‘k See you for me, Amanda
Trotting and well
AmandaNelly Frida (1975)
The socialist Amsterdam woman who in the nineties bag lit one cigar after another and down many a glass of whiskey was once a left-wing activist who put his heart and soul into a good cause. Not many people know that yet.
Nelly Frijda (1936) was much more than an actress and much more than Ma Flodder. When she took on the role of a rather sleazy type who doesn’t tolerate contradiction, flouts the rules of decency and doesn’t shy away from spooning a can of dog food, she already had a great track record in the left-wing camp, as a comedian and singer. .
In the 1950s, Frijda was part of Wim Kan’s ABC Cabaret and later joined the Ratjetoe group, including Berend Boudewijn and Rinus Ferdinandusse. She was rebellious, committed and politically active. Frijda supported the women’s movement and the peace movement and participated in the Kneiterleft radio program In the Red Rooster.
Seen in this light, her acquaintance with Chilean love couple Amanda and Manuel in 1975 was no accident. Earlier, the vanguard of the progressive Netherlands had already discovered their creator, the communist poet, folk and protest singer Víctor Jara.
His song Te Recuerdo Amanda from 1969 is a tragic tale about an exploited factory worker, Manuel, who is killed by violence. His girlfriend Amanda arrives late at the factory, her lover ‘is broken in the street’. The protagonists named Jara after his own parents.
Joan Baéz, Mercedes Sosa and Robert Wyatt, among others, put the song in their repertoire. Cornelis Vreeswijk released a Dutch (I see Amanda) and a Swedish version (Jag mins dig Amanda) from.
Last but not least, they were odes to Víctor Jara, the folk hero whose life came to a cruel end. Jara was arrested during the military coup on September 11, 1973 and taken to the national stadium in Santiago. Five days later, he was found riddled with dozens of bullets. His hands were shattered, during severe torture.
For that man and for all victims of political violence and exploitation Nelly Frijda sang in 1975 Amanda. She did this in a radio program of the VARA in which socialist songs were played under the direction of Jaap van de Merwe. ‘t Riot Crowwas the revealing program title.
In an interview with the SP . magazine, StandIn 2000, Frijda looked back on those years with satisfaction. The protest songs were great to do, she said.
‘Because I did something that I really meant. That may have all sounded very ‘workeristic’ and combative, but they were about all kinds of things. Women’s struggle, short-time working and so on’.
It was all a very long time ago and not at all anymore, she later admitted in an interview on the TV show To the bone. “But maybe we should do it again. I think it’s time for it, actually.’ She is right.
John & Paul