"Potverdekke! (It's great to be a Belgian)" is a 1998 novelty song, recorded by British singer John Makin, better known under his artist name, Mister John. It was his only hit song in his long career, making him a classic example of a one-hit wonder.
The word "Potverdekke" is a curse word, typically associated with the region around Brussels. The word is a minced oath; the intended meaning is "Goddamn!" (Dutch: godverdomme), but the roots for "God" and "damn" have been replaced by similar-sounding words.
The song is a joyful celebration of Belgium. It was created by Makin and some of his Belgian friends as a throwaway joke, but to their surprise became a huge hit in Belgium, spending more than 26 weeks in the national hitparade. [1] This was especially amazing, seeing that the hit charted while the Dutroux scandal was in full effect, and many Belgians at the time were not in the mood for national pride. [2] Mr. John was even invited to perform it during the National Holiday on July 21, 1998, before king Albert II of Belgium. [1]
The song also references the (then current) British mad cow disease in the line: "Now, the English egg and bacon is not so bad/ especially since all their cows went mad./ But if they never tasted mussels on the Grand-Place down in Brussels/ it's no wonder they're feeling very sad." [3]
All throughout the song Mister John names several iconic Belgian people, fictional characters, inventions, locations and brands. Among these are:
The culture of Belgium involves both the aspects shared by all Belgians regardless of the language they speak and the differences between the main cultural communities: the Dutch-speaking Belgians and the French-speaking Belgians. Most Belgians view their culture as an integral part of European culture.
Mussel is the common name used for members of several families of bivalve molluscs, from saltwater and freshwater habitats. These groups have in common a shell whose outline is elongated and asymmetrical compared with other edible clams, which are often more or less rounded or oval.
Belgian cuisine is widely varied among regions, while also reflecting the cuisines of neighbouring France, Germany and the Netherlands. It is characterised by the combination of French cuisine with the more hearty Flemish fare. Outside the country, Belgium is best known for its chocolate, waffles, fries and beer.
Lambic is a type of beer brewed in the Pajottenland region of Belgium southwest of Brussels and in Brussels itself since the 13th century. Types of lambic beer include gueuze, kriek lambic, and framboise. Lambic differs from most other beers in that it is fermented through exposure to wild yeasts and bacteria native to the Zenne valley, as opposed to exposure to carefully cultivated strains of brewer's yeast. This process gives the beer its distinctive flavour: dry, vinous, and cidery, often with a tart aftertaste.
Land of Black Gold is the fifteenth volume of The Adventures of Tintin, the comics series by Belgian cartoonist Hergé. The story was commissioned by the conservative Belgian newspaper Le Vingtième Siècle for its children's supplement Le Petit Vingtième, in which it was initially serialised from September 1939 until the German invasion of Belgium in May 1940, at which the newspaper was shut down and the story interrupted. After eight years, Hergé returned to Land of Black Gold, completing its serialisation in Belgium's Tintin magazine from September 1948 to February 1950, after which it was published in a collected volume by Casterman in 1950. Set on the eve of a European war, the plot revolves around the attempts of young Belgian reporter Tintin to uncover a militant group responsible for sabotaging oil supplies in the Middle East.
Spike and Suzy, Willy and Wanda or Luke and Lucy is a Belgian comics series created by the comics author Willy Vandersteen.
Edgard Félix Pierre Jacobs, better known under his pen name Edgar P. Jacobs, was a Belgian comic book creator, born in Brussels, Belgium. He was one of the founding fathers of the Franco-Belgian comics movement, through his collaborations with Hergé and the graphic novel series that made him famous, Blake and Mortimer.
Oumpah-pah le Peau-Rouge is a comics series created by comics artist Albert Uderzo and comics author René Goscinny, best known as the creators of Asterix. The series first appeared in the weekly Tintin magazine in 1958 though it remained serialised for a relatively short time, ending in 1962. The stories were published in book form by Lombard and Dargaud starting in 1961. In 1995, the series was reissued by Albert Uderzo's own publishing house, Les Éditions Albert-René.
Beer in Belgium includes pale ales, lambics, Flemish red ales, sour brown ales, strong ales and stouts. In 2018, there were 304 breweries in Belgium, including international companies, such as AB InBev, and traditional breweries, such as Trappist monasteries. On average, Belgians drink 68 litres of beer each year, down from around 200 each year in 1900. Most beers are bought or served in bottles, rather than cans, and almost every beer has its own branded, sometimes uniquely shaped, glass. In 2016, UNESCO inscribed Belgian beer culture on their list of the intangible cultural heritage of humanity.
Jacques Van Melkebeke was a Belgian painter, journalist, writer, and comic strip writer. He was the first chief editor of Tintin magazine and wrote scripts and articles anonymously for many of their publications.
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Snowy is a fictional character in The Adventures of Tintin, the comics series by Belgian cartoonist Hergé. Snowy is a white Wire Fox Terrier who is a companion to Tintin, the series' protagonist. Snowy made his debut on 10 January 1929 in the first installment of Tintin in the Land of the Soviets, which was serialised in Le Petit Vingtième until May 1930.
Belgitude is a term used loosely to express the typical Belgian soul and identity, often with a so-called keen sense of self-mockery that characterises its population. Originating from a perceived lack of common identity among the different communities, regions and language areas of Belgium, the neologism was coined in the 1970s and 1980s by allusion to the concept of négritude about feeling black, expressed among others by Léopold Sédar Senghor. It has since gained in popularity and has primarily been used to describe typical or unique aspects of Belgian culture.
Robert Wiedmaier is a West German-born, Belgian American chef. He owns multiple restaurants in and around Washington, D.C. and is known for creating dishes involving Belgian cuisine, specifically mussels.
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John Makin, better known under his artist name "Mister John", was a British singer who lived in Belgium. He is best known for his feel-good novelty songs, among which the one-hit wonder song "Potverdekke! " is the best known. It was a hit in the Belgian hitparade in 1998 for 26 consecutive weeks.
A barrel-aged beer is a beer that has been aged for a period of time in a wooden barrel. Typically, these barrels once housed bourbon, whisky, wine, or, to a lesser extent, brandy, sherry, or port. There is a particular tradition of barrel ageing beer in Belgium, notably of lambic beers. The first bourbon barrel-aged beers were produced in the United States in the early 1990s.
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