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.
Welkom In Utopia II
Frank Boeijen Lyrics
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De straten zijn leeg
Iedereen slaapt, iedereen leeft
Dar ga ik heen
Richting Amsterdam
Het regent op weg naar jou
Wat heb ik verloren
Zal ik ooit vrij zijn
Waar ik ook ga
Welkom in Utopia
Zong de zanger voordat ik ging
Welkom in Utopia
Het verleden blijft achter in de mist
Voor wie ik liefhad
Voor wie ik bedrogen heb
En nooit tijd had
Niemand is volmaakt
Maar dit hart klopt dertig jaar
Onafgebroken op zoek naar jou
Welkom in Utopia
Het antwoord waait in de wind
Welkom in Utopia
Alles blijft achter in de mist
De nachten alleen dacht ik aan jou
In die taal van jou
Die mijn lichaam spreekt
Voel wat ik voor je voel
Doe wat ik met jou doe
Welkom in Utopia
Waar dromen waarheid zijn
Welkom in Utopia
Zal het altijd,zal het altijd zo zijn
The song "Welkom in Utopia II" by Frank Boeijen is a melancholic love song that speaks about a person who is on their way to Amsterdam to be with their loved one. The lyrics are introspective and evoke feelings of longing and uncertainty about the future. The song opens with the singer describing the stillness of the streets and the fact that everyone is asleep or alive. The singer then declares that they are on their way to Amsterdam, but it is raining on the way there.
As the song progresses, the singer asks themselves what they have lost and what they will take with them on their journey. They question whether they will ever truly be free and be able to find happiness no matter where they go. The chorus is a welcoming phrase repeated twice which is the title of the song, "Welcome to Utopia." It can be interpreted as a kind of ironic statement because Utopia is a place that doesn't exist, it's an impossible perfect world. The singer then talks about their past, their faults, and the fact that they have been searching for their loved one for thirty years.
The song expresses the hope that they will create a perfect world with their loved one, a place where dreams become a reality. It is a poignant and emotional song that is evocative of the ups and downs of relationships.
Line by Line Meaning
En toen was het stil
After all the chaos and noise, everything became silent
De straten zijn leeg
The streets are empty and abandoned
Iedereen slaapt, iedereen leeft
Everyone is asleep, living in their own world
Dar ga ik heen
That's where I'm headed
Richting Amsterdam
Towards Amsterdam
Het regent op weg naar jou
It's raining as I make my way towards you
Wat heb ik verloren
What have I lost
Wat neem ik mee
What do I take with me
Zal ik ooit vrij zijn
Will I ever be free
Waar ik ook ga
No matter where I go
Welkom in Utopia
Welcome to Utopia
Zong de zanger voordat ik ging
Sang the singer before I left
Het verleden blijft achter in de mist
The past remains hidden in the mist
Voor wie ik liefhad
For those I love
Voor wie ik bedrogen heb
For those I've betrayed
En nooit tijd had
And never had the time
Niemand is volmaakt
No one is perfect
Maar dit hart klopt dertig jaar
But this heart has been beating for thirty years
Onafgebroken op zoek naar jou
Continuously searching for you
Het antwoord waait in de wind
The answer blows in the wind
Alles blijft achter in de mist
Everything remains hidden in the mist
De nachten alleen dacht ik aan jou
Alone in the nights, I thought of you
In die taal van jou
In that language of yours
Die mijn lichaam spreekt
That my body speaks
Voel wat ik voor je voel
Feel what I feel for you
Doe wat ik met jou doe
Do what I do with you
Waar dromen waarheid zijn
Where dreams become reality
Zal het altijd,zal het altijd zo zijn
Will it always, always be this way
Contributed by Hudson K. Suggest a correction in the comments below.