MIJN HART SLAAPT NOOIT
1991 album by Henny Vrienten. Link to the album.
as old as the world
is the old song
it's about love
or lovesickness
everyone sings it
so I sing along
what else to sing about
I have no clue
and it is so simple
so simple
everyone can do it
everyone will do it
so simple
so simple
I think you're swell
it has all been sung
it has all been said
it can be explained better in a song
everything looks like everything else
and everything has been done
don't look for anything else
it comes down to this
so simple
so simple
everyone can do it
everyone will do it
so simple
so simple
I think you're swell
I think you're swell and can't go without (aaah)
but will this feeling ever pass?
then I'll have another reason for a song, there are three,
I want her, I have her, I lost her
so simple
so simple
everyone can do it
everyone will do it
so simple
so simple
I think you're swell
Hebban olla vogala nestas bigunnan hinase hic enda thu
Hebban olla vogala nestas bigunnan hinase hic enda thu
Hebban olla vogala nestas bigunnan hinase hic enda thu
Hebban olla vogala nestas bigunnan hinase hic enda thu*
* the 'Hebban Olla Vogala' has long been known as the first dutch sentence.
it is a little poem written by an 11th century monk. it means, roughly translated,
'all birds have started their nests except you and I, what are we waiting for?'
I know it
She knows it
it's over
I say nothing
and she does nothing
I keep playing pretend for her and
she for me
which one of us will be the first
who can no longer pretend?
which one of us will grab his suitcase
and say, 'well good luck honey, that was all'?
How long, how long, how long,
Does the beginning of the end take?
How long, how long, how long,
Will she still call me honey while she actually means
I might as well drop dead?
I might as well drop dead?
back then this was still bearable
everyone carried their part
back then we would still occasionally talk
now when we are together we're one too many
How long, how long, how long,
Does the beginning of the end take?
How long, how long, how long,
Will she still call me honey while she actually means
I might as well drop dead?
I might as well drop dead?
She wants me, she wants me,
she never wants to see me again
She can't, she can't
she can't bear to see me again
she sounded clear and certain: we are no longer 'us'
it's just you and me now
Where's the music? Where's the wine?
Where's the dancers?
Don't make me think, don't make me think
because thinking hurts
She won't, she won't
she won't let me go
She says nothing binds her to me anymore
and she is starting anew
Where's the music? Where's the wine?
Where's the dancers?
Don't make me think, don't make me think
because thinking hurts
I am a free range pig, and I wander all around
and inbetween those places I scramble together food
I am a free range pig and I wander and I dig
it's not because I like it but because I have to
I am a free-range pig and I wander all around
the other pigs think I'm just a weird wanderer
they have an easy life sitting in a warm barn
while I spend my days outside, fighting nature all alone
I just can't understand
why I'm apparently so different
why do I, as free-range pig
get treated like a swine?
where are those differences?
we look exactly alike
a head, four legs, a big butt
a curly tail and spiky fur
I am a free range pig, and I wander all around
it's raining very hard, which they call 'healthy'
they never have to go outside, don't care about the weather
they laugh at me a lot, oh, they look down on me
I am a free range pig, and nobody knows why
neither do they, but they still laugh at me
they'll get what they deserve, horrible creatures they are
they'll become pork! they'll be put down
because... eventually no single pig gets spared this fate
and then I, as a free-range pig, will have the most expensive meat
(laughter)
I just can't understand
why I'm apparently so different
why do I, as free-range pig
get treated like a swine?
where are those differences?
we look exactly alike
a head, four legs, a big butt
a curly tail and spiky fur
when the spring comes they come outside
all of them simultaneously
if I dared to I would whistle at them
but I don't have a single chance
oh, the winter took so long
and they all sat inside
but now I can, for hours
safely behind my sunglasses
secretly look where and how I want
behind my sunglasses
I look up and down from boobs to butt
long live sunglasses
Now it's spring they come outside again
and it's like they never left at all
sound the trumpets and ring all the church bells
because I'm so glad I'll never be cured
oh if only I could take
them all in my arms one by one
for now I sit here alone
lonely behind my sunglasses
secretly looking where and how I want
behind my sunglasses
my eyes flash up and down from boobs to butt
long live sunglasses
sunglasses
secretly looking where and how I want
behind my sunglasses
doo doo doo doo boobs and butt
sunglasses
oh sunglasses
sunglasses
my mother always said
'be careful of what you get in return'
grocers, grocers
will scam you for a single cent
my father always said
'if you make a chair,
it doesn't matter how much you sell it for
but how sturdy it stands'
the pockets of the businessman
are bottomless pits
and it doesn't matter how
as long as they are filled
and it's nice
oh it's nice
yes, it's nice
oh it's nice
to not be a part of it (so nice)
to not be a part of it (so nice)
to not be a part of it (so nice)
to not be a part of it
ties and an Armani coat
the uniform of greed
what the business bastard gets his hands on
you will never get back
they're everywhere
but what is there to take?
and it doesn't matter who they steal from
as long as they pay
and it's nice
oh it's nice
oh it's nice
ah it's nice
to not be a part of it (so nice)
to not be a part of it (so nice)
to not be a part of it (so nice)
to not be a part of it (so nice)
nice (so nice)
nice (so nice)
you're born and you look around
you don't understand anything
and they put you back in the ground
don't believe in illusions because there aren't any
you are what you have and you only have
what you see
if the last person who ever knew you is gone
then you will be gone as well
you'll be gone
is this lost time?
wasted effort, lost time?
don't look for the meaning of life
because nobody knows the answer
is this lost time?
between rude heads and uncaringness
I don't think I could ever get used
to all this misery
if I didn't know you
what is success, and what is luck?
