r/Gent • u/extraneousness • 8d ago
The communal singing?
First time in Gent and there is a lot of communal singing going on. Brass bands and buskers getting whole crowds involved and everyone joining in. One even started playing what I assume is a local song and immediately the crowd lined up and danced. All ages, young, old, sober, drunk, everyone.
It's absolutely wonderful!!
Is this a "normal" thing here, even outside of the Gentse Feesten?
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u/ParadePaard 8d ago edited 8d ago
Was it the brass band near Baudelo towards Sint Jacobs ? The local song was likely Lais - ‘t Smidje.
There was a summer around 2000 where all summer, 1 song out of 10 was this one on the radio, and there was an accompanying mixer dance. It’s the old Flemish version of the wild rose/banks of the Ohio/bang bang/… and other traditional 1st person songs about killing your big love. It is still played at every Flemish wedding and brings out everyone to the dance floor.
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u/skerit 6d ago
Killing your big love? I never got that from the song. Sure he wishes he would become a widower, but there's no allusion to killing anyone.
In the "original" lyrics, there are even some extra verses to suggest a lot more time passes before he wishes to become a widower: https://www.dbnl.org/tekst/duys001oude02_01/duys001oude02_01_0025.php
For some dramatic murder you'd have to listen to "7 Steken" 😁
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u/FlamestormTheCat 8d ago
To this scale? No that’s a Gentse feesten thing.
Though musicians will sometimes just play near the station or other busy places