His first Swedish album, Ballader och oförskämdheter (Ballads and rudenesses), was released in 1964. His first Dutch album was released in 1972, after ten successful Swedish albums.
He emigrated to Sweden with his parents in 1949 at the age of twelve. He was educated as a social worker and hoped to become a journalist, but became increasingly involved in music, performing at events for students. His idiosyncratic humor and social engagement is still gaining him new fans. Cornelis Vreeswijk is often considered as one of the most influential and successful troubadours in Sweden. In 2010 a Swedish drama film, called Cornelis, was made about his life. It was directed by Amir Chamdin.
Cornelis Vreeswijk explained in one of his few interviews that he had taught himself to sing and play in the fifties by imitating his first idols Josh White and Lead Belly. His first album, Ballader och oförskämdheter (Ballads and rudenesses, 1964), was a hit which immediately gained him a large following among the emerging radical student generation. In this period he also played with Swedish jazz pianist Jan Johansson and his trio. His songs "Ångbåtsblues" ("Steam Boat Blues") and "Jubelvisa för Fiffiga Nanette" ("Joyful song for Clever Nanette") are classics from these recordings. His abrasive, frequently political lyrics and unconventional delivery were a deliberate break with what he was later to describe as a Swedish song tradition of pretty singing and harmless lyrics, "a hobby for the upper classes". Influenced by jazz and blues and especially by the singing style and social criticism of Georges Brassens, Vreeswijk "speak-sings" his "insults", and compels his listeners to pay close attention to the words.
His 1965 loose translation of Allan Sherman's masterpiece "Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh" remains beloved to Swedes as "Brev från kolonien" (Letter from the summer camp) decades later, and could be said to have passed into folklore.
A political singer with a bohemian lifestyle, Vreeswijk remained controversial in the sixties and early seventies, idolized by his fans but disapproved of by many others for his "rude" language and persistent interest in "unsuitable" people like prostitutes and criminals. Some of his records were blacklisted by the public broadcasting company Sveriges Radio. During this period, he not only wrote and recorded songs now considered classics, such as "Sportiga Marie" ("Athletic Marie") and several affectionate salutes to the ever less employable "Polaren Pär" ("My Buddy Pär"), but he was an actor on the stage, receiving considerable critical acclaim, most notably as Pilate in the Swedish version of Jesus Christ Superstar, and as Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof. He participated in Melodifestivalen (the Swedish preselection for the Eurovision Song Contest) in 1972 with "Önskar du mej, så önskar jag dej", which finished sixth. He also appeared in movies, including Svarta Palmkronor (Black Palm Trees, 1968), which was filmed on location in Brazil. Spending four months in Brazil began Vreeswijk's lifelong interest in Latin American music and social and political conditions, later seen for example in his Victor Jara album of 1978.
Later in his career, Vreeswijk was to gain increasing fame and a wider audience both for his songs and his other work. He published several volumes of poetry in his lifetime and left a considerable manuscript legacy of poems which have been published since. He also became an important musical interpreter of the works of other people, recording the songs of Carl Michael Bellman, Evert Taube, and Lars Forssell. His fresh, bluesy renderings of Bellman and Taube, who had up to then been classics belonging to the "harmless" tradition that Vreeswijk despised, were artistic and commercial successes which extended his fanbase. The choice of Bellman was significant: Bellman's lively, romantic, pastoral, drinking and sometimes bawdy songs have gained him the somewhat undeserved reputation of being a drunken womaniser. Vreeswijk may have enjoyed the association of being "something of a Bellman himself".
Vreeswijk's own best-known songs of the later seventies and early eighties tend to be dark in tone, like "Sist jag åkte jumbojet blues" ("Last time I Went by Jumbojet Blues", a metaphorical bad trip) and "Blues för Fatumeh", both addressing heavy drug addiction. Even though in this period Vreeswijk was a prey of tabloid scandal and was in the news for his drinking problem and his debts (about both of which he spoke with frankness) rather than for his achievements, he remained highly creative and productive and he is also known as the co-writer of the Hep Stars song "Speleman" which was released for their album Songs We Sang 68'
Towards the end of Vreeswijk's life his reputation soared again, aided by the televising of some highly regarded nightclub shows, and by Agneta Brunius' TV documentary Balladen om den flygande holländaren (The Ballad of the Flying Dutchman) in 1986. By the time of his death from liver cancer at the age of fifty, Cornelis Vreeswijk had become an icon of the Swedish music scene, and he was honored with burial at the cemetery of Katarina kyrka, a national cemetery in Stockholm. In 2010, Cornelis, a movie about his life, premiered in Swedish cinemas. Norwegian singer Hans Erik Dyvik Husby (previously in Turbonegro) played the role of Vreeswijk.
