One of the coolest songs you've ever heard and can't understand

[DFW]

Dezen Avond--"This Evening," followed by the instrumental Kapotte Schoen (Broken Shoes)

Sung in Dutch by the old Dutch folk group Wolverlei. They used TWO hurdy gurdies for their drone sound, along with a guitar, an electric bass and a fiddle, and a haunting melody by one of the few guys who really knew how to sing in that language.

[niyad]

1. Belated Happy 18th DUnniversary to you.

[DFW]

4. Thanks, Niyad!

March seems the month for milestones for me. Tomorrow marks one I am no longer looking forward to!

[niyad]

5. hmmmmm, let me guess???

[DFW]

6. I'll give you a hint

Last edited Mon Mar 18, 2024, 04:45 PM - Edit history (1)

Our wedding anniversary is in April, and we celebrate 50 years since we first met in late July.

Now, that doesn't exclude everything else, but the first time I ate lima beans is another milestone I somehow always forget to commemorate with fireworks and a brass band. Whether or not that was in mid-March slipped from my memory long ago.

[Biophilic]

2. Thanks, that was fun.

[DFW]

3. My wife-to-be and I saw them live in Germany in 1980, and thought who ARE these guys?

I played my first vinyl copy of that record until it was worn smooth.

Dutch has some unique vowel sounds and can be somewhat gutteral, so hearing it skillfully sung so that it really pleases the ear is a real rarity. These guys did it seemingly effortlessly. I'm sure it was anything but--I played in a performing group for a while where I was the only one NOT from the Netherlands, and they told me that Wolverlei's lead singer was the best singer of their language in the whole country. My group was instrumental, so we didn't have to compete. We did some touring, and even did a single for Warner Brothers, but it was really just for fun. Since I was the only American, and the banjo player lived on the seacoast (Noordwijk), we called ourselves the Holland-Amerika-Lijn (Holland-America-Line) after the steamship company. They apparently never took us very seriously, as we never got sued for copyright infringement

[Biophilic]

7. Sounds like you had fun.

[DFW]

8. It was exhausting, but it was fun. What's weird is that my life isn't drastically different now.

In 1980, when I saw Wolverlei, I was 28. I’ll be 72 tomorrow, and I’m still juggling family life, music, and a job that takes me to a different country every day. A German colleague once told me that retirement for us came when the last nail was hammered into the coffin. At the time, I laughed. I now realize just how serious he was.

[Biophilic]

9. Yeah, and sometimes that changes. Roll with what works for you.

I used to give 110 percent of whatever I was doing. Than Covid showed up and I had to step back. A friend talked me into moving to Florida and I'm now happy as a clam sitting in my lanai watching the clouds. Who knew? Not me. Life can have a lot of twists and turns.

[DFW]

10. All Covid did to us was make us stir crazy

As soon as we were able to move again, we were both out again making up for lost time. I don't think I've caught up yet. Last week, I was in Belgium, France, Germany and Spain. This week I have to be in France once, Holland twice, Belgium and Germany three times, and who knows where the hell else, if I can fit it in. Spain again the week after that. At some point in late April, Washington, New York and Dallas. There is no rest for the weary.

But we know how to chill out, too. This summer, we are going back to our (relatively) remote village on Cape Cod in the USA, and plan to go exactly nowhere for five weeks. Who knows? Maybe some day, we'll even get used to it, and decide not to use the round trip portion of the ticket. I'll have to spend months teaching my wife how to talk like an American from New England. Repeat aftah me: Peppridge Fahm Remembahs! OK, that one will have to wait for another incarnation.