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.
Nijmegen Bij Zonsondergang
Frank Boeijen Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Bij zonsondergang
De brug de kerktoren
Ik ga naar huis
Het is lang gelden
Zo lang geleden
Mijn oude witte huis
Ooit was daar
Een diner voor twee
Het is lang geleden
Zo lang geleden
Hier was ik de koning te rijk
En moederziel alleen
Als god in Frankrijk
Heb ik hier geleefd
Daar ligt Nijmegen
Bij zonsondergang
Verdwijnt Nijmegen
Silvia Silvia mijn eerste lief
In de sneeuw
Bij vader achterop
Dag schoonheid
Hoe staat het leven
Waar ben jij gebleven
En ik weet dat ik op een dag vertrokken ben
Niet bang voor de toekomst
Maar ik vrees voor het afscheid
Van zo lang geleden
Zo lang geleden
Als god in Frankrijk
Heb ik hier geleefd
Hier was ik de koning te rijk
En moederziel alleen
Graven in het moeras
Graven onder een steen
Graven in het geheugen
Graven naar wat eens is geweest
In de vader
In de zoon
In de Heilige Geest
In de moeder
In het kind
In wat is geweest
Daar ligt Nijmegen
Bij zonsondergang
The song Nijmegen Bij Zonsondergang by Frank Boeijen is a nostalgic ode to the city of Nijmegen, located in the east of the Netherlands. The song describes the city in the golden light of sunset: the bridge and the church tower stand out in the distance. The singer reminisces about his past, thinking about his old white house on the hill where he used to have dinner for two, and about Silvia, his first love, who he used to go with through the snow. He remembers feeling like a king in Nijmegen, but also feeling alone.
Towards the end of the song, the lyrics become more abstract and introspective. The singer starts to dig into his memory, searching for fragments of his past. He ends by mentioning the Holy Trinity and the idea of what has been can still be found in the present. The overall mood of the song is one of melancholy and nostalgia, but also hints at a sense of hope and endurance.
Line by Line Meaning
In de verte ligt Nijmegen
Nijmegen is far away in the distance.
Bij zonsondergang
It is sunset.
De brug de kerktoren
The bridge and the church tower are visible.
Ik ga naar huis
The artist is going home.
Het is lang gelden
It has been a long time.
Zo lang geleden
So very long ago.
Mijn oude witte huis
The singer's old white house.
Op de heuvel
It is located on a hill.
Ooit was daar
There was once.
Een diner voor twee
A dinner for two people.
Hier was ik de koning te rijk
The singer was once happy and content in this place.
En moederziel alleen
But also very alone.
Als god in Frankrijk
The singer felt like a king in a beautiful place.
Heb ik hier geleefd
They lived here once.
Verdwijnt Nijmegen
Nijmegen disappears.
Silvia Silvia mijn eerste lief
Silvia was the artist's first love.
In de sneeuw
They were together in the snow.
Bij vader achterop
Silvia was with their father.
Dag schoonheid
The singer is saying goodbye to Silvia.
Hoe staat het leven
The artist is asking how Silvia is doing.
Waar ben jij gebleven
The artist is wondering where Silvia is now.
En ik weet dat ik op een dag vertrokken ben
The artist left at some point.
Niet bang voor de toekomst
They were not afraid of the future.
Maar ik vrees voor het afscheid
The artist is afraid of saying goodbye.
Van zo lang geleden
To something from so long ago.
Als god in Frankrijk
They once felt like a king in a beautiful place.
Graven in het moeras
Digging in the swamp.
Graven onder een steen
Digging under a stone.
Graven in het geheugen
Digging in their memory.
Graven naar wat eens is geweest
Trying to remember what has been lost.
In de vader
In the father.
In de zoon
In the son.
In de Heilige Geest
In the Holy Spirit.
In de moeder
In the mother.
In het kind
In the child.
In wat is geweest
In what has been.
Daar ligt Nijmegen
Nijmegen is still there in the distance at sunset.
Contributed by Chloe Y. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
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