and a relevant musician, firm in many styles from Punk to Rock, Funk (Deine Freundin), Ska (Dermitder), Reggae, Dancehall, Country and even, albeit in a sardonic manner, in Volkstümliche Musik (Wenn es Abend wird).

According to some reports, the difference between his solo songs and those he has written for Die Ärzte is that his solo pieces are more personal and topical. He tried to make his songs for Die Ärzte as "timeless" and funny as possible; in this he was influenced by the Comedian Harmonists. Many of his songs are about being left by one's partner (Zu spät (Too late), Wegen dir (Because of you), Wie am ersten Tag (Like the first day), Komm zurück (Come back), Nie gesagt (Never told you), OK, 1000 Jahre schlechten Sex (1000 years of bad sex), Nichts in der Welt (Nothing in the world)) or are just nonsense (Buddy Holly's Brille (Buddy Holly's glasses), Außerirdische (Extraterrestrials), WAMMW (Abbreviation for Wenn alle Männer Mädchen wären - If all men were girls)). Since the reunion of Die Ärzte, he has also written socially critical and political songs (Kopfüber in die Hölle (Headfirst into hell), Schrei nach Liebe (Cry for love), Schunder-Song, Der Misanthrop, Rebell, Deine Schuld (Your fault), Nicht allein (Not alone)).

Whereas his first solo album contained several very satirical texts, Am Ende der Sonne deals with more serious themes such as politics, social criticism and personal subjects. In some solo pieces, Urlaub also shows some tendency towards ska punk (Dermitder ("The Guy With The", contextually, "der Mann mit der Posaune" - the man with the trombone), 1000 Jahre schlechten Sex (One Thousand Years Of Bad Sex)).