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 Thuis
Frank Boeijen Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
De nachten waren koud
Alleen en kil
Eenzaam en stil
Hier in dit laagland
Nu neem ik afscheid
Van het alleen zijn
En ik begroet jou
Verwelkom jou
Waar was jij
Ik ga voor jou
Door weer en wind
Ik ga voor jou
Naar god weet waar
Je ging naar India
En naar Pakistan
Naar China
Hongkong
Terug naar Delhi
Je bent zo dichtbij
Hier in mijn oor
Pijnlijk dichtbij
Door de telefoon
Maar zo ver weg
Ik ga voor jou
Door weer en wind
Ik ga voor jou
Naar god weet waar
Ik kus je foto
Voor het slapen gaan
En word een idioot
Dan zie ik jou weer staan
Als in een droom
De nachten waren lang
De nachten waren koud
Alleen en kil
Eenzaam en stil
Nu neem ik afscheid
Van het alleen zijn
En ik begroet jou
Verwelkom jou
Ik ga voor jou
The lyrics to Frank Boeijen's song "Welkom Thuis" speak to the theme of longing for someone who has been away for a long time, and the desire to be reunited with them. The first stanza sets the scene of the singer's loneliness and isolation, contrasting the bleak nights in the "lowlands" with the hope of welcoming someone home. The second stanza introduces the idea that the person being welcomed has been traveling through exotic places like India and China, further emphasizing the distance and separation between them.
The chorus of the song is a declaration of the singer's commitment to the person they're welcoming home, promising to go through "wind and weather" to be by their side. The third stanza adds a layer of complexity to the relationship by showing that, although the person being welcomed is physically far away, they are still spiritually close. The singer kisses their photo and experiences a dreamlike feeling of being reunited with them.
Overall, the lyrics of "Welkom Thuis" are about the human need for connection and belonging, and the joy that comes from being reunited with someone after a long absence. The song communicates the universal experience of longing and desire, while also capturing the specific emotions of the singer's situation.
Line by Line Meaning
De nachten waren lang
The nights were long and seemingly endless
De nachten waren koud
The cold nights provided no comfort or warmth
Alleen en kil
Being alone provided no solace or comfort, making it a cold feeling
Eenzaam en stil
Loneliness prevailed and created an eerie silence
Hier in dit laagland
In this flat and empty landscape
Nu neem ik afscheid
Saying goodbye
Van het alleen zijn
Leaving behind the feeling of being alone
En ik begroet jou
To greet you warmly
Verwelkom jou
Welcome you back home
Waar was jij
Where have you been?
Ik ga voor jou
I will be there for you
Door weer en wind
Through any and all obstacles
Naar god weet waar
Going wherever is necessary to support you
Je ging naar India
You went to India
En naar Pakistan
And to Pakistan
Naar China
And China
Hongkong
And Hong Kong
Terug naar Delhi
Then back to Delhi
Je bent zo dichtbij
You feel so close to me
Hier in mijn oor
Whispering in my ear
Pijnlijk dichtbij
The closeness causes pain because it can't be fully realized
Door de telefoon
Communicating through the phone
Maar zo ver weg
Yet still physically far away
Ik kus je foto
I kiss your photo
Voor het slapen gaan
Before going to bed
En word een idioot
I become foolish in love
Dan zie ik jou weer staan
As if I see you standing in front of me in a dream
Als in een droom
As if it were a dream
Nu neem ik afscheid
Saying goodbye
Van het alleen zijn
Leaving behind the feeling of being alone
En ik begroet jou
To greet you warmly
Verwelkom jou
Welcome you back home
Ik ga voor jou
I will be there for you
Contributed by Riley T. Suggest a correction in the comments below.