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.
Valkuil
Frank boeijen Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Van de valkuil zich opent
Slaapwandel je
Als de dronkaard
Zich stomdronken uitspreekt
Dan stamel je
En het leven
Uit de hoed
Aan je handen
Kleeft bloed
Waar was je vannacht
En de kat zoekt contact
In je dromen is het niet
Maar alleen
Een huisdier in een spookhuis
Maar twee ogen
Met een vragende blik
En weer even
Zet het leven je
In de hoek
Dat weet je maar
Al te goed
Waar was je vannacht
In het slachthuis
Van gevoelens
Zijn de messen scherp geslepen
Door merg en been
Ging de vraag heen
Waar was je vannacht
Heel ver heen in het heelal
Omhelst een vrouw een man
Verstrengeld ineen
Stenen bruidspaar
Op weg naar het altaar
En de morgen
Steekt zijn nek door het raam
Waar kom je vandaan
Waar was je vannacht
The lyrics to Frank Boeijen's song Valkuil describe a feeling of being lost and disconnected from oneself and one's surroundings. The opening lines compare this feeling to a trapdoor opening, suggesting that the singer is falling, without any clear sense of direction or destination. The comparison to a sleepwalker and a drunkard who cannot speak clearly suggest that the singer is unable to fully control their actions or thoughts.
In the following lines, the lyrics shift to a more surreal, dreamlike tone. The mention of a rabbit being pulled from a hat, as well as the image of bloody hands, suggest a sense of disorientation and confusion. The repeated question "where were you last night?" further emphasizes the idea that the singer is disconnected from their own experiences.
As the lyrics progress, the surreal imagery continues, with a cat appearing in the singer's dreams and the mention of a haunted house. The repeated line "where were you last night?" takes on a more accusatory tone, as if someone is questioning the singer about their actions.
The final lines of the song describe a more hopeful, romantic image, with a couple embracing and a "morning" light breaking through. However, the recurring question "where were you last night?" lingers, suggesting that the singer is still grappling with their own sense of identity and purpose.
Line by Line Meaning
Als het valluik Van de valkuil zich opent Slaapwandel je Als de dronkaard Zich stomdronken uitspreekt Dan stamel je
When the trapdoor of the pitfall opens, you sleepwalk. When the drunk speaks in a slurred manner, you also stutter.
En het leven Tovert een konijn Uit de hoed Aan je handen Kleeft bloed Waar was je vannacht
Life conjures up a rabbit from the hat, and your hands are smeared with blood. Where were you last night?
En de kat zoekt contact In je dromen is het niet Maar alleen Een huisdier in een spookhuis Maar twee ogen Met een vragende blik
The cat seeks contact, but it's not in your dreams. It's just a pet in a haunted house, but its two eyes ask a question.
En weer even Zet het leven je In de hoek Dat weet je maar Al te goed Waar was je vannacht
And once again, life puts you in a corner. You know this too well. Where were you last night?
In het slachthuis Van gevoelens Zijn de messen scherp geslepen Door merg en been Ging de vraag heen Waar was je vannacht
In the slaughterhouse of emotions, knives are sharpened to the core. The question was asked with great intensity, 'Where were you last night?'
Heel ver heen in het heelal Omhelst een vrouw een man Verstrengeld ineen Stenen bruidspaar Op weg naar het altaar
Far away in the universe, a woman embraces a man, intertwined as a stone wedding couple on their way to the altar.
En de morgen Steekt zijn nek door het raam Waar kom je vandaan Waar was je vannacht
And morning sticks its neck through the window, asking 'Where did you come from? Where were you last night?'
Contributed by Blake D. Suggest a correction in the comments below.