Cogs can think.

This is one of the most beautiful Dutch songs ever written. Here is a quick English translation I did. Note that Ameland is a small island in the Waddensea. The song is called “De Vondeling Van Ameland” (”The Foundling Of Ameland”).

On the beach of Ameland
He washed shore as a baby
Thrown overboard
Found on a lifebuoy

On the waves
He felt as if in the womb
And he screamed
Until found by a beachcomber

Ameland cried shame of the comber
An eccentric who lived off the wind
Who’d already found the weirdest things
And now this child

When he went out combing daily
The foundling had to come with him
And when after a year he started to speak
His first word was: “sea”

On the beach of Ameland
The boy played for years
The comber was his master
Who learned him wise lessons

He stood sturdy in the sand
Not afraid of the wild sea
And he would scream
Until the tide turned

Ameland cried shame of the boy
The foundling who screamed like the wind
How in God’s name was it possible
That the sea would retreat for a child

What he called nobody could tell
It was hard to understand from the distance
And when they asked the comber
I think he says: “I’m on my way”

I’m on my way, I’m on my way
Sea wind sun ocean
I’m on my way

On the beach of Ameland
He stood as a young man
He did not speak a word
And started to undress

The tide came to him
He saw only the horizon
One last time did he turn ’round
Then he walked into the sea

Ameland cried shame of the young man
The naked eccentric foundling
They stood atop the dunes
Because they felt something was about to happen

Suddenly he started to scream
So loudly the dunes shook
They saw him walk into the water
Before he sank into the deep and drowned

I’m on my way, I’m on my way
Sea wind sun ocean
I’m on my way
I’m on my way

It’s so touching. It’s difficult to capture the atmosphere of the song in English, though.