In 1966, the Dutch broadcasting organisation VARA invited Vreeswijk to the Netherlands. He translated several of his songs into Dutch, and wrote a couple of new ones. One of his songs, "De nozem en de non" ("The Greaser and the Nun"), was released as a single, without much popular success. His first Dutch album was only released in 1972, after ten successful Swedish albums. 100,000 copies of Cornelis Vreeswijk were sold, and the single "Veronica" became a big hit after it was picked up by the pirate radio station Veronica. His old song "De nozem en de non" was then re-released with much success. His later albums could not match the success of the first one, and Vreeswijk never achieved the fame in the Netherlands that he did in Sweden.
Nowadays, only "De nozem en de non" is still known by the general Dutch public. Vreeswijk still has some fans in the Netherlands, however, and in 2000 the Cornelis Vreeswijk society was founded.
One reason for his lack of popularity in the Netherlands was the impression that Cornelis Vreeswijk was a bit old-fashioned. Because of his long stay in Sweden, the Dutch pronunciation and idiom that he had learned to speak in his youth were out-of-date in the seventies and eighties.
Although he was fluent in both Dutch and Swedish, the latter became his primary language. His Stockholm-accented Swedish was famously witty and expressive, and in an interview he once suggested that the process of learning the language in his teens might have energized his use of it: "It doesn't just fall over you like when you're a baby and fed daily with words and food. You become freer, less respectful. ... Swedish is such a different language. Pure, distinct, beautiful. It has few synonyms. But they're many enough for me".
Bakker De Baksteen
Cornelis Vreeswijk Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Veertig ton er achteraan
En m'n maat zegt dat ik gek ben
Maar ik zeg: alles kan
Ik leg een baksteen op de gasplank
En daar gaan we dan met volle kracht
E4 naar Dover en terug in Rotterdam vannacht
De schrik van de snelweg, ze zeggen dat ik gek ben
Dat wordt een ongeluk met die ouwe rotte kleretruck, yeah
De ijzel valt, de mist die mist
En mijn banden zijn glad als spek
Maar dat is voor de bakker
Want die bakker is toch al gek
Ik leg een baksteen op de gasplank
En daar gaan we dan met volle kracht
E4 naar Dover en terug in Rotterdam vannacht
Mijn naam is Baksteen, Bakker de Baksteen
De schrik van de snelweg, ze zeggen dat ik gek ben
Dat wordt een ongeluk met die ouwe rotte kleretruck
En dan kijk ik in mijn achterspiegel
En raadt u eens wat ik zag
De tuut in een superPorsche
Met een boete van een fiks bedrag
En de tuut zei: Mijnheer
Kijk dat bord dat daar staat
En luister nu wat ik zeg
Dat is niet de maximumsnelheid
Dat is het nummer van de weg
Mijn naam is Baksteen, Bakker de Baksteen
De schrik van de snelweg, ze zeggen dat ik gek ben
Dat wordt een ongeluk met die ouwe rotte kleretruck
Yeeeah, mijn naam is Baksteen, Bakker de Baksteen
De schrik van de snelweg, ze zeggen dat ik gek ben
Dat wordt een ongeluk met die ouwe rotte kleretruck
The lyrics of the song "Bakker De Baksteen" by Cornelis Vreeswijk describe the reckless driving of the singer, Baksteen, who is a truck driver. The song starts with Baksteen driving an overloaded truck full of bricks, with his friend warning him that he is crazy. However, Baksteen insists that anything can be done. He then places a brick on the gas pedal and drives with full force, reaching Dover and back to Rotterdam the same night. Baksteen describes himself as the "fright of the highway," and people call him crazy. He mentions the danger of driving an old, worn-out truck but seems not to care. In the second verse, he drives in icy and foggy conditions, with slippery tires, stating that it's all in a day's work for him.
As the song continues, Baksteen looks in his rearview mirror and spots a super Porsche honking at him, with the driver pointing at a road sign. Baksteen is unaware that the sign isn't indicating the speed limit but is the number of the road. He concludes that he is the real king of the road, regardless of the deterring signs or warnings. The song's lyrics portray Baksteen as a man who is not afraid of taking risks and is willing to push his driving limits despite the consequences.
