Behind "Oproep na die Hemel"

The story behind Oproep na die Hemel.

What would you say if you could make one final phone call to someone you've lost?

That question is at the heart of my song, Oproep na die Hemel.

Many years ago, I lost my brother in a tragic accident. He was young, full of life, and the kind of person who could make people laugh without even trying. His sense of humor was contagious. Like many brothers, he could also be incredibly annoying at times, but that is part of what made him who he was.

When we were younger, we spent a lot of time together. As we grew older, our lives naturally followed different paths, but losing him left a space that could never truly be filled.

Over the years, I wrote several songs inspired by that loss. Each one explored a different part of the journey. Oproep na die Hemel came from a very different question.

One night, my sister had a dream that she somehow had the phone number of Heaven and could call our brother.

The dream stayed with me.

Not because I believed such a phone call could literally happen, but because it raised a question that many people who have experienced loss will understand:  What would I say if I could make that call?

That simple question became the foundation of a song.

The song was originally written in English under the title A Call to Heaven. Years later, I translated it into Afrikaans and it became Oproep na die Hemel. Even after the translation was finished, I hesitated to release it. Some songs are personal. This one felt deeply personal.

In the years that followed, I released other songs first. I wasn't sure whether this was a song that belonged in the world or whether it was something I should simply keep for myself.

Eventually, I decided to share it.

Many listeners have asked about the red telephone booth that appears in the artwork and music video. The truth is that I cannot remember exactly when that image first came to me. What I do know is that it felt like the perfect symbol for the song.

I grew up in a time when telephones were fixed in one place. You couldn't carry them in your pocket. If you wanted to make a call, you had to go to where the phone was. I even remember the old rotary telephones where you physically turned the dial for each number.

A telephone booth connected to the sky felt like a visual representation of an impossible idea: a place where one final conversation might be possible.

The booth is not meant to be a literal depiction of Heaven. Instead, it represents longing, memory, love, and the conversations we wish we could still have.

The character in the music video was intentionally created as a universal character. She is not meant to represent one specific person. She represents anyone who has ever lost someone they loved and wished for one more conversation.

Many years have passed since my brother's death.

People often say that time heals. I have found that time doesn't erase our losses. Instead, it teaches us how to carry them.

Some losses become easier to live with, but they never completely disappear.

Even after all these years, there are still moments when I wonder what I would say if I could make that phone call.

And perhaps that is why this song continues to resonate with me.

Years after the song was released, I felt there was still another part of the story waiting to be told. Rather than creating another traditional music video, I wanted to create something different — a visual journey where music, symbolism, and storytelling could exist together. That became A Music & Stories Film, inviting viewers to experience the song through a new perspective.

Oproep na die Hemel is not really about a telephone booth, a dream, or even an impossible phone call.

It is about love that remains long after someone is gone.

And about the words we still carry in our hearts.