In the early Seventies, the band switched to hard rock and had its first successes, including a brace of Top 40 hits. After original singer Veerman left and drummer Keizer took his place behind the microphone, the band made a musical U-turn and opted for commercial radio pop, adding female co-vocalist Annie Schilder and laying the foundation for their status as the most popular Dutch band ever (in terms of hit singles and albums). BZN has had over 50 hits in the Dutch hit parade to date.
BZN's claim to fame started with the song "Mon Amour" (1976), which held the #1 hit parade ranking for over 5 weeks. Outside of the Netherlands the band has had some success as well, amongst which several hits in South Africa (such as "Yeppa" in 1990) and minor successes with their French-language songs in Canada.
Through the years there have been many lineup changes, the most important of which have been the departure of Schilder in 1984 (replaced by Carola Smit) and in 1988 of the brothers Cees and Thomas Tol (keyboards), who until then had been responsible for most of the music and lyrics. The band remained nevertheless successful, making their last major change in strategy when they decided to write in Dutch instead of English as of 2003.
BZN are also responsible for the initial success of singer Jan Smit (singer), who was discovered by BZN at the age of 10 and went on to have pop and schlager successes in The Netherlands, Germany and Belgium.
On February 15 2006, BZN announced they would do one final tour and then call it quits. This goodbye tour is scheduled to last until June 2007.
Mon Amour
BZN Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
C'est la vie d'une fille, isolée toujours
Mais l'avenir est formidable
Et mes fleurs sont fraîches et aimables
Car je vais te trouver, mon amour, oui, toi
Tout le monde m'assistera
Tout le monde connaît, et tout le monde voit
La fleuriste du marché et sa boutique de fleurs
Mademoiselle, tu es formidable
Quand viens-tu chez moi
Mon amour, tu es ma rose
Qui ne va jamais passer
Je t'adore de jour en jour
Mademoiselle d'amour
Mon amour, tu es ma rose
Qui ne va jamais passer
Je t'adore de jour en jour
Mademoiselle d'amour
Un jour je suis allé à la Place du Marché
Et j'ai vu qu'elle avait disparu
J'ai demandé tout le monde s'ils ont vu peut-être la fleuriste
Mais personne ne savait où elle se trouvait
J'étais très désespéré!
Mais un jour je m'étais assis dans un bistro
Et alors
Catherine, c'est toi!
Oui, mon amour!
Ma petit fleur!
Car je vais te trouver, mon amour, oui, toi
Tout le monde m'assistera
Mon amour, tu es ma rose
Qui ne va jamais passer
Je t'adore de jour en jour
Mademoiselle d'amour
Mon amour, tu es ma rose
Qui ne va jamais passer
Je t'adore de jour en jour
Mademoiselle d'amour
The lyrics to BZN's song "Mon Amour" tell the story of a lonely flower seller who is hoping to find love. She calls out to potential customers, urging them to buy her flowers as she dreams of finding someone special. She believes that her future is bright and that she will indeed find her true love, with the help of "tout le monde," or everyone around her. The singer, who is apparently one of her customers, muses about how everyone knows her and notices her on the market with her lovely flowers. He is smitten with her and asks her when she will come to his place.
In the second verse, the singer relates a sad incident in which he went to the marketplace and found that the flower girl had disappeared. He asks around, but nobody knows where she has gone. He is deeply distressed by this turn of events. However, he later sees her in a bistro and proclaims, "Catherine, c'est toi!" and they are reunited, with him calling her "Ma petit fleur." The song concludes with the repetition of the refrain, with the singer declaring his love for Catherine and proclaiming that she is his forever.
Line by Line Meaning
Achetez mes gens, voyons, achetez mes fleurs
Come and buy my flowers, people. It's the life of a girl, always isolated.
C'est la vie d'une fille, isolée toujours
This is the life of a girl, always isolated.
Mais l'avenir est formidable
But the future is great.
Et mes fleurs sont fraîches et aimables
And my flowers are fresh and friendly.
Car je vais te trouver, mon amour, oui, toi
Because I'm going to find you, my love, yes, you.
Tout le monde m'assistera
Everyone will assist me.
Tout le monde connaît, et tout le monde voit
Everyone knows, and everyone sees.
La fleuriste du marché et sa boutique de fleurs
The florist of the market and her flower shop.
Mademoiselle, tu es formidable
Miss, you are wonderful.
Quand viens-tu chez moi
When will you come to my place?
Mon amour, tu es ma rose
My love, you are my rose.
Qui ne va jamais passer
That will never fade away.
Je t'adore de jour en jour
I adore you day by day.
Mademoiselle d'amour
Miss of love.
Un jour je suis allé à la Place du Marché
One day I went to the Market Place.
Et j'ai vu qu'elle avait disparu
And I saw that she had disappeared.
J'ai demandé tout le monde s'ils ont vu peut-être la fleuriste
I asked everyone if they had seen maybe the florist.
Mais personne ne savait où elle se trouvait
But no one knew where she was.
J'étais très désespéré!
I was very desperate!
Mais un jour je m'étais assis dans un bistro
But one day I sat down in a bistro.
Et alors
And then.
Catherine, c'est toi!
Catherine, it's you!
Oui, mon amour!
Yes, my love!
Ma petit fleur!
My little flower!
Contributed by Emily A. Suggest a correction in the comments below.