New anthem to mark the university’s anniversary

The result is a solidly produced pop song with two parts. One would expect the track to be tame, considering it is for Utrecht University, but that’s certainly not the case. The verses describe how two students end up in bed together thanks to a stolen bike, after partying all night at Janskerkhof. The next day, it’s back to studying as usual, and they catch the tram to Utrecht Science Park (De Uithof).

The verses about the budding romance are rather clumsy, but the catchy chorus makes up for it. “It celebrates the moment and fantasises about the future,” says singer Anne Zweers, who also co-wrote the lyrics. “The inspiration for the song comes from our own lives as students. We started by drawing up a list of our experiences, and there was quite a lot of overlap, so we incorporated that into the song.”

Album
Anne Zweers is one of the singers in the ten-piece band Spuit 11, which consists of four alternating male and female singers, two guitarists, a drummer, a saxophonist, a keyboardist and a bassist. Spuit 11 was formed for the eleventh anniversary of the Orca student rowing club, which will be celebrated in the first week of July.

In addition to playing covers at the many parties Orca is throwing to mark its anniversary, Spuit11 has also recorded an album with original songs, out in May. The song they made for the university, Dromen over Morgen, will not be featured on that album. "We’re doing this one on the side," says the band, explaining that it was written especially for UU’s anniversary.

Through the grapevine
How did Utrecht University end up choosing this band? The answer has to do with the cultural centre Parnassos. The director of the university's lustrum celebrations (this year also marks a jubilee celebrated every five years, making the anniversary even more special), Marieke van Merriënboer, is the former director of the cultural centre. Van Merriënboer remembered the band when UU decided to make a song to mark the lustrum. Spuit 11 had approached Parnassos to sponsor their album. 

Although the writers were given free rein, UU had a request after reading the first draft. “Earlier versions placed too much emphasis on partying and too little on studying,” says Anne. “Together, we have arrived at a better song.”

For all students in Utrecht
The lyrics mention many things typical of Utrecht, such as the Dom Tower, Utrecht Science Park and the canals. And it mentions the act of studying as well, of course. Anne is proud of this: “The fact that we’re talking about studying is what makes this song unique. I don’t know many student anthems that are actually about that.”

According to the band, the song is aimed at all students in Utrecht, not just those at Utrecht University. “What student hasn’t cycled along the canals?” wonders Anne. After all, this reflects the band's members: not everyone studies at UU. It also includes students from the University of Arts Utrecht (HKU) and the Utrecht University of Applied Sciences (HU). 

Anne, for example, is a 21-year-old student in the second year of Nursing at the Utrecht University of Applied Sciences. She wrote the song with Niek Huisman (24), a third-year Liberal Arts & Sciences student at Utrecht University. They were assisted by the producer Jens van der Meij, who has previously collaborated with the Dutch singer Froukje, among others.

Anne is very pleased with the result. “This was the first time I’ve ever written a song. I'm so excited that it’s finally out. Everyone will have an opinion about it, but we’re not worried about criticism. We’re mostly curious!”

This year, Utrecht University and UMC Utrecht are celebrating a joint lustrum. The song was performed for the first time on 26 March at the university's anniversary celebrations in the Dom Church. It is now available on Spotify.

The lyrics (in Dutch) are below:

Dromen over morgen

We dromen over morgen, en vieren vandaag
Dwalen door het donker, de nachten zijn laat
Iedereen heeft zorgen, toch verder geen haast
Fietsend langs de Domkerk, we zijn met elkaar

De nacht is aan, en ik sta in de Jans
Muziek staat hard, ik verlies mijn balans
Tijd om te gaan, maar mijn fiets is gejat (shit)
Vraag om een lift bij jou op de swap

Oh, ik zie je staan, en jij ziet mij wel zitten
Spring maar achterop, je mag best blijven pitten
Morgen bij de Uithof, kom je mee studeren?
Hier kan ons verhaal beginnen

We dromen over morgen, en vieren vandaag
Dwalen door het donker, de nachten zijn laat
Iedereen heeft zorgen, toch verder geen haast
Fietsend langs de Domkerk, we zijn met elkaar

We dromen over morgen
Dromen over morgen
Dromen over morgen
en vieren vandaag

Mijn wekker gaat, en ik moet aan de bak
Blijf jij maar liggen in m’n bed, ik pak de tram vast (ik pak de tram vast)
Volg nu college, met jou in mijn gedachten
Wil je zo samen nog een rondje langs de grachten?

Zit met m’n hoofd nog steeds bij gisteravond,
En ik weet nog niet wat ik daarmee aanmoet,
Straks naar de uni met een lichte kater,
Maar voorlopig droom ik over later.

In UB, ja ze zien me strijden
Studeren, flaneren, ik doe beide
Geniet van het studentenleven,
Want het duurt toch maar heel even

Oh, ik zie je staan, en jij ziet mij wel zitten
Spring maar achterop, je mag best blijven pitten
Morgen bij de Uithof, kom je mee studeren?
Hier kan ons verhaal beginnen

We dromen over morgen, en vieren vandaag
Dwalen door het donker, de nachten zijn laat
Iedereen heeft zorgen, toch verder geen haast
Fietsend langs de Domkerk, we zijn met elkaar

We dromen over morgen
Dromen over morgen
Dromen over morgen
en vieren vandaag

Dromen over morgen
Dromen over morgen
Dromen over morgen
en vieren vandaag