Line by Line Meaning
Ik rij een overgeladen ouwe truck vol met baksteen
I am driving an old truck filled with a load of bricks
Veertig ton er achteraan
Forty tons trailing behind
En m'n maat zegt dat ik gek ben
My friend thinks I am insane
Maar ik zeg: alles kan
But I say: anything is possible
Ik leg een baksteen op de gasplank
I place a brick on the accelerator
En daar gaan we dan met volle kracht
And off we go with full speed
E4 naar Dover en terug in Rotterdam vannacht
Driving on the E4 to Dover and back to Rotterdam tonight
De ijzel valt, de mist die mist
The sleet falls, the fog thickens
En mijn banden zijn glad als spek
And my tires are as slippery as bacon
Maar dat is voor de bakker
But that's no problem for the baker
Want die bakker is toch al gek
Because that baker is already crazy
En dan kijk ik in mijn achterspiegel
And then I look in my rearview mirror
En raadt u eens wat ik zag
And guess what I saw
De tuut in een superPorsche
The horn in a super Porsche
Met een boete van een fiks bedrag
With a hefty fine to pay
En de tuut zei: Mijnheer
And the horn said: Sir
Kijk dat bord dat daar staat
Look at the sign over there
En luister nu wat ik zeg
And listen to what I say now
Dat is niet de maximumsnelheid
That's not the maximum speed limit
Dat is het nummer van de weg
That's the number of the road
Yeeeah, mijn naam is Baksteen, Bakker de Baksteen
Yeah, my name is Baksteen, Baker the Brick
De schrik van de snelweg, ze zeggen dat ik gek ben
The terror of the highway, they say I am crazy
Dat wordt een ongeluk met die ouwe rotte kleretruck
That will be an accident with that old rotten damn truck
Contributed by Colton O. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@mvorselen
I drive a truck full of transhipped OLE brick
Forty tons there at the back
And my size says I'm crazy
But I say: everything is possible
I put a brick on the gasplank
And there we go with full force
E4 to Dover and back in Rotterdam last night
My name is brick, B the brick
The terror of the highway, they say I'm crazy
That is an accident with that old rotten monsters truck, yeah
The freezing rain, the fog that fog
And my tires are smooth as Bacon
But that is for the b
Because bakker is already crazy
I put a brick on the gasplank
And there we go with full force
E4 to Dover and back in Rotterdam last night
My name is brick, B the brick
The terror of the highway, they say I'm crazy
That is an accident with that old rotten monsters truck
And then I look in my achterspiegel
And recommends that you even know what I saw
The tute in a superPorsche
With a fine of a fair amount
And the tute said: Mr
Look at that Board that there is
And now listen what I say
That is not the maximum speed
That is the number of the road
My name is brick, B the brick
The terror of the highway, they say I'm crazy
That is an accident with that old rotten monsters truck
Yeeeah, my name is brick, B the brick
The terror of the highway, they say I'm crazy
That is an accident with that old rotten monsters truck
@HenkJanBakker
Kom elke keer terug om te luisteren. PRACHTIG nummer.
@ItsJustGilly
"En luister nu wat ik zeg..
dat is niet de maximum snelheid...
dat is het nummer van de weg"
Ahahaha ik zit altijd weer te wachten op die paar zinnen 😂😂😂
@ericjan1536
precies dat
@TheAcidEiffel
Cultheld! mijn vader draaide deze muziek altijd en vooral dit liedje is altijd blijven hangen :D
@Nielz073
Dit is echt geweldig!!
@Gunbeyondthegrave
dit lied juicht omhoog me toe altijd! wanneer ik een slechte dag heb is dit de beste behandeling
@oranjedraak
Dat is niet de maximunsnelheid.. dat is het nummer van de weg. geweldig echt die man!
@RustOnWheels
Prachtig, geweldige stem had Cornelis ook, zijn Svenska låtar en de Nederlandse met prachtig Zweeds accent (luister maar naar de 'k'-klanken in dit lied, of 'superporsche' :D ).
@anetayea
Bra låt av Cornelis, aldrig hört förr!
@cquilty
Het origineel is ook op YouTube te vinden: "Speedball Tucker" van Jim Croce.