Songs in Dutch, (Dutch) Low German, Afrikaans, German, Yiddish and Norwegian
Dutch expat celebrations near Barcelona for coronation of King Willem-Alexander in 2013.
Please note:
- All these street organ arrangements for my modifed Topsy 3 are home-made. Contact me if you want a custom arrangement - whether a modification of a number below or something new - for your own street organ, musical box, barrel piano, or whatever.
- The MP3s below use Virtual Studio Technology: this is NOT the real sound, and someone needs to sing!
- Lyrics or translations can be displayed live on a screen, karaoke-style.
| Title | Artist | La | Year | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bacteriën / The Virus Song | Willem Wilmink / Harry Bannink, trans. / arr. The Singing Organ-Grinder | nl en | 1996 | One of Wilmink's so-called intermezzos. When uncle Steve had had a poo / He scraped by hand each glob of goo / From his scrawny bum etc etc Video, possibly from another time or person: |
| Een jongen krijgt een meisjesbrief / A boy receives a girlish note | Willem Wilmink / Harry Bannink | nl en | 1995 | One of Wilmink's so-called intermezzos. So in / My palace in the tallest tower / I read that round name, hour by hour: / Eva Cohen. Video, possibly from another time or person: |
| Mooi was die tijd | Corry Konings | nl | 1990 | |
| Emigranten | Willem Wilmink / Harry Bannink | nl en | 1990 | One of Wilmink's so-called intermezzos. Veel emigranten over zee / nemen al hun gewoontes mee / naar de overkant. |
| Kleine jodeljongen | Manke Nelis | nl | 1987 | |
| Naar de speeltuin | Heleentje van Capelle met de Karekieten en het Orkest Zonder Naam | nl | 1987 | |
| Ik verscheurde je foto | Koos Alberts | nl | 1984 | One of the greatest laments in the Dutch repertoire: I tore up your photo / Your letters I've burnt / In my heart I'm weeping / Though I pretend I weren't. |
| Smurf song | Pierre Kartner | nl | 1977 | |
| Aan de Costa del Sol (tingelingeling) | Trad. German-Italian / Johnny Hoes / Zangeres Zonder Naam | nl | 1975? | Waltz, apparently stolen from Trentino in the Tyrol - see the links. |
| Itsy bitsy teenie weenie | Wencke Myhre / Brian Hyland / Caterina Valente | de en | 1975 | Cha-cha |
| In 't kleine café aan de haven | Pierre Kartner | nl | 1975 | |
| Jan Klaassen de trompetter | Lennaert Nijgh / Boudewijn de Groot / Rob de Nijs | nl | 1973 | The life and loves of Jan Claesen, a legendary Dutch figure, supposedly trumpeter in the army of Frederick Henry of Orange-Nassau, afterwards a type of Punch figure. |
| Ik ben Gerrit | Gerrit Dekzeil | nl | 1973 | My name is Gerrit and I steal like the ravens, / I am a rogue in the eyes of the goody-goodies. / But what can you do if you have nothing / In this world where everything's a con. Video, possibly from another time or person: |
| Veerpont / The Floating Bridge | Drs. P (Heinz Polzer) / The Singing Organ-Grinder | nl en | 1973 | The proprietor of a floating bridge over the River Lea at the Anchor & Hope philosophises, in my translation, regarding the good times and the bad: We stand here on the banks of a river swift and hot / The other shore is over there and this one here is not. |
| Peppi en Kokki intro | nl | 1972 | Dutch 70s absurdist children's show. Video, possibly from another time or person: | |
| Manuela | Jacques Herb | nl | 1971 | |
| Huilen is voor jou te laat | Corry en de Rekels | nl | 1970 | |
| Het dorp / La montagne | Wim Sonneveld / Jean Ferrat | nl fr | 1970 | Another Dutch plundering of French repertoire: nostalgia available in both languages. |
| Postman Pat / Pat el Cartero / Postmann Pat | Bryan Daly / Ken Barrie | no en | 1970 | In English or Norwegian. Virtual excerpt: Video, possibly from another time or person: |
