Many creative artists will recognise it: an event in your personal life that affects you so much that you need to vent your anger and frustration somewhere. In such a case, dedicating an artwork to this theme can have the effect of a liberating outlet.

Such a thing happened to me in 2020. In that year, my father-in-law died in a care home, 500 metres away from our house, after having suffered from a lot of loneliness. As such, he did not die of the ‘coronavirus’, at the time prevalent according to the government, but of the consequences of the measures the government imposed on the population to combat that ‘virus’. Thereby, he was suffering from dementia at the end of his life, so people could not explain to him why his family, who after all lived nearby and normally visited him very often, suddenly stopped visiting him. I expressed my anger at this state of affairs in a song titled Einsamkeit (Loneliness) (https://www.eduarddeboer.org/einsamkeit-loneliness-version-for-tenor-and-piano-op-97-nr-3/).  

Some 4½ years later, again something happened that made my blood boil. A certain M., with whom I had been friends during my student days, resurfaced after having been out of my life for many years. She currently lives in northern Italy and earns her money by, among other things, supervising renovations of houses there. When she came to visit us, my wife and I were considering emigrating abroad, and M. said she knew a nice house for us in Piedmont. We went there, indeed liked the found the house very much, and we bought it. It went without saying that M. would manage the renovation. She assured us that it would be a small renovation and that everything would be ready by mid-December. We then sold our Dutch house, and agreed with the buyers that the handover would take place in mid-December. And we arranged a moving company, which would load our furniture a few days before the transfer.

A week before these scheduled dates, we were suddenly told that the renovation was not yet finished, and that a two-month delay was needed. By then, almost all our belongings had been packed into piles of boxes; untraceable in the sheer volume. Our household contents had to be stored – at our expense – we were forced to spend thousands of euros in expenses, for instance to buy necessary stuff, and I could not compose – and earn money with it – during this period. I wrote M. an extensive e-mail complaining that she had not informed us earlier. Had she done so, we could have taken appropriate action, but it was too late for that now. M. wrote me a long e-mail back, explaining that, on the one hand, she had been ‘at fault’, but that, on the other, in fact, nothing was her fault, but that the fault lay with others.

Once we arrived in northern Italy, we saw, that our house was not so much unfinished as that virtually nothing had been done to it. I went to see M. to talk things out, but found her very angry. She had already apologised and explained that it was not her fault, and that was the end of it, she thought. That we mainly had a problem with the fact that she had informed us far too late about the delay in the renovation, which she should have realized months earlier, I couldn’t get her to understand. On the contrary, she was extremely outraged that I had hurt her in my e-mail.

We were fortunate that in the garden of our new house there is a small cottage, with primitive facilities by Western standards. And so it was that my wife and I subsequently spent over three(!) cold winter months in a tiny space, which simultaneously served as a reception hall, living room, kitchen, workspace, and, if necessary, second bedroom.

During this period, it turned out that M.’s blunder was the first in a long series, and the circumstances under which we had to live because of her actions did not seem to interest her at all. It also turned out that she had become so forgetful over the years that – in her own words – she did not remember anything she said (promised), if it was not in writing. I could, together with Willem Erné, a writer also duped by M., write a comic operetta about what we experienced in the winter months of 2024-’25. Who knows. If it comes to it, a certain Maripo (‘nearly perfect in every way’) will star in it. And this song will then be part of it.

This song is the only composition I have been able – absolutely wanted! –to write, to lyrics by Franz K. Custos, my regular lyricist since 2020. He took as his starting point the e-mail in which M. had explained to me in December 2024 that although she had been at fault, in fact all the blame lay with others, and converted the text of the e-mail into rhymed song lyrics. In this mail, M. had written to me that she understood my need to vent my frustration somewhere. By writing this song, I finally managed to do so.

