De La Rey lyrics

"De La Rey" is a popular song written and performed by Bok van Blerk, I've read the lyrics and I've translated it to English as an exercise. This song has been playing at all the nightclubs and bars here in Stellenbosch since I arrived in January, although often in a remixed version. The song is about the Boer war general De La Rey and the fight against the British army, who outnumbered the Boers by far. In this war the british set up concentration camps with horrible conditions, resulting in thousands upon thousands of civilian deaths.

Video


LYRICS (my English translation is in paranthesis)

Op 'n berg in die nag (on a mountain in the night)
lê ons in die donker en wag (we lie in the darkness and wait)
in die modder en bloed lê ek koud, (I lay in mud and blood, cold)
streepsak en reën kleef teen my (backpacks(?) and rain sticks to me)

en my huis en my plaas tot kole verbrand sodat hulle ons kan vang (and my house and my place are burned to coals so that they can catch us)
maar daai vlamme en vuur brand nou diep, diep binne my (but the flames and fire burn deep, deep inside of me)

De La Rey, De La Rey sal jy die Boere kom lei? (De La Rey, can you come lead the boers)
De La Rey, De La Rey
Generaal, generaal soos een man, sal ons om jou val. (General like a man, shall we fall with you)
Generaal De La Rey.

Oor die khakies wat lag (hear the british who laugh)
'n handjie van ons teen 'n hele groot mag (a handful of us against the whole great army)
en die kranse lê hier teen ons rug (and the cliffs are here against our backs)
hulle dink dis verby (they think it has passed)

Maar die hart van 'n Boer lê dieper en wyer, hulle gaan dit nog sien (but the heart of a boer is deeper and wider, they can still see it)
Op 'n perd kom hy aan, die Leeu van die Wes Transvaal (on a horse he comes, the lion from west-transvaal)

De La Rey, De La Rey sal jy die Boere kom lei? (de la rey, can you come lead the boers?)
De La Rey, De La Rey
Generaal, generaal soos een man, sal ons om jou val. (general as a man,shall we fall with you)
Generaal De La Rey.

Want my vrou en my kind lê in 'n kamp en vergaan (because my wife and my child are in a [concentration] camp, decaying)
en die khakies se murg loop oor 'n nasie wat weer op sal staan. (and the british's marrow runs over a nation which shall rise again)

De La Rey, De La Rey sal jy die Boere kom lei?
De La Rey, De La Rey
Generaal, generaal soos een man, sal ons om jou val (general like a man, shall we fall with you?)
Generaal De La Rey.

South Africans sure like their speed

While there's no denying that typical south africans like to go fast, sometimes the law catches up with them. Here are some excerpts from traffic related articles in South Africa, some are quite funny:


"Johannesburg - A traffic camera on the Olifantsfontein offramp on the N1 north caught a respected Schweizer Reneke farmer doing 140km/h in a 120km/h zone - on his tractor." (Perhaps it was a Lamborghini tractor?)


"In Alberton, a 38-year-old BMW driver was caught driving at 208km/h on the N12 near the Reading interchange. "Driving fast is my hobby. Don't think I'll ever drive slower," the BMW driver told police who later arrested him."


SA is full of government officials who believe having an urgent meeting qualifies for legalized speeding, as demonstrated by one JHB official doing more than twice the speed limit. He said, "Last week my flight from Johannesburg to Durban was delayed. But at the same time I had an appointment that had been planned for weeks. That to me constituted an emergency," he told the provincial legislature on Thursday."


"Johannesburg - A KwaZulu-Natal motorcyclist driver has been fined R102 000 by the Scottburgh Magistrate's Court after he was caught speeding, the SABC reported on Thursday.
Jan Hendrick was caught driving his motorbike at 295km/h." (that's 89000 norwegian kroners, quite a traffic ticket!!).


"Johannesburg - Nine men were arrested at the weekend for speeding. A 45-year-old man in a Ford Territory was doing 206km/h. He said he was going to play golf. It was 06:21."


"Johannesburg - A man caught driving at 234km/h in a 120km/h zone early on Sunday claimed not to have realised he was speeding, Ekurhuleni Metro police said. The 25-year-old in his BMW was one of five motorists pulled over in Germiston on the N3 freeway."


"Johannesburg - A 32-year-old man handed himself in to police on Monday after he was caught driving at 259km/h on the East Rand. The man, driving a BMW M3, was stopped by police on Linksfield Road in Edenvale on Sunday, but drove off before he could be arrested, said inspector Jimmy Maboko."


