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.
Mario
Anneke Grönloh Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Mandolines spelen zacht
En jouw stem klinkt door de nacht
Mario, Mario
Waarom zing je niet voor mij Mario.
Als jouw scheepje uitrust op het strand
Zie ik jou met haar samen hand in hand
In het duister luister ik er naar
Mario, waarom speel je niet voor mij, Mario.
Vroeger was dat lied alleen voor mij
Die herinnering blijft me altijd bij
Als ik jou nu met die ander zie
Treurt mijn hart bij deze melodie
Maria, warom speel je niet voor mij, Mario.
The song "Mario" by Anneke Grönloh is a lament about unrequited love. The singer is deeply pained that Mario does not sing for her anymore, and instead sings his love songs to another woman. The gentle strumming of the mandolin adds to the poignant mood of the song, evoking the peaceful yet lonely feelings of the singer who is listening to Mario's songs from afar. The singer's heart aches as she watches Mario with the other woman, and the melody only deepens her pain.
The song captures the universal experience of unrequited love and heartbreak, and the emotions are conveyed beautifully through the lyrics and the plaintive melody. The use of Mario's name in the title and throughout the song adds a personal touch, as if the singer is speaking directly to Mario, pleading with him to pay attention to her.
Overall, Anneke Grönloh has created a haunting and evocative ballad in "Mario", which is sure to resonate with anyone who has ever longed for someone who doesn't feel the same way.
Line by Line Meaning
Mario, Mario
Anneke is addressing Mario multiple times
Mandolines spelen zacht
The mandolins are playing softly in the background
En jouw stem klinkt door de nacht
Mario's voice can be heard through the night
Mario, Mario
Anneke addresses Mario again
Waarom zing je niet voor mij Mario.
Anneke wonders why Mario isn't singing for her anymore
Als jouw scheepje uitrust op het strand
When Mario's ship is resting on the beach
Zie ik jou met haar samen hand in hand
Anneke sees Mario holding hands with another woman
Dan zing jij je liefdeslied voor haar
Mario sings a love song for the other woman
In het duister luister ik er naar
Anneke listens to Mario's song in the dark
Mario, waarom speel je niet voor mij, Mario.
Anneke still wonders why Mario isn't playing for her
Vroeger was dat lied alleen voor mij
The song used to be only for Anneke
Die herinnering blijft me altijd bij
Anneke will always remember that time
Als ik jou nu met die ander zie
When Anneke sees Mario with another
Treurt mijn hart bij deze melodie
Her heart hurts when she hears this melody
Maria, warom speel je niet voor mij, Mario.
Anneke still wonders why Mario isn't playing for her, addressing him by the wrong name "Maria" in the last line
Contributed by Jake Y. Suggest a correction in the comments below.