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.
Parijs Berlijn Madrid
Boudewijn de Groot Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Waarvan een paar dat me prima zit.
En soms denk ik: ik neem de trein
Om weer eens in Madrid te zijn.
Er staat een zak met wasgoed in Parijs,
Waarin een hemd, dat mis ik voor geen prijs.
En soms denk ik: ik stap eens op
En haal die zak met wasgoed op.
Maar ik weet niet meer wat de inhoud wel kan zijn.
En soms denk ik: weet je wat ik doe,
Ik ga eens naar die koffer toe.
Maar ja, Madrid, Parijs, Berlijn,
Waar mijn schoenen en mijn hemd en mijn koffer zijn,
Wat moet ik met die grote steden?
Wat moet ik met die resten van een ver verleden.
Die schoenen zijn beschimmeld en dat hemd is te klein,
En die koffer zal wel niet te tillen zijn.
Ach ja, Parijs, Berlijn, Madrid,
Waar iemand anders met zijn voeten in mijn schoenen zit.
Van dat hemd zullen ze wel een stofdoek maken
En die koffer, die doet tenslotte niets ter zake.
Wat moet ik met die dingen?
Ik blijf zitten waar ik zit.
Ik ben bij jou, tab Parijs, Berlijn, Madrid.
Ik heb nog twee paar schoenen in Madrid...
Er staat een zak met wasgoed in Parijs...
Ik heb ook nog een koffer in Berlijn...
The lyrics to "Parijs Berlijn Madrid" by Boudewijn de Groot speak of three different cities and the items that the singer still has in each of them. He mentions a pair of shoes that he left behind in Madrid, a piece of clothing that he misses from his laundry in Paris, and a mysterious suitcase in Berlin. The singer contemplates taking a train to Madrid to retrieve the shoes, going to Paris to get his laundry, and going to Berlin to examine the contents of the suitcase. However, as the song progresses, he realizes that all of these items are remnants of his past, and that he no longer has any use for them or any practical reason to retrieve them.
The lyrics also suggest a sense of longing and nostalgia for the past, and the memories associated with these items. However, the singer ultimately decides that he doesn't need them, and that being with his loved one in the present is more important than dwelling on the past. The line "Ik ben bij jou, tab Parijs, Berlijn, Madrid" (I am with you, forget Paris, Berlin, Madrid) drives home this point.
Overall, the song speaks to the human tendency to hold onto physical objects as reminders of the past, even when they are no longer practical or useful. It also highlights the importance of living in the present and cherishing relationships over material possessions.
Line by Line Meaning
Ik heb nog twee paar schoenen in Madrid
I still have two pairs of shoes in Madrid that fit me well and I think about taking the train to go visit them again.
Waarvan een paar dat me prima zit.
One of those pairs fits me perfectly and I don't want to let them go.
En soms denk ik: ik neem de trein
Sometimes I think about taking the train to visit Madrid again and be reunited with my shoes.
Om weer eens in Madrid te zijn.
I miss being in Madrid and want to go back even if it is just to see my shoes again.
Er staat een zak met wasgoed in Parijs,
I left a bag of laundry in Paris with one shirt that I don't want to lose.
Waarin een hemd, dat mis ik voor geen prijs.
That laundry bag has a shirt that I cherish and don't want to lose at any cost.
En soms denk ik: ik stap eens op
I sometimes consider making the trip to Paris to retrieve my laundry bag and that beloved shirt.
En haal die zak met wasgoed op.
My goal is to retrieve the laundry bag and that one special shirt.
Ik heb ook nog een koffer in Berlijn,
I also have a suitcase in Berlin that I left behind.
Maar ik weet niet meer wat de inhoud wel kan zijn.
I can't remember what's in it after all these years.
En soms denk ik: weet je wat ik doe,
Sometimes I think about making the journey to Berlin and finding out what's inside the suitcase.
Ik ga eens naar die koffer toe.
My plan is to go see the suitcase and investigate the contents.
Maar ja, Madrid, Parijs, Berlijn,
But what's the point of visiting these cities where my shoes, shirt, and suitcase are?
Waar mijn schoenen en mijn hemd en mijn koffer zijn,
These items hold sentimental value, but they are just pieces of my past that I can't change.
Wat moet ik met die grote steden?
What purpose do I have for these big cities, other than retrieving old belongings?
Wat moet ik met die resten van een ver verleden.
Why hold onto these remnants of a distant past when I can't change what has already happened?
Die schoenen zijn beschimmeld en dat hemd is te klein,
My shoes are moldy and my shirt no longer fits me, showing the passage of time.
En die koffer zal wel niet te tillen zijn.
And that suitcase is probably too heavy for me to carry on my own now.
Ach ja, Parijs, Berlijn, Madrid,
Oh well, Paris, Berlin, Madrid,
Waar iemand anders met zijn voeten in mijn schoenen zit.
Where someone else is walking around in my shoes, perhaps finding joy in them where I no longer can.
Van dat hemd zullen ze wel een stofdoek maken
My shirt will probably become a dust cloth, no longer serving me as it once did.
En die koffer, die doet tenslotte niets ter zake.
And that suitcase doesn't really matter in the grand scheme of things.
Wat moet ik met die dingen?
What's the point of holding onto these items that serve no practical purpose now?
Ik blijf zitten waar ik zit.
I'm content where I am at the moment and don't need to retrieve these belongings.
Ik ben bij jou, tab Parijs, Berlijn, Madrid.
I'm with you now, and that's all that matters to me. I don't need to go back to these cities to retrieve my old possessions.
Contributed by Victoria B. Suggest a correction in the comments below.