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.
twee mannen zo stil
Frank Boeijen Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
FB = Frank Boeijen SB = Stef Bos SF = Both
SB Twee mannen zo stil
SB Hand in hand
SB Op een begrafenis
SB Van een vriend
FB Geef een zakdoek
FB Vertel het niemand
FB Een stuwmeer van tranen
FB Verdringt de tijd
SB Wat is verdriet
FB Is het een vijand of een vriend
SF Kom laten we gaan dansen
SB Tot het niet meer gaat
SF Tot de dageraad
FB Twee mannen zo stil
FB Hand in hand
FB Nemen afscheid
FB Van een vriend
SB Ze bestormen de hemel
SB Ze verdwijnen in de nacht
SB Ze vluchten en ze drinken
SB Ze lachen om de onmacht
FB Wat is verdriet
SB Is het een vijand of een vriend
SF Kom laten we gaan dansen
FB Tot het niet meer gaat
SF Tot de dageraad
SF Wat is verdriet
SF Is het een vijand of een vriend
SF Kom laten we gaan dansen
FB Tot het niet meer gaat
SF Wat is verdriet
SF Is het een vijand of een vriend
SF Kom laten we gaan dansen
SF Kom laten we gaan dansen
SF Kom laten we gaan dansen
FB Tot het niet meer gaat
SB Tot de dageraad
SF Twee mannen zo stil
SB Twee mannen zo stil
FB Twee mannen zo stil
"Twee Mannen Zo Stil" is a powerful and emotional song by Frank Boeijen and Stef Bos that deals with the topic of grief and the different ways people cope with it. The song opens with two men standing hand in hand at a funeral of a friend. The use of the word "stil" (meaning silent in Dutch) reinforces the gravity of the situation, as if the emotional weight they are carrying is too much to express. The men are overwhelmed by sadness and tears, and the lyrics suggest that giving each other a handkerchief and keeping their grief to themselves is the only way to deal with their pain.
The question "Wat is verdriet?" (What is grief?) is repeated throughout the song, emphasizing the complexity of the emotion and the different ways individuals process it. The lyrics then shift, suggesting that the men are taking a different approach to handling their grief by dancing until they can't anymore, until the break of dawn. Dancing can be interpreted as a way to release and cope with emotions, a way to celebrate the life of their friend, or a way to escape the pain of their loss. The song ends with the same line "Twee Mannen Zo Stil," repeating the opening image and creating a sense of circularity and finality.
Line by Line Meaning
Twee mannen zo stil
Two men so silent
Hand in hand
Holding hands
Op een begrafenis
At a funeral
Van een vriend
Of a friend
Geef een zakdoek
Give a handkerchief
Vertel het niemand
Don't tell anyone
Een stuwmeer van tranen
A reservoir of tears
Verdringt de tijd
Pushes away time
Wat is verdriet
What is sorrow
Is het een vijand of een vriend
Is it an enemy or friend
Kom laten we gaan dansen
Come let's go dancing
Tot het niet meer gaat
Until we can't anymore
Tot de dageraad
Until dawn
Nemen afscheid
Bid farewell
Ze bestormen de hemel
They storm the sky
Ze verdwijnen in de nacht
They disappear in the night
Ze vluchten en ze drinken
They flee and they drink
Ze lachen om de onmacht
They laugh at the helplessness
Kom laten we gaan dansen
Come let's go dancing
Twee mannen zo stil
Two men so silent
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA/AMCOS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Nomad Teacher
Stef Bos en Frank Boeijen. Beste zangers van Nederland. Period.
Tijn
Gouden duo! 🙏👍
Ina De Frankrijker
In een woord prachtig.
Nils Helderop
prachtig, je kan zien dat het echte vrienden zijn
Mariska Klaver
Goud! Mocht ik ooit gaan...wordt dit zeker mijn nummer!😭🙏🏾
Ina De Frankrijker
Blijft geweldig zo samen.
Ina De Frankrijker
Het blijft een top zo samen zingen.
Herman6507
Gewoon een heel mooi Nederlandstalig nummer.
Ina De Frankrijker
Wat blijft dit toch mooi.
Ruud ter Braake
Ontroerend mooi. Sprakeloos.