Dare to live.

On the internet i found the lyrics of a Dutch song from 1917 which i really like. I will write down the Dutch lyrics and a translation into English of it. My wife helped me translate it.

Mens durf te leven

Je leeft maar heel kort,
Maar een enkele keer.
En als je straks anders wilt kun je niet meer.
Mens, durf te leven.

Vraag niet elke dag,
van je korte bestaan.
Hoe hebben m'n pa en mijn grootpa het gedaan.
Hoe doet "˜t m'n neef of hoe doet "˜t m'n vriend.
En wie weet hoe of dat dan de buurman weer vindt.
En wat heeft het fatsoen voor geschreven.
Mens, durf te leven.

De mensen bepalen de kleur van je das,
De vorm van je hoed,
En de snit van je jas.
En van je leven.

Ze wijzen de paadjes waar langs je mag gaan.
En ze roepen o foei als je even blijft staan.
Ze kiezen je toekomst, ze kiezen je werk.
En ze zoeken een kroeg voor je uit en een kerk,
En wat je aan de armen moet geven.
Mens, is dat leven ?

De mensen ze schrijven je leefregels voor,
Ze geven je raad en ze roepen in koor :
Zo, moet je leven.
Met die mag je omgaan,
maar Die is te min.
En die moet je trouwen al heb je geen zin.
En daar moet je wonen dat eist je fatsoen.
En je wordt genegeerd als je "˜t anders zou doen.
Alsof je iets ergs had misdreven.
Mens, is dat leven ?
Het leven is heerlijk,
Het leven is mooi.
Maar vlieg uit in de lucht,
En kruip niet in een kooi.
Mens, durf te leven.

Met je kop in de hoogte,
En neus in de wind.
En lap aan je laars
hoe een ander het vindt.
Houd een hart vol van warmte,
En van liefde in je borst.
Maar wees op je vierkante meter een vorst.
Wat je zoekt kan geen ander je geven.
Mens, durf te leven.
Mens, durf te leven

Lyrics - Dirk Witte

People, dare to live.

Living is short;
And there's only one life;
Too late after that to wish for change,
People, dare to live.

Do not ask every day
of your short life,
What did my dad and my granddad do?
What does my nephew do? What does my friend do?
And what would the neighbours think?
And what has respectability prescribed?
People, dare to live.

Others determine the colour of your tie,
The shape of your hat,
And the cut of your jacket.
And your life.

They point to the paths which you can go along.
And they cry Oh shame, if you stop somewhere.
They choose your future, choose your work.
And they choose a pub for you and a church,
And what you have to give to the poor.
People, is that life?

Other people write life's rules for you,
They give you advice and they shout in unison:
This is how to live.
With this person you can engage,
But not with that one, they are no good.
And you have to get married, even if you don't like it.
respectability demands that this is the way to live
And you will be ignored if you do otherwise,
As if you had done something bad.
People, is that life?
Life is wonderful,
Life is beautiful.
But fly off into the air,
And don't crawl into a cage.
People, dare to live.

With your head high,
And your face to the wind,
Don't care what another might think.
Keep a heart full of warmth,
And love in your soul.
But be a king or queen in your own domain,
What you are looking for no one can give to you.
People, dare to live.
People, dare to live

December madness 2.

In the previous blogpost i wrote about the sheeplike behaviour of people regarding the christmas holidays. If you think of it, this christmas madness is not just there, it's forced upon people. Getting closer to the last week of december you can't leave your house without being confronted with it. And staying at home is maybe even worse when listening to the radio or watching tv, not to mention being on the internet, especially without an ad blocker.

This is not a rant, it's an observation. This christmas madness just makes me shake my head when i wonder why?

December madness.

I wonder what drives people into this december madness, and i mean the christmas holidays. My parents went along with it too, especially my mother. Sending lots of christmas cards to relatives and hanging all the received cards on a string on the wall. I'm sure some of the received cards were exactly the same as the ones my mother had send. If you think of it, sending a piece of cardboard with a romantic picture on it only to receive the same pieces of cardboard again. Because one has to do this.

Then the holidays themselves. This requires a lot of shopping, and in the case of the two christmas days falling on a monday and tuesday, an enormously amount of shopping has to be done. Then the parking lots of the supermarkets are too small in the two days before the holidays. Houses need to be decorated too of course.

There is nothing wrong with decorating the house and have a feast, with or without presents. But why can this only be done at christmas? Why not pick a random date on the calander and do this? Why be afraid that people say that you're odd for doing so? Why be a sheep? 

Bikers

Not long after i got my drivers license for driving a car, i also got my drivers license for riding a motorcycle. Shortly after that i bought a motorbike, a not so old second hand 600cc bike. Soon i grew an interest in old bikes from the seventies but mainly to ride them, not to work on them to make them better or to restore them. None of my bikes were 100% original, i liked bikes that were a bit different. At first i wore a full face helmet which i thought was not so practical when wearing glasses. So later i bought an open face helmet which was much more practical. I wore an old leather jacket which i had since i was sixteen years old. I also had thin leather pants which were later abandoned for warmer thicker pants. If it was warm in summer i wore jeans.

Sometimes when i was wearing jeans some other biker in a full leather suit with protection would point out to me that riding in jeans was not safe. I always ignored them. They were right on one point, when falling at speed and sliding over rough tarmac a full leather suit with protection keeps your skin better protected then jeans. But it was my choice to wear jeans and take the risk, i did not need someone else to tell me i was wrong/stupid.

When riding old bikes the electric system isn't always as good as on modern bikes, so on bright clear days i was riding without my lights on. The only (light) accident i had in twenty years was when i had my lights on. What saved me was anticipating on possible dangers and i had time to brake before hitting a car whose owner didn't see me. As with the jeans other bikers would point out to me that my lights were not on while riding, even on bright sunny days. Again it is my choice, and from my own experience i can say that having lights on doesn't save you from accidents, attentive and sensible drivers will save you, and anticipating driving yourself. Ask an ambulance driver who drives the best visible brightly colored car you can imagine how many near misses and accidents they have.

While bikers can be so proud of their individuality, from my own experience i can say that the biker world is made of sheeples. I was one of them. Riding a custom made chopper wearing the "biker" outfit going to biker meetings doesn't make a person an independant individual. You're going to meet people who do just the same as you, want to look the same as the others, and talk the same talk as everyone else. Even if someone belongs to a group where everyone rides a bike that they like, and are not trying to fit in by riding a certain type of bike, it doesn't make a person an independant individual.