De Groot's most famous songs include Avond, Welterusten mijnheer de President, Het Land van Maas en Waal and Jimmy.
Boudewijn de Groot was born in a Japanese concentration camp in 1944. His mother died here in 1945. The family returned to The Netherlands in 1946. He first reached the music charts in 1965 with his song Meisje Van 16.
In these early years, De Groot was a Dutch equivalent of Jacques Brel; his songs were, lushly orchestrated 'chansons'. In the late 1960s he adopted more of a singer-songwriter style and his album, Picknick (1967) is a psychedelic sixties gem, generally regarded as one of the best Dutch albums ever.
Boudewijn de Groot recorded twelve studio albums in total and also released many live albums and compilations. Lennaert Nijgh wrote the lyrics for the majority of De Groot's work. Even after Nijgh's death in 2002, De Groot continued to use unfinished Nijgh lyrics on several songs on 2007's Lage Landen.
In 2005, De Groot's Avond (originally written in 1973, released in 1996) suddenly topped Holland's immensely popular Top 2000 end-of-year song chart on Radio 2, much to the surprise of De Groot, who reckons it's "not even my best song, let alone the best song of all time".
Boudewijn de Groot toured Dutch theatres for years and years on end, but decided to stop doing so in 2014, the year of his 70th birthday. He feels well and is in great shape, but doesn't want to play his hit songs night after night. He announced that he would continue to record and release music, but would only do the occasional live performance. 2015 saw the release of Achter Glas, his 12th studio album.
September 2016 saw him embark on a theatre tour under the moniker Vreemde Kostgangers, a collaboration with his long time friends and fellow legendary Dutch songwriters, George Kooymans (of Golden Earring) and Henny Vrienten.
De Reiziger
Boudewijn de Groot Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
geef hem brood en droge kleren,
laat hem zitten bij de haard.
Hij is overal geweest,
hij die alles heeft verloren,
hij die nooit iets heeft bewaard.
Haal flessen uit de kelder
en haal muziek in huis.
de reiziger is thuis.
Geef de reiziger het woord,
laat de reiziger vertellen,
maar hij schudt zijn hoofd en wacht.
Hij heeft overal gezocht,
hij heeft nergens iets gevonden
en hij heeft niets meegebracht.
Hij zegt: ik ben veranderd,
ik ben hier niet meer thuis.
Maar laat de kinderen komen,
de kinderen van dit huis.
Laat de kinderen komen,
laat de kinderen komen,
ik heb aan ze gedacht.
Ze zullen mij niet kennen
en ze zullen mij niets vragen.
Ze hebben niets verwacht.
En niemand zal begrijpen
wat ik doen kom in dit huis.
Maar de kinderen zullen zeggen:
de reiziger is thuis.
Geef de reiziger een stoel,
geef hem brood en droge kleren,
laat hem zitten bij de haard.
Hij is overal geweest,
hij die alles heeft verloren,
hij die nooit iets heeft bewaard.
Haal flessen uit de kelder
en haal muziek in huis,
en laat de kinderen komen,
de kinderen van dit huis.
The song "De Reiziger" by Boudewijn de Groot is about a traveler who has been wandering aimlessly around the world with nothing to hold onto or call his own. The singer calls for people to give him a chair, food, and dry clothes and let him sit by the fire. The traveler has lost everything and is unable to keep anything, but he has been everywhere. The singer then calls for people to bring out bottles from the cellar and bring music into the house to celebrate the traveler's arrival. The chorus repeats the sentiment that, even though the traveler has no home, the children of the house will know he is at home when they see him.
The traveler is willing to speak, but he chooses not to. He has searched everywhere but found nothing worth bringing back with him. He says he has changed and is no longer at home, but he asks for the children of the house to come. He says they won't recognize him or ask anything of him, but that doesn't matter. He repeats that nobody understands why he has come to this house, but the children will know he is at home.
The song captures the sense of displacement one can feel in a world where everything is constantly changing, and nobody seems to have a permanent place to call home. It exemplifies the longing for unity and community despite the overwhelming sense of change that the traveler has experienced. The singer is calling for people to open their hearts and provide a welcoming space for the traveler who has returned.
Line by Line Meaning
Geef de reiziger een stoel,
Provide a seat for the traveler,
geef hem brood en droge kleren,
Give him food and dry clothes,
laat hem zitten bij de haard.
Allow him to sit by the hearth.
Hij is overal geweest,
He has been everywhere,
hij die alles heeft verloren,
he who has lost everything,
hij die nooit iets heeft bewaard.
he who has never kept anything.
Haal flessen uit de kelder
Bring bottles from the cellar
en haal muziek in huis.
and bring music into the house.
Laat iedereen het horen:
Let everyone hear it:
de reiziger is thuis.
the traveler is home.
Geef de reiziger het woord,
Give the traveler the floor,
laat de reiziger vertellen,
let the traveler speak,
maar hij schudt zijn hoofd en wacht.
but he shakes his head and waits.
Hij heeft overal gezocht,
He has searched everywhere,
hij heeft nergens iets gevonden
he has found nothing anywhere
en hij heeft niets meegebracht.
and he has brought nothing with him.
Hij zegt: ik ben veranderd,
He says, 'I have changed,'
ik ben hier niet meer thuis.
'I am no longer at home here.'
Maar laat de kinderen komen,
But let the children come,
de kinderen van dit huis.
the children of this house.
Ze zullen mij niet kennen
They will not recognize me
en ze zullen mij niets vragen.
and they will not ask me anything.
Ze hebben niets verwacht.
They have expected nothing.
En niemand zal begrijpen
And no one will understand
wat ik doen kom in dit huis.
why I have come to this house.
Maar de kinderen zullen zeggen:
But the children will say:
de reiziger is thuis.
The traveler is home.
Geef de reiziger een stoel,
Provide a seat for the traveler,
geef hem brood en droge kleren,
Give him food and dry clothes,
laat hem zitten bij de haard.
Allow him to sit by the hearth.
Hij is overal geweest,
He has been everywhere,
hij die alles heeft verloren,
he who has lost everything,
hij die nooit iets heeft bewaard.
he who has never kept anything.
Haal flessen uit de kelder
Bring bottles from the cellar
en haal muziek in huis,
and bring music into the house,
en laat de kinderen komen,
and let the children come,
de kinderen van dit huis.
the children of this house.
Contributed by Nicholas M. Suggest a correction in the comments below.