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Hans, your mother was clearly a very talented poet.
This is great that you have been able to codify this musically.
Very well done. Hello VideoTrack, I wish I could say I give her your compliments, but she surely would have appreciated your kind words. And I can speak on behalf of her as her son, so thanks for that and for your compliment for myself according to the song. Hans,
The inspiration is wonderful; I have a secret hope that my words or songs might be discovered and appreciated enough to live again in the voice of one of my children!
The melody and your vocal is strong ( nice doubled vocal too) and I enjoyed letting an unfamiliar language surprise me.
A worthy and memorable song.
Robert
Hi Robert, It was really a challenge singing in Dutch. Stefan Nachtsheim said the same about him singing in German. Too difficult. But reading your nice words, I think I succeeded. That secret wish you mentioned I had as well, but my sons are not musical, so my wish is idle, I fear. But thanks for your compliments on the techical aspects of the song. Thanks to you I will make more Dutch songs ;-) Love me some sweet piano-pop singer-songwriter, no matter the language. Beautiful singing and harmonies and the band sounds great. Yes, I think the poem is timeless as long as there are busses and red wine. Time does tend to change things, no less so gradually than under sudden observation. I think you captured the melancholy without going over the top. I love this almost as much as your mother would. That is really nice of you, Tangmo! I think from her cloud she enjoys what I did and what you wrote about the result! And funny you also mentioned the red wine. That was not in the original poem. I did this, because I know how important the wine is... It also prevented me going over the top with the song. But seriously, I thoght the song was a bit too soft, so I had to put in some power. Luckily I chose for the piano and not for shouting. Thanks again! Have a nice day, Hans
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Very cool to write a song from your mothers poem. That song will live in your heart forever. Excellent vocal and backtrack. I can only how difficult it was to translate the song in two languages. Both sounded excellent. The piano was a nice touch. Well done Hans
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Hi Hans,
Beautifully atmospheric.
It didn't seem to matter that it was sung in what is (for me) a foreign language - the
arrangement and the way it was performed were enough in themselves.
Loved the whole thing, but especially the break-down in the bridge - the piano was perfect.
ROG.
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What a wonderful experience and tribute to your late mother.
Standouts for us were the lyric, vocal, fretless bass and piano.
Listening in Dutch was interesting and it really does allow you
to focus on the melody. But we also read the nice lyric.
Well done!
J&B
Our albums and singles are on Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, YouTube Music, Pandora and more. If interested search on Janice Merritt. Thanks! Our Videos
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This is really good!!! And I, too, like that you sang this in Dutch.
Touching poem your mother wrote. The second verse really spoke to me.
Instrumentation suits the lyrics and melody perfectly. Very good vocal performance.
I can think of no better way for a son to honor his mother. Well done!
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When I listen to a song sung in a language that I don't know I listen as it is an instrumental. With that in mind this is one outstanding song.
This flows extremely well, excellent choice of backing tracks. Excellent vocal also.
Life is short so make sure you spend as much time as possible on the Internet arguing with strangers.
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Fretless bass can be amazing or annoying but in this arrangement, and played sensitively, it work really well.
I didn't bother with the translation - I allowed myself to enjoy the sound of the words rather than the meanings & narrative.
You sounds relaxed and very INTO the song...the wonders of working within one's native skill set.
Lovely song...thanks. Hi Ray, Thanks for your nice words! and yes, I too have a 'double' feeling using a frettless bass. They can dominate in a 'wrong' direction. But here they didn't. About my relaxed singing; I wasn't actually. Singing in my own language always gaves me the creeps. But I must admit, after hearing so many compliments (also in my city), I can do it more often. Let's see if you are still talking the same as now ;-) Very nicely done - and a wonderful ode for your mother. I thought you did a fantastic job here. You can tell it's from the heart, and it flows perfectly. Your vocals carry a certain sincerity, and the melodies are sweet. Thanks for sharing  Hello Derryk, very nice of you to wrote it like this! It is a pity I don't believe in the hereafter, otherwise I'm sure my mother would have whispered something like this in my ears. But it was nice doing this project. It got me over my fear singing in Dutch as well! Hey Hans,
I think you should do more of these in Dutch, it worked well for me. As long as you provide a translation. It's the same with foreign movies, people almost always prefer subtitles to overdub. They like hearing the emotion in the original language. Of course, your command of English is excellent and I've never felt it hampered your material. Good work, I'm sure Mom appreciates it. Hey TuneMonger, I just wrote to Ray and Derryk I probably will do that. And I'll provide a translation as long as the lyrics are decent enough, okay? Thanks also for your nice words about my English.
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This is so, so beautiful! The music and your rendition of it is wistful and haunting in a "remembering" kind of way ... exactly, in my humble view, as it should be. It does justice to the poem, which is just genuinely spellbinding. Your mother (again, in my very humble view) has somehow managed to paint, in words, perfectly the feelings, excitement and ultimate disappointment of such an chance encounter. It is beautiful and memorable. Congratulations on such a well and beautifully created work to both of you - it is not one that I shall forget in a hurry. Thank you.
