Des de Moor
Lyrics
Grandmother was a Hero
MP3 available
|
Des de Moor
Grandmother was a Hero MP3 available
|
Water of Europe
One of 12 new English chansons and three covers on this 1999 solo album. More details. Des de Moor voice, acoustic guitar Julia Doyle double bass David Harrod piano John Piper drums This song is about my own grandmother, Liesbeth de Moor-Zumper (1907-93), who, just as the song tells it, was born in Germany but ended up resisting the German occupation of the Netherlands during World War II. I wrote the words very quickly early in 1997, and the music came soon after. |
Grandmother was a monster:
Each year I'd dread her stare And her nagging finger wagging When they dragged me over there From Harwich to the Hoek And then three sickly car seat hours With my mother and her headaches And my father and his glowers. But Grandmother was a hero. In the end I heard the news: Righteous among the Gentiles And a rescuer of Jews. She didn't have much wit or grace Nor brains in large amounts But Grandmother was a human And being human counts. Grandmother was from Dresden, Long gone by that awful night That the china ran in molten streams As the city caught alight. She'd quit it for a Dutchman Who first seemed so bright and kind: How could she know that history Was following behind? But Grandmother was a hero, A socialist by creed And Grandfather was a communist And both had human needs And they would have got divorced But put their differences aside In those starving wartime winters And with people still to hide. Then Grandma was a poor old lady And every year or so I'd call And she'd reminisce in German- She still spoke that best of all. Grandmother died one Autumn. The funeral was fast And over her we said no prayers, An atheist to the last. Grandmother was a hero: Just think how it must have been As a hausfrau in poor Holland When the Wehrmacht goose-stepped in With a husband that you hate But there is nothing you can do: It's an emergency situation And your man's your comrade too In that fearful hunger winter When all your two kids have to eat Is potato peelings, pea pods And the snow from off the street And they're handing out the yellow stars That one by one blink out And you know you have to help them And there is no time for doubt Until the Gestapo knock on your door And you find yourself alone And in the settled dust you're just A German widow far from home. Grandmother was a monster And I'd shrink beneath her claws But Grandmother was a hero And heroes have their flaws. She didn't have much wit or grace Or brains in large amounts But grandmother was a human And being human counts. Written: Hertford and Deptford, London, October 1996 and 6 January 1997 |
© Copyright Des de Moor 1999 From the album Water of Europe (see left). All rights reserved. No material on these pages can be reproduced in whole or in part in any form, except for short passages for the purpose of quotation or review, without prior written permission of the copyright owner.
Heart of a Heartless World To Those Born After (Bertolt Brecht; Hanns Eisler) Joey's Dreams Margins Water of Europe Big Sister Sleaze City Sharp Contradictions Ordinary Joe (Andrew Brooks/Michael Hodges) My Father Said (Jacques Brel) Grandmother was a Hero Avocado Last Orders Please Lyrics Index |