Sing ‘Pray for our dear lady…’ and entire tribes will immediately add: ‘Ave Mariaaaaaaa’. It is the song by Lya de Haas that many Brabanders know and carry in their hearts. Often when death comes around the corner. Lya herself has sung it at numerous funerals or even at people’s deathbeds. She talks about it in the new episode of the Omroep Brabant podcast ‘Hee gaode mee’.
Lya also sang it at the funeral of her own great love Hennie Korsten. He passed away in 2019 and is prominently featured in all her stories. At first they just made music together, but when Hennie’s first wife died, the spark slowly ignited. “From then on we always performed as a duo. Always together. It was a party,” says Lya. After the death there was a huge void, but Lya slowly picked up performing again.
‘Ons dear Vrouwke’ is Lya’s classic that ends up high in the Brabant Top 100 every year. “It’s special that it still appeals so much. God and Mary are disappearing in Brabant,” notes podcast maker Frank van Osch. According to Lya, the song is mainly about ‘seeking support’. “And we all need that sometimes.”
‘Hee gaode mee’ is Omroep Brabant’s podcast about dialect music. Singers such as Gerard van Maasakkers and Björn van der Doelen have previously been featured in the series.
Want to hear Lya’s whole story? Click below and subscribe so you don’t miss an episode. Also listen to previous episodes starring other well-known Brabanders.