| De Soldatenmoeder / The Soldiers' Mother | Zangeres Zonder Naam / Singing Organ-Grinder | nl en | 1969 | A Dutch neo-broadside ballad about the Vietnam War in my translation. Probably unintentionally, its theme is similar to Brecht's Mother Courage, but the treatment is more startling and profound. |
| De glimlach van een kind (Toi tu voudrais) | Gerrit den Braber / Willy Alberti / Jean Kluger / Daniel Vangarde | nl | 1968 | |
| Amsterdam huilt / Amsterdam weeps | Kees Manders / Zwarte Riek / Singing Organ-Grinder | en nl | 1964 | Extraordinary Dutch khazan-style lament about the genocide of Amsterdam's Jewry. Evocative not only of the pre-nationalist-socialist ghetto, but also of a world still subconsciously recalled by Dutch wedding and light musicians. My translation. |
| Rhythm of the rain / Ritme van de regen | The Cascades / Rob de Nijs | nl en | 1962 | Also on the soundtrack of Quadrophenia. |
| De blinde soldaat / The blind soldier | Zangeres Zonder Naam | nl | 1961 | A soldier back from the front can't see his new-born son because he has lost his sight. |
| Zuiderzeeballade | Willy van Hemert / Joop de Leur / Oetze Verschoor / Sylvain Poons | nl | 1959 | |
| Cowboy Billy | Jan en Jules | nl | 1959 | Part of the European craze for local cowboys. Video, possibly from another time or person: |
| De crocus en de hyacint | Dorus / Tom Manders | nl | 1957 | |
| Che sarà, sarà / Qué será, será / Whatever will be, will be | Doris Day / José Feliciano / Pink Martini / The Jukebox Sisters / Dave Cash | en es it nl yi | 1956 | Waltz |
| De postkoets / La diligence | Jos Cleber / Ferry van Delden / De Selvera's / The Cats | nl | 1956 | |
| Tulpen uit Amsterdam / Tulips from Amsterdam | Ralf Arnie / Van Aleda / Max Bygraves | nl en | 1956 | Typically Dutch: a German waltz about Turkish flowers. Virtual excerpt: |
| El baile de los pajaritos / The birdie song / De vogeltjesdans | El payo Juan Manuel / Werner Thomas / Johnny Hoes | es nl en | 1955 | |
| Mexico | Zangeres Zonder Naam / Luis Mariano | nl fr | 1951 | Paso doble in de stijl van de film Le chanteur de Mexico |
| Bananas | Machito | en nl ca | 1950 | The mambo king indulges in a bit of self-parody. Available in English, Catalan or Dutch. Video, possibly from another time or person: |
| Capri-Fischer / Fishermen of Capri (Bella, bella Marie) | Rudi Schuricke / Gerhard Winkler / Ralph Maria Siegel | de en | 1949 | Wenn bei Capri die rote Sonne im Meer versinkt: Lola sings this tango in Fassbinder's Wirtschaftswunderbar, but the version by Gracie Fields is also rather special. |
| Aan de Amsterdamse grachten | Pieter Goemans / Johnny Kraaijkamp / Wim Sonneveld | nl | 1949 | Nostalgic waltz. Video, possibly from another time or person: |
| Karussell (Wir reiten auf hölzernen Pferden) / Carousel (We ride on wooden horses) | Leo Straus / Martin Roman | de en | 1944 | Translation of a song from the Theresienstadt Concentration Camp. When you get off, will you be able to stand up? Quotes the Wiener Praterleben waltz by fellow-inmate of Death's waiting-room, Siegfried Translateur. |
| Diep in m'n hart | Jaap Valkhoff / Ernst van ’t Hoff / Willeke Alberti | nl | 1944 | Slow foxtrot |
| Als op Capri de rozentuinen bloeien | Han Dunk / The Ramblers / Eddy Christiani | nl | 1942 | Foxtrot |
| Ketelbinkie | Anton Beuving / Jan Vogel | nl | 1940 | When we from Rotterdam departed / In the Edam, an ancient hulk. Tragedy of a Dutch (colonial) ship's boy who misses his mum but doesn't know how to tell her. Illegitimate offspring of Thackeray's maritime parody? |
| Ik hou van Holland | Willy Schootemeijer / Joseph Schmidt / Heintje | nl | 1937 | |
