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Solid Ground

by The Dutch

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petertboogaard
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petertboogaard The Dutch is the kind of band you don't expect to be Dutch.... Nice pop-rock songs on this new album. Deserves more attention

adriaantorenburg
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chielie
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Martin Beversluis
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Jantje Geldof
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Aad van Driel
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guidos
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René M. van der Meulen
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Chielie
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Dutch Music Fan
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Okkie
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Adriaan Torenburg
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Wilco Barg
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1.
Fairytales 03:17
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Mr Make Believe Keeps his proposition brief Mr Know It All Tells you where to put or call And whom to leave Mr Fantasy Calls you up and starts a plea Says there's no excuse An offer that you can't refuse Do you agree Honestly I don't believe in fairytales Oh no Give me shares and bonds Send me lucrative coupons Grant me subsidies Offshore possibilities Just for once Honestly I don't believe in fairytales Oh no Give me meat and greed Satisfaction guaranteed Give me millionaires Contemplating bulls and bears A random cheat Honestly I don't believe in fairytales Oh no
2.
Alida Pott 03:53
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Ali, who’s to blame That your artistic flame Ended far too soon It seemed to die out with Your name Ali tell me why What made your ink turn dry What made you hesitate When all the while the days Went by Oh Alida Pott You’re on the spot Oh Alida Pott You’re so true Ali, come what may Whatever people say Your paintings on the wall Are definitely here To stay Ali did you know Your portraits are on show Your recognition grows The leading lady of The Plough Have you ever been In a watercolour scene Of blue, white and green Did you ever know Those willows in a row And purple snow
3.
Raquel Sing Us A Song 02:54
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Cans on the floor Bottles and more Dogs that beg for left-overs Legs in between Aces unseen The card game seems to be over This is where we belong The night is still young The language is strong Raquel sing us a song Here’s where we meet Guzzle and eat Where plans are made and rejected Here’s where we shout Laughing out loud Here’s where dreams are connected This is where we belong Where nothing is wrong We’re coming along Raquel sing us a song Who’s got the blues Who’s on the news Who’re we celebrating Who is that gent With the skeleton hand What’s he demonstrating This is where we belong The night is still young The liquor is strong Raquel sing us a song
4.
Solid Ground 04:11
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Hear the whistle blow And watch the dogs come out See the hunted looks And smell the hungry crowd Awakened by a sound That spreads like forest fire Burning every shred of doubt Hear the whistle blow The old machinery Repeat the same old song Of 1933 Everyone seems to play A well known melody A fabricated fantasy Let’s return to solid ground Somewhere in the lost and found We go in circles, round and round So let’s return to solid ground Hear the whistle blow In a god forsaken town The followers concede They’re jumping up and down So what if you’re proven wrong When will you return To common sense and solid ground Let’s return to solid ground Somewhere in the lost and found We go in circles, round and round So let’s return to solid ground
5.
There's My Firstborn Talking 04:44
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See the particles bouncing In a deadly blaze Like a fly on a windshield Trapped in a purple haze Kinetic energy rising To a billion degrees It’s getting so dark With the binary mergers And the giant branch Like a whirling snowflake In an avalanche You could do the math now And calculate The size of the spark There’s my firstborn talking All black holes, white dwarfs Particles colliding And merging in stars There’s my firstborn talking Gravitational waves Neutron stars exploding And meeting their graves On a distant planet A lot of lightyears away We made the galaxy tremble Until we stopped to say How could we be so foolish In our stubborn ways And we put out the spark There’s my firstborn talking Space and time rewind She’s got more than a handful Dimensions in mind There’s my firstborn talking Astrophysics and art How I love that girl With all of my heart
6.
One Fine Day In Heaven 04:53
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One fine day in heaven God was teaming up He gathered all the angels And said we have to stop Nurturing our brand Our reputation ‘Cause all the money spent Could never wash away the nasty mess That’s heaven sent The one valiant angel Cried for heaven’s sake Why did we resort to Seven fucking plagues We could have done much more To true believers So tell me what’s in store For all the pious people so devout And so galore Hurricanes and storms and contaminations Rivers flooding the fields, ruining the crops Ulcers covering the flesh of purulent nations Are we ever credited for doing our jobs One fine day in heaven The truth was recognised All the bad misfortune Merely emphasised Nothing could convince The true believers So God forgave their sins And sends a new disaster ever since To his bunny kins
7.
Hare 03:38
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A hare is just an animal Of limited desires Some corn, some wheat, some rye To feed the kids, to build a camp To nibble on a straw And no time to die Cause time waits for no one Before you go on I will be late for Christmas Eve No Sunday roast for me I tell you goodbye I’ve got no time stop for grief I’m head over heels And no time to die Cause time waits for no one Before you go on You must hold on To whom you hold dear
8.
No Particular Reason 03:35
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I wasn’t prepared for something so graceful Lifting her head, sleepy but still aware I wasn’t prepared for something so dainty The straw in her bed, magnificent creature No-one told her why they needed all those horses For no particular reason No-one told her why she’s towing all those corpses For no particular reason I wasn’t prepared for something majestic Simple and strong, just like a unicorn She’s so much alive, her muscles elastic A speckled white horse in Arlington Cemetery No-one told her why they needed all those horses For no particular reason No-one told her why she’s towing all those corpses For no particular reason
9.
What's Your Problem Dear 03:19
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I talked to my boss the other day He said ‘How you’re doing?’ ‘Well, OK But how about this toxic atmosphere?’ He said ‘What’s your problem?’ You, my dear I said to a DJ ‘Here’s my tune’ He said he would listen pretty soon So now I am waiting year by year He said ‘What’s your problem?’ You, my dear You’re my problem, dear I wrote to a guy named Zuckerberg He seemed rather nice, but what a jerk I said ‘You are misinforming me’ He said ‘Well you know At least it’s free.’ You’re my problem, dear I figured I’d finally make a fist Replied to a rightwing populist He sent in the trolls to finish me I said ‘That’s the last You’ll hear from me’ You’re my problem, dear
10.
I Can See A Woman Crying 03:28
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(I can see a woman crying I can see a big hat I can see all different Shapes on the face I think she looks all scared) I can see lots of bright colours And loads of different shapes On the face Like she’s scared Lost for words Like she is lonely, worried Biting her nails She just betrayed someone I can see a woman she’s crying That’s souls going Into her mouth And she’s sucking up souls Like when you read books Or watch films And they get souls Going into mouths (It could be just a dull gloomy moment I think she’s upset about something Her mom could have passed away Or something just horrible could have happened Doesn’t have to be someone dying Maybe something bad has just happened? Looks like she’s seen a ghost or something She’s different than most humans Maybe she regrets something she had done wrong Or she’s praying to god or she’s killed someone And then they come back) Someone could have Posted a letter through Saying you are next Or the thing that looks Just like a tissue Could be something Like, I know, you know, a love Letter or something (Or a million dollar bill Maybe she is happy but she is just laughing Tears of happiness Her husband just came home from the war And he is alive So she is crying for joy It might her birthday And someone might have bought her A sports-car)

