During carnival you cannot avoid beer and also songs that sing about yellow gold. But Breda resident Merijn Ruis and Tilburg resident Lot van Os think all that drinking should end. And that’s why they made a carnival song that completely goes against tradition. “Beer is for wimps,” they sing.
“During carnival, drinking a lot of beer is often seen as cool and glorified in songs. That’s why we thought it would be a funny idea to make exactly the opposite sound,” says Merijn. “There is so much peer pressure, especially during carnival. Everyone drinks and all the songs are about alcohol, while it is very bad for you.”
During his student years, Merijn did not drink a drop of alcohol for two years as an experiment. “I had a lot more energy and could deal with peer pressure better. And dancing works even better on a Fristi,” he laughs. Nowadays Merijn enjoys a beer every now and then. “But I still don’t understand why there is so much pressure on young people to drink alcohol.”
“We expected that we would have a whole horde of angry beer drinkers following us.”
In the song, the duo with the stage name Simply Piet and Harry sing that they run the polonaise with a Fristi and that a meter of water saves a hangover. ‘Beer is for wimps who can’t deal with reality. A real man drinks diet coke!, can be heard on a hoempapa tune.
The avid beer drinker may feel offended, but so far Merijn and Lot have mainly received a lot of support. “Really super cool,” says Merijn. “There is apparently a whole group that doesn’t drink every now and then and thinks it’s a very good idea. And we expected that we would have a whole horde of angry beer drinkers following us, but they also enjoy it and sing along.”
And this is also reflected in the reactions to the clip, which has already been viewed 23,000 times on YouTube. “The carnival cracker of 2024,” someone responds. And another says: “Can’t wait to be down to earth with my mates!”
The clip was produced by the well-known carnival artist Ferry van der Zaande from Tilburg. He also has a role in it, as the famous puppet:
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