De Stad Amsterdam – Christmas Stream Live

Posted on by Rutger

De Stad Amsterdam – Christmas Stream Live

De stad Amsterdam, this is the absolute number 1 of Dieb, his favorite song. In our version it starts slowly and goes faster and faster. The song is about sailors, but it could be musicians…

Anecdote: We have played it once or twice “only live” as de Stad Rotterdam, for fans from Rotterdam. And of course in the north of the Netherlands we spoke about Stad Appingedam in our own “Gronings” “de stad Ap’ge’ Dam ”and we are not talking about onions but“ Siepels ”and hanging kitchens, but normally we play the original version of De Stad Amsterdam.

Hangende keukens van Appingedam
Hangende keukens van Appingedam

Background info

Amsterdam, also known as Dans le port d’Amsterdam is a song by the Belgian singer Jacques Brel, the song takes the form of a crescendo and describes the experiences of sailors during their leave in the red light district in Amsterdam. The melody is taken from the English anthem Greensleeves. Brel never released this song on a studio record. Despite this, Amsterdam became one of Brel’s most popular songs.

De Stad Amsterdam Lyrics

1.

In de stad Amsterdam, waar de zeelieden lallen
Tot hun nachtmerries schallen over oud Amsterdam
In de stad Amsterdam, waar de zeelieden, dronken
Als een wimpel zo lam, in de dokken gaan ronken
In de stad Amsterdam, waar de zeeman verzuipt
Vol van bier en van gram, als de morgen ontluikt
In de stad Amsterdam, waar de zeeman ontwaakt
Als de warmte weer blaakt over Damrak en Dam

2.

In de stad Amsterdam, waar de zeelieden bikken
Zilv’ren haringen slikken, bij de staart uit de hand
Van de hand in de tand, smijten zij met hun knaken
En ze zullen hem raken als een kat in het want
En ze stinken naar aal, in hun grof blauwe truien
En ze stinken naar uien, daarmee doen zij hun maal
Na hun maal staan zij op om hun broek dicht te knopen
En dan gaan ze weer lopen en het boert in hun krop

3.

In de stad Amsterdam, waar de zeelieden zwieren
En de meiden versieren, buik aan buik, lekker klam
En ze draaien hun wals als een wentelende zon
Op de klank, dun en vals, van een accordeon
En zo rood als een kreeft happen zij naar wat lucht
Tot opeens met een zucht de muziek het begeeft
Met een air van gewicht voeren zij met wat spijt
Dan hun Mokumse meid weer terug in het licht

4.

In de stad Amsterdam waar de zeelieden zuipen
En maar zuipen en maar zuipen en daarop nog eens zuipen
Zuipen op het geluk van een hoer van de Wallen
Op een Hamburgse hoer, nou ja, van een goed stuk
Van een slet die zichzelf in haar deugd heeft geschonken
Voor een gulden of elf en dan zijn ze goed dronken
Met hun wankelende lijven lozen zij dan hun drank
En ze pissen zoals ik jank om de ontrouw der wijven

In de stad Amsterdam
In de stad Amsterdam
In de stad Amsterdam
In de stad Amsterdam

De Stad Amsterdam - Rakkish Paddies
Rakkish Paddies album cover

 

Rakkish Paddies  is available on CD

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We livestream every tuesday at 20:00 CET, check our agenda for other shows and streams

Finally: have a merry bagpipes-less Sunday!

Posted on by Franca

On the 27th at 4pm (CET) we have a special Watchparty for you on our Facebook, YouTube and Patreon channels! The perfect opportunity to hear us without bagpipes (don’t worry, David will be there) and talk to us in the chat at the same time. Make sure you don’t miss out and don’t forget to invite all your friends!

You can join the Watchparty for free, but if you wish to support us during these difficult times, we would very much appreciate it: https://rapalje.com/folk-music-livestreams/

A very Rapalje Christmas stream

Posted on by Rutger

On sunday the 27th of december at 16:00h we will be bringing you a very special Rapalje Christmas stream, we recorded this in advance and are working on the final edits now. We hope to fill everyone’s hearts with joy and laughter in these very different Christmas times. Normally we would be playing our hearts out at the wonderfull PLWM Weihnacht Market in Dortmund, we miss everyone there and at all the other shows but have good hopes we will see eachother again soon in the coming year!

So for now stay safe and healthy, have a wonderfull Christmas and we hope to see you all on sunday, we will be in the chat 😉

To watch our streams tickets are not needed, but we really appreciate your support, virtual tickets are available.

Live on on Facebook, YouTube and our website

 

Fairytale of New York – Merry Christmas from Rapalje

Posted on by Rutger

 

Fairytale of New York – Merry Christmas from Rapalje

Fairytale of New York with lyrics played at a special video we recorded for the hardworking employees at UMC Utrecht to support them after this difficult year, we hope to be able to perfom again soon for all our essential workers. Gurgling the tune with whiskey started out as a joke when we first learned this song, if you really can’t play an instrument you can always use the drink, we kept it ever since. We extended the chorus melody at the end because we love playing this part of the song.

