Lyrics
Meneer de president, welterusten
(Mister president, good night)
Slaap maar lekker in je mooie witte huis
Slaap maar lekker in je mooie witte huis
(Sleep nicely in your beautiful white house)
Denk maar niet teveel aan al die verre kusten
Denk maar niet teveel aan al die verre kusten
(Don't think too much of all those faraway
coasts)
Waar uw jongens zitten eenzaam ver van huis
Waar uw jongens zitten eenzaam ver van huis
(Where your boys are being lonely away from
home)
Denk vooral niet aan die 46 doden
Denk vooral niet aan die 46 doden
(Don't especially think about those 46
casualties)
Die vergissing laatst met dat bombardement
Die vergissing laatst met dat bombardement
(That mistake the other day with the bombing)
En vergeet het vierde van die 10 geboden
En vergeet het vierde van die 10 geboden
(And forget the fourth of those ten
commandments)
Die u als goed Christen zeker kent
Die u als goed Christen zeker kent
(That you being a good Christian certainly must
know)
Denk maar niet aan al die jonge frontsoldaten
Denk maar niet aan al die jonge frontsoldaten
(Don't think of all those young front line
soldiers)
Eenzaam stervend in de verre tropennacht
Eenzaam stervend in de verre tropennacht
(Dying lonely in the faraway tropical night)
Laat die bleke pacifistenkliek maar praten
Laat die bleke pacifistenkliek maar praten
(Let that weak pacifist clique talk)
Meneer de president, slaap zacht
Meneer de president, slaap zacht
(Mister president, sleep well)
Droom maar van de overwinning, en de zege
Droom maar van de overwinning, en de zege
(Dream on about the
victory)
Droom maar van uw mooie vredesideaal
Droom maar van uw mooie vredesideaal
(Dream on about your beautiful ideals of peace)
Dat nog nooit door bloedig moorden is verkregen
Dat nog nooit door bloedig moorden is verkregen
(That have never been achieved by bloody
killings)
Droom maar dat het u wel lukken zal ditmaal
Droom maar dat het u wel lukken zal ditmaal
(Dream on that this time it'll succeed)
Kijk maar niet naar al die mensen die verrekken
Kijk maar niet naar al die mensen die verrekken
(Don't look at all
those people living)
Hoeveel vrouwen, hoeveel kind'ren zijn vermoord
(How many women and children have been murdered)
Hoeveel vrouwen, hoeveel kind'ren zijn vermoord
(How many women and children have been murdered)
Droom maar dat u aan het langste eind zult
trekken
(Dream on that you'll win)
En geloof van al die tegenstand geen woord
En geloof van al die tegenstand geen woord
(And just don't believe anything your oppnents
say)
Bajonetten met bloedige gevesten
Bajonetten met bloedige gevesten
(Bayonets with bloody hilts)
Houden ver van hier op uw bevel de wacht
Houden ver van hier op uw bevel de wacht
(Far away from here they keep watch at your
command)
Voor de glorie en de eer van 't vrije westen
Voor de glorie en de eer van 't vrije westen
(For the glory and honor of the free west)
Meneer de president, slaap zacht
Meneer de president, slaap zacht
(Mister president sleep nice)
Schrik maar niet te erg, wanneer u in uw dromen
Schrik maar niet te erg, wanneer u in uw dromen
(Don't wake up in terror, when in your dreams)
Al die schuldeloze slachtoffers ziet staan
Al die schuldeloze slachtoffers ziet staan
(You see all these
guiltless victims)
Die daarginds bij het gevecht zijn omgekomen
(Who were killed figthing over there)
Die daarginds bij het gevecht zijn omgekomen
(Who were killed figthing over there)
En uw vragen hoelang
dit nog zo moet gaan
(And who ask you how much longer this is supposed to last)
(And who ask you how much longer this is supposed to last)
En u zult toch ook zo langzaamaan wel weten
(And you should now by now)
Dat er mensen zijn die ziek zijn van 't geweld
Dat er mensen zijn die ziek zijn van 't geweld
(That there are people sick of violence)
Die het bloed en de ellende niet vergeten
Die het bloed en de ellende niet vergeten
(Who have not forgotten the blood and the
misery)
En voor wie nog steeds een mensenleven telt
(And for whom human lives still count)
En voor wie nog steeds een mensenleven telt
(And for whom human lives still count)
Droom maar niet teveel van al die dooie mensen
(Don't dream too much of all these dead people)
Droom maar fijn van overwinning en van macht
Droom maar fijn van overwinning en van macht
(Dream nicely of victory and power)
Denk maar niet aan al die vredeswensen
Denk maar niet aan al die vredeswensen
(Don't think of all
those wishes for peace)
Meneer de president, slaap zacht!
Meneer de president, slaap zacht!
