Two musicians from The Netherlands are known as Frank Boeijen:

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.

De wereld
Frank boeijen Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

De wereld is lelijker dan
Ik dacht
Aan wie vraag je hier de weg
In alle ogen lees ik angst
Doe de deur op slot en gooi de sleutel weg
De wereld slaapt
De wereld ontwaakt
De wereld draait zich om

In haar modderbad

Haar verleden is pijnlijker
Dan ik dacht
Bladzijden lang
Strijd na strijd om de macht
Tot men haar bezat

Van haar bestaat er maar een
En wie eigent haar toe
Waarom werd haar prijs
Zo vaak betaald in bloed

De wereld slaapt
De wereld ontwaakt
De wereld draait zich om
In haar modderbad

De wereld is lelijker dan
Ik dacht
En ik had al niet veel hoop
De wereld lacht
Haar ondergang tegemoet
De wereld slaapt
De wereld ontwaakt

De wereld draait zich om
In haar modderbad

Overall Meaning

The lyrics of Frank Boeijen's song "De wereld" (translated to "The World") express a sense of disillusionment and despair about the state of the world we live in. The opening line "De wereld is lelijker dan ik dacht" (The world is uglier than I thought) sets the tone for the rest of the song. The singer observes that everywhere he looks, he sees fear in people's eyes, as if they are uncertain about the future. He even suggests locking the door and throwing away the key, as if to protect himself from the gloom.

The second verse delves into the painful history of the world, with countless struggles for power and control. The world has been possessed and claimed by so many, often at the cost of human lives. The singer wonders why the world has been subjected to so much bloodshed, and why its value has been repeatedly tarnished. These lines suggest the cyclic nature of humanity's darkest moments, where war and destruction are followed by short periods of peace, only to be repeated again.

The chorus repeats the same lines, emphasizing the cyclical nature of the world's suffering, as if the world is stuck in a perpetual cycle of sleeping and waking, with things rotating through a messy, murky, fertile ground. The concluding verse, "The world is uglier than I thought and I didn't have much hope to begin with" shows the depths of the singer's disillusionment. He sees the world's future as bleak and fatalistic, that it seems to be almost mocking the idea of being saved or rescued. This song points out the fragility of hope in the face of daunting global challenges that need to be addressed collectively.

Line by Line Meaning

De wereld is lelijker dan ik dacht
The reality of the world is much harsher and more disheartening than what I imagined it to be.

Aan wie vraag je hier de weg
Whom can you ask for guidance in this place?

In alle ogen lees ik angst
Fear is evident in everyone's eyes.

Doe de deur op slot en gooi de sleutel weg
Lock the door and throw away the key, indicating the desire to isolate oneself from the outside world.

De wereld slaapt
The world is dormant, motionless and with no signs of progress.

De wereld ontwaakt
The world is coming alive, awakening to the struggles and challenges of life.

De wereld draait zich om
The world spins around, seemingly detached from its inhabitants.

In haar modderbad
In its own mess, chaos and confusion.

Haar verleden is pijnlijker dan ik dacht
The world's history is darker and more horrific than I previously understood.

Bladzijden lang, strijd na strijd om de macht
Throughout history, there are countless pages of wars and battles fought for the sake of power and control.

Tot men haar bezat
Until someone had claimed ownership over it.

Van haar bestaat er maar een
There is only one world, and it is irreplaceable.

En wie eigent haar toe
Who has the right to claim ownership over it?

Waarom werd haar prijs zo vaak betaald in bloed
Why was bloodshed and sacrifice so often necessary to attain control over it?

De wereld lacht, haar ondergang tegemoet
The world is mocking us, heading towards its own decline.

Contributed by Stella E. Suggest a correction in the comments below.

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