Many of the lyrics are sketches of provincial everyday life: a young bird falling from its nest, a famous person in the village, a local funeral, scenes from the local pub or just waking up with a hangover.
Established in 1985, the band called themselves The Legendary Texas Four until Jack Poels joined as the new frontman. He joined on the condition that he wanted to add at least one song in the Limburg dialect to the band's repertoire. The other members agreed. Rowwen Hèze was born.
Rowwen Hèze translates loosely as 'Rough Hesen' and was the nickname of a notorious character from the village, Christiaan Hesen (1853-1947). Under this new name, the band started covering songs from Thin Lizzy. The band also wrote Dutch party songs for the annual carnival in the southern Netherlands.
The band saw two members leave in the early years. Mart Deckers (drums) and Geert Hermkes (accordeon) left the band. The line-up that was formed in 1991 is still intact today and has been unchanged for 29 years and counting.
- Jack Poels (lead singer, guitar)
- Tren van Enckevort (accordeon, piano, trombone)
- Jan Philipsen (bass)
- Theo Joosten (guitar, mandoline, tin whistle, percussion)
- Jack Haegens (trumpet, trombone, percussion)
The band's 1992 performance at Limburg's Pinkpop Festival was a breakthru moment. The band's set was shown live on Dutch television. At the time, the band had four studio albums under its belt: Rowwen Hèze (1987), Blieve loepe (1990), Boem (1991) and the live album, In de weiIn De Wei (1992). Their party anthem, Bestel mar (1992) hit #13 in the Dutch Top 40, still their highest charting single.
This pattern of three studio LPs and a live album repeated itself in the 1990s: Station America (1993), Zondag in het Zuiden (1995) and Water, lucht en liefde were followed by a 1999 live album entitled 't Beste van 2 werelden (1999), this time a recording of Rowwen Hèze semi-acoustic theatre incarnation.
The steady stream of albums continued in the 21st century.
Studio albums
Vandaag (2000)
Dageraad (2003)
Rodus & Lucius (2006)
Zilver (2010)
Manne van staal (2011)
Geal (2012)
Hemel op aarde: De liedjes (2013)
Vur altied: Ballades & Beer (2016)
De liefde, de muziek, de herinnering (2017)
Voorwaartsch (2019)
Live albums:
D.A.D.P.G.S. (2003)
Andere wind (2004)
Saus (2008)
Wear of gen wear: Slotconcert 2019 (2019)
Compilation album:
Kilomeaters: 't beste van 20 joar Rowwen Hèze (2005)
Official site: www.rowwenheze.nl
50 Joar
Rowwen Hèze Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Deze jong wuurdt bijna vieftig joar
Niks mier an doan, net wat geej zegt
't kwaam aaltied op zien bien terecht
Op nakse veut dor 't werme zand
Ik haj van hiel vuel 'n klein bitje verstand
De tied di kroop, 't koard hing slap
Totdat iemand zei: als ik leas dan bin ik riek
Ienne tekst, ien woard, ik docht:
Din het geliek
't waas mar ien zin, gen groet gebaar
't zit allemoal hiel simpel in elkaar
Want ik heb mar ien liedje
Ik heb mar ien verhaal, altied 't zelfde liedje
Mar ien plaats woar ik miene mosterd haal
Dan ging 't hard, d'n tied di vloog
En ik de klappe kreeg wurrum ik vroog
De blik vurroet, 't ging altied door
Tot ik de macht oaver 't steur verloor
Ik zaag 't burdje stop soms net iets te laat
Ik haj enne harde kop als 't teagezaat
Mar de muziek en de gitaar
Die heelde steeds 't zaakje bij elkaar
En toen, din daag, ik wos ni wat ik zaag
't veld stong vol, en ze klapte allemoal
Allemoal vur os, we keeke elkaar aan
En zage dat 't kos, os eige liedje, in os eige taal
Osse eige, veilige, heilige graal
Weej goan altied door, van os het niemand last
Mar weej halde wal os eige ritme vast
In de moat als de fanfaar
Loepe weej al joare langs elkaar
The lyrics of Rowwen Hèze's song "50 Joar" speaks about the experiences of someone who is turning 50 years old. The first stanza reflects on the fact that despite not seeing anything physically different, the person has reached the age of 50. The second stanza talks about the time in which the person was still young, running around barefooted on warm sand, having only a little knowledge of the world. The person felt as if time moves slowly and without direction, just like a rag doll. However, the advice of someone changed the person's perspective, saying that if he reads, he'll become wealthy, which helped a lot.
