The Koningslied () is a song written for the

investiture Investiture (from the Latin preposition ''in'' and verb ''vestire'', "dress" from ''vestis'' "robe") is a formal installation or ceremony that a person undergoes, often related to membership in Christian religious institutes as well as Christian kn ...

of prince

Willem-Alexander Willem-Alexander (; Willem-Alexander Claus George Ferdinand; born 27 April 1967) is King of the Netherlands since 30 April 2013. Willem-Alexander was born in Utrecht during the reign of his maternal grandmother, Queen Juliana, as the eldest ch ...

King of the Netherlands The monarchy of the Netherlands is governed by the Charter for the Kingdom of the Netherlands, country's charter and Constitution of the Netherlands, constitution, roughly a third of which explains the mechanics of succession, accession, and a ...

on 30 April 2013 on request of the ''Nationaal Comité Inhuldiging'' (National Committee

or the Or or OR may refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television * "O.R.", a 1974 episode of '' M*A*S*H'' * '' Or (My Treasure)'', a 2004 movie from Israel (''Or'' means "light" in Hebrew) Music * ''Or'' (album), a 2002 album by Gold ...

Inauguration). Upon release the song was met with criticism and ridicule from the public. As a result of the criticism Ewbank withdrew the Koningslied on 20 April 2013.Volkskrant: John Ewbank withdraws Koningslied
Nevertheless, the ''Nationaal Comité Inhuldiging'' confirmed on 22 April 2013 the song would be used as part of the investiture.

Background, release and controversy

John Ewbank composed the music and wrote the lyrics using suggestions that were sent in during a participation project through Dutch social media and the official website of the inauguration. Artists who cooperated on writing the song are

Ali B Ali Bouali, known professionally as Ali B (born 16 October 1981), is a Moroccan Dutch rapper and entertainer. He is one of the most prominent rappers in the Netherlands and has collaborated with musicians such as Akon and Marco Borsato. He is se ...

, Bollebof,

Daphne Deckers Daphne Muriël Deckers (Nijmegen, 10 November 1968) is a Dutch television presenter, writer and occasional actress. In 1989 she started her career at RTL-Véronique, where she eventually became the host of '' Holland's Next Top Model'', which s ...

Fouradi Fouradi is a Dutch hip-hop duo from Amsterdam, Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest ...

Lange Frans Frans Christiaan Frederiks (born 12 November 1980), known by his stage name Lange Frans, is a Dutch rapper and television presenter. From 1997 to 2004 he was a member of the band D-Men. Between 1997 and 2009 he was part of the Lange Frans & Baas ...

Guus Meeuwis Gustaaf Stephanus Modestus "Guus" Meeuwis (born 23 March 1972) is a Dutch singer-songwriter. As part of the band Vagant, he scored several hits in the Netherlands and Flanders during the 1990s and first decade of the 2000s. On 24 May 2015, Meeuwi ...

, Kraantje Pappie,

Gers Pardoel Gerwin Pardoel (born 12 May 1981), better known by his stage name Gers Pardoel or Mononymous person, mononymously as Gers, is a Dutch Rapping, rapper. He rose to fame in 2009, due to his successful collaboration with The Opposites on the single " ...

, and Jack Poels. The Koningslied was released on 19 April 2013. Soon after its release it reached the first position on the

iTunes iTunes is a media player, media library, and mobile device management (MDM) utility developed by Apple. It is used to purchase, play, download and organize digital multimedia on personal computers running the macOS and Windows operating s ...

download chart. Both music and lyrics quickly became the subject of criticism and ridicule. The same day, an online petition against the song was started by journalist Sylvia Witteman and signed 20,000 times. It passed the 40,000 mark a few days later. Alternative King's Songs were released on

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

soon after. As a result of the criticism Ewbank withdrew the Koningslied on 20 April 2013. The ''Nationaal Comité Inhuldiging'' confirmed on 22 April 2013 the song would be used as part of the investiture. The song cost €550,000, which was paid by the broadcaster

Nederlandse Publieke Omroep The Dutch public broadcasting system () is a group of organizations that are responsible for public service television and radio broadcasting in the Netherlands. It is composed of the Nederlandse Publieke Omroep (NPO) foundation, which acts as it ...

Performance for King Willem-Alexander

The ''Nationaal Comité Inhuldiging'' originally intended that the song would be sung on 30 April 2013 for

in one central place in all the

provinces of the Netherlands There are twelve provinces ( or ; Grammatical number#Overview, sing. ) of the Netherlands representing the administrative layer between the cabinet of the Netherlands, national government and the municipalities of the Netherlands, local ...

and in each of the countries of the

Netherlands Antilles The Netherlands Antilles (, ; ), also known as the Dutch Antilles, was a constituent Caribbean country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands consisting of the islands of Saba (island), Saba, Sint Eustatius, and Sint Maarten in the Lesser Antilles, ...

.Geen Koningslied in drie provincies
, ''

Nederlandse Omroep Stichting The (; NOS or rarely ; ) is one of the broadcasting organisations making up the Dutch public broadcasting system. It has a special statutory obligation to make news and sports programmes for the three Dutch public television channels and the ...

'', 30 April 2013Zwolle vergeet mee te zingen met het Koningslied
, ''

RTV Oost The Dutch public broadcasting system () is a group of organizations that are responsible for public service television and radio broadcasting in the Netherlands. It is composed of the Nederlandse Publieke Omroep (NPO) foundation, which acts as its ...

'', 30 April 2013 This did not happen because of a lack in interest in

Maastricht Maastricht ( , , ; ; ; ) is a city and a Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the southeastern Netherlands. It is the capital city, capital and largest city of the province of Limburg (Netherlands), Limburg. Maastricht is loca ...

and

Assen Assen () is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Northeastern Netherlands, and is the capital (politics), capital of the province of Drenthe. It received City rights in ...

. In

Utrecht Utrecht ( ; ; ) is the List of cities in the Netherlands by province, fourth-largest city of the Netherlands, as well as the capital and the most populous city of the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of Utrecht (province), Utrecht. The ...

, no license was given for the event and in

Zwolle Zwolle () is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Northeastern Netherlands. It is the Capital city, capital of the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of Overijssel ...

the DJ forgot to play the song. The performance of the song in

Rotterdam Ahoy Rotterdam Ahoy (formerly known as Ahoy Rotterdam or simply as Ahoy) is a multi-purpose complex with a convention centre and an indoor arena located in Rotterdam, Netherlands. Opened originally in 1950, the current complex consists of three main ...

by 33 of the participating artists was broadcast on two video screens in Amsterdam for Willem-Alexander and Máxima.

Cooperating artists

Rob de Nijs withdrew after reading the song's lyrics.Opium op TV
(3:50 minutes into the program) ,

AVRO Avro (an initialism of the founder's name) was a British aircraft manufacturer. Its designs include the Avro 504, used as a trainer in the First World War, the Avro Lancaster, one of the pre-eminent bombers of the Second World War, and the d ...

, 20 April 2013

References

External links

* {{authority control 2013 songs Songs in Dutch Dutch pop songs Coronation Cultural depictions of Dutch monarchs Songs written by John Ewbank (composer) Songs about kings Songs about the Netherlands