Lyrics by Franz K. Custos:

MARIPO Bij bouwnijverheid Raak je gauw het overzicht kwijt. Dan was er weer een storing, En dan weer een ontsporing. Ook ik was vaak niet op de hoogte gebracht, En daarom liep het anders dan gedacht. Op die manier heb ik te lang gewacht Met jullie te vertellen hoe of wat, Met te zeggen hoe het nu in feite zat, En dat heeft jullie narigheid gebracht. REFREIN Helaas, helaas. Ik ben in gebreke gebleven, Maar… Het is niet mijn schuld, Ik kan er niets aan doen. Ik kan geen ijzer met handen breken. Ik ben de onschuld Zelve, en een en al fatsoen. Ik heb dan ook eigenlijk, Als je ‘t goed beschouwt, En als je ‘t feitelijk gedegen onderbouwt, Geen gebreken. Ik heb jullie nooit Naar de achtergrond gegooid. Het lag aan tegenslagen, Meer dan ik kon verdragen. De tegenwind kwam werk’lijk telkens weer Uit steeds een an’dre hoek. Ja, keer op keer. Ik had vertrouwen in mijn personeel. Ik had ze tot veel meer in staat geacht, En daarom heb ik al te lang gewacht. Mijn God! Het wordt me allemaal te veel! KOOR Bla bla Bla bla (etc.) REFREIN MARIPO Helaas, helaas. Ik ben in gebreke gebleven, Maar… Het is niet mijn schuld, Ik kan er niets aan doen. Ik kan geen ijzer met handen breken. Ik ben de onschuld Zelve, en een en al fatsoen. Ik heb dan ook eigenlijk, Als je ‘t goed beschouwt, En als je ‘t feitelijk gedegen onderbouwt, Geen gebreken. KOOR Bla bla Bla bla (etc.)   MARIPO Maar goed, ik begrijp: Jullie moesten ’t ergens kwijt. Ik heb daar wel begrip voor, Want ik heb veel begrip, hoor, Maar steeds maar tegenwind, ja telkens weer, Dat wordt ja zelfs voor mij een beetje veel. Ik kan er veel meer woorden aan besteden, Om jullie te vertellen hoe of wat, Om te zeggen hoe het nu in feite zat. En hoe ik zelf hieronder heb geleden. KOOR Bla bla bla bla Bla bla bla bla (etc.) REFREIN MARIPO Nee,… Het is niet mijn schuld, Ik kan er niets aan doen. Ik kan geen ijzer met handen breken. Ik ben de onschuld Zelve, en een en al fatsoen. Ik heb dan ook eigenlijk, Als je ‘t goed beschouwt, En als je ‘t feitelijk heel grondig onderbouwt, In het geheel geen gebreken. KOOR Bla bla bla bla Bla bla bla bla (etc.)

MARIPO In matters concerning construction One soon loses track. One moment, there was yet another breakdown, And the next, some derailment or other. I, too, was often not informed, And as a result, things turned out differently than expected. And so, I waited too long With telling you how or what, With letting you know you how things actually were, And this has brought you trouble. REFRAIN Alas, alas. I have been at fault, But… It’s not my fault, I can’t do anything about it. I cannot break iron with my hands. I’m Innocence Itself, and all decency. Actually, I have, When you consider things properly, And when you substantiate them very thoroughly, No flaws. I never Threw you into the background. It was all down to setbacks, More than I could bear. Truly, each and every time the headwind came From a different angle. Yes, time and again. I had faith in my staff. I had thought them capable of much more, And so I waited all too long. My God! It’s all becoming too much for me! CHORUS Bla bla Bla bla (etc.) REFRAIN MARIPO Alas, alas. I have been at fault, But… It’s not my fault, I can’t do anything about it. I cannot break iron with my hands. I’m Innocence Itself, and all decency. Actually, I have, When you consider things properly, And when you substantiate them very thoroughly, No flaws. CHORUS Bla bla Bla bla (etc.) MARIPO But anyway, I understand: You had to put it somewhere. I do understand that, Since I have of lot of understanding, you know, But always a headwind, yes each and every time, In the end, that becomes a bit too much, even for me. I could spend many more words on this topic, Telling you how or what, Letting you know you how things actually were, And how I myself suffered because of it. CHORUS Bla bla bla bla Bla bla bla bla (etc.) REFRAIN MARIPO No,… It’s not my fault, I can’t do anything about it. I cannot break iron with my hands. I’m Innocence Itself, and all decency. Actually, I have, When you consider things properly, And when you substantiate them very thoroughly, No flaws at all. CHORUS Bla bla bla bla Bla bla bla bla (etc.)

Youtube:

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=owVqgJjJVL8&list=PLFphAvDeWM1TxMJqwt0TU6u8SH2gbXKOX&index=1)