[Dutch/French] Kenny B - Parijs (plus lyrics, translation, and parodies)
The song is about the singer (who is Surinamese-Dutch) being in Paris and meeting a woman. When he speaks to her in French, she says she's Dutch, which is where the chorus ("praat nederlands met me," roughly translates to "talk with me in Dutch") comes in, and the song is basically about finding someone who speaks your language (literally or metaphorically) and connecting with them. More content below.
Lyrics
Next to each line, hover over the grey part to read the rough (not word for word) English translation. Keep in mind that some of the words and constructs are slang and/or poetic devices though!
Kenny B - Parijs
Frisse morgen in Parijs Fresh/chilly morning in Paris
Gewoon mijn business. My usual business
Ik zie de meest mooie Française op d'r bung hoge hakken, I see the most beautiful French woman wearing high heels,
en ik weet niet wat ik zeggen moet. and I don't know what I should say.
Ik zeg: bonjour mon amour, mademoiselle tu est très belle. I say: hello my love, miss you are very beautiful
En zij zegt: Je suis Néerlandaise. Je parle un petit peu français. And she says: I'm Dutch. I speak a little French.
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En ik zei: Praat Nederlands met me. And I say: talk to me in Dutch
Even Nederlands met me. in Dutch for awhile (hard to translate poetry; it's mainly just repetition here)
Mijn gevoel zegt mij dat wij vanavond samen kijken My feeling tells me that tonight we together will see
Naar de Champs-Élysées en naar de Notre Dame en naar de Seine. the Champs-Élysées and the Notre Dame and the Seine
En daarna samen op La Tour Eiffel. and after that we'll go up the Eiffel Tower together
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En ik voelde dat het goed zat. Ik zag haar zo verlegen lachen. And I felt that it was good. I saw her laugh so shyly.
Kan niet geloven dat het echt was. Zij de mijne zijn. I can't believe it was real. She is mine.
Ze leek een mix van Doutzen, Edsilia en Anouk. She looked like a mix of Doutzen, Edsilia and Anouk.
Er gebeurde iets met mij, Something happened to me
toen zij zei: Je suis Néerlandaise. Je parle un petit peu français. when she said: I'm Dutch. I speak a little French.
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En ik zei: Praat Nederlands met me. And I say: talk to me in Dutch
Even Nederlands met me. in Dutch for awhile
Mijn gevoel zegt mij dat wij vanavond samen kijken My feeling tells me that tonight we together will see
Naar de Champs-Élysées en naar de Notre Dame en naar de Seine. the Champs-Élysées and the Notre Dame and the Seine
En daarna samen op La Tour Eiffel. and after that we'll go up the Eiffel Tower together
En dan nog een woordje Frans: Je t'aime! (6x) and then just a word in French: I love you (x6)
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Praat Nederlands met me. Talk to me in Dutch
Even Nederlands met me. in Dutch for awhile
Mijn gevoel zegt mij dat wij vanavond samen kijken My feeling tells me that tonight we together will see
Naar de Champs-Élysées en naar de Notre Dame en naar de Seine. the Champs-Élysées and the Notre Dame and the Seine
En daarna samen landen op Schiphol. and after that we'll land together in Schiphol (Amsterdam's airport)
Parodies
The popularity of the song has sparked countless parodies on YouTube of various Dutch dialects (here is a news video in Dutch about the phenomenon), which makes for a fun cultural lesson. Below this list is just one of the most popular, Praat Amsterdams Met Me, but I've collected the rest of ones I know of here for you:
- Amsterdam
- Rotterdam
- Moroccan
- Haarlem
- Frysk
- Frysk too
- Mestreech
- Papiamento – Papiamento is a Spanish-based creole, as far as I can tell, but the song is a Dutch dialect
- Papiamento too, but this sounds more Spanish than Dutch
- Suriname
- Suriname too, and it's one of the most underappreciated ones on this list
- Brabant
- Grunnegs
- The Hague
- Tilburg
- Leiden
- Deventer
- Leeuwarden
- Raalter
- Turkish (don't worry; it's in Dutch)
- Zeeland
- Slotjesbrug
- Westlands
- Somalia – sung by a young kid
- Somalia too
- Arabic
- Achterhoeks
- Enters
- Afrikaans – note that Afrikaans is a separate language from Dutch
- Antwerp
- Limburg
- Nootdorp
- Oude Leede
- Hawaiiaans – not in Hawaiian; looks like a video game of some sort
- Drenthe
- Indonesian
- Zeilerstaal
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Praat Amsterdams Met Me - Kenny B - Parijs (PONKERS PARODIE)
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