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Lyrics
Ik zegge oeh!
(Say oeh!)
Ik zegge aah!
Ik zegge aah!
(Say aah!)
Ik zegge oeh!
Ik zegge oeh!
(Say oeh!)
Aah! (aah!)
Aah! (aah!)
Oehoe oehoerend hard
(Rip-roaringly fast)
Kwamen zie doar aangescheurd
(They rode in)
Kwamen zie doar aangescheurd
(They rode in)
Oehoe oehoerend hard
(Rip-roaringly fast)
Want zie hadden van de motorcross geheurd
Want zie hadden van de motorcross geheurd
(Cause they heard about the motor cross)
Langzaam ri-jen dat deeen zie nooit
(Drive slowly, was something they never did)
Dat vonden zie toch maar tied verknooid
Dat vonden zie toch maar tied verknooid
(They saw that as wasted time)
Bertus op zien Norton
Bertus op zien Norton
Bertus on his Norton)
En Tinus op de BSA
En Tinus op de BSA
(And Tinus on the BSA)
Noar de motorcross op het Hengelse Zand
(To the motor cross at Hengelse Zand)
De hoender en de vrouwe
De hoender en de vrouwe
(The chicks and the wives)
Die stoven aan de kant
Die stoven aan de kant
(They stood aside)
Bertus op zien Norton
Bertus op zien Norton
(Bertus
on his Norton)
En Tinus op de BSA
(And Tinus on the BSA)
En Tinus op de BSA
(And Tinus on the BSA)
Zie gingen oeh, oehoe oehoe
(The went rip-roaringly)
Oehoe oehoe oehoerend hard
Oehoe oehoe oehoerend hard
(Rip-roaringly fast)
Zie gingen oeh, oehoe oehoe
Zie gingen oeh, oehoe oehoe
(They went rip-roaringly)
Oehoe oehoe oehoerend hard
(Rip-roaringly fast)
Oehoe oehoe oehoerend hard
(Rip-roaringly fast)
Oehoe oehoerend hard
(Rip-roaringly fast)
Scheurden zie noa de cross naar hun huus
Scheurden zie noa de cross naar hun huus
(They rode back home after the cross)
Oehoe oehoerend hard
Oehoe oehoerend hard
(Rip-roaringly fast)
Want dan waren zie eerder thuus
Want dan waren zie eerder thuus
(Cause then they would be home earlier)
Zie hadden alderbastend gein gehad
(The both had had great fun)
Zie waren allebei een heel klein beetjen zat
Zie waren allebei een heel klein beetjen zat
(The both were just a little bit drunk)
Bertus op zien Norton en Tinus op de BSA
Bertus op zien Norton en Tinus op de BSA
(Bertus on his Norton, and Tinus on the BSA)
An 't
gevoar hadden zie nog nooit gedacht
(They never thought about the danger)
Zie waren koning op de weg en dachten: "Alles mag"
Zie waren koning op de weg en dachten: "Alles mag"
(They were kings of the road and thought "Anything is
allowed")
Bertus op zien Norton en Tinus op de BSA
Bertus op zien Norton en Tinus op de BSA
(Bertus on his Norton and Tinus on the BSA)
Zie
gingen oeh, oehoe oehoe
(They went rip-roaringly)
Oehoe oehoe oehoerend hard
Oehoe oehoe oehoerend hard
(Rip-roaringly fast)
Zie gingen oeh, oehoe oehoe
Zie gingen oeh, oehoe oehoe
(They went rip-roaringly)
Oehoe oehoe oehoerend hard
Oehoe oehoe oehoerend hard
(Rip-roaringly fast)
Maar
zoals altied kwam an dat gejakker een end
(But as always all that roaring
around came to an end)
Deur 'n zatte kearl die de snelheid van een motor niet kent
Deur 'n zatte kearl die de snelheid van een motor niet kent
(At the hands of a drunk fellow who doesn't now a motor's
speed)
Bertus ri-j d'r op en Tinus kwam d'r vlak achteran
Bertus ri-j d'r op en Tinus kwam d'r vlak achteran
(Bertus rode at it, and was soon followed by Tinus)
En iedereen die zei: Van die leu heur i-j nooit meer wat van
En iedereen die zei: Van die leu heur i-j nooit meer wat van
(And everybody said: You won't hear anything of these chaps
again)
Zie gingen nooit, nee nee nooit
(They never, never)
Nooit meer oerend hard
Nooit meer oerend hard
(Never rode rip-roaringly fast anymore
Zie gingen nooit, nee nee nooit
(They never, never)
Nooit meer oerend hard
Nooit meer oerend hard
(Never rode rip-roaringly fast anymore
En wie
goat oeh, oehoe oehoe
(And who will ride rip-roaringly)
Oehoe oehoe oehoerend hard
Oehoe oehoe oehoerend hard
(Rip-roaringly fast)
Hell yeah, Dutch biker rock! This is quite an odd duck in this list, especially this high. Rock is popular obviously, but Dutch rock not so much. This is a very atypical popular Dutch song. First of all the emphasis is on the instruments, and not on the singing voices. Secondly, the song wants to win you over by its style. It's joyously freewheeling. These are musicians who above all want to show you that they have fun singing and writing songs about tragic bikers. And they want you to have fun with them. Too many Dutch artists when confronted with a story as told by this song, will try to win you over by emoting as much as possible, they want you to know that their protagonists suffer and that the artists themselves get that; that they can identify. This means that many of the greatest and most popular Dutch songs are really quite dramatic slugs. Oerend Hard on the other hand is a joyous, charmingly tragic song that seems directly influenced by the American biker/antihero movies of the 60's and early 70's.
