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.
Je hoort niet bij ons
Frank Boeijen Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
En iedereen kijkt jou aan
Je voelt geen angst maar
Iedereen kijkt jou aan
Ergens in Nederland
Dit dorp heeft geen naam
Je bent hier een vreemdeling
En de barkeeper kijkt jou aan
Je zegt ik had toch wat besteld
Maar de barkeeper blijft staan
Ergens in Nederland
Je komt hier niet vandaan
Niet bij ons
Je hoort niet bij ons
Je bent anders
Je hoort niet bij ons
Hoe ver denk je dat je komt
Zonde hulp zonder ons
Je hot niet bij ons
Aan de hoek van de bar
Zit een vreemdeling
Waar een fijn samenzijn had kunnen zijn
Vreemdelingen niet gewenst
Misschien kom ik hier wel aan mijn eind
Vreemdelingen niet gewenst
Ergens in Nederland
Je komt hier niet vandaan
Niet bij ons
Je hoort niet bij ons
Je bent anders
Je hoort niet bij ons
Je bent anders
Je hoort niet bij ons
Hoe ver denk je dat je komt
Zonder hulp zonder ons
Je hoort niet bij ons
Hoe kom ik hier veilig vandaan
Als een vreemdeling
The lyrics to Frank Boeijen's song Je Hoort Niet Bij Ons (You Don't Belong With Us) speak to the experience of being an outsider in a small community. The singer of the song is sitting at the corner of the bar, feeling the weight of the gaze of everyone around him. He is in a small town that doesn't even have a name and feels like a stranger here. He asks the bartender for some change, but the bartender just looks at him, implying that he doesn't belong here. The chorus repeats this sentiment, stating that the singer doesn't belong with the rest of the people in the bar.
The song is a commentary on how small communities can be closed-minded and unwelcoming to outsiders. The singer is isolated and alone, and the people around him make it clear that he is not welcome. The lyrics imply a sense of danger, as the singer wonders how he can leave safely as a foreigner in this space.
Line by Line Meaning
Je zit aan de hoek van de bar
You are sitting at the corner of the bar
En iedereen kijkt jou aan
And everyone is looking at you
Je voelt geen angst maar
You don't feel scared but
Iedereen kijkt jou aan
Everyone is looking at you
Ergens in Nederland
Somewhere in the Netherlands
Dit dorp heeft geen naam
This village has no name
Je bent hier een vreemdeling
You are a stranger here
Je vraagt om wat wisselgeld
You ask for some change
En de barkeeper kijkt jou aan
And the barkeeper looks at you
Je zegt ik had toch wat besteld
You say that you ordered something
Maar de barkeeper blijft staan
But the barkeeper stands still
Je komt hier niet vandaan
You are not from here
Niet bij ons
Not with us
Je hoort niet bij ons
You don't belong with us
Je bent anders
You are different
Hoe ver denk je dat je komt
How far do you think you'll go
Zonder hulp zonder ons
Without help, without us
Je hot niet bij ons
You don't belong with us
Aan de hoek van de bar
At the corner of the bar
Zit een vreemdeling
Sits a stranger
Waar een fijn samenzijn had kunnen zijn
Where a nice gathering could have been
Vreemdelingen niet gewenst
Strangers not welcomed
Misschien kom ik hier wel aan mijn eind
Maybe this is where I'll come to an end
Je bent anders
You are different
Hoe kom ik hier veilig vandaan
How do I get away safely from here
Contributed by Alex V. Suggest a correction in the comments below.