"Johannesburg - Metro police arrested five motorists on Sunday for speeding - including a Lamborghini driver doing 251km/h in Midrand."


"Johannesburg - The director-general of the department of social development, Vusimuzi Madonsela, thought he had the highway to himself as he sped along the N1 at 228km/h in his Mercedes-Benz on Saturday. But the Johannesburg Metro Police were lying in wait."


"Johannesburg - Six speeding motorists were arrested along the N1 past the N12 freeway on Sunday, Johannesburg metro police said. One man, driving a BMW, was "upset" at being caught as he had a laser-jamming device fitted to his car. He was travelling at 181 kilometres per hour."


Every excuse is stranger than the other.. "On Sunday seven motorists were arrested on the N2 highway near Linksfield. They were doing between 181 and 211 km/h in a 120 km/h zone. Mokheseng said the speeding motorists had several reasons for driving so fast. "One man said he was late for his flight, the other one said his mother was sick, a third man in a Ferrari said he had missed his flight and was trying to get to Cape Town on time". A 22-year-old man driving a Toyota Corolla at 193km/h told us he had the runs (diarrhoea) and that was why he was driving so fast."

Another motorcycle trip in the Western Cape

On saturday I went past gordon's bay and about 270 km into nowhere. I shot a few photographs along the way.

The roads in the western cape are fun.. lots of nice curves suitable for nice lean angles:


Gordon's Bay is a really nice place with beaches (including the famous one called Bikini Beach):


A lot of rich people seem to be living in Gordon's Bay, and houses like these are very common:


Such an odd place to park a bike...:


I look a bit tired in this picture... after many hours of riding :-)

Rugby

I went to a rugby match on Saturday. University of Stellenbosch vs. University of Pretoria. I've never attended a rugby game before, but I have to say rugby is an entertaining sport -- everybody seems to be chasing the rugby ball at all times and at times it's completely chaotic. Here's a couple of pictures I snapped at that game. Our team crushed Pretoria 50-32!




Quite a few fans showed up to witness the event:


There's no such thing as a rugby game without cheerleaders ;-)

License plates in SA

I know I have at least two family members who have always been quite fascinated by license plates, and I think they will like this post ;-) Personally I think the South African license plates are the coolest ever. So I grabbed my camera and snapped a few photos!

The first one is from the Eastern Cape. I like this one because it has an elephant in the background:



Here's one from the Free State, which has a Cheetah on it:


Here's one from the Limpopo province:


Here's one from the busy Gauteng province:


Here's one from Northern Cape with the springbok animal:


Unfortunately the license plates in the Western Cape have no cool background, they're just plain white. You can choose your own number/text though, like this guy did (Bergnoi is probably his/her last name):

Lente in die Boland

Lente in die Boland - which translates to "springtime in the boland". Boland is basically the region where I'm in right now, the Cape Winelands and Stellenbosch etc.

Koos Kombuis is a legendary folk singer in South Africa and his songs are widely known. I found this video on YouTube and I thought I could introduce you to his most popular song. The song is basically about having a good time in Stellenbosch and drinking a lot, like students tend to do. ;-) That's why this song is extremely popular very late at drunken parties.



Here's the lyrics... maybe this will also give you a better idea how afrikaans is like.

Daar's 'n dorpie wat ek ken daar tussen die blou berge
En die lower van die eike oor die straat
Dis die land van Adam Tas en Simon van der Stel
Waar die mense van Gauteng soos die Capies kan leer praat
Dis daar waar ek gewot het, ek het daar leer skryf en lees
Maar die meeste van die tyd was ek in 'n party gees
Wie kan die werk verstaan, wie kan die drank weerstaan
As die onderdorp jpou roep vir 'n groot, groot fees

Koortjie:
Dit was lente in die boland, in ons mees gesuipte jaar
Daar was Tassenberg in elke glas, al die hormone het baljaar
Stellenbosch was niemandsland, eksamens ook net om die draai
Maar ons was jonk gewees en ons was dronk gewees
Die hele lewe was 'n bring en braai

In die Akker en Die Dros het ons oor naweke gedrink
en vir vriende en mooi meisies hulle glase vol geskink
Na die riviertjie by Die Laan het ons al steierend gegaan
om te kafoefel en te vry in die lig van die maan
Ek het haar daar ontmoet, sy was so oulik en so soet
Die nooentjie van my drome, ja, dis waar
Nou woon ons in 'n huisie, maar ek onthou nog daardie wysie
Van die gejol en die gefuif van ons beste jaar

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