1. Fr… Read Full Bio ↴Two musicians from The Netherlands are known as Frank Boeijen:
1. Frank Boeijen is a Dutch singer/songwriter, who was the front man of popular (and eponymous) pop group De Frank Boeijen Groep from 1980 until 1991, the year he went solo. As leader of De Frank Boeijen Groep, Boeijen was one of the pioneers of Nederpop; along with the likes of Doe Maar en Het Goede Doel. After the peak of Nederpop passed, Boeijen broke new ground by touring theatres with his band and bringing pop music to new auditoriums and audiences. As a solo artist, he has kept to this theatre based approach of his music and maintained a productive pace.
Frank Boeijen was born in Nijmegen, The Netherlands on November 27, 1957, as the last in a family of ten children. His father was a typesetter in a factory. His older brothers were into American pop music; in the Boeijen household, Bob Dylan and Neil Young were often to be found on the record player (years later, Boeijen would write a song about this, appropriately titled Robbert Zimmerman). Young Frank learned to play the guitar. After finishing high school, Boeijen started a musical collaboration with guitarist Wout Pennings. Boeijen en Pennings released an album together in 1977. The songs of the album were re-recorded and the album was re-released a year later, with Rob de Nijs acting as producer. It was appropriately titled Boeijen en Pennings. To fulfil live engagements, drummer Henk Wanders en bass player Nels Busch joined the duo.
Pennings left the band in 1979 and was replaced with guitar player Wil Theunissen. The name was changed into the Frank Boeijen Groep. The b-side of their fist single, a song entitled Verjaardagsfeest was picked on up by radio disc jockey Frits Spits, who played the record a lot during his evening show. The group released their debut album, simply entitled Frank Boeijen Groep, album later that year. On the base of the airplay of Verjaardagsfeest, the album reached the Tipparade.
Nederpop, pop music with Dutch vocals, was becoming a mainstream success in the early eighties, and the Frank Boeijen Groep hitched a wagon to that train, when their single Linda, reached the Top Forty. Zwart Wit, another single, written after a racial murder had taken place in Amsterdam, became a number one hit. 1982's Twee and 1983's 1001 Hotel became big sellers.
In 1984, the Frank Boeijen Groep was awarded the Zilveren Harp by Conamus. In that same year, album Kontakt was released. Lead guitarist Wil Theunissen quit the group later that year and replaced with Maarten Peters, who himself was replaced two years later by Ger Hoeijmakers. In 1985, the group released Foto Van Een Mooie Dag. Single Kronenburg Park -- named after Kronenburger Park a park in Nijmegen, Boeijen's place of birth and residence -- became a huge success. Follow up, In Nature, released in 1986, didn't do as well, but still sold respectively.
Towards the end of the eighties, Boeijen's music fell somewhere in between het levenslied of André Hazes, the chansons of Ramses Shaffy and the pop of Doe Maar. According to Frank Boeijen and his manager Paul Schouwenaars the group had outgrown clubs and tents. With the release of album Welkom In Utopia in 1987, the group decided to tour Dutch theatres. The Welkom In Utopia tour started in the Stadsschouwburg in Amsterdam in September of the same year. Two more albums were released: studio album Een Zomer Aan Het Eind Van De Twintigste Eeuw (1989) and live album Hier Komt De Storm. During these years, Frank Boeijen dated Sky Channel presenter Amanda Redington. The two would marry in 1990. The album Dans In Slow Motion, released in 1988, was written for her. In juni 1994 scheidden ze weer van elkaar.
In the spring of 1991, Boeijen announced the ending of his group. In November of that year, he released his first solo album Wilde Bloemen. The musicians on the album were drummer Norman Bonink, guitar player Peter van Benthem and bass player Michel van Schie. Van Schie was replaced by touring bass player René te Voortwis, and pianist Ton Snijders was also recorded. Wilde Bloemen featured several duets with other well known Dutch musicians, among them were: Twee Gezichten, a song written and recorded with Henk Hofstede of The Nits); and Het IJs, written and recorded with Henny Vrienten of Doe Maar).
In the summer of 1993, Boeijen recorded Jazz in Barcelona; an album concerned with the break up between him and Amanda Redington. The subsequent theatre tour was a big success, with sold out shows every evening. Traces of Boeijen's break up were also to be found on next album De Ontmoeting (1994 - an even more spare and intimate affair than Jazz In Barcelona. De Ontmoeting also featured a single, Twee Mannen Zo Stil, with music and lyrics by Boeijen and Stef Bos. Although the single failed to mount the charts, over the years it became a Nederpop classic, often played at funerals. In the same year, Boeijen produced an album for Liesbeth List, the female voice of Ramses Shaffy's recordings. In 1995, another live album, Stormvogels, hit the shelves.
