1. Fr… Read Full Bio ↴Two musicians from The Netherlands are known as Frank Boeijen:
1. Frank Boeijen is a Dutch singer/songwriter, who was the front man of popular (and eponymous) pop group De Frank Boeijen Groep from 1980 until 1991, the year he went solo. As leader of De Frank Boeijen Groep, Boeijen was one of the pioneers of Nederpop; along with the likes of Doe Maar en Het Goede Doel. After the peak of Nederpop passed, Boeijen broke new ground by touring theatres with his band and bringing pop music to new auditoriums and audiences. As a solo artist, he has kept to this theatre based approach of his music and maintained a productive pace.
Frank Boeijen was born in Nijmegen, The Netherlands on November 27, 1957, as the last in a family of ten children. His father was a typesetter in a factory. His older brothers were into American pop music; in the Boeijen household, Bob Dylan and Neil Young were often to be found on the record player (years later, Boeijen would write a song about this, appropriately titled Robbert Zimmerman). Young Frank learned to play the guitar. After finishing high school, Boeijen started a musical collaboration with guitarist Wout Pennings. Boeijen en Pennings released an album together in 1977. The songs of the album were re-recorded and the album was re-released a year later, with Rob de Nijs acting as producer. It was appropriately titled Boeijen en Pennings. To fulfil live engagements, drummer Henk Wanders en bass player Nels Busch joined the duo.
Pennings left the band in 1979 and was replaced with guitar player Wil Theunissen. The name was changed into the Frank Boeijen Groep. The b-side of their fist single, a song entitled Verjaardagsfeest was picked on up by radio disc jockey Frits Spits, who played the record a lot during his evening show. The group released their debut album, simply entitled Frank Boeijen Groep, album later that year. On the base of the airplay of Verjaardagsfeest, the album reached the Tipparade.
Nederpop, pop music with Dutch vocals, was becoming a mainstream success in the early eighties, and the Frank Boeijen Groep hitched a wagon to that train, when their single Linda, reached the Top Forty. Zwart Wit, another single, written after a racial murder had taken place in Amsterdam, became a number one hit. 1982's Twee and 1983's 1001 Hotel became big sellers.
In 1984, the Frank Boeijen Groep was awarded the Zilveren Harp by Conamus. In that same year, album Kontakt was released. Lead guitarist Wil Theunissen quit the group later that year and replaced with Maarten Peters, who himself was replaced two years later by Ger Hoeijmakers. In 1985, the group released Foto Van Een Mooie Dag. Single Kronenburg Park -- named after Kronenburger Park a park in Nijmegen, Boeijen's place of birth and residence -- became a huge success. Follow up, In Nature, released in 1986, didn't do as well, but still sold respectively.
Towards the end of the eighties, Boeijen's music fell somewhere in between het levenslied of André Hazes, the chansons of Ramses Shaffy and the pop of Doe Maar. According to Frank Boeijen and his manager Paul Schouwenaars the group had outgrown clubs and tents. With the release of album Welkom In Utopia in 1987, the group decided to tour Dutch theatres. The Welkom In Utopia tour started in the Stadsschouwburg in Amsterdam in September of the same year. Two more albums were released: studio album Een Zomer Aan Het Eind Van De Twintigste Eeuw (1989) and live album Hier Komt De Storm. During these years, Frank Boeijen dated Sky Channel presenter Amanda Redington. The two would marry in 1990. The album Dans In Slow Motion, released in 1988, was written for her. In juni 1994 scheidden ze weer van elkaar.
In the spring of 1991, Boeijen announced the ending of his group. In November of that year, he released his first solo album Wilde Bloemen. The musicians on the album were drummer Norman Bonink, guitar player Peter van Benthem and bass player Michel van Schie. Van Schie was replaced by touring bass player René te Voortwis, and pianist Ton Snijders was also recorded. Wilde Bloemen featured several duets with other well known Dutch musicians, among them were: Twee Gezichten, a song written and recorded with Henk Hofstede of The Nits); and Het IJs, written and recorded with Henny Vrienten of Doe Maar).
In the summer of 1993, Boeijen recorded Jazz in Barcelona; an album concerned with the break up between him and Amanda Redington. The subsequent theatre tour was a big success, with sold out shows every evening. Traces of Boeijen's break up were also to be found on next album De Ontmoeting (1994 - an even more spare and intimate affair than Jazz In Barcelona. De Ontmoeting also featured a single, Twee Mannen Zo Stil, with music and lyrics by Boeijen and Stef Bos. Although the single failed to mount the charts, over the years it became a Nederpop classic, often played at funerals. In the same year, Boeijen produced an album for Liesbeth List, the female voice of Ramses Shaffy's recordings. In 1995, another live album, Stormvogels, hit the shelves.
