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.
Dromen van Sylvia
Frank boeijen Lyrics
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Ik weet het weer
We schaatsen op het ijs
Op een wintermorgen
En de zon die schijnt
In een lang vervlogen tijd
Hand in hand
Silvia en ik
Haar wangen zacht
Haar ogen groot
Zo helder en zo licht
Silvia en ik
En als dan de avond viel
En de maan door de ramen scheen
Dan droomde ik van Silvia
Ik schreef haar naam
Op elke muur
Met een groot hart eromheen
Die winter toen
Ging nooit voorbij
Voor Silvia en mij
Maar toen de lente kwam
En de sneeuw verdween
Zag ik Silvia nooit weer
Hoe vaak stond ik daar
In de straat
Waar Silvia verdween
Silvia en ik
En als dan de avond viel
En de maan door de ramen scheen
Dan droomde ik van Silvia
Dromen van Silvia
Met ijsbloemen op het raam
Dromen van Silvia
Ik zag haar weer in de stad
Aan de overkant van de straat
Met een kinderwagen en een stugge man
We hebben wat gepraat
Ze had nog steeds
Van die grote ogen
Maar het licht werd uitgedraaid
Misschien door haar man
Misschien door de vraag
Schaats je nog wel eens Silvia
Want als dan de avond viel
En de maan door de ramen scheen
Dan droomde ik van Silvia
Dromen van Silvia
Met ijsbloemen op het raam
Dromen van Silvia
"Dromen van Sylvia" is a touching ballad by Frank Boeijen about a fond memory of a past relationship. In the opening lines, the singer reminisces about a winter morning spent ice-skating with his partner Sylvia. The sun is shining, and they are joyfully twirling around hand in hand. The memory is bittersweet, as it is from a long time ago and forever frozen in time. The image of Sylvia with her soft cheeks and bright eyes is etched in his mind, and he dreams of her every night, even though the relationship has long since ended.
Despite this, the memory continues to haunt him, and he writes her name on every wall with a big heart around it. The winter that they spent together seems like it will never end, and he becomes fixated on finding Sylvia once again. However, when the snow thaws and spring arrives, he can't seem to find her. Even when he spots her walking down the street with her child and husband, their conversation is brief and unsatisfying. The memory of Silvia is forever frozen in his mind, and he continues to dream of her every night.
Line by Line Meaning
Ik voel het weer
I am experiencing the same emotions again
Ik weet het weer
I remember it again
We schaatsen op het ijs
We were ice-skating
Op een wintermorgen
On a winter morning
En de zon die schijnt
And the sun is shining
In een lang vervlogen tijd
In a distant time
Hand in hand
Hand in hand
We draaien rond
We are spinning around
Silvia en ik
Silvia and I
Haar wangen zacht
Her cheeks are soft
Haar ogen groot
Her eyes are big
Zo helder en zo licht
So bright and so light
En als dan de avond viel
And when the evening fell
En de maan door de ramen scheen
And the moon shone through the windows
Dan droomde ik van Silvia
I dreamt of Silvia
Ik schreef haar naam
I wrote her name
Op elke muur
On every wall
Met een groot hart eromheen
With a big heart around it
Die winter toen
That winter
Ging nooit voorbij
Never passed
Voor Silvia en mij
For Silvia and me
Maar toen de lente kwam
But when spring came
En de sneeuw verdween
And the snow disappeared
Zag ik Silvia nooit weer
I never saw Silvia again
Hoe vaak stond ik daar
How often did I stand there
In de straat
In the street
Waar Silvia verdween
Where Silvia disappeared
Dromen van Silvia
Dreaming of Silvia
Met ijsbloemen op het raam
With ice flowers on the window
Ik zag haar weer in de stad
I saw her again in the city
Aan de overkant van de straat
On the other side of the street
Met een kinderwagen en een stugge man
With a pram and an unyielding man
We hebben wat gepraat
We talked for a while
Ze had nog steeds
She still had
Van die grote ogen
Those big eyes
Maar het licht werd uitgedraaid
But the light went out
Misschien door haar man
Maybe because of her husband
Misschien door de vraag
Maybe because of the question
Schaats je nog wel eens Silvia
Do you still go ice-skating, Silvia?
Dromen van Silvia
Dreaming of Silvia
Met ijsbloemen op het raam
With ice flowers on the window
Dromen van Silvia
Dreaming of Silvia
Contributed by Grace C. Suggest a correction in the comments below.