Lyrics
Kom
bij me zitten
(Come
sit next to me)
Sla je arm om me heen en houd me stevig vast
Sla je arm om me heen en houd me stevig vast
(Put
your arm around me and hold me tight)
Al die gezichten, bekend maar beleefd of ik een vreemde was
Al die gezichten, bekend maar beleefd of ik een vreemde was
(All
these faces, familiar, but polite, as if I were a stranger)
En vanavond, toont het leven z'n ware gezicht
En vanavond, toont het leven z'n ware gezicht
(And
tonight life shows its true face)
Kom bij me liggen
Kom bij me liggen
(Come
lie next to me)
Sla je lijf om me heen, ik heb het koud gehad
Sla je lijf om me heen, ik heb het koud gehad
(Put
your body around mine, I was feeling cold)
We moeten winnen, de schijn is gemeen het wordt van ons verwacht
We moeten winnen, de schijn is gemeen het wordt van ons verwacht
(We
must win, the semblance is mean, it is expected of us)
En Vanavond, toont de liefde haar ware gezicht
En Vanavond, toont de liefde haar ware gezicht
(And
tonight life shows its true face)
En het is zo stil in mij
En het is zo stil in mij
(And
it is so silent inside of me)
Ik heb nergens woorden voor
Ik heb nergens woorden voor
(I
have no words for anything)
Het is zo stil in mij
Het is zo stil in mij
(It
is so silent inside of me)
En de wereld draait maar door
En de wereld draait maar door
(And
the world keeps turning)
Het is zo stil in mij
Het is zo stil in mij
(It
is so silent inside of me)
Ik heb nergens woorden voor
Ik heb nergens woorden voor
(I
have no words for anything)
Het is zo stil in mij
Het is zo stil in mij
(It
is so silent inside of me)
Kom bij me zitten
Kom bij me zitten
(Come
sit next to me)
Sla je arm om me heen en houd me stevig vast
Sla je arm om me heen en houd me stevig vast
(Put
your arm around me and hold me tight)
Al die gezichten en jij alleen zoals je gister was
Al die gezichten en jij alleen zoals je gister was
(All
these faces and only you like you were yesterday)
En vanavond, toonde jij je ware gezicht
En vanavond, toonde jij je ware gezicht
(And
tonight you showed your true face)
Kom bij me liggen
Kom bij me liggen
(Come
lie next to me)
Sla je lijf om me heen, ik heb het koud gehad
Sla je lijf om me heen, ik heb het koud gehad
(Put
your body around mine, I was feeling cold)
Je hoeft niets meer te zeggen, de waarheid spreekt al uit ons oogcontact
Je hoeft niets meer te zeggen, de waarheid spreekt al uit ons oogcontact
(You
don't need to speak anymore, the truth speaks trough our eyes)
En vanavond, tonen wij ons ware gezicht
En vanavond, tonen wij ons ware gezicht
(And
tonight, we show our true face)
En het is zo stil in mij
En het is zo stil in mij
(And
it is so silent inside of me)
Ik heb nergens woorden voor
Ik heb nergens woorden voor
(I
have no words for anything)
Het is zo stil in mij
Het is zo stil in mij
(It
is so silent inside of me)
En de wereld draait maar door
En de wereld draait maar door
(And
the world keeps turning)
Het is zo stil in mij
Het is zo stil in mij
(It
is so silent inside of me)
Ik heb nergens woorden voor
Ik heb nergens woorden voor
(I
have no words for anything)
Het is zo stil in mij
Het is zo stil in mij
(It
is so silent inside of me)
Iedereen kijkt, maar niemand zegt wat hij denkt
Iedereen kijkt, maar niemand zegt wat hij denkt
(Everybody's
watching, but nobody says what he thinks)
Iedereen lijkt, maar niemand is wie je denkt
Iedereen lijkt, maar niemand is wie je denkt
(Everybody
appears, but nobody is who you think)
Stil in mij,
Stil in mij,
(Silent
inside of me)
Zo stil in mij (x5)
Zo stil in mij (x5)
(So
silent inside of me)
I find it perfectly normal that there is some bias towards Dutch songs in this list. While artists like Boudewijn de Groot would never be placed on such a list in any other country, I completely understand his (high) placements here. I don't understand though what this song, by Van Dik Hout, is doing here. I can't see anything special about it. It is pretty dull. Anyway, considering it's name and lyrics in the chorus, and considering the fact that it is a love song, I chose to link it to a (rather famous) romance movie involving a deaf-mute person.
