← All songs
A1+

Viva De Romeo's

De Romeo's

Language
Dutch
Released
2011
Genre
schlager
Level
A1+
Difficulty score
405
Duration
3:00

How to study this song

Learning “Viva De Romeo's” means 55 entries at A1+ — 23 Dutch words, 11 adjectives and 21 verb forms, every one taken from what the song actually says. Begin with feest, zomer and mensen: get those and most of the lines stop being guesswork. It is unusually descriptive — 11 adjectives alongside 23 everyday words — so expect colour rather than plot. At this level the goal is recognition: hear a word, place it, keep going.

The words of this song, in several languages

Every word below is taken from this song and translated by us. Nothing here is the lyric itself — these are the individual words you need in order to follow it.

Vocabulary

NLENESITFRPTDE
feestpartyfiestafestafêtefestaFest
zomersummerveranoestateétéverãoSommer
mensenpeoplegentegentegenspessoasLeute
terrassenterracesterrazasdehorsterrasses

What this song teaches you

Level · A1+

Vocabulary words
23
Adjectives
11
Word combos
15
Expressions
13
Verb forms
21
Quiz questions
35

More Dutch songs at this level

  • Parijs — Kenny B (2015)A1+
  • Bloed, Zweet en Tranen — André Hazes (2002)A1+
  • Pijnstiller — Suzan & Freek (2026)A2+
  • Ik leef niet meer voor jou — Marco Borsato (1996)A2+

Background

About the song

«Viva De Romeo's» is a Dutch-language party song by De Romeo's, a vocal trio from Flanders, the Dutch-speaking north of Belgium. It came out as a single in the spring of 2011 — the Belgian iTunes store lists it from 1 April 2011 — and it also appears on the group's album «In 't wit» from the same year. The song lasts about three minutes and was written to be sung by a crowd: a short verse, a big chorus, and the name of the band shouted in the middle.

The melody is not new. According to the Dutch-language Wikipedia, «Viva De Romeo's» is an adaptation of «Viva Colonia», a 2003 hit by the German band Höhner from Cologne. «Viva Colonia» is one of the best-loved carnival songs in Germany, played at football and ice hockey matches and at the Oktoberfest. Its tune, in turn, borrows from an old German folk song and an Irish folk melody. Several countries have made their own version: in the Netherlands, Wolter Kroes reached number one in 2008 with «Viva Hollandia». De Romeo's gave the song new Dutch words and put their own name in the title, turning it into a calling card for their shows.

De Romeo's was founded in 2003 by three singers who were already well known on Flemish television: Davy Gilles, Gunther Levi and Chris Van Tongelen. The name comes from the musical «Romeo en Julia, van Haat tot Liefde», in which Davy Gilles played Romeo that same year. Gilles and Levi both acted in the long-running soap opera «Familie»; Levi played Peter Van den Bossche there for more than twenty years. Before the group, Gilles had twice tried to represent Belgium at the Eurovision Song Contest, and Levi had had his own chart hits in the 1990s.

The trio built its name with medleys, covers and party songs, and around 2011 it had its most successful period. Next to «Viva De Romeo's» came «Naar de kermis!» with the singer Laura Lynn, and in 2012 «We gaan weer feesten», «Vlaanderen feest» and «Zingen lachen dansen» with the Dutch singer Jan Smit. In 2017 the three men even starred as themselves in the film «H.I.T.», and in 2023 they celebrated twenty years together.

The song itself is a celebration of summer. Friends sit together, drink and raise their glasses to the season and to everything that is now behind them. People come out of their houses, the café terraces fill up again, the sun shines and music is everywhere. In the chorus the group announces that it is back and ready to let loose: they love life, love and pleasure, and they have no intention of going home until every girl has had a kiss.

