A New Name

You may surely know that in French
This country is often called “Les Pays-Bas”
And in Dutch, it is called:
“The Low Lands,” I say: Yes,

The French name hits the mark
And hits the nail on the head
Les Pays-Bas, that was not bad,
Les Pays-Bas by the Zuider Sea,

Les Pays-Bas, the land of cheese,
Of tulips, butter, VolendamVolendam is a fisher village, north of Amsterdam, which does have a cheese named after it.,
But since Seyss-Inquart took charge
And took away every pleasure from us,

And turned life into hell,
One can sometimes be tired of life
And since that time, one hears
In the little land by the Zuiderzee

Now suffering under German authority
From Dordrecht to old Pekela
Resounds ten times per day
In a full-throated:
“Bah!

In German, “Bah!” means “Ugh!” or “Yuck!”

”

All the misery of that time
Is summed up in three letters
We have enough of the German policy,
We are fed up with the Krauts.

We have had enough
Of Hitler’s heroic opera,
Whenever I asked someone’s opinion,
They simply said: “Bah!”

And when I have “thought it out”
I also full-throuted shout “Bah”
And I find the French name for the Netherlands
Not so relevant anymore

Pays-Bas is no longer up to date,
I have modernized it,
The change was quickly done,
I hope you don’t find it wrong.

Because, dear reader, am I so wrong
And am I committing a faux pas,
If I claim that this little country
Unfortunately has become a
“Pays-Bah!”