The chorus of the song describes the simplicity of the person's life: he has only one song, one story that he always tells, and one place to find inspiration. As time passed, the person's life became faster, leaving him trying to make sense of things, until he loses control. Eventually, the man sees people responding positively to his song, and that motivates him even more to continue playing it. He concludes that he would always keep playing in the same rhythm, and everyone would accept it.
Overall, "50 Joar" is a nostalgic song. It reminds listeners that as time moves forward, priorities change. The song says something fundamental and straightforward yet profound. The listener is invited to go through the process of reminiscing about the time that has passed, and appreciate the wisdom that came with passing years.
Line by Line Meaning
't Is neet te zeen, mar 't is echt woar
It may not be apparent, but it is true
Deze jong wuurdt bijna vieftig joar
This young man is almost fifty years old
Niks mier an doan, net wat geej zegt
Nothing can be done, as you say
't kwaam aaltied op zien bien terecht
It always worked out for him
Op nakse veut dor 't werme zand
On bare feet in the warm sand
Ik haj van hiel vuel 'n klein bitje verstand
I had very little knowledge
De tied di kroop, 't koard hing slap
Time crawled, the rope hung limp
Ik leep oaver stroat als enne leage lap
I walked on the street like an empty rag
Totdat iemand zei: als ik leas dan bin ik riek
Until someone said: if I read, then I am rich
Ienne tekst, ien woard, ik docht:
One text, one word, I thought:
Din het geliek
Then he was right
't waas mar ien zin, gen groet gebaar
It was only one sentence, no grand gesture
't zit allemoal hiel simpel in elkaar
It's all very simple
Want ik heb mar ien liedje
Because I only have one song
Ik heb mar ien verhaal, altied 't zelfde liedje
I only have one story, always the same song
Mar ien plaats woar ik miene mosterd haal
But one place where I get my inspiration
Dan ging 't hard, d'n tied di vloog
Then it went fast, time flew by
En ik de klappe kreeg wurrum ik vroog
And I got the blows why I asked
De blik vurroet, 't ging altied door
The look forward, it always went on
Tot ik de macht oaver 't steur verloor
Until I lost control
Ik zaag 't burdje stop soms net iets te laat
I saw the bird stop just a little too late
Ik haj enne harde kop als 't teagezaat
I had a stubborn head like the weather
Mar de muziek en de gitaar
But the music and the guitar
Die heelde steeds 't zaakje bij elkaar
Always put the pieces back together
En toen, din daag, ik wos ni wat ik zaag
And then, that day, I didn't know what I saw
't veld stong vol, en ze klapte allemoal
The field was full, and they all clapped
Allemoal vur os, we keeke elkaar aan
All for us, we looked at each other
En zage dat 't kos, os eige liedje, in os eige taal
And saw that it was possible, our own song, in our own language
Osse eige, veilige, heilige graal
Our own, safe, holy grail
Weej goan altied door, van os het niemand last
We always carry on, nobody bothers us
Mar weej halde wal os eige ritme vast
But we hold on to our own rhythm
In de moat als de fanfaar
In step with the brass band
Loepe weej al joare langs elkaar
We've been walking past each other for years
Contributed by Mila O. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@angelodorenberg6221
Toen ik gebooren werd horde ik al rowwen heze mooi hoop dat er nog meer numers mogen volgen echt om kipenvel van te krijgen linburg zet hem op 😎👍☝️🤣
@MaritsView
ik ga dit nummer draaien, als mn vader 50 wordt :D hij is een fan van rowwenhezé :) en ik zelf ook, dankje voor het erop te zetten! :D
@caszutphen3212
volgend jaar vaders 50 dit nummer op zetten
@xcrazyman17x
weet iemand of er een karaoke versie is?
@peternijs3694
Nee gewoon goed luisteren.
Limburgs is niet zo moeilijk