Johanna Louise (Anneke) Grönloh (born in Tondano, North Celebes, Dutch East… Read Full Bio ↴Johanna Louise (Anneke) Grönloh (born in Tondano, North Celebes, Dutch East-Indies, 7 June 1942; died in France, 14 September 2018) was a Dutch pop singer, best known for her string of hits in 1962 and 1963, including 'Brandend Zand' and 'Paradiso'. She was succesful in The Netherlands, the rest of Europe and also extremely popular in Asian countries such as Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore.

Born in a Japanese concentration camp in the former Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia) during World War II, Grönloh and her family moved to the Eindhoven area in The Netherlands after the war. Anneke's career soon started to take off. She sang jazz material, American standards, Indonesian folk songs and rock 'n roll with Peter Koelewijn & Zijn Rockets. Koelewijn attended the same Eindhoven high school as Grönloh.

Her début solo single, 'Asmara', failed to chart in The Netherlands, but was a hit in Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore, where Grönloh toured succesfully as early as 1960. Her Dutch big break followed in the summer of 1962 with the Dutch smash hit, 'Brandend Zand' ('Burning Sand'), which hit #1 in the Dutch Top 40. It was the first of four consecutive #1 hit singles for Grönloh in some eleven months' time. 'Paradiso', 'Soerabaja' and 'Cimeroni' also hit the top spot. Versions of these hit singles in other languages charted in no less than 48 countries. In total, Anneke Grönloh has 'claimed sales' of over 30 million records, primarily singles.

Anneke Grönloh never had a Dutch chart hit again after 1964, but she continued to perform succesfully until 2017, in The Netherlands and the Far East. Her anniversary concert in Singapore in 1994, celebrating her career of 35 years, was attended by 30,000 people. Some of her albums are hardly known in The Netherlands, but sold over 100,000 copies in Indonesia and Malaysia, notably 2002's Nina Bobo.

Having suffered severe pulmonary embolism in 2016, Grönloh's health deteriorated. She stopped performing in the summer of 2017, aged 75, and passed away on 14 September 2018 at her home in France, where she spent the final years of her life. She was 76 years old.

Asmara
Anneke Grönloh Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Bila tak ada lagi cintamu
Yang indah untukku
Harusnya kau tau
Betapa hidupku sepih tak sempurna
Bila tak ada lagi sayangmu
Harusnya kau tahu
Betapa hidupku sakit dan kuterluka
Hingga aku terjatuh

Tersiksa batinku sudah tak sempurna
Rusaklah harapanku
Dan lalu kau pergi
Kini terbang jauh hilang
Asmara kini tlah menyakitkanku
Cinta menusuk jantungku
Merusak hidupku ohooo
Asmara kurang apa kupadamu

Sampai kau tak kenal aku
Hingga ku terluka.

Overall Meaning

The lyrics of Anneke Grönloh's song Asmara express the pain and emptiness felt by someone whose love has left them. The first verse talks about how life has become incomplete without the beauty of love that was once present. The second verse describes the physical and emotional pain caused by the absence of the loved one. The chorus uses the word "Asmara", which means love in Indonesian, to convey the depth of suffering caused by a love that has turned painful. The chorus asks the question of what more the person could have done for their love not to have left them, and expresses disappointment at not being recognized by the loved one.

Line by Line Meaning

Bila tak ada lagi cintamu
If your love is no longer there

Yang indah untukku
The beautiful love that was once mine

Harusnya kau tau
You should have known

Betapa hidupku sepih tak sempurna
How my life is lonely and incomplete

Bila tak ada lagi sayangmu
If your affection is no longer there

Harusnya kau tahu
You should know

Betapa hidupku sakit dan kuterluka
How my life is painful and wounded

Hingga aku terjatuh
Until I fall

Tersiksa batinku sudah tak sempurna
My soul is tormented, no longer whole

Rusaklah harapanku
My hopes are destroyed

Dan lalu kau pergi
And then you leave