Tune Add: Tulips from Amsterdam

Subject: Tune Add: Tulips from Amsterdam
From: leeneia
Date: 11 Jun 16 - 11:54 AM

I thought I'd share my newest tune, 'Tulips from Amsterdam,' a nice waltz which hit the charts in Europe and the UK in the late 1950's. I'd never heard myself until I came upon it on YouTube a few days ago.

I followed the orchestral version with the photos of tulips, and it came out in G, a reasonable key. The chords are simple - G,D,C, Am and Bm.

Here's a video of a good, clear singer, but I don't think he's singing in G.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AQWVETs2kQs

I hope the MIDI gets posted soon, but today's Saturday, chore day, so it may take a while.

---

Click to play (joeweb)

Subject: RE: Tune Add: Tulips from Amsterdam
From: leeneia
Date: 11 Jun 16 - 11:56 AM

Google lists two sites that claim to have this music, but one site has it in tablature without saying what kind of tablature it is, and I can't make any sense of the other site.

Subject: RE: Tune Add: Tulips from Amsterdam
From: GUEST,Peter Laban
Date: 11 Jun 16 - 12:56 PM

Ah for godsake, really? It'll be an arrangement of the Smurf Song or the Red Rose Cafe next.

Make it an arrangement for street organ for an 'authentic' sound.

Subject: RE: Tune Add: Tulips from Amsterdam
From: leeneia
Date: 11 Jun 16 - 04:05 PM

Yes, really. Right now I am asking myself how Johann Strauss would have played this.

Subject: RE: Tune Add: Tulips from Amsterdam
From: Joe Offer
Date: 11 Jun 16 - 04:49 PM

Hmmm. The video in the first post is Jantje Smit singing "Ein bißchen Liebe" (A Little Bit of Love). Doesn't sound like "Tulips from Amsterdam" at all to me.

Wikipedia says "Tulpen aus Amsterdam" was first written in 1953 by Klaus-Günter Neumann, but his publisher didn't like the song. So, the lyrics were rewritten by another songwriter and a new melody was composed. I wonder what was left of the original song - just the title?

So, then we have the 1957 recording of "Tulpen uit Amsterdam" by Herman Emmink here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=85U-77_5lWk

...and then a version by Max Bygraves (I think from 1958) here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qPsq6flck2A

...and then a 2010 performance by Andre Rieu:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XRvhNONZcfs

Subject: ADD: Tulpen aus Amsterdam
From: Joe Offer
Date: 11 Jun 16 - 05:02 PM

Here's a 1969 performance in German by someone named "Wilma" from the Olympic Stadium in Amsterdam:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mMBUG7DVs8E

