Oranje boven


Oranje boven is a Dutch pro-monarchy folk song which represents Dutch fondness for its royal family, the House of Orange-Nassau. It is a contrafact, sharing the same melody as the children's song "We zijn er bijna ".

Origin

The song has its origins in the late 19th century, when Emma of Waldeck and Pyrmont became regent of the Netherlands between 1890 and 1898. The song soon grew in popularity especially during World War II, the song was frequently sung as a sign of resistance. "Oranje boven" refers to the Prince's tricolour of William the Silent which originated between 1588 and 1630 as a symbol used by the watergeuzen and later by those whose allegiance was with the dutch during the Eighty Years' War against Spain. The tricolour became a symbol of freedom and dutch nationalism even after the orange was replaced by red with the Statenvlag and many people still fly an orange pennon above the national flag on public holidays, although the "prinsenvlag" in the modern day is seen as controversial due to its use by the,now defunct, far-right organisation "National Socialist Movement in the Netherlands" or "NSB" which led to it becoming a symbol of the Dutch far-right. Nevertheless, the song still sees moderate popularity and is often sung on Koningsdag and Prinsjesdag, as well as during royal visits, and sporting events.
After the abdication of Queen Beatrix and the inauguration of King Willem-Alexander on 30 April 2013, for the first time in over 120 years a king sat on the dutch throne. The lyrics of the song were not appropriate for a male monarch, which led to a decline in its usage. Some alternatives to adapt to the male monarch have been suggested and implemented to some extent, such as "leve het koningspaar " to the original tune or, with the addition of a few notes, "leve de koning en de koningin ".

Lyrics

Contrafact

Oranje boven is a contrafact of the children's song "We zijn er bijna" which "Oranje Boven" borrows its lyrical structure and melody."We zijn er bijna"s lyrics are shown below:
Original textEnglish translation
We zijn er bijna,
we zijn er bijna
Maar nog niet helemaal
Maar nog niet helemaal		We are almost there
We are almost there
But not quite yet
But not quite yet

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