| Isle of Capri / C'est à Capri | Will Grosz / Jimmy Kennedy / Lew Stone | en nl fr | 1934 | Sometimes with lyrics featuring the River Lea / Lee in East London: Twas on the banks of the Lea that I met her / Under the shade of an old apple tree / Now I can still hear the sirens around me / As I lie bleeding in A and E. |
| Zuiderzee | Louis Davids | nl | 1932 | The consequences of the construction of the Afsluitdijk dam, which turned the Zuyder Zee from a North Sea inlet into a fresh-water lake. |
| Oh zwarte zigeuner / Oh, play to me gypsy (Cikánka) | Harry de Groot / Karel Vacek / Melody Boys / Willy Derby / Willy Alberti / Johnny Jordaan / Gracie Fields | nl en | 1931 | Slow foxtrot. |
| Zeg, Roodkapje, waar ga je heen? | Trad. | nl | 1930? | Red Riding Hood, in Dutch, now with a Spanish version. |
| De kikkertjes | Anon | nl | 1930? | Dutch frogs are a sight for sore eyes. |
| Hengeler weend | Comedian Harmonists / Fred van de Ven | nl | 1930 | Low Saxon lyrics by Hengelo's municipal poet Fred van de Ven. |
| Mijn kleine groene cactus | Comedian Harmonists / Gerrit Bellers | nl de | 1930 | Dutch text by Gerrit Bellers: Bloemen en planten, zoals chrysanten, / Of rozen, tulpen en narcissen, / Willen de mensen, zo zijn hun wensen, / Ik hoef ze niet, ik kan ze missen. |
| Berlin im Licht | Kurt Weill | de | 1928 | Foxtrot written for a festival of light staged by the Berliner Stadtwerke power company for the 1928 Berlin Festival. A companion piece to the Dutch electricity workers' union song, Op naar het licht. |
| Mackie Messer / Mack the Knife | Bertolt Brecht / Kurt Weill | de en | 1928 | Originally intended for performance with barrel organ. |
| Had je me maar | Louis Davids | nl | 1916 | Song that provided the nickname for the Dutch anarchist politician, Cornelis de Gelder. |
| Holland ze zeggen | Simon Abramsz | nl | 1906 | |
| O sole mio | Giovanni Capurro / Eduardo di Capua | it en nl | 1898 | |
| Two lovely black eyes / Twee ogen zo blauw | Charles Coborn / Willy Derby | en nl | 1886 | I learnt the Dutch lyrics first, but my Dad croons this Gladstonian warning by an East End comedian of the dangers of politics: Two lovely black eyes! / Oh! what a surprise! / Only for telling a man he was wrong, / Two lovely black eyes! |
| Zwei blaue Augen / Twee blauwe ogen / The two blue eyes of my sweetheart (Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen) | Gustav Mahler / Dutch translation: Jan Rot / English: T.E. Clark | de nl en | 1885 | Auf der Strasse stand ein Lindenbaum, Da hab' ich zum ersten Mal im Schlaf geruht! |
| Song of a blind Dutch organ-grinder in Iowa | Anon | nl | 1884 | |
| Erev-Yonkiper nokhn halbn tog / 'Twas on the eve of Yom Kippur | Anon | en yi | 1880 | Yiddish ballad of forbidden love between a Goy & a Yid, Singing Organ-Grinder's translation: 'And now is come the time of love: / Say unto me but yea or nay.' / 'Lov'st thou me yea, or lov'st me nay, / We must now part, my parents say.' Whereupon he shoots her. |
| In een blauwgeruite kiel (Draaiersjongen) | Anton de Rop | nl | 1875 | |
| Waar de blanke top der duinen | Pieter Louwerse / Richard Hol | nl | 1870 | |
| De zilvervloot | J.P. Heije / J.J. Viotta | nl | 1870 | |
| Daar kom die Alibama | Trad. | af | 1863 | Commemorates the visit of the legendary Birkenhead-built Confederate Navy commercial raider CSS Alabama to Cape Town during the American Civil War. Video, possibly from another time or person: |
| k Zag twee beren | nl | 1850? | ||
| Der Leiermann (Winterreise) | Wilhelm Müller / Franz Schubert | de | 1827 | The owner of a hurdy-gurdy, which is not the same as a barrel organ. |
