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.
Verboden Dichters
Frank Boeijen Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
In een chic hotel iets verderop
Prachtig gelegen
Hoog boven de horizon
Daarna veel werk verzet
Op de veranda
Bij de olielamp
Brieven geschreven
In D.H. Lawrence gelezen
Women in Love
Hoorde de wind
Hoorde de krekels
Dacht na over het leven van
Verboden dichters
Met verboden dromen
Vergeten schandalen
Onbegrepen in hun tijd
Hoeveel ik om jou geef
Hoeveel erkenning je mij geeft
En ondanks alles
Je bij me blijft
Onze onbekende liefde
Verbonden met elkaar
Door die engel
Die achter ons staat
Straks lig ik naast je
En vraag waarvan droom je
In het geheim
Van de nacht
Terwijl de vissers bidden
Voor een goede vangst
En ik droom verder van
Verboden dichters
Met verboden dromen
Vergeten schandalen
Onbegrepen in hun tijd
Veroordeeld door de goede smaak
Verzwegen monddood gemaakt
En uiteindelijk gestorven
In schoonheid
Terwijl thuis
De vrienden drinken
Op de overwinning
Van David op Goliath
En hier de revolutie uitbreekt
Ze zeggen hey man it's like '68
In Parijs of Amsterdam
Offer ik wat woorden
Offer ik een melodie
Aan de goden van
Verboden dichters
Met verboden dromen
Vergeten schandalen
Onbegrepen in hun tijd
The lyrics of Frank Boeijen's song, "Verboden Dichters", or forbidden poets in English, evoke a sense of contemplation and introspection. The singer describes a luxurious evening at a chic hotel and then devotes his time to writing letters, reading D.H. Lawrence's Women in Love, and pondering the life of the "forbidden poets". He hears the wind and crickets in the background and is transported to a world of poets who had forbidden dreams, forgotten scandals, and were misunderstood in their time. The singer then shifts his focus to his love and the recognition she gives him. He acknowledges their unknown love and how they are bonded together.
The singer feels the weight of these unnamed poets and their impact on him. They were "veroordeeld door de goede smaak", which translates to being condemned by good taste. They were silenced, forgotten, and their voices were suppressed in their time. However, the singer romanticizes their deaths, stating they died "In schoonheid," or in beauty. The final verse brings the listener back to the present, where the singer is dedicating his words and melody to the gods of the "forbidden poets".
Line by Line Meaning
Gisteravond gegeten
Last night, I dined
In een chic hotel iets verderop
At a fancy hotel nearby
Prachtig gelegen
Beautifully situated
Hoog boven de horizon
High above the skyline
Daarna veel werk verzet
Then got a lot of work done
Op de veranda
On the veranda
Bij de olielamp
By the oil lamp
Bij de ruisende zee
By the rustling sea
Brieven geschreven
Wrote letters
In D.H. Lawrence gelezen
Read D.H. Lawrence
Women in Love
Women in Love
Hoorde de wind
Heard the wind
Hoorde de krekels
Heard the crickets
Dacht na over het leven van
Reflected about the life of
Verboden dichters
Forbidden poets
Met verboden dromen
With forbidden dreams
Vergeten schandalen
Forgotten scandals
Onbegrepen in hun tijd
Misunderstood in their time
Hoeveel ik om jou geef
How much I care about you
Hoeveel erkenning je mij geeft
How much recognition you give me
En ondanks alles
And despite everything
Je bij me blijft
You stay with me
Onze onbekende liefde
Our unknown love
Verbonden met elkaar
Connected to each other
Door die engel
Through that angel
Die achter ons staat
That stands behind us
Straks lig ik naast je
Later I'll lie next to you
En vraag waarvan droom je
And ask what do you dream about
In het geheim
In secret
Van de nacht
Of the night
Terwijl de vissers bidden
While the fishermen pray
Voor een goede vangst
For a good catch
En ik droom verder van
And I further dream of
Veroordeeld door de goede smaak
Condemned by good taste
Verzwegen monddood gemaakt
Silenced and made voiceless
En uiteindelijk gestorven
And eventually died
In schoonheid
In beauty
Terwijl thuis
While at home
De vrienden drinken
Friends drink
Op de overwinning
On the victory
Van David op Goliath
Of David over Goliath
En hier de revolutie uitbreekt
And here the revolution breaks out
Ze zeggen hey man it's like '68
They say hey man it's like '68
In Parijs of Amsterdam
In Paris or Amsterdam
Offer ik wat woorden
I offer some words
Offer ik een melodie
I offer a melody
Aan de goden van
To the gods of
Verboden dichters
Forbidden poets
Met verboden dromen
With forbidden dreams
Vergeten schandalen
Forgotten scandals
Onbegrepen in hun tijd
Misunderstood in their time
Contributed by Lauren P. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Ina De Frankrijker
Wat een prachtige tekst en lied van Frank Boeijen.
Pascal Samsung
Gewoon zo mooi ..en bijzonder geschreven
Ina De Frankrijker
Wat een liefdes lied weer.
Eva Moorman
Jammer dat ik nummer pas nu ontdekt het is mooi gezongen