History of Sorts

Terwijl ik gisteren luisterde naar het lied 15 Miljoen Mensen van Fluitsma & Van Tijn, kwam ik op het idee om er een alternatieve tekst van te maken. Een soort muzikale waarschuwing aan de Nederlandse regering: wat er mis kan gaan als je je laat meeslepen door extreme politieke ideologieën, of ze nu van rechts of links komen.

107 Duizend Mensen

Op dat hele kleine stukje aarde
Die stuur je niet de gaskamers in
Die laat je in hun waarde

In stille straten klinkt geen stem
De namen fluisteren door de bomen
Ze waren kinderen, vrouwen, mannen
En nooit meer zullen ze terugkomen

Een volk met dromen, hoop en leven
Verdwenen achter prikkeldraad
Maar in ons hart zal het blijven beven
Dat niemand ooit vergeten gaat

107 duizend Mensen

Op dat hele kleine stukje aarde
Die stuur je niet de gaskamers in
Die laat je in hun waarde

“15 Million People” refers to a popular Dutch hit from 1996 by the duo Fluitsma & Van Tijn, originally written for a TV commercial for the Postbank. The lyrics were written by Frank Pels, and the song became a number-one hit in the Dutch Top 40, partly thanks to the accompanying commercial featuring famous Dutch people.

Below are the translated lyrics

Land of a thousand opinions
The land of level-headedness
All together on the beach
Rusk with breakfast

The land where no one loses control
Except when we win
Then passion suddenly erupts
And no one stays inside

The land averse to meddling
No uniform is sacred
A son who calls his father Pete
And no bicycle is safe anywhere

Chorus:
15 million people
On that tiny little patch of earth
You don’t lay down the law for them
You let them be who they are
15 million people
On that tiny little patch of earth
Don’t force them into a straitjacket
You let them be who they are

The land full of protest groups
No boss who’s really in charge
Curtains always left open
Lunch is a cheese sandwich

The land full of tolerance
Except not for the neighbor
The big question that always remains
Where does he pay his rent from

The land that takes care of everyone
No dog knows of a gutter
With “nasiballs” in the wall
And no one eats dry bread

While I was listening yesterday to the song 15 Million People by Fluitsma & Van Tijn, I came up with the idea of creating an alternative version of the lyrics. A kind of musical warning to the Dutch government: about what can go wrong if you let yourself get carried away by extreme political ideologies, whether they come from the right or the left.

My text

107 Thousand People

On that tiny little patch of earth
You don’t send them to the gas chambers
You let them be who they are

In silent streets no voice is heard
The names whisper through the trees
They were children, women, men
And never again will they return

A people with dreams, with hope, with life
Gone behind the barbed wire
But in our hearts it will keep trembling
That no one will ever forget

107 thousand people

On that tiny little patch of earth
You don’t send them to the gas chambers
You let them be who they are