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.
Bernadette
Frank boeijen Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
De weg loopt omhoog
De hemel is ver
Zo ver als een droom
En ik hoor haar naam
In de stille gebeden
Zie ze komen zie ze gaan
En ze vragen haar zegen
En Bernadette
Bernadette slaapt
En de gelovigen
Wachten op een wonder
Met tranen in de ogen
Kaarsen aan
Het licht in het duister
Luister
Bernadette fluistert
En ik sta hier als verweesd
Als een zoon zonder vader
De grond is gewijd
En gezegend het water
En ik denk aan het beeld
Van een kind dat ik zag
Voor een stukgeschoten huis
In een godverlaten stad
En Bernadette
Bernadette slaapt
De gelovigen
Wachten op een wonder
Met tranen in de ogen
Kaarsen aan
Licht in het duister
Luister
Bernadette fluistert
Zie het als een verhaal
Laat het een verhaal zijn
Zonder begin
Zonder einde
Met een rotsvast vertrouwen
In de goede afloop
Zonder vertrouwen geen hoop
Even rust de liefde
Ik heb haar gezien
In het zonlicht door de ramen
Wat in duizend kleuren uiteenvalt
Op de stenen van de kathedraal
En zij slaapt al meer dan honderd jaar
Haar handen van marmer
In een kamer van glas
Haar ogen gesloten
En Bernadette
Bernadette slaapt
The song "Bernadette" by Frank Boeijen is about a devout Catholic woman named Bernadette who is revered by believers for her perceived ability to perform miracles. The song describes a pilgrimage to her tomb, where people congregate and pray for her to intercede on their behalf with God. The singer notes that the sky is far away, as remote as a dream; the journey to Bernadette's resting place is long and difficult, but the pilgrims make it with hope and faith in their hearts. The song delves into themes of love, hope, and the power of faith in times of hardship and loss. The singer sees himself as a son without a father, a lost soul seeking solace and guidance from the saintly Bernadette. The refrain "Bernadette sleeps" echoes throughout the song, emphasizing her peaceful, eternal repose and the devotion that her followers feel towards her.
Line by Line Meaning
De poort van de stad
The entrance to the city
De weg loopt omhoog
The road is ascending
De hemel is ver
The sky is distant
Zo ver als een droom
As far as a dream
En ik hoor haar naam
And I hear her name
In de stille gebeden
In silent prayers
Zie ze komen zie ze gaan
See them come, see them go
En ze vragen haar zegen
And they ask for her blessing
En Bernadette
And Bernadette
Bernadette slaapt
Bernadette is sleeping
En de gelovigen
And the faithful
Wachten op een wonder
Are waiting for a miracle
Met tranen in de ogen
With tears in their eyes
Kaarsen aan
Candles lit
Het licht in het duister
The light in the darkness
Luister
Listen
Bernadette fluistert
Bernadette whispers
En ik sta hier als verweesd
And I stand here orphaned
Als een zoon zonder vader
Like a son without a father
De grond is gewijd
The ground is sacred
En gezegend het water
And the water blessed
En ik denk aan het beeld
And I think of the image
Van een kind dat ik zag
Of a child I saw
Voor een stukgeschoten huis
In front of a bullet-ridden house
In een godverlaten stad
In a godforsaken city
En Bernadette
And Bernadette
Bernadette slaapt
Bernadette is sleeping
De gelovigen
The faithful
Wachten op een wonder
Are waiting for a miracle
Met tranen in de ogen
With tears in their eyes
Kaarsen aan
Candles lit
Licht in het duister
Light in the darkness
Luister
Listen
Bernadette fluistert
Bernadette whispers
Zie het als een verhaal
See it as a story
Laat het een verhaal zijn
Let it be a story
Zonder begin
Without a beginning
Zonder einde
Without an end
Met een rotsvast vertrouwen
With an unshakable faith
In de goede afloop
In the good outcome
Zonder vertrouwen geen hoop
Without faith, no hope
Even rust de liefde
Even love rests
Ik heb haar gezien
I have seen her
In het zonlicht door de ramen
In the sunlight through the windows
Wat in duizend kleuren uiteenvalt
What shatters into a thousand colors
Op de stenen van de kathedraal
On the stones of the cathedral
En zij slaapt al meer dan honderd jaar
And she has been sleeping for over a hundred years
Haar handen van marmer
Her hands made of marble
In een kamer van glas
In a room of glass
Haar ogen gesloten
Her eyes closed
En Bernadette
And Bernadette
Bernadette slaapt
Bernadette is sleeping
Contributed by Colin N. Suggest a correction in the comments below.