74. Brabant &...

Lyrics

Een muts op m'n hoofd

(A cap on my head)
m'n kraag staat omhoog

(My collar is up)
't is hier ijskoud

(It's freezing cold here)
maar gelukkig wel droog

(But luckily dry)
de dagen zijn kort hier

(The days are short here)
de nacht begint vroeg

(The night begins early)
de mensen zijn stug en d'r is maar een kroeg

(The people are surly and there's only one pub)
als ik naar m'n hotel loop, na een donkere dag

(When I go to my hotel after a dark day)
dan voel ik m'n huissleutel diep in m'n zak

(I feel my housekey deep in my pocket)

en ik loop hier alleen in een te stille stad
(And I walk here alone in a too silent town)

ik heb eigenlijk nooit last van heimwee gehad

(I actually have never been homesick)
maar de mensen ze slapen, de wereld gaat dicht

(But the people, they sleep, and the world is closing)
en dan denk ik aan brabant, want daar brandt nog licht

(And I think of Brabant, because there the light is still burning)

ik mis hier de warmte van een dorpscafe

(I miss hier the warmth of a village bar)
de aanspraak van mensen met een zachte 'g'

(The talking to people with a soft 'g')
ik mis zelfs 't zeiken op alles om niets

(I even miss talking shit about everything)
was men maar op brabant zo trots als een fries

(I wis that one was as proud of Brabant as a Fries)
in 't zuiden vol zon, woon ik samen met jou

(In the south full of sun I live together with you)
't is daarom dat ik zo van brabanders hou
(That is why I love the people of Brabant so much)

en ik loop hier alleen in een te stille stad
(And I walk here alone in a too silent town)

ik heb eigenlijk nooit last van heimwee gehad

(I actually have never been homesick)
maar de mensen ze slapen, de wereld gaat dicht

(But the people, they sleep, and the world is closing)
en dan denk ik aan brabant, want daar brandt nog licht

(And I think of Brabant, because there the light is still burning)

De peel, en de kempen en de meijerij

(The Peel and the Campine and the bailiwick)
maar 't mooiste aan brabant ben jij, dat ben jij

(But the most beautiful thing about Brabant is you, that is you)

en ik loop hier alleen in een te stille stad
(And I walk here alone in a too silent town)

ik heb eigenlijk nooit last van heimwee gehad

(I actually have never been homesick)
maar de mensen ze slapen, de wereld gaat dicht

(But the people, they sleep, and the world is closing)
en dan denk ik aan brabant, want daar brandt nog licht

(And I think of Brabant, because there the light is still burning)

en dan denk ik aan brabant, want daar brandt nog licht
(And I think of Brabant, because there the light is still burning)

en dan denk ik aan brabant, want daar brandt nog licht

(And I think of Brabant, because there the light is still burning)

Guus Meeuwis is not some great artist, but I like his relaxed, calming voice. He has made better songs than this, but it's no surprise that this is his highest placed song. He comes from the province of Brabant and this is his paean to his home. I assume many 'Brabanders' like it therefore. The movie I linked it too takes place in Brabant, but it's definitely not a paean to it. It's in fact a bit of a joke to link this song to that movie, but I have already discussed here, what is probably, the best sincere movie about life in Brabant. It was Rademakers 'Dorp aan de Rivier.'

The Movie: New Kids Turbo (Steffen Haars & Flip van der Kuil, 2010)

New Kids Turbo is the feature film version of a comedic series called New Kids that ran for a while on the Dutch Comedy Central. I have not seen the series, but it was obviously pretty popular. This movie was even more popular, it had the most successful opening day for any Dutch movie, and broke some other similar records. So in 2011 a sequel arrived called New Kids Nitro. I have never seen the series and up until now had not seen New Kids Turbo either. Despite its popularity many media writers in the Netherlands claimed the New Kids phenomenon to be stupid, and some even went further claiming they glorified immoral behavior and caused people to behave stupidly and badly. After all, some expressions from the shows/movies started to become widely used in the Netherlands! I think criticizing movies because they might cause bad behavior in people is extremely stupid, but I must admit the movies and the series did not seem very appealing to me. The new kids are basically five loitering youths from the fictional village of Maaskantje, Brabant doing stupid things. From the advertisements I saw it seemed like these were five characters modeled on Adam Sandler. And he is basically the only actor I can't stand. You can perhaps see where this is going. I saw New Kids Turbo and loved it. This is a movie that is more subversive than the average Dutch media production. It is also simply terrific fun.

This is a movie that completely and utterly does not give a fuck about any Dutch media convention. It is not interested in being realistic, and it is not interested in being cozy or lovable. It is a combination of Ali G, Hot Fuzz and The Wolf of Wall Street (only here the characters are poor). The five 'heroes' of the film do not have the money to pay for anything anymore, so they choose not to pay for anything anymore. The movie manages to both have sympathy for this stance, and to completely destroy its characters' lifestyle in a slightly satiric way. The saying 'it's funny cause it's true' certainly applies here. The 'new kids' are caricatures, but there really are similar people like them. These are completely selfish idiots who do not care about, and are oblivious to, anyone but themselves and think they are entitled to everything without having to work. Much of the humor in the movie comes from simply observing their behavior. The movie is actually at its worst when it consciously tries to make a joke. It is basically a wonderful satire of a lifestyle. It is also a satire of Dutch news media that completely destroys the emo-tv genre. Unfortunately in the second half it stops being a satire and becomes a (tremendously fun and completely absurd) action parody. This doesn't ruin the fun.