Wikipedia

Birth of a New Age

"Birth of a New Age" is a song by Surinamese singer-songwriter Jeangu Macrooy. The song represented the Netherlands in the Eurovision Song Contest 2021 in Rotterdam, the Netherlands.[2] The music video was recorded in the Rijksmuseum.[3] In the song, Macrooy calls for resilience and authenticity.[4][5] The song is mostly written in English and partly in Sranan Tongo, a lingua franca in Suriname.

"Birth of a New Age"
The official cover for "Birth of a New Age"
Single by Jeangu Macrooy
LanguageEnglish, Sranan Tongo
Released4 March 2021
Genre
Length2:53
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
  • Jeangu Macrooy
  • Pieter Perquin
Jeangu Macrooy singles chronology
"Grow"
(2020) 		"Birth of a New Age"
(2021)
Music video
"Birth of a New Age" on YouTube
Eurovision Song Contest 2021 entry
Country
Artist(s)
Composer(s)
Lyricist(s)
Finals performance
Final result
23rd
Final points
11
Entry chronology
◄ "Grow" (2020)
"De diepte" (2022) ►

Music video

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On 4 March 2021 Macrooy and the broadcaster AVROTROS announced via a livestream that Birth of a New Age would be the Dutch entry of the Eurovision Songfestival. The next day the official music video was presented. The recordings were shot in the Rijksmuseum, in the Tropenmuseum and in the Koepelkerk (Ronde Lutherse Kerk) in Amsterdam, under the direction of Kevin Osepa and cinematography of Jasper Wolf.[6][7]

Composition

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The genre of Birth of a New Age is soul combined with percussion and the exchange of call and response from kawina, a genre that originated in Suriname, Macrooy's birth country. The choir consists of sixty voices that were recorded by three singers: Jeangu Macrooy, his twin brother Xillan Macrooy and singer Milaisa Breeveld. In addition, the voice of fellow composer Pieter Perquin can be heard at the beginning of the song.[1]

The basis of the song was from Macrooy, who finished it on 17 December 2020. He worked further on it with Pieter Perquin. While composing, Macrooy and Perquin did not begin with a defined song structure like verse-refrain-verse-refrain-bridge-refrain; instead, they built it piece by piece, and tried out new elements when they popped up. With the choir at the beginning of the song, it therefore looks like the song has two refrains and an ending of its own.[1]

Lyrics

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Macrooy had already written a poem that would become the song's lyrics before he started with Perquin to work out the music. According to Macrooy, this poem would not have existed if the developments in 2020 around Black Lives Matter had not occurred. Those gave him the feeling that the struggle of sixty years ago had not been lost. The demonstrations meant a lot to him. Being there at a demonstration, it inspired him that he did not only see black people around him, and that he saw a lot of young people there. "In fact that is the new age I am singing about," said the singer.[1]

While composing, Macrooy also decided to sing partly in Sranan Tongo; this is the language of the refrain, whereas the verses are sung in English.[1] He sings the following sentence a number of times: "Yu no man broko mi, mi na afu sensi," which can be translated as: "You can't break me, even if you think that I am inferior." The last part of the sentence literally signifies "that I'm half a cent", which was the smallest coin in Suriname in colonial times. Macrooy makes use here of what is being called an odo in Suriname, in other words a life wisdom which was passed on among enslaved.[6]

Because of his choice, Sranan Tongo marks a new step in its development. It originated in the 17th century because the enslaved were not allowed to speak Dutch, whilst they did not have a common African background. Later on, Sranan Tongo was forbidden and Dutch language made mandatory. Then, during the 1950s, Sranan Tongo was allowed, but regarded as an inferior language and discouraged socially. Since the independence of Suriname in 1975, it became gradually more accepted. "Birth of a New Age" marked the first time that Sranan Tongo was heard on the Eurovision stage.[6]

Mural

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Mural of Macrooy in Rotterdam, by painter Tymon de Laat

As a part of the artist project #UPStreetRotterdam visual artist Tymon de Laat completed his artwork with the title Birth of a New Age on 19 April 2021. He made a mural near Ahoy Rotterdam and signed it in the presence of Macrooy, in a joint action at an aerial work platform.[8]

Eurovision Song Contest

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Main article: Netherlands in the Eurovision Song Contest 2021

Internal selection

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On 18 March 2020, directly after the cancellation of the Eurovision Song Contest 2020, the national broadcaster AVROTROS announced its intent to again host the Eurovision Song Contest 2021, and to keep Macrooy as the nation's representative for the event.[9]

At Eurovision

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As the host country, the Netherlands automatically qualified to compete in the final. It was the 23rd performance in the final on 22 May 2021.[10]

Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2021 edition of the festival was held with a small test audience, called "field lab".[11]

Charts

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Chart performance for "Birth of a New Age"
Chart (2021) Peak
position
Belgium (Ultratip Bubbling Under Flanders)[12] 40
Lithuania (AGATA)[13] 94
Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[14] 37
Netherlands (Single Top 100)[15] 30
Suriname (Magic 10)[16] 1

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d e NPO Radio 2, Bart en Jeangu Macrooy ontleden het songfestivalnummer Birth Of A New Age, 12 Mai 2021 (in Dutch)
  2. ^ "🇳🇱 Netherlands: Jeangu's 2021 Entry Titled "Birth of a New Age"". Eurovoix. 4 March 2021. Retrieved 4 March 2021.
  3. ^ songfestivalweblog. "Nederlandse inzending heet 'Birth of A New Age'" (in Dutch). Retrieved 4 March 2021.
  4. ^ "Surinamese flavour to this year's Dutch Eurovision Song Festival entry". DutchNews.nl. 5 March 2021.
  5. ^ Kuyper, Amanda (4 March 2021). "Jeangu Macrooy naar Songfestival met energiek liedje 'Birth of a New Age'" (in Dutch). NRC Handelsblad.
  6. ^ a b c Nina Jurna, Jeangu Macrooy geeft ooit verboden taal Sranantongo groot podium, NRC, 6 Mai 2020 (in Dutch)
  7. ^ NPO, Videoclip Birth of A New Age van Jeangu Macrooy, via songfestival.nl, 5 maart 2021 (in Dutch)
  8. ^ Hiphop in je smoel, Kunstwerk ‘Birth Of A New Age’ tegenover Rotterdam Ahoy officieel onthuld, 20 April 2021
  9. ^ Herbert, Emily (13 March 2020). "The Netherlands: Jeangu Macrooy Will Represent The Netherlands at Eurovision 2021". Eurovoix. Retrieved 4 December 2020.
  10. ^ "2020 Semi-Final line-up to stay for 2021". Eurovision.tv. 19 November 2020. Retrieved 4 March 2021.
  11. ^ Parool, Jeangu Macrooy: ‘Ik kan het Eurovisie Songfestival alleen winnen door mezelf te blijven’, 26 April 2021
  12. ^ "Jeangu Macrooy – Birth of a New Age" (in Dutch). Ultratip. Retrieved 31 May 2021.
  13. ^ "2021 21-os SAVAITĖS (gegužės 21-27 d.) SINGLŲ TOP100" (in Lithuanian). AGATA. 28 May 2021. Archived from the original on 28 May 2021. Retrieved 28 May 2021.
  14. ^ "Nederlandse Top 40 – week 11, 2021" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40. Retrieved 13 March 2021.
  15. ^ "Jeangu Macrooy – Birth of a New Age" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved 29 May 2021.
  16. ^ "Radio 10".
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