Verbomatico
Learn:English·Spanish·Italian·Dutch·French·Portuguese·German
Home·Songs·Guides·Pricing·About·Contact·Install the app·Terms·Privacy·Refunds
Legal notice··

© 2026 Verbomatico

esplanadas
Terrassen
zonsunsolsolesoleilsolSonne
muziekmusicmúsicamusicamusiquemúsicaMusik

This card holds 17 more words. You meet them when you play the song.

Adjectives

NLENESITFRPTDE
allemaalall of ustodostuttitoustodosalle
samentogetherjuntosinsiemeensemblejuntoszusammen

This card holds 9 more adjectives. You meet them when you play the song.

Verb forms

NLENESITFRPTDE
drinkenwe drinkbebemosbeviamonous buvonsbebemoswir trinken
vierenwe celebratecelebramosfesteggiamonous fêtonscelebramoswir feiern
klinkenwe toastbrindamosbrindiamonous trinquonsbrindamoswir stoßen an
is geweesthas beenha sidoè statoa étéfoiist gewesen

This card holds 17 more verb forms. You meet them when you play the song.

The second verse leaves work and worries behind. Nobody thinks about the next day, and sadness is not welcome. The world keeps turning, and the beach, the sun and the sea are waiting. When night falls it is time to go all out, and the listener is invited to join in the singing. In the bridge the message becomes almost a motto: life is short, so do not refuse too often, and keep the party going until the early hours while everybody sings along.

Did you know?

«Lol trappen» is one of the most typical Dutch expressions for having fun. Literally it means «to kick fun», but it simply means «to have a good time, to fool around». The song turns the order around, as Dutch often does in a main clause: the verb comes second, and «lol» comes at the end.

«Losgaan» is a separable verb: «los» («loose») + «gaan» («to go»). It means to let yourself go, to party without holding back. In a main clause the two parts split up, so you hear the verb early and the little word «los» at the very end of the sentence. «Meezingen» («to sing along») works the same way: the «mee» part moves to the end.

«Erbij zijn» means «to be there, to take part». In the chorus it is split, too, with «er» and «bij» separated by another word. When Dutch speakers say they are «er weer bij», they mean they are back again and ready to join in.

«Houden van» is the everyday way of saying «to love» in Dutch. On its own, «houden» means «to hold» or «to keep», but with «van» it becomes «to love» or «to be fond of». You can «houden van» a person, but also of life, of summer or of chocolate.

Spoken Dutch loves short forms. «'t» stands for «het» («it» or «the»), and «das» is a quick way of saying «dat is» («that is»). «Niks» is the informal word for «niets» («nothing»). «Dikwijls» means «often»; it is a little old-fashioned in the Netherlands, where people usually say «vaak», but it is very common in Flanders.

«Morgenvroeg» means «early tomorrow morning». The word «morgen» has two meanings in Dutch: «tomorrow» and «morning». That is why «tot morgenvroeg» sounds so natural for a party that goes on all night.

The past participle «gekust» («kissed») follows a famous Dutch spelling rule. Verbs whose stem ends in one of the consonants of «'t kofschip» (t, k, f, s, ch, p) form their past with -t: «kussen» → «gekust». Other verbs take -d, as in «horen» → «gehoord».

Charts & streaming

According to the Dutch-language Wikipedia, «Viva De Romeo's» reached number one in the Vlaamse Top 10, the Flemish chart for songs in Dutch, and climbed to number 43 in the Ultratop 50, the main singles chart of Flanders. The album «In 't wit» (2011) reached number eight and went gold in Belgium, and the live album «Het zingpaleis» from the same year also went gold, according to the same source.

The German original behind the song had a long chart life of its own: according to the German-language Wikipedia, Höhner's «Viva Colonia» peaked at number 20 in Germany in 2003, stayed in the charts for 53 weeks and was certified gold.

De Romeo's kept scoring hits after 2011. In 2012 they won the Radio 2 Zomerhit award with «Vlaanderen feest» and a Music Industry Award in the category Flemish popular music, and the albums «Feesten in stijl» (2012) and «10» (2013) reached number three and number two in Flanders.