"Het is een nacht... (Levensecht)" (

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

: "''It is a Night... (Lifelike)''") is the debut single by

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

artist

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 ...

. The song was produced by Ad Kraamer and written by Meeuwis. It was released in 1995 as the

lead single A lead single (also known as a debut single) is the first single to be released from a studio album by an artist or a band, usually before the album itself is released and also occasionally on the same day of the album's release date. Release s ...

from Meeuwis's debut studio album ''Verbazing''. Meeuwis wrote the song after a romantic weekend with his girlfriend Valérie Gregoire in

Bruges Bruges ( , nl, Brugge ) is the capital and largest City status in Belgium, city of the Provinces of Belgium, province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium, in the northwest of the country, and the sixth-largest city of the countr ...

. In 1994, Meeuwis and a couple of friends entered a talent competition (the AHC-Studentensongfestival) in

Leiden Leiden (; in English and archaic Dutch also Leyden) is a city and municipality in the province of South Holland, Netherlands. The municipality of Leiden has a population of 119,713, but the city forms one densely connected agglomeration wit ...

with this song and won. As a result, the group was offered a recording contract by Willem van Schijndel, under the name "Guus Meeuwis & Vagant". The song became a huge hit in The Netherlands and Belgium and reached the peak position in both the Dutch and Belgian charts. It spent seven weeks at number one in the

Dutch Top 40 The Dutch Top 40 ( nl, Nederlandse Top 40) is a weekly music chart compiled by ''Stichting Nederlandse Top 40''. It started as a radio program titled "Veronica Top 40", on the offshore station Radio Veronica in 1965. It remained "The Veronica ...

and eight weeks at number one in the

Mega Single Top 100 The Dutch Single Top 100 or Single Top 100 is a Dutch chart, based on official physical single sales, legal downloads and since July 2013 streaming and composed by Dutch Charts. It is one of the three official charts, the other two being the Dutc ...

and the

Ultratop 50 Ultratop is an organization which generates and publishes the official record charts in Belgium. Ultratop is a non-profit organization, created on the initiative of the Belgian Entertainment Association (BEA), the Belgian member organization of ...

. More than 250,000 copies were sold.

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Decade-end charts

The Baseballs cover

"Het is een nacht... (Levensecht)" was covered by the

rockabilly Rockabilly is one of the earliest styles of rock and roll music. It dates back to the early 1950s in the United States, especially the Southern United States, South. As a genre it blends the sound of Western music (North America), Western music ...

cover band,

The Baseballs The Baseballs are a German rock and roll band founded in Berlin in 2007. They became popular with 1950s and 1960s style rock cover versions of modern hits such as "Umbrella" by Rihanna, "Crazy in Love" by Beyoncé, "Hot n Cold" by Katy Perry and ...

, in 2011, under the name "This is a Night (Het is een nacht)", featuring vocals by Meeuwis. The lyrics were partially translated into English. The single is included on the Dutch version of The Baseballs' album ''

Strings 'n' Stripes ''Strings 'n' Stripes'' is the second album released by The Baseballs, a German rock 'n' roll cover band A cover band (or covers band) is a band that plays songs recorded by someone else, sometimes mimicking the original as accurately as possib ...

'', as well on a special edition of Meeuwis's album ''Armen open''. The song reached the 69th position in the

Charts

References

{{Authority control 1995 singles 2011 singles Dutch pop songs Dutch-language songs Songs about nights Dutch Top 40 number-one singles 1994 songs

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Decade-end charts

The Baseballs cover

Charts

See also

References