Til Van 't Oude Noorden

Yes, I was born in Rotterdam
In a nest in the Old North
I'm dropped off in Orleans
I'm a pigeon and I fly post

I was born in Rotterdam
In a nest in the Old North
I'm dropped off in Orleans
I'm a pigeon and I fly post

I'm always on the run
Through a tight blue sky
On my leg I wear a ring
So the pigeon fancier can find me
My turtle dove is at home
She watches over the eggs and the house
So I fly back from distant lands
To my damn cold north

If my Tillie asks for an egg
I'm there like a shot
Then I dive with her into the nest
And my seed, that does the rest
Sometimes I also stray
With a lapwing or a duck
With strange birds in the suitcase
Oh, I'm such a horny male pigeon
But usually I regret it
And I get homesick for my girl
Because on my perch and in my loft
That's all I want

Coo Coo Coo Coo
Coo Coo Coo Coo Coo
Coo Coo Coo Coo
Coo Coo Coo Coo Coo

It was near Orleans
The gamekeeper was named Jean
He had a double-barreled gun
And he shot me down just like that
I knew I'd never come back (never come back)
To my nest in Rotterdam (Rotterdam)
Now the widow sits alone (widow alone)
My dear, where has she gone (where has she gone)
A swallow told her
That her husband had been felled
No one can describe the sorrow
Of little Til, in the Old North

Coo Coo Coo Coo
Coo Coo Coo Coo Coo (cuckoo)
Coo Coo Coo Coo (yeah yeah)
Coo Coo Coo Coo Coo

Til didn't sit idly by
She quickly found a new man
One who was loaded with cash
He was a bald Christmas turkey
But that bird turned out to be a pimp
Quite addicted to alcohol and yolk
He kicked Tillie onto the street
She had to coo there, late at night
She abandoned her eggs
Which hatched after a week
And her brood fell prey
To Kees de Rooy's cat

Yes, Coo Coo Coo Coo (cuckoo cuckoo)
Coo Coo Coo Coo Coo (cuckoo cuckoo)
Coo Coo Coo Coo (cuckoo cuckoo cuckoo)
Coo Coo Coo Coo Coo (cuckoo cuckoo cuckoo)

Til is now a dirty slut
In a short skirt and garter belt
She goes with gray pigeons
For a penny or two
Her last client, he was a creep
A deaf quail with a drip
He immediately jumped into bed with her
And fatally infected her
A Catholic barn owl
Found her, among the filth
And buried her with the words
"You were the whore of the Old North"

Yes, Coo Coo Coo Coo (cuckoo cuckoo)
Coo Coo Coo Coo Coo (cuckoo cuckoo)
Coo Coo Coo Coo (cuckoo cuckoo cuckoo)
Coo Coo Coo Coo Coo (cuckoo cuckoo cuckoo)

Coo Coo Coo Coo (cuckoo cuckoo)
Coo Coo Coo Coo Coo (cuckoo cuckoo)
Coo Coo Coo Coo Coo Coo Coo Coo Coo
Coo Coo Coo Coo Coo Coo Coo Coo Coo
Coo Coo Coo Coo