TULPEN AUS AMSTERDAM Wenn der Frühling kommt, dann schick ich dir Tulpen aus Amsterdam. Wenn der Frühling kommt, dann pflück ich dir Tulpen aus Amsterdam. Wenn ich wiederkomm, dann bring ich dir Tulpen aus Amsterdam, tausend rote, tausend gelbe, alle wünschen dir dasselbe. Was mein Mund nicht sagen kann, sagen Tulpen aus Amsterdam. "Antje, ich hab dich so gerne", sagte zum Meischen der Jan, "Morgen muß ich in die Ferne, Antje, was machen wir dann?" Und bei der uralten Mühle küssten sich zärtlich die zwei. "Ich hab dich so lieb, und du hast mich lieb, ach, Antje, ich bleibe dir treu!" Wenn der Frühling kommt, dann schick ich dir Tulpen aus Amsterdam. Wenn der Frühling kommt, dann pflück ich dir Tulpen aus Amsterdam. Wenn ich wiederkomm, dann bring ich dir Tulpen aus Amsterdam, tausend rote, tausend gelbe, alle wünschen dir dasselbe. Was mein Mund nicht sagen kann, sagen Tulpen aus Amsterdam. Sources: http://www.magistrix.de/lyrics/Mieke%20Telkamp/Tulpen-Aus-Amsterdam-129608.html I verified the lyrics - it's a good transcription.
Tulpen uit Amsterdam Als de lente komt dan stuur ik jou Tulpen uit Amsterdam Als de lente komt pluk ik voor jou Tulpen uit Amsterdam Als ik wederkom dan breng ik jou Tulpen uit Amsterdam Duizend gele, duizend rooie, Wensen jou het allermooiste Wat m'n mond niet zeggen kan Zeggen tulpen uit Amsterdam Jan uit de polder zei "Antje, Ach kind ik mag je zo graag! Hoe moet dat nou, liefste Antje? Morgen ga ik naar Den Haag!" En bij die oeroude molen Klonk onder een hemel zo blauw "Ik heb je zo lief en jij hebt me lief! Ach Antje 'k blijf jou altijd trouw!" Als de lente komt dan stuur ik jou Tulpen uit Amsterdam Als de lente komt pluk ik voor jou Tulpen uit Amsterdam Als ik wederkom dan breng ik jou Tulpen uit Amsterdam Duizend gele, duizend rooie, Wensen jou het allermooiste Wat m'n mond niet zeggen kan Zeggen tulpen uit Amsterdam Zeggen tulpen uit Amsterdam	Tulips from Amsterdam When spring comes I will send you Tulips from Amsterdam When spring comes I will pick for you Tulips from Amsterdam When I return, I will bring you Tulips from Amsterdam A thousand yellow ones, a thousand red ones Wish you the very best What my mouth cannot say Tulips from Amsterdam will say Jan from the polder said: "Antje, Oh, baby, I like you so much! What are we going to do, my dear Antje? Tomorrow I have to go to The Hague!" And at that ancient mill Under a clear blue sky, one could hear: "I love you and you love me! Oh Antje, I'll be always faithful to you!" When spring comes I will send you Tulips from Amsterdam When spring comes I will pick for you Tulips from Amsterdam When I return, I will bring you Tulips from Amsterdam A thousand yellow ones, a thousand red ones Wish you the very best What my mouth cannot say Tulips from Amsterdam will say Tulips from Amsterdam will say
Oorspronkelijke titel: Tulpen aus Amsterdam. Tekst en muziek: D. Rasch (Ralf Arnie) / K. Neumann, 1956. Nederlandse tekst: Erik Franssen en Van Aleda Source: http://www.singalongdutchsongs.nl/liedjes/tulpen.html

Subject: RE: Tune Add: Tulips from Amsterdam
From: GUEST,Ripov
Date: 11 Jun 16 - 05:33 PM

I remember the Max Bygraves version. My ex and I played this a lot when we did pub gigs, along with "under the bridges of Paris" (AKA How would you like to be a bit insane like me?), and the mouse in the windmill.

Subject: ADD: Tulips from Amsterdam
From: Joe Offer
Date: 11 Jun 16 - 06:17 PM

So, for the record, here are those Max Bygraves lyrics. I made minor corrections after listening to the recording.

TULIPS FROM AMSTERDAM
(as recorded by Max Bygraves)


When it's Spring again I'll bring again
Tulips from Amsterdam
With a heart that's true I'll give to you
Tulips from Amsterdam
I can't wait until the day you fill
These eager arms of mine
Like the windmill keeps on turning
That's how my heart keeps on yearning
For the day I know we can share these
Tulips from Amsterdam

When it's Spring again I'll bring again
Tulips from Amsterdam
With a heart that's true I'll give to you
Tulips from Amsterdam
I can't wait until the day you fill
These eager arms of mine
Like the windmill keeps on turning
That's how my heart keeps on yearning
For the day I know we can share these
Tulips from Amsterdam

Share these tulips from Amsterdam



(Transcribed by Bette Carl - May 2003)

http://lyricsplayground.com/alpha/songs/t/tulipsfromamsterdam.shtml

Subject: RE: Tune Add: Tulips from Amsterdam
From: leeneia
Date: 11 Jun 16 - 09:47 PM

Those lyrics are just as trite as I feared they would be, and that's why I learned it in German.

I didn't want to learn the German. I wanted to experience the melody as pure music and to play around with it as a waltz. But the first line turned into an earworm, and I memorized the chorus in German to kill the earworm. It worked.

