Cornelis Vreeswijk – “Marjolein”.

   Hey people! 🙂 

   Today, let’s listen to a Dutch song by Cornelis Vreeswijk. Those of you who are familiar with Cornelis or just have been regulars on here will know that Cornelis songs and poems in Swedish, but he was born in the Netherlands and released a few albums in his birth country as well. 

   This song is kind of similar to the Swedish Grimasch om Morgonen  (my favourite song by Cornelis), as it has the same melody as Grimasch and the lyrics of both share some common themes, nonetheless I guess it wasn’t  meant to be just a Dutch version of Grimasch because some aspects of it are totally different. In Grimasch om Morgonen, there’s Ann-Kat(a)rin Rosenblad who is a recurring character in Cornelis’ songs. The Dutch equivalent of Ann-Katrin is Marjolijn/Marjolein (I’ve honestly no idea which spelling is the right one as both are legit forms of this name in Dutch and I’ve seen both used in reference to this particular lady). As you guys know, I don’t speak Dutch (yet), but the translation for this song was kindly written for me by Hans Heemsbergen.

   Because we are under the stars

and we like each other

I kiss your lips under the moon

and look deep into your eyes

And then suddenly you don’t know what to do

because your heart beats so restlessly

the sad fact, Marjolijn, is

that love is nothing more than appearances

 

Because somewhere else the sun shines

and exploding grenades

and there marches a battalion

a thousand soldiers die there

What is love, Marjolein

is it a war in miniature?

can one kill each other

without a gun, but with words

 

The night is long, the moon is high

now animals and people sleep

there falls a star in a long arc

then you may, I believe, wish for something

What do you want, that is the question

I’ll give you everything, oh so glad

you can get anything you want

only my heart remains my own

 

Love is a strange kind of wine

you can neither taste it nor smell it

but if I were you, Marjolijn

I would use it moderately

Because you only take one sip too many

then the bile shoots you in the throat

it’s like your heart is made of lead