The Movie: Children of A Lesser God (Randa Haines, 1986)
There are scenes in Children of A Lesser God that are small masterpieces. There are also scenes which are unbelievable misfires. I liked it quite a bit, but I am not really sure what to think of it. I think the movie is very kindhearted and even quite ambitious for what is at essence a relatively straightforward romantic drama. It has quite some interesting ideas about deafness, but it doesn't seem to know how to fully express them. It may also be that it doesn't have the guts to fully follow them. But even if that's true the movie does succeed in other areas. It creates a lot of likable characters and makes us care about them, especially the two romantic leads. And there are times when its energy and unexpected humor are contagious.
But the movie is kind of odd from the start. We see James Leeds (William Hurt) applying for a job as a speech teacher at a school for the deaf. His references are great and he has worked in many great school, so the school's director is quite surprised that James chose to work for them, a school for which he is clearly overqualified. This is the setup of many movies. What follows in those movies thought, is that we usually find out some (dark) secret from the protagonist's past. And that by doing this job for which he/she is overqualified our protagonists hopes to get away from or amend for his past. So from the start of this movie we are waiting for the reveal of James' secret. Which never comes. The movie never makes clear why James sought a job at this particular school. This is not a big problem, but it makes those opening scenes unnecessary (and unnecessarily weird) in hindsight. Anyway, we do see that James really is a great teacher. The deaf-mute children make great progress under him and in an astonishingly great scene we see them performing a song in front of an audience. Not only does that scene manage elate us with its energy and the obvious happiness and progress of the students, it also manages to make clear exactly how it is possible for them to perform this song. If that's not enough, director Haines also manages to perfectly fit in one of the funniest moments of the film in this scene. And lastly the scene, without needing to provide stupid expository dialogue, manages to deepen the conflict between James and his lover. Which actually is the core of the movie.
I usually don't really have problems with dumb expository dialogue, but this movie overdoes it so much that it nearly undermines itself and becomes parodist. James' lover is the amazingly beautiful Sarah Norman (Marlee Matlin). She is born deaf-mute and refuses to learn to speak or to read lips, preferring to only communicate through sign language. She is a very intelligent woman and her first contact with James is because he wants to teach her speaking and lip-reading. She refuses (and keeps on refusing) but they gradually fall in love, and James adapts to her sign language, though he remains frustrated that she refuses to learn to speak. Obviously if two people talk in sign language most of the people wouldn't understand it. The logical thing to do would be to subtitle the sign language. The movie doesn't do this, but it lets James repeat out loud nearly everything Sarah signs to him. And he repeats out loud everything he signs to Sarah. There comes a point when this becomes ridiculous. Sure, James states that he likes to hear himself talk, but come on. The movie basically breaks the fourth wall, accidentally. This device not only pulls us out of this movie therefore, it also makes James seem like a stupid and condescending character. When it is pretty clear he is not.
The ending is perhaps where the movie falters the most though. Throughout the film, the filmmakers seem to argue that, with a lot of effort, deaf-mute people can become able to hear or at least discern sounds and also to speak (perhaps not perfectly, but still it's better than nothing). And not only can deaf people do this, they also should. I don't know how scientifically reliable these views are. But if they are, the movie's assertion that deaf people should put in this effort, isn't very unreasonable. It''s unfortunate that the movie doesn't (dare?) follow on these convictions in the portrayal of James and Sarah's romance. This romance follows pretty much the cliched pattern of many film romances. James and Sarah love each other, they enter in a relationship, then they break up for some reason (in this case the fact that Sarah only wants to communicate through signing) and than they find common ground and reconcile. I expected that they would reconcile here because Sarah would agree to learn to at least read lips. That doesn't happen here. They reconcile because James finally learns to accept Sarah on her own terms. This is a bit odd when throughout the movie, the case is being made that James is right.