The Movie: The Wild Angels (Roger Corman, 1966)
The obvious choice to link Oerend Hard would be Easy Rider of course, but that movie will always be linked to Born in the Wild. Besides, I don't like Easy Rider at all. I think it's fairly dull, and too much in love with protagonists who are totally uninteresting. It only comes alive during the few minutes Jack Nicholson is on screen, and I don't really look forward to seeing the film again. It's quite a shame, because I find the ideas it tries to articulate, and the mood it tries to convey, quite interesting. I like movies of its ilk, but I think that most of the movies that influenced, and were influenced by Easy Rider, are far better than it. So is The Wild Angels.
The Wild Angels also stars Peter Fonda. He plays Heavenly Blues, the leader of a group of California bikers without much of an ideology. All they know is that they have to disobey 'the man'. They mostly get high, ride their bikes, and break the laws in all kinds of ways. They act in much the same way as Harold and Maude, and share much of their beliefs too. But this is a far better film than Harold and Maude. The Wild Angels is in fact something like The Wolf of Wall Street, set in the world of LA biker gangs. It absolutely sees and understands why the lifestyle of these people is appealing. But it also calls them out on their bullshit. It shows, without ever losing its sense of fun and turning into a moralizing screed, how these are mostly a bunch of egoistical idiots who aren't fighting for some grand ideals. And it's not 'the man' who is hurt by them, but the underprivileged ones. The Wild Angels aren't underdogs; they have the power. This is even said out loud by Peter Fonda's character after his gang beats up a couple of Hispanics, because they may have stolen the bike of a fellow gang member.
Heavenly Blues' best friend is Loser (Bruce Dern). After the altercation with the Hispanics, he is shot in the back by the police and ends up in a hospital. He would be fine, if not for the Angels, fearing that Loser would end up in jail, kidnapping him from the hospital and bringing him back to their 'headquarters', draped in Nazy symbolism. These scenes are perhaps most indicative of this film's mood. They are both incredibly funny, and incredibly revealing. They mercilessly expose the Wild Angels as a bunch of bumbling, pathetic fools. One of them tries to rape Loser's nurse, while their own doctor is late, because he couldn't start his scooter. Of course Loser dies, and this leads to the grand set-piece of the movie, Loser's funeral in his hometown. The Wild Angels turn it into an enormous orgy/acid trip that is a wonderfully filmed set-piece, full of absurd visual jokes.
At the end of it though it is quite clear that there is nothing heroic about The Wild Angels. They are nothing but a bunch of bullies without a cause, who turn the town folk against them. It leads to Fonda's final line: "There's nowhere to go", which is expressing the same sentiment as Easy Rider's most famous line :"We blew it". Despite the fact that the movie thinks that these bikers are idiotic, and has a lot fun showing it, it is also very much about how regrettable it is that it had to all go this way. A scene in which Fonda turns on the radio and we hear about Vietnam is indicative of this. The movie very much believes that it's worth fighting against 'the man', and it believes genuinely in the 1960's idea(l)s about freedom and the counterculture. It believes that they could have brought about genuine change. It is therefore even more disappointed in The Wild Angels.
The Wild Angels also stars Peter Fonda. He plays Heavenly Blues, the leader of a group of California bikers without much of an ideology. All they know is that they have to disobey 'the man'. They mostly get high, ride their bikes, and break the laws in all kinds of ways. They act in much the same way as Harold and Maude, and share much of their beliefs too. But this is a far better film than Harold and Maude. The Wild Angels is in fact something like The Wolf of Wall Street, set in the world of LA biker gangs. It absolutely sees and understands why the lifestyle of these people is appealing. But it also calls them out on their bullshit. It shows, without ever losing its sense of fun and turning into a moralizing screed, how these are mostly a bunch of egoistical idiots who aren't fighting for some grand ideals. And it's not 'the man' who is hurt by them, but the underprivileged ones. The Wild Angels aren't underdogs; they have the power. This is even said out loud by Peter Fonda's character after his gang beats up a couple of Hispanics, because they may have stolen the bike of a fellow gang member.
Heavenly Blues' best friend is Loser (Bruce Dern). After the altercation with the Hispanics, he is shot in the back by the police and ends up in a hospital. He would be fine, if not for the Angels, fearing that Loser would end up in jail, kidnapping him from the hospital and bringing him back to their 'headquarters', draped in Nazy symbolism. These scenes are perhaps most indicative of this film's mood. They are both incredibly funny, and incredibly revealing. They mercilessly expose the Wild Angels as a bunch of bumbling, pathetic fools. One of them tries to rape Loser's nurse, while their own doctor is late, because he couldn't start his scooter. Of course Loser dies, and this leads to the grand set-piece of the movie, Loser's funeral in his hometown. The Wild Angels turn it into an enormous orgy/acid trip that is a wonderfully filmed set-piece, full of absurd visual jokes.
At the end of it though it is quite clear that there is nothing heroic about The Wild Angels. They are nothing but a bunch of bullies without a cause, who turn the town folk against them. It leads to Fonda's final line: "There's nowhere to go", which is expressing the same sentiment as Easy Rider's most famous line :"We blew it". Despite the fact that the movie thinks that these bikers are idiotic, and has a lot fun showing it, it is also very much about how regrettable it is that it had to all go this way. A scene in which Fonda turns on the radio and we hear about Vietnam is indicative of this. The movie very much believes that it's worth fighting against 'the man', and it believes genuinely in the 1960's idea(l)s about freedom and the counterculture. It believes that they could have brought about genuine change. It is therefore even more disappointed in The Wild Angels.