thought of by the living and if you grab onto it
it falls apart
Everyone runs past everyone
But when you reach the finish line you're still nowhere
and nobody's happy
if the last person who ever knew me is gone
then I will be gone for real
forgotten and gone
is this lost time?
wasted effort, lost time?
sometimes I get so tired of people
I almost wish it would all just end
is this lost time?
between rude heads and uncaringness
I don't think I could ever get used
to all this misery
if I didn't know you
Oh I wish I was your mirror
So you would look at me
the whole day and night
you only looked at me
nobody got closer to you
so beautiful (but you think so too)
so beautiful (but you think so too)
so beautiful (but you think so too)
so beautiful (but you think so too)
so beautiful (but you think so too)
Oh I wish I was your hairdo
You would feel around me all day
the whole day and night
you only touched me
nobody got between us
so beautiful (but you think so too)
so beautiful (but you think so too)
so beautiful (but you think so too)
so beautiful (but you think so too)
so beautiful (but you think so too)
beautiful, beautiful, beautiful
it's not about the outside but the inside
then why are you inside and not at the beach?
get out of that corner, forget that book and newspaper
get in the sun
a colour looks better on you and it matches with gold
so boring when you're white and it makes you look old
I don't get that you don't like it
get in the sun
get in the sun
and turn around again
get in the sun
on a terrace or the balcony
get in the sun
everyone brown and burned
we're cultivating cancer at the beach
why are you moaning about the ozone layer
that's how you get issues and it's a nice day
get that spray can, get my back and spray a thick layer
and get in the sun
I no longer need to go to Spain or Italy
it keeps getting warmer here and now I ask you
if you're waiting for winter's hail, snow and ice
the future is your true paradise
get in the sun
and turn around again
get in the sun
and don't act so stupid
get in the sun
everyone brown and burned
like french toast in the sand
oh I'm more tan (I'm more tan)
no I'm more tan (I'm more tan)
no I'm more tan (I'm more tan)
no I'm more tan than you
get in the sun
oh, you know why
get in the sun
take your dress off
get in the sun
everyone boiled and burned
like hot dogs in the sand
oh I'm more tan (I'm more tan)
no I'm more tan (I'm more tan)
no way more tan (I'm more tan)
no I'm more tan than you
nothing going on
my life is going well
there's enough to do
and I'm
I'm where I want to be
I don't want to be anywhere else
this is the middle
or the second half
there is no path back
and luckily enough
because even if I get fat and old
I won't turn around for any price
despite that I haven't sung or danced in a while
I move slowly like I've been numbed
a strange oversensitivity
it won't leave my head (oh)
(strange sadness)
oh strange sadness
(strange sadness)
a soft and sweet sadness
(strange sadness)
that I cannot escape
a desire I've never had before
nothing going on
it's not bad with me
I still have all five of them
and I don't need drugs or God
coincidence is my fate
it's not the time going too quickly
it's not the fear of decay
it's not a painful memory
no it's none of those
(strange sadness)
oh strange sadness
(strange sadness)
a soft and sweet sadness
(strange sadness)
that I cannot escape
a desire I've never had before
they think I'm stronger than Tarzan
that I can win a fight with Superman with one finger
they think I'm a true hero and acrobat
because I sometimes take my hands off the handlebars when riding my bike
they think that I know everything and can do magic
never afraid in the dark, not of monsters or men
my sons, they are unbelievably proud of me
but how much longer will this go on, when will it end?
let me dream a bit more
a bit longer in this delusion
soon the moment will come
that you suddenly see
that old man of yours
is nothing special
leave me in my delusion for a little while more
leave me in my delusion for a little while more
my father was was a tree, you couldn't get him to budge
with hacking or a saw and still he grew crooked
I felt so ashamed when I realized that
he was no longer the strongest, instead I was...
my father never said an unnecessary word
not even on the evening of that terrible murder
at Christmas he grabbed Spot, my sweetest bunny
and gave a well-aimed smack, we both screamed
let me dream a bit more
a bit longer in this delusion
soon the moment will come
that you suddenly see
that old man of yours
is nothing special
leave me in my delusion for a little while more
leave me in my delusion for a little while more
grandpa is fishing
and grandma's sitting in the grass
the girl is surfing
on the big pond
white clouds
pass by endlessly
and cows calmly graze
in the tender field
a small church in the distance
and a hot air balloon
the weathervane in the tower
shimmers in the sun
a farmer is mowing
the afternoon smells like hay
even the mills are turning
the world is so beautiful
and the poison trails where it can
and it keeps getting closer
and the poison trails where it can
and it keeps getting closer
it's a bit hazy
and still the sun burns
on a forest of black chimneys
on the horizon
grandpa is fishing
but there's something going on
and grandma eats an apple
with a bittersweet flavour
and the poison trails where it can
and it keeps getting closer
and the poison trails where it can
and it keeps getting closer
and the poison trails where it can
and it keeps getting closer
and the poison trails where it can
and it keeps getting closer
sometimes I only choke from laughing
when I see us, a young and affectionate family
and would you have predicted this ten years ago
I would've told you to go leave and quick
sometimes I think it's scandalous
because I want so much and miss so little
I don't want to see where hunger lives
when you have everything you get rewarded twice
and I'm so happy, I'm so disgustingly happy and afraid
so incredibly afraid, unbelievably afraid
because I could lose us
I could lose us
in the morning when the kettle sings
while the candle blinks in anticipation
I shave my chin into pieces methodically
another day of dumb luck awaits me
and I'm so happy, so disgustingly happy and afraid
so incredibly afraid, unbelievably afraid
because I could lose us
I could lose us