Over de muur (1987) song by Klein Orkest
Over de muur (Dutch for Over the wall) is one of the most successful Dutch songs in history. Its success stems from the witty text and the historical value. The song refers to the political differences between East and West of the time, depicting the situation in Berlin with the Berlin Wall as clear boundary. With the song, Klein Orkest first reject Eastern socialism fully along the lines of the common view in the West. But then the song also broadcasts the faults of the West, such as commercialization, racism and poverty. As a whole, it ridicules the Cold War.
The original Dutch lyrics are copyrighted and have been removed by myself because of that. You might find the text at http://www.musiclinks.nl/songteksten/Klein_Orkest/6933.html if you're lucky. The translation to English is all mine and will be here to stay:
East Berlin, Unter den Linden
People walking by flags and banners
Where Lenin and Marx are still on a pedestal
And everyone works, hammers and sickles
As the guards are changing in parade step
Forty years of socialism, much has been achieved since
But what does utopia mean with walls surrounding it
If you're afraid and have to say things cautiously
Oh, what's utopia, tell me: what's it worth?
When someone different is declared crazy
And just the birds fly from East to West Berlin
Don't get whistled back, neither shot down
Over the wall, over the Iron Curtain
Because sometimes they like to be in the west, sometimes in the east too
Because sometimes they like to be in the west, sometimes in the east too
West Berlin, the Kurfürstendamm
People walking by porn- and peepshow
Where Mercedes and cola are still on a pedestal
And the neon ads, they're glittering and luring
Come dance, come eat, come drink, come gamble!
That is forty years of freedom, much has been achieved since
But what does freedom mean, without a home, without a job?
So many Turks in Kreuzberg who can hardly exist
Okay, you can demonstrate, but with your back against the wall
And only if you have money, then freedom is cheap
And the birds fly from West to East Berlin
Don't get whistled back, neither shot down
Over the wall, over the Iron Curtain
Because sometimes they like to be in the east, sometimes in the west too
Because there is bread lying sometimes near the Gedächtniskirche
Sometimes at the Alexanderplatz