Midnight in Paris

51 Shapes of Nits: The 35th shape is the figure of a Dutchman in Paris

When the bell tolls twelve times … Remember “Flavia” – I gave her this Nits name that appears on the Alankomaat album – who bought a brown hat somewhere in a downtown shop? I always imagined that the shop was somehow located somewhere on a pretty lane or street in Paris. I thought Nits gave us a clue in the little tail of the song `”Hat” which furtively refers to a wonderful melody of George Gershwin’s “An American in Paris”. I love this reference, since I’ve always adored Gershwin and his jazzy take on classical music. I like it when worlds come together in this subtle way and interact with one another bringing different vocabularies and modes of expression together into realms of new sensibilities, often with humour and a clin d’oeil. And I think that this bridging quality is one of the main characteristics of Nits that makes them stand out in the world of pop music big time.

I like the movies of Woody Allen, I like Charles Aznavour and I like George Gershwin. Their work intersects with the musical world that Nits created in quite a few ways. Of course there are so many lines of interconnections and influences to be traced starting from Nits and crisscrossing all over the domain of cultural forms and expressions, which is such a lovely aspect of their contribution to the world of arts. I picked those three because they are personal favourites and because the sensibilities in their respective works all have that touch of Nitsy expression to them – or is it the other way around? Maybe you have seen Allen’s movie “Midnight in Paris” where one of the characters, at the stroke of midnight all of sudden finds himself transported to the city of Paris – where he is on vacation – but then almost a hundred years back in time, to the roaring 1920’s. He meets some of the famous artists and writers of that time, Jean Cocteau, Pablo Picasso, Ernest Hemingway and Scott Fitzgerald and later on the surrealists Man Ray, Luis Bunuel and Salvador Dali, who all ended up in Paris at some point during their artistic careers. Paris has always exerted this fascination on artists and writers alike and I feel that the Dutchmen of Nits are no strangers to the city’s attraction. In a way Henk Hofstede explores a similar idea throughout the lyrics that he wrote for the Nits songs and not seldom do Nits involve in a dialogue – just like the character of Allen, Gil Pender, did – with artists and musicians of the past or in some cases their contemporaries. You can sense how Hofstede feels the need to incorporate the work of fellow artists and his admiration for them in the musical work of Nits and this aspect opens up the Nits universe and makes it sparkle with the imaginative powers, colours and forms that are part of the artists’ realm.

On the tones of “Hat”, Henk Hofstede walks along the streets of Paris, enters a shop here or there, a museum, the cemetery of Père Lachaise or a cafe and he meets all these people that he invited into the Nits songs. In a museum – while admiring the works of Cézanne – Henk meets the sculptor Henry Moore and they start a conversation that ends in a little discussion about the percussive nature of some forms of sculpting. On his way out of the museum Henk Hofstede by chance bumps into Paul Klee who came to see some of the works by Robert Delaunay; Klee is especially interested in the latter’s use of bold colours and geometric shapes. Henk and Paul discuss colour theory and the aspect of “form” in works of art. Henk asks him about the use of the grid format in his work and his very unique way of colouring – often monochromatic. Paul Klee refers Henk to the lectures he wrote on form and design theory in his famous notebooks. And Henk shows Paul some of the album covers of Nits where they use this grid format – it is even still present in the design of an album as late as KNOT. Of course Henk tells him about the song “Around the Fish” with its strange musical shape. It is obvious that they have a lot to talk about, so they decide to have supper together in a bistro on the boulevard Saint-Germain. There was an aquarium in the middle of the room between the wooden tables and chairs and they enjoyed a sole meunière accompanied by some glasses of Muscadet. The next day Mr. Hofstede set out to view the collections of some of his favourite painters in the Parisian museums that he had visited so often, returning to them time and time again with every tour visit the band made to the city’s concert halls. All those years he had looked in vain for some of the work of the English painter L.S. Lowry. Of course Paris was not exactly the place to look for the work of this British artist, but Henk had always sensed the ‘impressionist” influence in Lowry’s work with his brush strokes of light-induced freedom especially in his earlier work. Lowry indeed was quite familiar with the way of working of the Parisian impressionists. His teacher for many years was the French impressionist painter Adolphe Valette who taught him the new Parisian artistic ideals. Lowry’s figures set in often industrial scenes have the very demure elegance of the new Parisian-formed brushstroke and they give his paintings the allure of one fleeting moment in time on its way to yet another passing moment in time. The impressionist flair of the moment awakes a slight feeling of melancholy in Henk Hofstede’s mindset and he decides to make his way to the Musée Marmottan to revisit some of his favourite works by Claude Monet. In a vivid appearance of Nits’s preferred colour of blue: Ultramarine. The water lilies and blue wisteria’s that colour the light of the paintings and everything else in it feel like a wave of music all-encompassing and embracing the experience of time in brightly coloured moments of longing and melancholy.