Boeijen returned with two new albums in 1997: a greatest hits compilation, Het Beste En Het Mooiste and an album of new material, Vaderland. The year before, Boeijen had travelled extensively through Asia, and a lot of the songs, although concerning Boeijen and The Netherlands, were written from a distant perspective. In 1999, De Ballade van de Dromedaris, recorded in Peter Gabriel's Real World Studio's appeared, followed by live album Door De Jaren Heen, containing several duets with Ramses Shaffy, Liesbeth List and Stef Bos. Both albums were big sellers. In 2001, Heden, was released. Drummer Norman Bonink left the group to join BLØF. He seat was filled by Oscar Kraal. Helder contained a collaboration between Boeijen and BLØF front man Paskal Jakobsen, single Geen Gevaar. The song was released in the summer of 2002. In the same year, Boeijen won an Edison award as best singer.
2. Frank Boeijen is also the name of the keyboardist for the Dutch group The Gathering.
Alles Wat Ik Had
Frank Boeijen Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Met de oude boeken
En de geur van oud papier
En dan zie ik het licht
Buiten
Als een werkelijke maan
Hoe vaak zat ik hier te denken en te luisteren
Te denken en te luisteren
Naar de geluiden van de nacht
Of bij zonsopgang
Trillend van de dag
Die komen ging
De dag die komen ging
En dan dacht ik
Aan alles wat ik had
En dan dacht ik
Aan alles wat ik vaarwel had gezegd
Dit zijn de dingen die ik zoek
Niet meer op de tast
Maar de ogen wijd open
Open voor mooie woorden
Mooie woorden
Mooie woorden
Om het te tekenen
En te vangen
Te tekenen en te vangen
En een melodie
Van lang geleden
Komt terug
Komt terug
En dan dacht ik
Aan alles wat ik had
En dan dacht ik
Aan alles wat ik vaarwel had gezegd
Waartegen ik vaarwel had gezegd
Maar het is aan jou
Aan jou alleen aan jou
Wat ik ook doe
Het is aan jou
The lyrics of Frank Boeijen's song Alles Wat Ik Had (Everything That I Had) express a deep sense of nostalgia and loss. The song describes the feeling of being in an old room surrounded by old books and the smell of old paper. The singer observes the light outside, which is like a real moon. The atmosphere is set, and the singer goes back to his memories of listening to the sounds of the night and thinking about the day that was about to come. He remembers everything that he had and everything that he had to say goodbye to.
The second part of the song talks about searching for something, not blindly, but with eyes wide open. The singer is searching for beautiful words, and he wants to capture them and turn them into a melody from long ago. The final verse emphasizes that it's up to the listener to decide what the song means. The singer is offering his thoughts and ideas, but it's up to the listener to interpret them in their way.
Overall, the song is deeply personal and reflective, with the underlying theme of nostalgia and the inevitable passing of time. It leaves the listener with a sense of longing, a feeling that something precious has been lost and can never be regained.
Line by Line Meaning
In de oude kamer
In this room filled with memories of times gone by
Met de oude boeken
These old books that hold within them stories of the past
En de geur van oud papier
And the smell of the old, yellowed pages that brings back memories
En dan zie ik het licht
And then I see the light outside
Buiten
The world beyond this room
Als een werkelijke maan
As the real moon, shining bright and illuminating everything around
Hoe vaak zat ik hier te denken en te luisteren
I have spent countless moments here, lost in thought and listening
Te denken en te luisteren
Thinking and listening
Naar de geluiden van de nacht
To the sounds of the night
Of bij zonsopgang
Or at sunrise
Trillend van de dag
Trembling in anticipation of what the day would bring
Die komen ging
That was yet to come
De dag die komen ging
The day that was coming
En dan dacht ik
And then I thought
Aan alles wat ik had
About everything that I possessed
En dan dacht ik
And then I thought
Aan alles wat ik vaarwel had gezegd
About everything that I had left behind
Dit zijn de dingen die ik zoek
These are the things that I am searching for
Niet meer op de tast
Not blindly anymore
Maar de ogen wijd open
But with my eyes wide open
Open voor mooie woorden
Open for beautiful words
Mooie woorden
Beautiful words
Mooie woorden
Beautiful words
Om het te tekenen
To draw them
En te vangen
And capture them
Te tekenen en te vangen
To draw and capture them
En een melodie
And a melody
Van lang geleden
From long ago
Komt terug
Comes back to me
Komt terug
Comes back to me
En dan dacht ik
And then I thought
Aan alles wat ik had
About everything that I possessed
En dan dacht ik
And then I thought
Aan alles wat ik vaarwel had gezegd
About everything that I had left behind
Waartegen ik vaarwel had gezegd
That I had said goodbye to
Maar het is aan jou
But it is up to you
Aan jou alleen aan jou
It is solely up to you
Wat ik ook doe
No matter what I do
Het is aan jou
It is up to you
Contributed by Molly N. Suggest a correction in the comments below.