(Mister president,
sleep nice)
This is a bit of a presumptuous song. I mean Boudewijn de Groot is right too criticize the Vietnam War, but this direct address to the American president is kind of tacky, considering he'll never hear it. It's a bit of a shame even. De Groot is one of the most intelligent Dutch songwriters, but here does come off as a bit of a poseur. Although to be fair, many leftist artists all over the world sang similar songs against the war during that time. The president addressed here is Lyndon Johnson. Unfortunately there aren't really any movies about him. There are about Richard Nixon though, and many of the lyrics in this song could just as well be applied to him. In fact the fury over the Vietnam War only increased with Nixon as president.
The Movie: Nixon (Oliver Stone, 1995)
Even though America wants to present itself (and is often presented as such in the West) as a great country, and the leader of the free world, it (like any other nation) has many flaws and problems. Especially the ways in which America is sometimes presented as the opposite of the 'evil' Islam/Russia/The Soviet Union/'the Orient in general, etc. Still, it can't be denied that there are aspects which really do distinguish America positively from some of these nations (just as there are probably aspects of those nations that distinguish them positively from America). A couple years ago for example the Iranian leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad came to New York to give a lecture at some university. That probably caused some protest among deeply conservative Americans who believed that this contributed to the Islamization of America and other such bullshit. But that doesn't really matter. Ahmadinejad came, gave his lecture and went back to Iran. Now, Iran is not nearly as savage a nation as it is often presented in the American/western media, but you won't see Obama anytime soon give a lecture at a university in Tehran. And not because he doesn't want to.
Oliver Stone's Nixon is another example of this. I really believe that there are very few nations (even in the western world) where this movie could get made, much less be made in the mainstream. One part of it is that this is a ridiculously and insanely ambitious movie. It's title is Nixon, but that heavily under-represents what this movie is about. But, you know, you can't title a movie 'Nixon: A Critical History of the American Politics and Society from 1960-1973.' The most important word of that title is 'critical.' Oliver Stone doesn't have a very high regard for Nixon here, but he does have sympathy for him. For Stone Nixon is just a product of the American political system. And that system, of which Americans are so proud, is presented here as rotten to its very core ideals. This according to Stone has a negative effect on many aspects of American society and culture. But he also posits that many aspects of this society and culture, and many American values, are also the cause for the rottenness of the system. I hardly know any works of art which are so scathingly critical of (the core values upon which) their own nation (is build). Yet, at the same time it can be argued that a nation that can allow such a movie to get made and such ideas to foster is a very healthy nation. I certainly don't know of a Dutch work of art which is nearly as critical of the Netherlands as Nixon is of America.
Though I was familiar with many of the events in Nixon's life depicted in the movie, I am not a Nixon scholar. I am sure though that a historian specialized in Nixon or in the American politics of the 20th century will find many flaws in Stone's ideas here. That doesn't really matter though, because Stone, I think, gives a lot of room for interpretation. He does not present his interpretation of this history as the only right one. In fact he directly invites us to give our own interpretation of history. Stone shows us here many of the important moments of Nixon's life, like his childhood in a deeply religious family, his loss to JFK, and of course the Watergate scandal. And throughout the movie he constantly returns to this moments, putting them constantly in a different context and making us think differently about their meanings, causes and effects. Thus he makes us constantly rethink these events and our interpretations of them. And it can be argued that Stone is even more ambitious than this. Obviously JFK and Vietnam play an important role in this movie. Of course before making Nixon, Stone made movies about the Vietnam War and about JFK. Some of the themes he discussed therein also return in this movie in a different context, and are seen from a different point of view.
Basically at times the movie plays like a feature length version of the great training sequence in The Parallax View That is quite an extraordinary achievement, as there are way too few historic movies which even attempt to do this. It also means that the movie is not only about the history of American politics during Nixon's life in power, but also that it is a movie about the ways in which we study and engage with history. And it is this more than anything that makes this a great movie. The movie also at times plays like a horror movie. The American political system is presented here as an unstoppable, uncontrollable, nearly mysterious force. Nobody ever seems to have a full idea of what's going on. There are politicians assassinated by people, and for reasons, not even the president is aware of. Why was Robert Kennedy assassinated for example? Nobody in the movie seems to know. There is the suggestion, that sometime in the past, perhaps even before Nixon's ascent to power, certain mysterious events happened that triggered a domino effect leading to Robert Kennedy's death. But what those events were, and what those fallen dominoes were, nobody knows.
The movie is not perfect. In the last 20-30 minutes the movie becomes an all too conventional depiction of the downfall of a great, but troubled man, like we've seen in many other similar movies. It also doesn't help that Stone depicts this downfall with smug moralism. But that's pretty forgivable, considering all the great things that happened before. This is one of the greatest films of the 90's and it's not even Stone's best movie. That's Born on the Fourth of July. I am not a fan of Platoon, as I discussed in an earlier post, and Savages is an absolutely awful film. It's actually hard to believe that the guy who made Nixon also made that movie. So Stone is a pretty uneven director, but when he is on fire, he is one of the most interesting American directors. There isn't anyone with who is as intelligent and as completely bonkers as him and also has his talent for making films. Lastly is worth noting that Anthony Hopkins gives his best performance here as Richard Nixon. The rest of the very famous cast does well too, although their characters are a bit too one-dimensional. I was a little irritated by Paul Sorvino who plays Henry Kissinger as a caricature of Henry Kissinger. But it's probably impossible to play Kissinger in any other way.