Boeijen returned with two new albums in 1997: a greatest hits compilation, Het Beste En Het Mooiste and an album of new material, Vaderland. The year before, Boeijen had travelled extensively through Asia, and a lot of the songs, although concerning Boeijen and The Netherlands, were written from a distant perspective. In 1999, De Ballade van de Dromedaris, recorded in Peter Gabriel's Real World Studio's appeared, followed by live album Door De Jaren Heen, containing several duets with Ramses Shaffy, Liesbeth List and Stef Bos. Both albums were big sellers. In 2001, Heden, was released. Drummer Norman Bonink left the group to join BLØF. He seat was filled by Oscar Kraal. Helder contained a collaboration between Boeijen and BLØF front man Paskal Jakobsen, single Geen Gevaar. The song was released in the summer of 2002. In the same year, Boeijen won an Edison award as best singer.
2. Frank Boeijen is also the name of the keyboardist for the Dutch group The Gathering.
Cowboys Van Bali
Frank Boeijen Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Maar ik heb een jeep
Ik rook geen marlboro
Maar ik rook wel wiet
Een desperado
In een eldorado
In het wilde westen
Van het verre oosten
Wij zijn de cowboys van Bali
Cowboys van Bali
Staren naar de ondergaande zon
Kijk naar mijn laarzen
Kijk naar mijn hoed
Kijk naar mijn vrouwen
Dat zit wel goed
Ik hou niet van country
Maar van techno
Ik draag een sarong
En geen poncho
Wij zijn de cowboys van Bali
Cowboys van Bali
Staren naar de ondergaande zon
De concentratie
Het kosmisch bewustzijn
De confrontatie
Met het superbrein
Ik ben geen outlaw
Maar gewoon een drop-out
Ik ben niet jong
Maar word nooit oud
Kijk naar de sterren
Kijk naar de lucht
En naar mijn vaderland
Keer ik nooit meer terug
Wij zijn de cowboys van Bali
Cowboys van Bali
Staren naar de ondergaande zon
The song "Cowboys Van Bali" by Frank Boeijen is about a group of individuals who see themselves as the cowboys of Bali. They don't fit into the traditional cowboy mold with horses and Marlboro cigarettes, but instead, they have a Jeep and smoke weed. They are described as desperados in an eldorado in the wild west of the Far East. They stare at the setting sun and wear Western-style clothing such as boots and hats, but they also wear traditional Balinese sarongs. This juxtaposition of Western and Eastern cultures is highlighted throughout the song.
The lyrics go on to describe the cowboys' love of technology, specifically techno music, and their rejection of traditional country music. They are drop-outs who seek a higher level of consciousness and have a deep connection to the natural world, as indicated by their admiration of the stars and the sky. The song ends with the cowboys declaring that they will never return to their homeland, emphasizing their desire for a life of freedom and adventure in Bali.
Line by Line Meaning
Ik heb geen paard
I may not have a horse to ride, but I have a jeep as a substitute
Maar ik heb een jeep
I possess a jeep instead of a horse
Ik rook geen marlboro
I do not smoke cigarettes like marlboro
Maar ik rook wel wiet
However, I smoke marijuana
Een desperado
A daring and rebellious outlaw
In een eldorado
In a place of wealth and opportunities
In het wilde westen
In the untamed west
Van het verre oosten
Of the distant east
Wij zijn de cowboys van Bali
We are the cowboys of Bali
Cowboys van Bali
The cowboys who belong to Bali
Staren naar de ondergaande zon
Gazing at the setting sun
Kijk naar mijn laarzen
Observe my boots
Kijk naar mijn hoed
Pay attention to my hat
Kijk naar mijn vrouwen
Take a look at the women in my company
Dat zit wel goed
They are all in good form
Ik hou niet van country
I do not appreciate country music
Maar van techno
Instead, I like techno music
Ik draag een sarong
I choose to wear a sarong
En geen poncho
Rather than a poncho
De concentratie
The intense focus
Het kosmisch bewustzijn
The cosmic awareness
De confrontatie
The face-off
Met het superbrein
Against the superintelligence
Ik ben geen outlaw
I am not an outlaw
Maar gewoon een drop-out
But simply a drop-out
Ik ben niet jong
I am not young
Maar word nooit oud
Yet, I will never age
Kijk naar de sterren
Watch the stars
Kijk naar de lucht
Look up to the sky
En naar mijn vaderland
And towards my homeland
Keer ik nooit meer terug
I shall never return
Contributed by Avery H. Suggest a correction in the comments below.