Yesterday was the 11th of November. In my youth it was called Armistice Day and celebrated the end of the Great War, or the war to end all wars, or WW1, or what-have-you. Nowadays, it's Veteran's Day, and since dear old Dad was a veteran of two foreign wars, I'm all for that. But to me it'll always signify the beginning of Carnival in Cologne. Such serious silliness needs a long time to ramp up. Karneval em Kölle om Rhing! How to describe it to somebody who hasn't experienced it? Can't be done.
Much of what Karneval is expressed in the local dialect Köslch, which is also the name of the local beer. There are many local bands that play popular music. Some started out writing and singing Karnevaleeder, and others wrote the occasional parody or critique of your typical carnival song. But, they all do it in Kölsh. Some of the bands I've enjoyed over the years include:
The following snippet of lyrics crams as many stereotypically Kölsch catchphrases as possible into the shortest space.
Mir Kölsche, mir Kölsche
Mir Kölsche han de schönste Stadt am Rhing,
un doröm han mir Kölsche
em Hätze immer immer widder Sonnesching.Kayjass, Köbes, Kölsch, Kamelle,
Kallendresser, Halven Hahn,
de Haupsach es, et Hätz es jot,
nur dodrop kütt et an.[Bläck Fööss Mir Kölsche]
As much as the citizens of Cologne may love their carnival and say it's different from all those other pale carnivalesque simulacra, they also hate it. Nit för Kooche, bleev ich Karneval he! Anyway, it's a long period ending in Ash Wendesday, and that final week is intense to anybody who's survived one. Alaaf!
Posted by jim at November 12, 2003 09:00 AM | TrackBack