Anouk has released twelve studio albums to date, the most recent one being Wen d'r maar aan, released on 12 October 2018. She represented the Netherlands at the Eurovision Song Contest 2013 in Malmö, Sweden, with the song "Birds". Her song made it to the final – the first since 2004 for the Netherlands; and finished 9th with 114 points.
Musical style
Anouk's musical style has been described as a combination of Joan Osborne, Melissa Etheridge and Alanis Morissette. She is known for explosive rock songs like "Nobody's Wife" and "R U Kiddin' Me", but has also made small and fragile songs like "Lost" and "Michel". In addition to her pop/rock sound she also experiments with soul, funk and hip hop.
Personal life
Anouk was married to her manager Edwin Jansen until 1998. She married Remon Stotijn (aka The Anonymous Mis), frontman of the reggae/rap band Postmen, on 16 March 2004. Stotijn is the father of three of her children; son Benjahmin Kingsley (b. 18 April 2002), son Elijah Jeramiah (b. 5 December 2003) and daughter Phoenix Ray (b. 3 June 2005). In May 2008, Anouk and Remon announced a "harmonious" mutual separation. In 2010 Anouk gave birth to her fourth child, a son named Jesiah Dox. Her son Sion Jethro was born in June 2014. In June 2016, she gave birth to her sixth child, a baby girl, Jelizah Rose, with her current partner, mixed martial artist and former basketball player Dominique Schemmekes.
Daddy
Anouk Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
That's why I block my heart,
And chain it to the wall
Cause you haven't been there at all.
In time my house became a place,
Where the wrongs were right.
And the rights were wrong,
Tell me are you proud of who I am,
Can you please help me understand.
Why you couldn't love me back,
Forgiveness ain't that hard to grasp
Daddy I need you here
You say I
I never meant to hurt you
Baby girl you've got to believe me
I never meant to break your heart
I just don't wanted to love you
Somehow i didn't know how to.
I still blame myself.
Unable to receive the love
And affection from you
Like a daughter should
It did far more damage than good
Holding grudges are a waste
Life is way too short
And I just want to let go
Of all the things that I can't change
Now
Tell me are you proud of who I am,
Can you please help me understand.
Why you couldn't love me back,
Forgiveness ain't that hard to grasp
Daddy I need you here
You say I
I never meant to hurt you
Baby girl you've got to believe me
I never meant to break your heart
I just don't wanted to love you
But somehow I didn't know how to.
I still blame myself.
If I had just one more day
No more promises were made
I would hold you tight
And tell you I love you anyway
If I had just one more day
No more promises were made
I would hold you tight
And tell you I love you anyway
I never meant to hurt you
Baby girl you've got to believe me
I never meant to break your heart
I just don't wanted to love you
But somehow I didn't know how to.
I still blame myself.
You should have been there
You should have been there
For me
For me
For me
You should have cared for me
Where were you baby
The song "Daddy" by Anouk is a poignant and heart-wrenching piece that explores the struggle of a daughter to come to terms with emotional abandonment by her father. In the first verse, the singer expresses the difficulty of dealing with the pain caused by her father's absence. She tries to protect herself by shutting off her heart and chaining it to wall to avoid being hurt again. She highlights the negativity and chaos in her life as the result of the emotional wounds inflicted by her father's absence.
The chorus of the song is a cry for help and understanding as she desperately tries to connect with her father. She asks if he is proud of the person she has become and implores him to explain why he couldn't love her back. She emphasizes that forgiveness is not difficult, and she needs her father in her life while regretfully accepting that she still blames herself for the situation.
In the second verse of the song, the singer asserts that her father's emotional neglect has caused more harm than good. She acknowledges that holding grudges is a waste of time and wants to let go of the pain caused by her father's abandonment.
The song's final stanza is a wishful thinking scenario where the singer imagines what it would be like to have her father in her life again. She wishes for one more day to hold him tight and tell him that she loves him, even though she still blames herself for the emotional distance between them.
Overall, "Daddy" is a touching and excellently written piece of music that conveys a universal message of the deep emotional impact of parental neglect.
Line by Line Meaning
Awkward things come to an end.
I've decided to move on from the awkwardness between us and let go of my hurt.
That's why I block my heart,
I'm protecting my heart from further pain and disappointment.
And chain it to the wall
I keep my heart locked up and refuse to let anyone get close to me.
Cause you haven't been there at all.
You've been absent from my life, emotionally and physically.
In time my house became a place,
My home became a sanctuary where I could escape the drama and pain of our fractured relationship.
Where the wrongs were right.
Where I could make sense of my past and try to find closure.
And the rights were wrong,
Where what I thought was right, turned out to be wrong.
With too much drama and pain.
My relationship with you was filled with too much turmoil and unhappiness.
Tell me are you proud of who I am,
I want to know if you are proud of me, despite our rocky history.
Can you please help me understand.
I need your guidance to help me make sense of our past and move forward.
Why you couldn't love me back,
I don't understand why you were unable to reciprocate my love for you.
Forgiveness ain't that hard to grasp
I'm willing to forgive you, but I need you to ask for forgiveness and take responsibility for your actions.
Daddy I need you here
I need you to be present in my life, emotionally and physically.
You say I
I want to hear you express your love for me, without any conditions or expectations.
I never meant to hurt you
You keep saying you didn't mean to hurt me, but your actions say otherwise.
Baby girl you've got to believe me
I want you to trust me and believe that my intentions were never to hurt you.
I never meant to break your heart
I never intended for our relationship to end up in a fractured state.
I just don't wanted to love you
I struggled with loving you in a healthy, positive way.
Somehow i didn't know how to.
I didn't know how to love you without causing harm or pain.
I still blame myself.
I feel responsible for our damaged relationship and struggle to move on from it.
Unable to receive the love
I was unable to receive the love and affection from you that a daughter rightfully deserves.
And affection from you
Your emotional distance did more damage than good to me.
Like a daughter should
I deserved love and affection from you, as any daughter would.
It did far more damage than good
Your absence and emotional neglect resulted in deep emotional wounds for me.
Holding grudges are a waste
I've come to realize that holding onto anger and resentment are unproductive and detrimental to my emotional well-being.
Life is way too short
I've come to realize that life is too short to hold onto negative emotions and need to focus on positive relationships and experiences.
And I just want to let go
I want to move on from our past and find closure.
Of all the things that I can't change
I'm letting go of things that are beyond my control and focusing on things that I can change.
If I had just one more day
I wish I had more time with you before things fell apart.
No more promises were made
I don't want any more empty promises, I just want you to be present in my life.
I would hold you tight
I want to feel your love and affection without reservation or hesitation.
And tell you I love you anyway
I want to express my love for you, despite our troubled past.
You should have been there
I wish you had been present in my life, as a loving and supportive father should be.
For me
I needed you to be there for me, emotionally and physically.
You should have cared for me
I needed you to care for me, to offer me love and guidance.
Where were you baby
I'm asking why you were absent from my life when I needed you the most.
Writer(s): Tore Johansson, Anouk Teeuwe, Martin Gjerstad
Contributed by Dominic R. Suggest a correction in the comments below.