P.S. the grand piano works so well ... adds just the right touch and tinge of atmosphere, I feel. Well done. Hello Musician, I'm really touched by your beautiful words. Thanks! My mother would be too, I'm sure. And you are right about that piano, but you have to render it a lot of times to get it like this. That's what I like in BiaB. Somewhere hidden in their realtracks you find beautiful pieces of music. I love the sound of the Dutch language, although I'll never understand a word of it, This is so beautiful, Hans. First of all, taking your mom's words and bringing them to life is such a wonderful tribute. Great choice of instruments for this presentation. So well done on so many levels. Hello Marty, I'm pleased to read how you deal with the Dutch language! I always have heard people think it is 'underwater spoken German', or because of this unspeakable 'g, ch or k' you have a severely hoarse throat for weeks. But you liked it! Thanks Thanks all, Hans
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Hans,
Guitars are magnetic right off, turns up a notch when the bass and percussion kick in. Vocal is deep and rich—perhaps a tad too much up front? Maybe. See what others think. Love the piano interlude--terrific change up. And the harmonies were impressive as well. Nice write by, Mom.
All in all a killer track. And I agree, I hope another collaboration with Mom is in the offing.
Kind regards,
Deej Hi Deej, finally a response from me... sorry for the delay. I was also busy with another song (in English). But thanks for your kind, and expert words. These words, and from all the others, are very helpfull for my decission if and when I make another Dutch song with a poem fron my mother. I haven't heard from others my vocals were too loud, but still I think you are right with that. Maybe I adjust the volume a bit. I think it's pretty amazing to think you were able to collaborate with you Mother this way. What an amazing thing to do as a son! And what a great tribute to a mother. I really liked it and applaud you on your undertaking. You did it so well! I agree with Dave that it's actually nice to hear a song in a language you don't know as it allows you to concentrate on the melody (great by the way) and those great harmonies you did! To say I like would be an understatement. Also, the instrumentation was excellent. The bass was perfect for this song! As has been mentioned, the piano was wonderful as well. Great job all the way around! On a different note, my Grandparents were from the Netherlands; so I recognize some of the words, but would REALLY struggle with their meanings. The village I live in is a has many people of Dutch decent. We even have a windmill and celebrate "Kermis" every year. Half the people here have last names that start with "Van." I appreciate the culture. Hello C. Aaron, that are very kind words you wrote to me. I appreciate this very much! Sorry as well for the delay in answering your post. Yes, it was nice doing this with a poem from my mother. I had to make some adjustments because none of her poems rhyme. but that was also a very interesting experience for me. and I paid more attention to her words than ever before ;-) What nice your Grandparents were from the Netherlands and also that you learned to listen to those strange words and sometimes understand them! I hope 'we dronden rode wijn' is also the sentence you now know, just like Dave learned from his wife. If you can speak them out loud without hesitation I buy you one! Thanks again, Hans
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Very cool to write a song from your mothers poem. That song will live in your heart forever. Excellent vocal and backtrack. I can only how difficult it was to translate the song in two languages. Both sounded excellent. The piano was a nice touch. Well done Hans Hi Scott, thanks for your kind words. I used Google translate a lot of times for the translations. But there is a danger in doing that. In many cases the translations were 'strange'. But still I learn how to handle that more and more. Hi Hans,
Beautifully atmospheric.
It didn't seem to matter that it was sung in what is (for me) a foreign language - the
arrangement and the way it was performed were enough in themselves.
Loved the whole thing, but especially the break-down in the bridge - the piano was perfect.
ROG. Hi ROG, that was a nice way of saying. I heard it some more times that if you can't understand the language you listen more intensely to the song as a whole. I regognize that too. Not with English, but Italian or Russian, like that. And you are right, you listen more to the melody. Beside that, I also liked that piano in the break. I tried to make it louder and heavier, but discovcered that was not a right thing to do... What a wonderful experience and tribute to your late mother.
Standouts for us were the lyric, vocal, fretless bass and piano.
Listening in Dutch was interesting and it really does allow you
to focus on the melody. But we also read the nice lyric.
Well done!
J&B Hey Janice and Bud, thanks very much for listening to a Dutch song! I sometimes wished my mother could see/read your comments on this song. I think her smile would be as broad as..., as can be! I found out it wasn't so easy to translate a poem. Google doesn't like poetic words and turn them into 'cold' businesslike sentences. On the other hand, what my mother wrote was what I experienced a few years back. And I believe a lot of us did. But that makes it recognizable. This is really good!!! And I, too, like that you sang this in Dutch.
Touching poem your mother wrote. The second verse really spoke to me.
Instrumentation suits the lyrics and melody perfectly. Very good vocal performance.
I can think of no better way for a son to honor his mother. Well done!
Hi Ezekiel, it's very nice how you expressed yourself here. I liked it very much! It helps telling me I can sing in Dutch and you listen better when I do so! As I already wrote above, I would like to hear my mom tells me she liked the song A nice day, Hans
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When I listen to a song sung in a language that I don't know I listen as it is an instrumental. With that in mind this is one outstanding song.
This flows extremely well, excellent choice of backing tracks. Excellent vocal also. Hi Mario, Thanks for your nice words. I can say i do the same, except of course when it is English. I'm glad you liked it. I am working on another dutch song now. Nearly finished. I hestitate posting it, it is so busy on the forum. Nice day, Hans
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