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.
Gras
Frank boeijen Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
In dromen
In winters
Aan een stenen stad
Aan andere kinderen uit haar geboren
En aan vader
Bevend lief gehad
Heb ik haar terug gewonnen
Languit voorover in gewoon groen gras
Dat ademde en zwoegde of onbezonnen
Golfde als een lied
En golvend eeuwig was
Wees zacht
Wees eindeloos
Een en al armen
Grasmoeder
Moedergras
Bevend erbarmen
Achter ons staat de mensenhemel rood
De wolken zeilen
De vogels zweven
Leer mij met nog een hart te veel te leven
Totdat ik weg kan in uw beider schoot
Maar honderd maal
Heb ik haar terug gewonnen
Languit voorover in gewoon groen gras
Dat ademde en zwoegde of onbezonnen
Golfde als een lied
En golvend eeuwig was
In the song "Gras" by Frank Boeijen, he talks about losing his mother a hundred times in his dreams, in winters and to a stone city, to other children born to her, and to his father whom she loved dearly. However, Boeijen also mentions how he has won her back a hundred times, lying on his belly on ordinary grass that pulsated and breathed or was playful and flowing like a song. He implores his mother to be gentle and endless, to provide him with comfort, and to give him a loving embrace.
The lyrics evoke a sense of longing for a mother's love and a sense of escape from the hardships of life. The green grass serves as a sanctuary where he can experience a connection with his mother that transcends time, an experience that he wants to hold onto. Boeijen describes the idea of freedom, love, and peace with his mother forever as everything around him fades away.
Line by Line Meaning
Ik heb mijn moeder honderd maal verloren
I've lost my mother a hundred times
In dromen
In dreams
In winters
During winters
Aan een stenen stad
To a stone city
Aan andere kinderen uit haar geboren
To other children born out of her
En aan vader
And to father
Bevend lief gehad
Loved them tremblingly
Maar honderd maal
But a hundred times
Heb ik haar terug gewonnen
I've won her back
Languit voorover in gewoon groen gras
Lying face down in plain green grass
Dat ademde en zwoegde of onbezonnen
That breathed and heaved, or carelessly
Golfde als een lied
Undulated like a song
En golvend eeuwig was
And undulating eternally
Wees zacht
Be gentle
Wees eindeloos
Be endless
Een en al armen
All arms
Grasmoeder
Grandmother grass
Moedergras
Mother grass
Bevend erbarmen
Trembling compassion
Achter ons staat de mensenhemel rood
Behind us is the red sky of people
De wolken zeilen
The clouds sail
De vogels zweven
The birds soar
Leer mij met nog een hart te veel te leven
Teach me to live with one heart too many
Totdat ik weg kan in uw beider schoot
Until I can disappear in both of your arms
Contributed by Kayla G. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@LittleMelianna
One of my favourite song <3 Thank's Спасибо Дякую
@ingeborgdegraaf563
Nu na ruim 5 jaar heeft dit nummer haar kracht en aantrekkingskracht op mij nog steeds niet ingeboet. En weer voel ik het in m'n buik tekeer gaan...... .
@inadefrankrijker4024
Blijft een mooi nummer.
@samuelvandermeij967
24 Maart was ik bij zijn optreden in Groningen, dit nummer zong hij toen ook, echt heel mooi gedaan
@Trix71
prachtig
@meanna6495
Tekst Michiel van der Plas, muziek Frank Boeijen
@johan399
van wie is het origineel eigenlijk?
@samuelvandermeij967
tekst is van dichter: Michel van der Plas, muziek heeft Frank zelf geschreven