The Queen's meatballs

Blazer · February 25, 2009, 06:54:03 PM

For the last couple of weeks a true Carnaval song has been hogging the number one spot of the Dutch pop charts.

André Van Duin has been one of the premier Dutch humorists for over thirty years and counting. He has a very flexible face and an equally flexible voice. In the low countries he's famous for his timeless humor and his ability to make an audience burst out in laughter by just raising one of his eyebrows.

André Van Duin doing an imitation of Elvis.

Over the course of his career Van Duin has managed to score number one singles with very silly (to the point of getting stupid but not yet, still good) songs and Holland's traditional "Carnaval" holiday has given him plenty of opportunity to sell those song and sell them well. Which also is the case this year.

This is Queen Juliana of the Netherlands, the mother of our Current Queen Beatrix.
Juliana wasn't really what you could call a typical monarch. Her father Prince Hendrik, taught her how to ride roller skates through the long halls of the royal palace and later when Beatrix was born she insisted on changing the diapers of her baby girl herself. And later when she stepped down and Beatrix became Queen, Juliana happily rode to the local drug store on her bicycle to get groceries, insisting that people address her as "Madam" and not as "Majesty"
She was the Queen among Queens for us Dutch people. She died in 2004 and is still missed by the Dutch people who saw her as the grandmother or a wise aunt they never had.

So given that Juliana had such a character trait of "I might be a Queen but I'm your normal every day woman too." gave André Van Duin the inspiration to write a song about the Queen on her birthday party going "I have had enough of that silly elaborate food served on royal parties, I'm going to serve them meatballs this year."

With us Dutchmen having enclosed the memory of Queen Juliana and her quirks so deeply inside our hearts, it wasn't really a surprise that Van Duin had struck gold once again. From what I understand Queen Beatrix has received a copy of the song and was quoted saying that it was "Charming"

TBird1958 · February 25, 2009, 07:05:40 PM

Blazer,

I saw your thread title and thought you were making some kind of reference to my anatomy................

Blazer · February 25, 2009, 07:10:29 PM

Quote from: TBird1958 on February 25, 2009, 07:05:40 PM
Blazer,

I saw your thread title and thought you were making some kind of reference to my anatomy................

Trust me, I don't have any knowledge on that Mark and I'm thankful for that...

OldManC · February 25, 2009, 07:15:35 PM

Sounds like she was a pretty cool lady. The video looks cute even though I have no idea what's being sung!

Blazer · February 25, 2009, 07:26:56 PM

Quote from: OldManC on February 25, 2009, 07:15:35 PM
Sounds like she was a pretty cool lady. The video looks cute even though I have no idea what's being sung!

The song is about the Queen serving meatballs at her formal royal birthday party and actually going back into the kitchen to make more when they run out.

The chorus is basically saying
"The warm meatballs that the Queen made
so everybody dig in, dig in, dig in
we love the warm meatballs that the Queen made
They leave a good taste in your mouth and the grease dripping from your chin."

ramone57 · February 26, 2009, 04:57:55 AM

Quote from: TBird1958 on February 25, 2009, 07:05:40 PM
Blazer,

I saw your thread title and thought you were making some kind of reference to my anatomy................

Rocker949 · February 26, 2009, 11:29:27 AM

Andre Van Duin is someone that only the Dutch can fully appreciate. I've been around people watching him several times and never have the slightest idea at all of what is going on. He must really be funny, though.

Basvarken · February 26, 2009, 12:30:04 PM

He isn't. Trust me.

Rocker949 · February 26, 2009, 12:47:13 PM

Quote from: Basvarken on February 26, 2009, 12:30:04 PM
He isn't. Trust me.

I'll have to take your word for it. It's fairly rare that I think something is funny anyway, "Seinfeld" being the main exception.

Pilgrim · February 26, 2009, 01:25:40 PM

Quote from: Rocker949 on February 26, 2009, 12:47:13 PM
I'll have to take your word for it. It's fairly rare that I think something is funny anyway, "Seinfeld" being the main exception.

Isn't it interesting how humor hits different people differently? Seinfeld was a smash TV show, and on the rare occasions I watched part of a show, I never saw anything I thought was funny. I just don't "get" Seinfeld at all.

Rocker949 · February 26, 2009, 01:59:08 PM

Quote from: Pilgrim on February 26, 2009, 01:25:40 PM
Isn't it interesting how humor hits different people differently? Seinfeld was a smash TV show, and on the rare occasions I watched part of a show, I never saw anything I thought was funny. I just don't "get" Seinfeld at all.

"Seinfeld" tends to have a polarizing effect; people tend to either love it or hate it. I'd say that in general it seems to appeal more to introverts than extroverts, though.

Blazer · February 26, 2009, 02:29:21 PM

Quote from: Basvarken on February 26, 2009, 12:30:04 PM
He isn't. Trust me.

Oh no? Then how do you explain the fact that he sells out every single show he does and has kept a career going for so long?

Okee, Basvarken, was dat Varkentje maar eens.

Basvarken · February 26, 2009, 02:41:12 PM

Because most people have no taste/humor.
Frans Bauer is Holland's most succesful singer. That doesn't mean he's the best. (IMHO at least he isn't)
Last few weeks Tineke Schouten was on TV almost every day. I think she is horrible. But apparently lots of people think she's funny.

Do the words "platvloers" and "stompzinnig" ring a bell?

Barklessdog · February 26, 2009, 02:59:40 PM

QuoteIsn't it interesting how humor hits different people differently?

And guitarists , music, art, cars....

Pilgrim · February 26, 2009, 03:00:58 PM

Quote from: Rocker949 on February 26, 2009, 01:59:08 PM
"Seinfeld" tends to have a polarizing effect; people tend to either love it or hate it. I'd say that in general it seems to appeal more to introverts than extroverts, though.

That would explain a lot. My wife puts me firmly in the extrovert category. My favorite humor show of the past few years is "Whose Line Is It Anyway". Insanity.

BTW - as Dave Barry would say, isn't "The Queen's Meatballs" a great name for a rock band?