The Movie: Nixon (Oliver Stone, 1995)
Even though America wants to present itself (and is often presented as such in the West) as a great country, and the leader of the free world, it (like any other nation) has many flaws and problems. Especially the ways in which America is sometimes presented as the opposite of the 'evil' Islam/Russia/The Soviet Union/'the Orient in general, etc. Still, it can't be denied that there are aspects which really do distinguish America positively from some of these nations (just as there are probably aspects of those nations that distinguish them positively from America). A couple years ago for example the Iranian leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad came to New York to give a lecture at some university. That probably caused some protest among deeply conservative Americans who believed that this contributed to the Islamization of America and other such bullshit. But that doesn't really matter. Ahmadinejad came, gave his lecture and went back to Iran. Now, Iran is not nearly as savage a nation as it is often presented in the American/western media, but you won't see Obama anytime soon give a lecture at a university in Tehran. And not because he doesn't want to.
Oliver Stone's Nixon is another example of this. I really believe that there are very few nations (even in the western world) where this movie could get made, much less be made in the mainstream. One part of it is that this is a ridiculously and insanely ambitious movie. It's title is Nixon, but that heavily under-represents what this movie is about. But, you know, you can't title a movie 'Nixon: A Critical History of the American Politics and Society from 1960-1973.' The most important word of that title is 'critical.' Oliver Stone doesn't have a very high regard for Nixon here, but he does have sympathy for him. For Stone Nixon is just a product of the American political system. And that system, of which Americans are so proud, is presented here as rotten to its very core ideals. This according to Stone has a negative effect on many aspects of American society and culture. But he also posits that many aspects of this society and culture, and many American values, are also the cause for the rottenness of the system. I hardly know any works of art which are so scathingly critical of (the core values upon which) their own nation (is build). Yet, at the same time it can be argued that a nation that can allow such a movie to get made and such ideas to foster is a very healthy nation. I certainly don't know of a Dutch work of art which is nearly as critical of the Netherlands as Nixon is of America.
Though I was familiar with many of the events in Nixon's life depicted in the movie, I am not a Nixon scholar. I am sure though that a historian specialized in Nixon or in the American politics of the 20th century will find many flaws in Stone's ideas here. That doesn't really matter though, because Stone, I think, gives a lot of room for interpretation. He does not present his interpretation of this history as the only right one. In fact he directly invites us to give our own interpretation of history. Stone shows us here many of the important moments of Nixon's life, like his childhood in a deeply religious family, his loss to JFK, and of course the Watergate scandal. And throughout the movie he constantly returns to this moments, putting them constantly in a different context and making us think differently about their meanings, causes and effects. Thus he makes us constantly rethink these events and our interpretations of them. And it can be argued that Stone is even more ambitious than this. Obviously JFK and Vietnam play an important role in this movie. Of course before making Nixon, Stone made movies about the Vietnam War and about JFK. Some of the themes he discussed therein also return in this movie in a different context, and are seen from a different point of view.
Basically at times the movie plays like a feature length version of the great training sequence in The Parallax View That is quite an extraordinary achievement, as there are way too few historic movies which even attempt to do this. It also means that the movie is not only about the history of American politics during Nixon's life in power, but also that it is a movie about the ways in which we study and engage with history. And it is this more than anything that makes this a great movie. The movie also at times plays like a horror movie. The American political system is presented here as an unstoppable, uncontrollable, nearly mysterious force. Nobody ever seems to have a full idea of what's going on. There are politicians assassinated by people, and for reasons, not even the president is aware of. Why was Robert Kennedy assassinated for example? Nobody in the movie seems to know. There is the suggestion, that sometime in the past, perhaps even before Nixon's ascent to power, certain mysterious events happened that triggered a domino effect leading to Robert Kennedy's death. But what those events were, and what those fallen dominoes were, nobody knows.
The movie is not perfect. In the last 20-30 minutes the movie becomes an all too conventional depiction of the downfall of a great, but troubled man, like we've seen in many other similar movies. It also doesn't help that Stone depicts this downfall with smug moralism. But that's pretty forgivable, considering all the great things that happened before. This is one of the greatest films of the 90's and it's not even Stone's best movie. That's Born on the Fourth of July. I am not a fan of Platoon, as I discussed in an earlier post, and Savages is an absolutely awful film. It's actually hard to believe that the guy who made Nixon also made that movie. So Stone is a pretty uneven director, but when he is on fire, he is one of the most interesting American directors. There isn't anyone with who is as intelligent and as completely bonkers as him and also has his talent for making films. Lastly is worth noting that Anthony Hopkins gives his best performance here as Richard Nixon. The rest of the very famous cast does well too, although their characters are a bit too one-dimensional. I was a little irritated by Paul Sorvino who plays Henry Kissinger as a caricature of Henry Kissinger. But it's probably impossible to play Kissinger in any other way.
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