Als de liefde niet bestond: Nederlandstalige liefdesballad
A2 Dutch listening practice · Dutch · Curated for beginners
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What is the Dutch song “Als de liefde niet bestond”?
Als de liefde niet bestond
song title · Dutch chanson canon
The Dutch translation of Joe Dassin’s “Et si tu n’existais pas” (1975) — a Top 2000 fixture
“Als de liefde niet bestond” is the Dutch translation of Joe Dassin’s 1975 French chanson “Et si tu n’existais pas”, and the Dutch version has outlived the French one in Dutch karaoke halls and Top 2000 rotations. Liesbeth List recorded the canonical Dutch version in 1976, and it’s been covered since by André Hazes, Frans Bauer, and others across the levenslied tradition. The opening line (“Als de liefde niet bestond, zou de wereld stilstaan”) gets sung at Dutch weddings, funerals, and TV singalongs.
In this VTM clip, a guest delivers the chorus on screen: “Als de liefde niet bestoont, zullen ze stilstaan de rivieren... Er is geen liefde zonder jou.”
From VTM↗ on YouTube.Watch original→
★Where you’ll hear this
- ▸In Dutch and Belgian Dutch-language pop coverage (Het Nieuwsblad, De Telegraaf, AD)
- ▸On the song and original artists (Joe Dassin on Wikipedia, Liesbeth List on Wikipedia, Ramses Shaffy on Wikipedia)
- ▸In Dutch radio singalong rotations (NPO Radio 5, Top 2000, Sky Radio)
- ▸In Dutch levenslied and karaoke coverage (De Volkskrant Cultuur, NRC, Trouw)
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