When the Allied Forces arrived in the Netherlands after Operation Market Garden, the country’s long-awaited liberation from National Socialist occupation finally came in the summer of 1945. With freedom reclaimed, a wave of joy and hope swept through the nation, finding its most powerful expression in the stirring liberation songs that resonated across the land. These songs, an evocative transatlantic soundtrack of freedom, captured the spirit of the time through music, lyrics, and dance, celebrating the euphoria of a nation reborn.
Songs of Liberation in the Netherlands: The Transatlantic Soundtrack of Freedom invites readers on an extraordinary journey into this transformative period. Frank Mehring, along with an international team of writers, musicians, and curators, brings to life the vibrant music that accompanied liberation by drawing from the remarkable Hugo Keesing collection at the Freedom Museum in Groesbeek – featuring over 300 rare sheet songs. Now rediscovered, these songs offer a profound connection to the past, inviting us to reimagine the emotional power of music in shaping cultural memory.

Prof. Frank Mehring, Radboud University Nijmegen, has published extensively on Liberation Songs and performed concerts in collaboration with school choirs using music as a key to learn about the past across different nations. He has produced documentary programs on liberation songs for the Canadian Tulips Festival. They are part of the commemoration ceremonies and available online: https://tulipfestival.ca/songs-of-liberation/

‘Songs of liberation and this very book itself play a vital role in preserving our shared history. They ensure that the legacy of courage, gratitude, and unity remains alive for future generations, deepening our appreciation for the ties that bind us across an ocean, and an ocean of time.’
- Jo Riding, Executive Director of the Canadian Tulip ‘Songs of liberation and this very book itself play a vital role in preserving our shared history. They ensure that the legacy of courage, gratitude, and unity remains alive for future generations, deepening our appreciation for the ties that bind us across an ocean, and an ocean of time.’
- Jo Riding, Executive Director of the Canadian Tulip Festival, Ottawa, Canada

‘This book is an impressive and moving tribute to the memory of what liberation looked like, felt like, and sounded like.’
- Rob Kroes, Professor Emeritus of American Studies at the University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands

'Een absolute aanrader voor iedereen met een belangstelling voor de sociale en culturele kant van de oorlog. Dat het daarbij ook nog eens zeer fraai vormgegeven is met veel full-colour illustraties is een mooie bonus.'
- Patrick Schellen, Traces of War

Prelude: Find the Cost of Freedom in Songs (Frank Mehring)
Suite I: Liberation Songs 25 (Frank Mehring)
1. Sing Your Song of Thanks: The Soundtrack of Freedom
2. We Did It Before: Sounding Intercultural Encounters
3. Peace March: Marching Music between Occupation and Freedom
4. Holland Memories: Hymns to Freedom and Justice
5. Lili Marleen: Transatlantic and Transnational War Songs

6. White Stripes in a Sky of Blue: Fox-Trotting and Flirting 7. I Cannot Swing: Liberation Boogie-Woogie and Swing
8. Snoezepoes: Composing and Arranging Liberation Songs
9. Bouncin’ in Bavaria: Broadcasting Dutch Swing in Occupied Germany
10. America, We Thank You: Consent and Satire
11. As Time Goes By: Jazz as a Lingua Franca

Suite II: Soundtrack of Freedom Then and Now 1. Playing Liberation Songs: Interview with Jan Hendriks (Anja Adriaans and Frank Mehring)
2. Exhibiting Liberation Songs: The Freedom Museum (Rense Havinga)
3. Collecting Liberation Songs: A Transatlantic Quest (Hugo A. Keesing)
4. Composing Liberation Music: A Symphony (Dean Burry)
5. Recording Liberation Songs: Sonic Bridges (Frank Mehring)
Conclusion (Frank Mehring)
Coda: Fourteen Liberation Songs (Jens Barnieck) Postlude (Jo Riding)
Acknowledgments
Notes
Bibliography
Dutch Liberation Songs
American, British and Canadian Songs of War and Liberation
Secondary Literature
List of Contributors
Index of persons