There are scenes in Children of A Lesser God that are small masterpieces. There are also scenes which are unbelievable misfires. I liked it quite a bit, but I am not really sure what to think of it. I think the movie is very kindhearted and even quite ambitious for what is at essence a relatively straightforward romantic drama. It has quite some interesting ideas about deafness, but it doesn't seem to know how to fully express them. It may also be that it doesn't have the guts to fully follow them. But even if that's true the movie does succeed in other areas. It creates a lot of likable characters and makes us care about them, especially the two romantic leads. And there are times when its energy and unexpected humor are contagious.
But the movie is kind of odd from the start. We see James Leeds (William Hurt) applying for a job as a speech teacher at a school for the deaf. His references are great and he has worked in many great school, so the school's director is quite surprised that James chose to work for them, a school for which he is clearly overqualified. This is the setup of many movies. What follows in those movies thought, is that we usually find out some (dark) secret from the protagonist's past. And that by doing this job for which he/she is overqualified our protagonists hopes to get away from or amend for his past. So from the start of this movie we are waiting for the reveal of James' secret. Which never comes. The movie never makes clear why James sought a job at this particular school. This is not a big problem, but it makes those opening scenes unnecessary (and unnecessarily weird) in hindsight. Anyway, we do see that James really is a great teacher. The deaf-mute children make great progress under him and in an astonishingly great scene we see them performing a song in front of an audience. Not only does that scene manage elate us with its energy and the obvious happiness and progress of the students, it also manages to make clear exactly how it is possible for them to perform this song. If that's not enough, director Haines also manages to perfectly fit in one of the funniest moments of the film in this scene. And lastly the scene, without needing to provide stupid expository dialogue, manages to deepen the conflict between James and his lover. Which actually is the core of the movie.
I usually don't really have problems with dumb expository dialogue, but this movie overdoes it so much that it nearly undermines itself and becomes parodist. James' lover is the amazingly beautiful Sarah Norman (Marlee Matlin). She is born deaf-mute and refuses to learn to speak or to read lips, preferring to only communicate through sign language. She is a very intelligent woman and her first contact with James is because he wants to teach her speaking and lip-reading. She refuses (and keeps on refusing) but they gradually fall in love, and James adapts to her sign language, though he remains frustrated that she refuses to learn to speak. Obviously if two people talk in sign language most of the people wouldn't understand it. The logical thing to do would be to subtitle the sign language. The movie doesn't do this, but it lets James repeat out loud nearly everything Sarah signs to him. And he repeats out loud everything he signs to Sarah. There comes a point when this becomes ridiculous. Sure, James states that he likes to hear himself talk, but come on. The movie basically breaks the fourth wall, accidentally. This device not only pulls us out of this movie therefore, it also makes James seem like a stupid and condescending character. When it is pretty clear he is not.
The ending is perhaps where the movie falters the most though. Throughout the film, the filmmakers seem to argue that, with a lot of effort, deaf-mute people can become able to hear or at least discern sounds and also to speak (perhaps not perfectly, but still it's better than nothing). And not only can deaf people do this, they also should. I don't know how scientifically reliable these views are. But if they are, the movie's assertion that deaf people should put in this effort, isn't very unreasonable. It''s unfortunate that the movie doesn't (dare?) follow on these convictions in the portrayal of James and Sarah's romance. This romance follows pretty much the cliched pattern of many film romances. James and Sarah love each other, they enter in a relationship, then they break up for some reason (in this case the fact that Sarah only wants to communicate through signing) and than they find common ground and reconcile. I expected that they would reconcile here because Sarah would agree to learn to at least read lips. That doesn't happen here. They reconcile because James finally learns to accept Sarah on her own terms. This is a bit odd when throughout the movie, the case is being made that James is right.
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