Schim Uit Ver Verleden
This song is a Dutch original by Bart the Bard about a spirit from a distant past that seems to linger around a massive boulder on the local hill. It only appears during Samhain (pagan Halloween) and nobody knows who this spirit once was or why it is lingering here, but it is somehow connected to that stone…
A year in the making
I wrote this song in October 2024 and first performed it in the same month of that year. There was a poetic tour around the arboretum of Wageningen; artists had created sculptures and land-art to which poets from the local region had written poems. The way that the visual art got connected to the auditive art was very special and I was lucky enough to be asked to sing three songs at three different sites.
The theme of the exposition had to do with witchcraft, so I chose songs from my pagan repertoire, including this newly crafted song “Schim Uit Ver Verleden”. I really enjoyed playing and performing the song and I think it also landed quite well with the audience. Some people walked past to stop and listen as well!
Recording the song after the music video?
After performing the song, I played it several times for fun, but never got round to recording it. I decided to put it on my list as the next October release. In the new year (2025) I got in touch with EEF, who plays harp, and we jammed a bit to figure out if it would fit with the song. We had fun with it and decided that I would return to record it once the time came. I hadn’t accounted for the fact that I would accidentally run into the best music video location for this song before even starting the recording!
The public grave mound of Bogø, Denmark
We were going to a party on the island Bogø in Denmark when we stumbled upon a public gravemound. It was so fit for the video of Schim Uit Ver Verleden that we decided to record it there and then. I was already wearing my Viking outfit, because I was to perform at the party, so it felt like the cosmos had decided for this to happen. All the circumstances were right, even the weather, to make this impromptu music video.
Instead of knowing the pace of the recording, I had to just play from the heart and then later go back to the footage of the video to figure out which BPM (beats per minute) I ought to use for the settings of the recording. This is entirely the WRONG way of doing it, but luckily, I was able to synchronise a good portion of the video with the ultimate recording and it turned out RIGHT. It was definitely a gamble,though!
I’m happy with the video and I’m glad that I was able to record this song that I had grown so fond of. Have a listen for yourself!
Lyrics
Bovenop de heuvel,
Diep in het bos
Staat een steen
Die steen is niet te tillen
Het mysterie is nooit opgelost
Bij volle maan
Ziet men de steen trillen
En tijdens Samhain komt er
Een schim uit ver verleden
Hij komt van diep hieronder
En niemand kent zijn reden
Sinds mensenheugenis
Staat die steen daar
En de ouderen
Zij delen zijn vertelling
Van mond tot mond
Tot aan de oudste op aard
Maar niemand kent de schim op de helling
En tijdens Samhain komt er
Een schim uit ver verleden
Hij komt van diep hieronder
En niemand kent zijn reden
Een steen onder de maan
In het duister van de nacht
Wanneer de poorten open gaan
Verbonden aan een ziel
Dit is een duistere magie
Want tijdens Samhain komt er
Een schim uit ver verleden
Hij komt van diep hieronder
En niemand kent zijn reden
Bart the Bard 