| Ode to Joy / An die Freude | Schiller / Beethoven | de en | 1824 | The recording is of a version for Alan Pell Mini 20. Rowan Atkinson did it all rather differently. Virtual excerpt: Video, possibly from another time or person: |
| Das Grab ist tief und stille (The grave is deep and silent) | Salis / Nägeli | de | 1822 | Accompanies the story 'Diogenes with his barrel-organ.' |
| Marmotte (Das Jahrmarktsfest zu Plundersweilern / Op. 53 no. 7) | Goethe / Beethoven | de en | 1805 | Parody of a Savoyard organ grinder and his marmot at a fair: It's many a land I've travelled through, / Avecque la marmotte, / And I always found some thing to chew, / Avecque la marmotte. |
| Guter Mond du gehst so stille, durch die Abendwolken hin (Oh, dear Moon, you go so quietly, / Through the evening clouds away) | Anon | de | 1800 | Accompanies the story 'Diogenes with his barrel-organ.' Based on the version from Ludwig Erk's 1838 folksong collection. |
| O du lieber Augustin | de | 1799 | ||
| Gott erhalte unsern Kaiser! (God save our Kaiser!) | Joseph Haydn / Freiherr v. Zedlitz | de | 1797 | Austrian imperial anthem with lyrics in use around 1813 during the reign of Franz I. Accompanies the story 'Diogenes with his barrel-organ.' |
| Lang zal hij leven | nl | 1790? | ||
| Herr Bacchus | Anon | de en | 1789? | Comparisons with Apollo in a drinking song! |
| Die Gedachte sind frei / De gedachten zijn vrij | de nl | 1780s | Freiheitslied from SW Germany (?) | |
| Abendlied | Matthias Claudius | de | 1779 | Der Mond ist aufgegangen... |
| O Jesulein süss! O Jesulein mild! | Georg Christian Schemelli | de en | 1620 | O little one sweet, O little one mild, thy Father's purpose thou hast fulfilled. |
| Een kindelien zo lovelik / Ein Kindelein so löbelich | Trad. | nl de | 1618 | My favourite Low German carol. |
| Heer Jesus heeft een hofken daer schoon bloemen staen | Anon | nl | 1617 | Lord Jesus has a garden with beautiful flowers ... make of my heart your garden, it is ready / Seigneur Jésus a un jardin où se trouvent de belles fleurs ... fais de mon cœur votre jardin, il est prêt / Heer Jesus heeft een hofken daer schoon bloemen staen ... maect van mijn hert' u hoveken, het is bereyt |
| O Tannenbaum / Oh Christmas tree | Ernst Anschütz / Melchior Franck | de en | 1615 | On request I will also sing the mildly smutty Low Saxon version. |
| Es ist ein Ros' entsprungen / Lo, how a rose e'er blooming | Michael Praetorius | de en | 1599 | My favourite Marian hymn. |
| Het Wilhelmus | Trad. | nl | 1570? | Naar de versie voor Dubbele Biphone die door de Leidse politie in 1940 in beslag werd genomen en in 2012 voor het eerst opnieuw werd uitgevoerd. |
| Old 100th / All people that on earth do dwell / Herr Gott, dich loben alle wir | Loys Bourgeois / William Kethe | en de | 1561 | Available in full version and in mid-C19th small organ pastiche. |
| Es ist ein Schnee gefallen | Anon | en de | 1467 | Wonderful translation by J.K. Annand: It's snawin cats and dugs, / Winter's owre early, / Hailstanes blatter my lugs / The road is smoorit fairly. |
| Der Kampf des Roraffen mit dem Hanen | Anon / The Singing Organ-Grinder | de en | 1450? | Translated excerpt from a Low German saga in which a puritanical rooster-man drives a fun-loving monkey-man out of Strasbourg Cathedral. |
| In dulci jubilo | Heinrich Seuse / Robert Pearsall | en de la | 1328 | I do both the German-Latin original and the popular Pearsall Anglicisation |
| Das Lied vom braven Manne (The song of the goodly man) | de | Accompanies the story 'Diogenes with his barrel-organ.' | ||
| Sinterklaasliedjes | Trad. | nl | Dutch Santa Claus songs. | |
| Cowboy Fred | Willem Wilmink / Frank Dieman / Triooo | nl en |
Update: 2023/03/06