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There has been a time that the Dutch were ashamed of showing nationalism. This is perhaps understandable on a continent which has seen how much havoc an excess of nationalism can wreak. The realization that there's perhaps more to nationalism than just the desire to gas everybody who isn't of the correct lineage in concentration camps, took a while to seep through.
Nowadays though, more of the Dutch are becoming aware that it might be a good thing if people were somewhat proud of the country they live in. For example, they might start to make more of an effort to keep the place liveable. Two phenomena which functioned as a catalyst for this process are soccer, and to a lesser extent the murder of Theo van Gogh. A few years ago, the press began speaking with indignation of soccer players who couldn't even get through the first verse of the Wilhelmus, our national anthem.
Since the murder of Theo van Gogh, secretary Rita Verdonk of Immigration has seen fit to introduce a bit of nationalism into our naturalization procedures.
In the past, becoming Dutch was as easy (well...) as sitting through endless interviews with immigration officials. I think they sent you your naturalization papers through the mail. No 'new citizen ceremony', no pledge of allegiance, nothing. Make becoming Dutch seem like getting a fishing license and people will treat it as such: as just another piece of paper which holds the same value as an insurance policy. You don't want to lose it, but do you love it? Nope.
So personally I think it was a great idea of Ms. Verdonk to have a bit of a party to welcome a few new citizens to our fair, if rather moist, country. Everybody got a Dutch flag, a copy of our constitution, and they even sang the Wilhelmus, the first and the sixth verse. That is, except for a journalist from Business News Radio. He claimed he, as well as several civil servants, had never even heard of the sixth stanza of our national anthem.
Right. When I was brought up - which isn't ages ago as I'm 30 - the first and sixth verse of the Wilhelmus were compulsory singing at Queen's Day, our national holiday (comparable somewhat to the Fourth of July, although a bit less formal). So for the benefit of Business News Radio, and all other traitors (just kidding), here's the text of the first and sixth verse, plus translations, plus several MP3's, a bit more down. Boy, am I spoiling you guys rotten...
And Rita, loosen up next time, will you? I know you were in charge of a prison, but there's no need to sound like a warden all the time. Not at a party, at least.
Wilhelmus van Nassouwe
ben ik, van Duitsen bloed,
den vaderland getrouwe
blijf ik tot in den dood.
Een Prinse van Oranje
ben ik, vrij onverveerd,
den Koning van Hispanje
heb ik altijd geëerd.
Mijn schild ende betrouwen
zijt Gij, o God mijn Heer,
op U zo wil ik bouwen,
Verlaat mij nimmermeer.
Dat ik doch vroom mag blijven,
uw dienaar t'aller stond,
de tirannie verdrijven
die mij mijn hart doorwondt.
Some crude translations, from Wikipedia:
William of Nassau, scion
Of a Dutch and ancient line,
Dedicate undying
Faith to this land of mine.
A prince I am, undaunted,
Of Orange, ever free,
To the king of Spain I've granted
A lifelong loyalty.
My shield and loyalty
art Thou, o God my Lord
on You I shall build
never abandon me
so that I shall remain strong
Your servant at all times
the tyranny repel
which stabs (me through) my heart
I've got six versions available for download, all in one neat package which can be found here. Rapidshare (the hoster) can be a bit tricky to navigate. Scroll down and select the 'free' option. Scroll down again. You'll notice there's a counter. Yes, you'll have to wait a bit before the text 'wilhelmus.exe' appears. When it does, click on it and download away. If all else fails, try reading the instructions.
You'll hear:
1. The instrumental version, played by a Dutch army band.
2. The version with lyrics (which gets un-Dutchically patriotic - i.e., they start using copper instruments, which most Dutch feel is best left to Americans - from about 1"37'. It also contains the sixth verse, starting at 0"49').
3. The organ version, which is very, very, veeeeery long.
4. The er... farmer version, with lyrics that are for the most part not at all like the original.
5. The eurodance version, usually played at soccer fests. There's a bit of another melody somewhere in the middle.
6. The acid house version, usually not played at all, and with very good reason.
(People who'd rather have some music from Sensation White can go to alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.dance.)
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