You've probably seen the theory that earworms occur when we don't know all of a song and our Inner Schoolmarm is urging us to finish memorizing it. I think there's something to the theory.

Sorry about the link above. YouTube must have moved on to the next video in a set.

Those German words above have an error.

wenn = if
wann = when

I verified that on Babelfish.

We would only sing "Wenn der Fruhling kommt" (If spring comes...) if we were feeling apocalyptic.

And there should be no period after dasselbe. That part puzzled me at first. It means a thousand red ones, a thousand yellow ones wish you the very things that my mouth cannot say - say the tulips from Amsterdam. It's not strictly grammatical, but hey it rhymes and scans.

Subject: RE: Tune Add: Tulips from Amsterdam
From: leeneia
Date: 11 Jun 16 - 09:53 PM

Hi, Ripov, thanks for the memories.

Subject: RE: Tune Add: Tulips from Amsterdam
From: Joe Offer
Date: 11 Jun 16 - 10:54 PM

I couldn't give you a grammatical rule, leeneia, but I'd stick with "Wenn der Frühling kommt..." All the German recordings have "wenn" (if). I wouldn't correct them. "Als" would work, as in the Dutch, but I'll leave the "wenn."

Here's leeneia's MIDI. I sped it up a bit and removed the sharp in measure 33.

Here's another German recording, by Mieke Telkamp:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X22vAmpZSdY

---

Click to play (joeweb)

Subject: RE: Tune Add: Tulips from Amsterdam
From: Reinhard
Date: 12 Jun 16 - 01:41 AM

"wann" is used in questions, "wenn" introduces a conjunction.

Wann schickst Du mir Tulpen aus Amsterdam? Wenn der Frühling kommt.

When will you send me tulips from Amsterdam? When spring comes.

Subject: RE: Tune Add: Tulips from Amsterdam
From: Rusty Dobro
Date: 12 Jun 16 - 08:40 AM

I thought it went like this (Monty Parkin's lyrics):    

 SEX AIDS FROM AMSTERDAM

                C                      Cmaj7
When it's spring again I'll bring again
F
Sex aids from Amsterdam,
G                                   G7
Tulips just won't do, I'll bring to you
C
Sex aids from Amsterdam.
            C                  C7        F
I can't wait until the day I fill these empty arms of mine,
            F                       C                      G7                     C
Like the windmill keeps gyrating, so the coach will be vibrating
              F                        C
From the suitcase where I cram
               G                             C
All these sex aids from Amsterdam

When it's spring again I'll bring again
Sex aids from Amsterdam,
Once I've done the view I'll buy some new
Sex aids from Amsterdam.
I can't wait until I pay the bill and fill up these bags of mine,
Like the windmill keeps on whirling, that's how your toes will be curling,
When I stand there spreading jam  on a sex aid from Amsterdam.

When it's spring again I'll bring again
Sex aids from Amsterdam,
From my bargain break, back home I'll take
Sex aids from Amsterdam.
I can't wait until I try the drill with these new toys of mine,
Like the windmill keeps revolving all our problems I'll be solving,
It looks fun in the diagram, with these sex aids from Amsterdam.
              F                  C
This one weighs a kilogram,
It's a sex aid from Amsterdam.
I'll bring sex aids from Amsterdam.

Subject: RE: Tune Add: Tulips from Amsterdam
From: Jim Carroll
Date: 12 Jun 16 - 08:50 AM

May be a bit 'in' if you're not into football, but Liverpool supporters used to sing:
"When the time is right we'll knock the *****
Out of Ajax from Amsterdam."
No offence intended
Jim Carroll

Subject: RE: Tune Add: Tulips from Amsterdam
From: GUEST,Peter Laban
Date: 12 Jun 16 - 09:43 AM

Those lyrics are just as trite as I feared they would be, and that's why I learned it in German.

As if the song becomes less trite in another language.

Seriously though, sorry for the outburst but some tunes and some types of music I hate with a vengeance. Trite doesn't begin to describe this sort of stuff and I am not quite sure when Mudcat became the home of German Schlagers.

And FWIW, I believe the Strauss family would have run a mile too. Not everything in 3/4 time has a Wiener Waltz inside it.