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.
Robert Zimmerman
Frank boeijen Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Na een donkere dag
Sluit ik me op
En luister naar jou
Ik hoorde jouw stem
Als kind dat niet slapen kon
En had geen idee
Ik drink op toen
Nu ik je stem weer hoor
Ik drink op jou
Twintig jaar later
Twintig jaar ouder
En de Kennedy's werden vermoord
En Martin Luther King
En elke avond
De hel van Vietnam
En Johnson was een moordenaar
En Nixon en Watergate
En Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young
En love en peace en LSD
Ik was zo jong
Alles was zo duidelijk oh
Ik was zo jong
Het is twintig jaar later
Twintig jaar ouder
Alles liep anders
Dan men had verwacht
Alhoewel de aarde
Nog steeds draait om haar as
Maar er is een verschil
Wat is er aan de hand
Weet jij wat het is?
Robert Zimmerman?
Zimmerman waar ben je nou
Soms op van die avonden
Na een donkere dag
Sluit ik me op
En luister naar jou
Ik hoorde jouw stem
Als kind dat niet slapen kon
En had geen idee
Waar jij over zong
Ik drink op jou
Nu ik je stem weer hoor
Ik drink op toen
Twintig jaar later
Aan het eind van de eeuw
Aan het eind van de eeuw
The song "Robert Zimmerman" by Frank Boeijen is an introspective look at the world and the harsh realities that it holds. The lyrics talk about how the singer finds comfort in listening to the voice of Robert Zimmerman, also known as Bob Dylan, on lonely nights. As a child, the singer did not fully understand the meaning behind the lyrics of Dylan's songs, but they still managed to hold his attention. The singer drinks to Dylan's voice now, twenty years later, reflecting on how time has changed their perception of the world.
The lyrics go on to mention some of the major events that occurred during the tumultuous 1960s, such as the assassinations of John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr., the Vietnam War, and the Watergate scandal. The singer sees these events as part of a broken system that he once rebelled against, with ideas of love, peace, and LSD being more prominent in his youth. However, with twenty years of experience under his belt, the singer sees that things did not go as planned, and wonders if Robert Zimmerman (Bob Dylan) knows the reason why.
Overall, the song is a melancholic reflection on the past and the world that has been left behind. The singer finds a connection to the music of Bob Dylan and uses it as a way to grapple with the harsh realities of life.
Line by Line Meaning
Soms op van die avonden
Occasionally, during dark days, I shut myself in and listen to you.
Na een donkere dag
After a difficult day.
Sluit ik me op
I lock myself away.
En luister naar jou
And listen to you.
Ik hoorde jouw stem
I heard your voice.
Als kind dat niet slapen kon
Like a child who couldn't sleep.
En had geen idee
And had no idea.
Waar jij over zong
What you were singing about.
Ik drink op toen
I drink to that time.
Nu ik je stem weer hoor
Now that I hear your voice again.
Ik drink op jou
I drink to you.
Twintig jaar later
Twenty years later.
En de Kennedy's werden vermoord
And the Kennedys were assassinated.
En Martin Luther King
And Martin Luther King.
En elke avond
And every night.
De hel van Vietnam
The hell of Vietnam.
En Johnson was een moordenaar
And Johnson was a murderer.
En Nixon en Watergate
And Nixon and Watergate.
En Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young
And Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young.
En love en peace en LSD
And love, peace, and LSD.
Ik was zo jong
I was so young.
Alles was zo duidelijk oh
Everything was so clear, oh.
Het is twintig jaar later
It's twenty years later.
Alles liep anders
Everything turned out differently.
Dan men had verwacht
Than people expected.
Alhoewel de aarde
Although the earth.
Nog steeds draait om haar as
Still rotates around its axis.
Maar er is een verschil
But there is a difference.
Wat is er aan de hand
What's going on?
Weet jij wat het is?
Do you know what it is?
Robert Zimmerman?
Robert Zimmerman?
Zimmerman waar ben je nou
Zimmerman where are you now?
Aan het eind van de eeuw
At the end of the century.
Aan het eind van de eeuw
At the end of the century.
Contributed by Nicholas M. Suggest a correction in the comments below.