Past life songs (5): Volkslied.

Well, the truth is I don't really know if this is a past life song or not, but I discovered it just a few days ago and I do know it brings me weird feelings.

I was checking my news feed in Facebook and someone had posted this great video in a group dedicated to Tolkien:

The first time I heard it, it was just the rhythm and the male deep voices. I knew it sounded like German. The second time I noticed it has something that makes you think of war, somehow it reminded me of my past life as a Scottish warrior, it is the kind of song you would sing before a battle, to cheer up and keep the fear away.

Then I researched the band. I found out their songs are inspired in Vikings and the German mythology, and they show a lot of Viking scenes in their videos. Their music is a bit too hard for me. I prefer progressive rock and more melodic songs, but anyway I love how they use violins and how they merge all the male voices. And they are Dutch.

I wanted to sing along, so I went a step farther and looked for the lyrics. Here they are:

VOLKSLIED 

Gelders dreven zijn de mooiste
In ons dierbaar Nederland
Vette klei en heidegronden
Beken, bos en heuvelrand
Ginds de Waal, daar weer de ijssel,
Dan de Maas en ook de Rijn
Geeft ons recht om heel ons leven
Trots op Gelderland te zijn

Waar het vaderland bebouwd werd
Door den Saksischen Germaan,
Daar werd onze stam geboren,
Daar is Gelderland ontstaan
En het graan dat thans geoogst wordt
Waar het woest en wild eens was
Geeft ons recht om trots te wezen
Op ons echte Gelders ras

In de dorpen en de steden
Tussen Brabant en de zee
Tussen Utrecht en Westfalen
Heerst de welvaart en de vree
Met je kerken en kastelen,
Met je huisjes aan de dijk,
Gelderland jij bent de parel
Van ons Nederlands koninkrijk

Ginds de Waal, daar weer de ijssel,
Dan de Maas en ook de Rijn
Geeft ons recht om heel ons leven
Trots op Gelderland te zijn

For some reason, they make me smile.

Then one of those nights I went to bed and started to have some flashes, though I don't think they are past life related. They were images of warriors, battles, very similar to the ones I had seen in those music videos, so I just can't give them too much importance right now. However, I have the feeling I may have a hidden past life here, or even several, as sometimes I feel as a woman who just loves these men who are so brave and strong and try to keep her safe, her and the rest of women. They feel a bit like my Celtic life, in which my father died in a fight, but I don't think they fit here. And other times I also feel like one of those warriors, I feel them as my mates, I am proud of them and I know we protect each other, I know we would die for one another. 

I also found the translation of those lyrics.

VOLKSLIED

The droveways* of Gelder* are the most beautiful
In our dear Netherlands

Rich clay and moorlands

Streams, woods and hillside

Yonder the Waal*, there the Ijssel*,

Then the Maas and the Rhine as well

Give us the right to, all our lives,

Be proud of Gelderland

Where the fatherland was cultivated

By the Saxon Germanic,

That is where our tribe was born,

That is where Gelderland arose

And the grain that is now harvested

Where the savage wilderness once was

Gives us the right to be proud

Of our true Gelder race

In the villages and cities

Between Brabant* and the sea

Between Utrecht* and Westphalia

Prosperity and peace dominate

With your churches and castles,

With your little homes on the dike

Gelderland, you are the pearl

Of our Dutch kingdom

Yonder the Waal*, there the Ijssel*,

Then the Maas and the Rhine as well

Give us the right to, all our lives,

Be proud of Gelderland 

I wish I could feel the same pride and love for my country as I used to in previous lives.