about

Solid Ground is, including EPs, the seventh album by The Dutch. The release date is 22022022, both online and on vinyl and CD. Solid Ground features 10 songs, of which Alida Pott was previously released as a single in 2021, together with the Alida Pott exhibition in the Groninger Museum.
The title song Solid Ground is the second single, also released on 22022022.
Inspired by art

It has become an important theme of The Dutch: songs inspired by other forms of art. Hence, for instance, So Long H.N. Werkman (2018, inspired by Hendrik Nicolaas Werkman), Spellbound (2018, inspired by Jan Wiegers) and Where Did Your Blood Flow (2020, inspired by Charley Toorop).

On Solid Ground, half of the songs are inspired by Dutch female artists who excel in painting, photo, video and sculpture:

- Alida Pott is an ode to the artist from Groningen who died too early, whose oeuvre was only rediscovered in the last decade.

- Raquel Sing Us A Song is inspired by the painting We Don’t Sleep As We Parade All Through The Night by Raquel van Haver.

- Hare is inspired by the figurine Hare on a trunk by Carolein Smit.

- No Particular Reason celebrates the funeral horses photographed by Charlotte Dumas at the Arlington American Cemetery, in the Anima series.

-I Can See A Woman Crying is inspired by the video installation of the same name that Rineke Dijkstra made in Tate Liverpool. Dijkstra filmed a school class viewing and commenting on the painting The Weeping Woman by Pablo Picasso. The lines of the song consist of sentences that allow the children to let their imaginations run wild. The video – and the song – is a celebration of human fantasy, curiosity and camaraderie.

Four songs are part of that other tradition The Dutch stands out for, namely social and political engagement:

- Just like This Is Welfare in 1983 and Money in 2016, the opening track Fairytales mocks the shameless neoliberalism and greed that just won’t budge, despite the accumulation of laissez-faire originated crises.

- Solid Ground, the title track, was written after the storming of the Capitol on January 6, 2021. Out of amazement at the ease with which so many people can be incited with the craziest conspiracy theories. Time to return to solid ground!

- One Fine Day In Heaven is a genuine rock song that lyrically elaborates on Randy Newman’s God’s Song. During a meeting in heaven, god and his (or her, or them) angels bemoan the lack of respect in the sublunary for their Good Works.

- What’s Your Problem Dear is an upbeat song that pokes fun at overly pushy employers, right-wing populists, Mark Zuckerberg, radio DJs and… the band itself. Musically the song refers to Latin, semi-African choirs and funk.

And then, six years after Father, featured on the album Four (2016), there is another very personal song on Solid Ground: a song that singer Hans Croon wrote about his daughter Djuna. There’s My Firstborn Talking was written after he watched her give an online lecture about black holes, merging stars and the beginning of the universe.

credits

released February 22, 2022

All songs were written, arranged and played by Hans Croon, Bert Croon, Jan de Kruijf and Klaas Jonkmans.

Hans Croon sings lead vocals and plays guitars and additional keyboards.
Bert Croon plays piano and synths and sings backing vocals.
Jan de Kruijf plays bass guitar and sings backing vocals.
Klaas Jonkmans plays drums and samples and sings backing vocals.

All lyrics by Hans Croon.

Solid Ground was produced by Jan de Kruijf and mastered by Wout de Kruif.

Fay Lovsky sings backing vocals on Alida Pott.
Megan de Kruijf sings backing vocals on One Fine Day In Heaven and it’s her voice you hear on I Can See A Woman Crying.
The trumpet licks on There’s My Firstborn Talking are by Cees Trappenburg.
The cover painting ‘Les Bordures‘ was painted by Lukas Smits.
Cover design by Hans Croon.
The words on I Can See A Woman Crying are based on the video installation of the same name by Rineke Dijkstra.
The album was pressed and printed on vinyl and CD by Deepgrooves, Leeuwarden.

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The Dutch / Son of Han image

The Dutch / Son of Han Netherlands

The Dutch is an Amsterdam based pop group. Son of Han is the lead singer/guitarist.

Get all the information you need at thedutchband.com.

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