Background Info

Fairytale of New York from The Pogues was, again, voted the most popular Christmas song of the UK in 2019. We play it all year round and it’s been one of our most requested songs since we started playing it! “Fairytale of New York” is a song written by Jem Finer and Shane MacGowan and recorded by their band the Pogues, featuring singer-songwriter Kirsty MacColl on vocals. The song is an Irish folk-style ballad and was written as a duet, with the Pogues’ singer MacGowan taking the role of the male character and MacColl the female character.

Although there is agreement among the band that “Fairytale of New York” was first written in 1985, the origins of the song are disputed. MacGowan insisted that it arose as a result of a wager made by the Pogues’ producer at the time, Elvis Costello, that the band would not be able to write a Christmas hit single, while the Pogues’ manager Frank Murray has stated that it was originally his idea that the band should try and write a Christmas song as he thought it would be “interesting”.

Banjo player Finer came up with the melody and the original concept for the song, which was set in County Clare on Ireland’s west coast, involving a sailor in New York looking out over the ocean and reminiscing about being back home in Ireland. Finer’s wife Marcia did not like the original seafaring story, and suggested new lyrics regarding a conversation between a couple at Christmas. Finer told NME, “I had written two songs complete with tunes, one had a good tune and crap lyrics, the other had the idea for ‘Fairytale’ but the tune was poxy, I gave them both to Shane and he gave it a Broadway melody, and there it was.

Fairytale of New York – Lyrics

It was Christmas Eve babe
In the drunk tank
An old man said to me, won’t see another one
And then he sang a song
The Rare Old Mountain Dew
I turned my face away
And dreamed about you
Got on a lucky one
Came in eighteen to one
I’ve got a feeling
This year’s for me and you
So happy Christmas
I love you baby
I can see a better time
When all our dreams come true
They’ve got cars big as bars
They’ve got rivers of gold
But the wind goes right through you
It’s no place for the old
When you first took my hand
On a cold Christmas Eve
You promised me
Broadway was waiting for me
You were handsome
You were pretty
Queen of New York City
When the band finished playing
They howled out for more
Sinatra was swinging
All the drunks they were singing
We kissed on a corner
Then danced through the night
The boys of the NYPD choir
Were singing Galway Bay
And the bells were ringing out
For Christmas day
You’re a bum you’re a punk
You’re an old slut on junk
Lying there almost dead on a drip in that bed
You scumbag, you maggot
You cheap lousy faggot
Happy Christmas your arse
I pray God it’s our last
The boys of the NYPD choir
Still singing Galway Bay
And the bells are ringing out
For Christmas day
I could have been someone
Well so could anyone
You took my dreams from me
When I first found youI kept them with me babe
I put them with my own
Can’t make it all alone
I’ve built my dreams around you
The boys of the NYPD choir
Still singing Galway Bay
And the bells are ringing out
For Christmas day

Fairytale of New York is available on our CD Hearts

Support us at https://rapalje.com/stream

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We livestream every tuesday at 20:00 CET, check our agenda for other shows and streams

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The Strayaway Child – O’ceallaigh Irish Pub

Posted on by Rutger

The Strayaway Child – O’ceallaigh Irish Pub

We play The Strayaway Child mostly during our theatre shows with our wonderful dancers Rosalie & Madelief, at Zomerfolk we play this song with the bodypaint performance on stage. This video is from when we first presented our new CD Scotland’s Story in O’ceallaigh Irish Pub. Dieb plays all our difficult songs perfectly and never gets confused, this song is the one exception, it has six violin parts and for some reason Dieb has a hard time keeping them apart, luckily we are always there to help him =)

Background info

This classic 6 part jig was first recorded by the late Michael Gorman (1895-1970), a county Sligo fiddler who spent much of his adult life in the London area. The tune was popularized in the late 1970s by Kevin Burke and The Bothy Band. The Chieftains (one of our favourite bands) have recorded this song on their album A Chieftains Celebration.

The Strayaway Child

This amazing tune has no lyrics but here we have the sheet music so you can try playing The Strayaway Child for yourself.

The Strayaway Child
The Strayaway Child – Sheet Music
The Strayaway Child - Scotland's Story
Scotland’s Story album cover

Scotland’s Story is available on CD and Vinyl

Support us at https://rapalje.com/stream

Help David support the cultural sector: https://rapalje.com/donation

Shop for beautiful Rapalje products: https://rapalje.com/shop/

Come and see us in person: https://rapalje.com/agenda/

See the streams at https://www.facebook.com/rapalje

We livestream every tuesday at 20:00 CET, check our agenda for other shows and streams