# German song?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/german-song/264917
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [September 18, 2004, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/german-song/264917 "2004-09-18T23:17:54Z")
**Posts on this page:** 10
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@EvilGhandi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EvilGhandi)
#### Post date: [September 18, 2004, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/german-song/264917/1 "2004-09-18T23:17:54Z")
Catchy tune, anyone have a clue what it’s about?
[http://www.hugi.is/hahradi/bigboxes.php?box\_id=51208&f\_id=1133](http://www.hugi.is/hahradi/bigboxes.php?box_id=51208&f_id=1133)
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### Author:  [@Ice\_Wolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ice_Wolf)
#### Post date: [September 18, 2004, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/german-song/264917/2 "2004-09-18T23:30:19Z")
A “German” tune on a site from Iceland? 😕
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### Author:  [@EvilGhandi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EvilGhandi)
#### Post date: [September 19, 2004, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/german-song/264917/3 "2004-09-19T00:20:55Z")
The site is a sort of Icelandic E-baums, they collect stuff from all over. I have no idea what language it is in other than it sounds vaguely Germanic.
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### Author:  [@Antonius\_Block](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antonius_Block)
#### Post date: [September 19, 2004, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/german-song/264917/4 "2004-09-19T00:22:04Z")
It’s actually **Dutch** , not German. The original lyrics are [here](http://www.lyrics.exactpages.com/De%20Fiets.html).
Piet van Pa is going on a bike ride. So,
_“De fiets van piet van pa is zojuist gepasseerd”_, or **Piet van Pa’s bicycle has just passed by**.
For each new line of the song, part of the bike is added, e.g. _“En de wielen van de fiets van piet van pa zijn zojuist gepasseerd”_ is **“and the wheels of the bicycle of Piet van Pa have just passed by”**.
My rudimentary Dutch doesn’t get me much father down the list of bike parts, so I’ll leave it to one of the many ClogDopers to finish.
A similar song structure was used by Rolf Harris in [“The Court of King Caractacus”](http://users.durge.org/~rich/rolf/court.html).
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### Author:  [@Antonius\_Block](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antonius_Block)
#### Post date: [September 19, 2004, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/german-song/264917/5 "2004-09-19T02:38:03Z")
Until the Dutch dopers come along with a definitive translation, I’ll add a couple more things:
It starts off with the following exchange, which includes Henkie mishearing his friend, since _“fiets”_ (bicycle) sounds like _“vies”_ (nasty).
- Hey Henkie!
- Yes?
- Nice biking weather!
- _(mishearing him)_ Nasty weather?
- No, biking weather!
The bicycle of Piet van Pa has just passed by
And the bicycle of Piet van Pa has just passed by (repeat)
And the wheels of the bicycle of Piet van Pa have just passed by (repeat twice)
And the tires of the wheels of the bicycle of Piet van Pa have just passed by (repeat twice)
And the rims of the tires of the wheels of the bicycle of Piet van Pa have just passed by
(repeat twice)
(and so on…)
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### Author:  [@EvilGhandi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EvilGhandi)
#### Post date: [September 19, 2004, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/german-song/264917/6 "2004-09-19T03:22:12Z")
So it is a guy describing a guy going by on a bicycle in excrutiating detail.
This must be the Dutch version of Banana Phone, it bores into your brain and won’t come out. My wife is already threatening divorce but I’m not worried, she did the same thing when badgers badgers badgers and Banana Phone were used to torture her.
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### Author:  [@Antonius\_Block](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antonius_Block)
#### Post date: [September 19, 2004, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/german-song/264917/7 "2004-09-19T05:35:11Z")
> [@EvilGhandi](#):
>
> So it is a guy describing a guy going by on a bicycle in excrutiating detail.
Well, by **that** standard, _Romeo and Juliet_ is just “Boy and girl fall in love, both end up dead”. 😛 (Maybe that should be in a spoiler box?)
> [@EvilGhandi](#):
>
> My wife is already threatening divorce…
Tell her that it’s a classic Dutch story of triumph in the face of adversity, together with advocating a healthy, environmentally-conscious lifestyle.
If she still complains, ask her why she hates the Dutch so much?
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### Author:  [@blowero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blowero)
#### Post date: [September 19, 2004, 9:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/german-song/264917/8 "2004-09-19T09:03:38Z")
Sounds like “There’s a Hole In the Bottom Of the Sea”.
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### Author:  [@EvilGhandi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EvilGhandi)
#### Post date: [September 19, 2004, 9:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/german-song/264917/9 "2004-09-19T09:33:13Z")
Tony, sorry she aint buying it.
Oddly enough I tore my wife from the arms of a Dutchman all those years go. He still visits us every so often. Gota love the Dutch, I took his prospective wife and he’s my friend now.
I am busy memerizing this song so I can torture him with it next time he visits. Im guessing sometime in winter, funny how it usually works that way.
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### Author:  [@EvilGhandi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EvilGhandi)
#### Post date: [September 19, 2004, 9:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/german-song/264917/10 "2004-09-19T09:38:32Z")
Meh,
When I said “gotta love the Dutch” I didn’t mean it. What I meant was I gotta love my Dutch friend, who through the benifit of his culture, welcomed me and my wifes relationship.