Alma – Alma – Hertalen.nl

Over het origineel
Last December 13^th (1965!), there appeared in the newspapers the juiciest, spiciest, raciest obituary it has ever been my pleasure to read. It was that of a lady named Alma Mahler Gropius Werfel, who had, in her lifetime, managed to acquire as lovers practically all of the top creative men in central Europe. And, among these lovers, who were listed in the obituary, by the way, which is what made it so interesting, there were three whom she went so far as to marry: One of the leading composers of the day, Gustav Mahler, composer of Das Lied von der Erde and other light classics; one of the leading architects, Walter Gropius, of the Bauhaus school of design; and one of the leading writers, Franz Werfel, author of the Song of Bernadette and other masterpieces.

It's people like that who make you realize how little you've accomplished. It is a sobering thought, for example, that when Mozart was my age, he had been dead for two years!

It seemed to me, on reading this obituary, that the story of Alma was the stuff of which ballads should be made, so here is one

Dit is de inleiding van Tom Lehrer zelf bij dit nummer, dat geheel op ware en verifieerbare feiten is gebaseerd.

The loveliest girl in Vienna
Was Alma, the smartest as well
Once you picked her up on your antenna
You'd never be free of her spell
Her lovers were many and varied
From the day she began her beguine
There were three famous ones whom she married
And God knows how many between

Alma, tell us:
All modern women are jealous
Which of your magical wands
Got you Gustav and Walter and Franz?

The first one she married was Mahler
Whose buddies all knew him as Gustav
And each time he saw her he'd holler:
"Ach, that is the fräulein I must have!"
Their marriage, however, was murder
He'd scream to the heavens above:
"I'm writing Das Lied von der Erde
Und she only wants to make love!"

Alma, tell us:
All modern women are jealous
You should have a statue in bronze
For bagging Gustav and Walter and Franz

While married to Gus she met Gropius
And soon she was swinging with Walter
Gus died and her teardrops were copious
She cried all the way to the altar
But he would work late at the Bauhaus
And only came home now and then
She said: "What am I running, a chow house?
It's time to change partners again!"

Alma, tell us:
All modern women are jealous!
Though you didn't even use Pond's
You got Gustav and Walter and Franz

While married to Walt she met Werfel
And he too was caught in her net
He married her but he was careful
'Cause Alma was no Bernadette
And that is the story of Alma
Who knew how to receive and to give
The body that reached her embalmah
Was one that had known how to live!

Alma, tell us:
How can they help being jealous?
Ducks always envy the swans
Who get Gustav and Walter
You never did falter
With Gustav and Walter and Franz!

Het aardigste meisje in Wenen,
was Alma, en het is een feit
Was zij in je blikveld verschenen,
dan raakte je haar nooit meer kwijt
De minnaars die stonden te dringen,
zodra zij ter plaatse verscheen
Beroemheden ringden haar vinger.
Maar echt trouw was zij er aan geen

Alma, zeg dan:
Meer vrouwen lusten er pap van.
Hoe pak jij steeds weer je kans?
Eerst bij Gustav dan Walter dan Frans?

De eerste man die ze trouwde was Mahler, die Gustav met bril
Gustav riep, toen hij haar aanschouwde:
“Met haar wil ik dolgraag van bil.”
Hun huwelijk had vrijwel geen waarde,
en Gustav die schreeuwde heel luid
“Ik schrijf hier “Het lied van de aarde,
Maar zij trekt haar kleren steeds uit !”

Alma, zeg dan:
Meer vrouwen lusten er pap van
Als vrouw ben jij heel wat mans
Je had Gustav en Walter en Frans

Terwijl ze getrouwd was met Mahler,
had zij bij Gropius beet
Met Walter ging zij aan de haal
en was blij toen Gustav overleed
Gropius werkte aan Bauhaus,
had zelden echt aandacht voor haar
Als fraulein hield zij het niet
lang aus, een nieuwe man was weldra daar!

Alma, zeg dan:
Meer vrouwen lusten er pap van
Toch voelde je nooit tweede hands
Niet voor Gustav, noch Walter noch Frans

Frans Werfel, dat werd dus de derde man die zij ving in haar net
Hij wist het, want hij bracht te berde:
mijn Alma is geen Bernadette
Alma (-) , die nooit ergens om vroeg,
die wist hoe men krijgt en men geeft
Het lichaam dat men naar haar graf droeg was er eentje dat echt had geleefd

Alma, zeg dan:
meer vrouwen lusten er pap van
Jij had ontieglijk veel fans
Zoals Gustav en Walter,
je stond voor het altaar
met Gustav en Walter en Frans

Over de hertaling
Tom Lehrer is de drs. P van het Engels. Hij is geboren in 1928 en voor zover bekend nog niet overleden. In de jaren 50 en 60 van de 20^ste eeuw vierde hij triomfen met zijn zwart humoristische teksten. In Nederland is hij geheel ten onrechte tamelijk onbekend. In oktober 2020 bracht hij zijn website Tom Lehrer Songs – Songs and Lyrics by Tom Lehrer online, waarop hij schrijft : ` All the lyrics on this website, whether published or unpublished, copyrighted or uncopyrighted, may be downloaded and used in any manner whatsoever, without requiring any further permission from me or any payment to me or to anyone else.”

Maar hij schrijft ook: Note: This website will be shut down on December 31, 2024, so if you want to download anything, don’t wait too long.