“If I had my way, I’d just walk through those doors – And wander down the Champs-Elysées” Henk Hofstede murmurs to himself, remembering the words of Joni’s song “Free Man In Paris”. The freedom of art in reshaping the world was what it is all about. Its reflection through the eyes and ears of the artist, through the movements of his or her hands and feet, is man’s humble gesture of acknowledging the beauty and the mystery of it all. Continuing his walk along the Parisian boulevards Henk Hofstede notices the advertising boards for a concert of Charles Aznavour. His songs about Paris have an aristocratic – in the meaning of the word of “elegant appearance”, but also in the sense of the best in its genre, poetic, noble, honourable, almost virtuous – feel about them, a strength and charm, a poetic determination which make them stand out as perhaps the most supreme of tributes to the city in French chanson. “J’aime Paris au mois de Mai” is so jazzy and free, just like the city. So deliciously frivolous, the promise of something exciting and beautiful awaiting, the freedom of exploration in streets filled with a detached sense of refinement and nonchalance where everything always returns to a natural chaotic harmony. Nits couldn’t wait to get to that sweet train station and catch that waltzing train to Paris. And they lingered there … for quite some time. Their music dressed in its sumptuous shapes.

Nits and Paris are an almost perfect match. The freedom in the structure of their songs, the grey and the blue, their elegance, the delicacy of the subjects they sing about, the art objects which their music likes to imitate or paraphrase, a sophistication like in a French chanson by Aznavour, and their distinct composure, insouciance, their equanimity, nonchalant self-assurance, poise and a certain stylish “je-ne-sais-quoi” make Nits and their music stand out in the crowd of the overpopulated music scene. This freedom, almost of not caring about what the rest of the world thinks of you, just being so sure of who and what you are without however a clear definition that would explain the secret. That is exactly the “parisian style” of Nits! Nits are like Paris in the month of May, “Quand les bourgeons renaissent”, a constant renewal of freshness beginning all over again. “J’aime Paris au mois de Mai – J’aime le vent qui m’apporte – Des bruits de toutes sortes”.

The fresh winds that blow across the Seine and the many European rivers onto the river Amstel and the canals of Amsterdam. An aristocratic-city freshness full of a distinctive appearance, aplomb and oomph. A history that greets you through the charms of songs that take on the colours and shapes of a European way of being. Just like Paris is the capital of a self-assured europeanness. Where form expresses freedom – like in the dazzling height of the Eiffel Tower. Where nonchalance and elegance go hand in hand in a refined and unique sense of beauty and savoir-vivre. That’s also the Nits way.

And the Eiffel Tower stands watch. As the music of the “Les Nuits” song descends from its height in a downward cascade of strokes of impressionism. The city of light flickering and fluttering in a mystical night of music notes.

The Eiffel Tower stands watch. Until yet another morning (“Il est cinq heures”) when Paris et Nits s’éveillent …

Joke Roelandt, June 2025