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)
Onderaan beginne(2021)
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
Fiesta
Rowwen Hèze Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I am welcome to Almeria
We have sin gas and con leche
We have fiesta and feria
We have the song of the chochona
We have brandy and half corona
And Leonardo and his accordione
And Kalamari and macarroni
Come all you rambling boys of pleasure
And ladies of easy leisure
We must say Adiós! until we see
Almeria once again
There is a minstrel, there you see,
And he stoppeth one in three
He whispers in this one's ear
"Will you kindly kill that doll for me"
Now he has won chochona in the bingo
All the town has watched this crazy gringo
As he pulls off the dolls head laughing
And miradlo! throws its body in the sea
El veinticinco de agosto
Abrió sus ojos Jaime Fearnley
Para el bebe cinquante cincampari
Y se tendio para cerrarlos
Y Costello el rey del America
Y suntuosa Cait O'Riordan
Nor vompere mis calliones
Los gritos fuera de las casas
The lyrics to Rowwen Hèze's song Fiesta are a celebration of the Spanish town Almeria and the various things that make it special. The song features a narrator, named Francisco Vasquez Garcia, who introduces us to the town and its offerings. The singer tells us that Almeria has "sin gas and con leche" (without gas and with milk), which suggests that the town has a laidback atmosphere where people take their time to enjoy life's simple pleasures. We learn that the town also has fiesta (parties) and feria (festivals), which are indicative of the town's vibrant and lively culture.
The song also mentions various other things that make Almeria unique, such as "the song of the chochona" (a traditional Spanish folk song) and "brandy and half corona" (a reference to the town's alcohol and cigar offerings). The singer also mentions a few people, including Leonardo (who plays an accordion), Kalamari (a seafood dish), and a minstrel who asks someone to kill a doll for him. The song ends with a reference to the date of August 25th and a few seemingly nonsensical lines.
Overall, Fiesta is a joyful song that celebrates the culture and offerings of Almeria. The singer's enthusiasm for the town and its pleasures is infectious, and the playful tone of the song makes it a fun listen.
Line by Line Meaning
I am Francisco Vasquez Garcia
I am introducing myself as Francisco Vasquez Garcia
I am welcome to Almeria
I feel welcomed to Almeria
We have sin gas and con leche
We have milk with no gas and coffee with milk
We have fiesta and feria
We have celebration and fair
We have the song of the chochona
We have the chochona song
We have brandy and half corona
We have brandy and half a cigar
And Leonardo and his accordione
We have Leonardo playing his accordion
And Kalamari and macarroni
We have calamari and macaroni
Come all you rambling boys of pleasure
Welcome all men who seek pleasure
And ladies of easy leisure
And women who enjoy leisure
We must say Adiós! until we see
We say goodbye until we see each other again
Almeria once again
In Almeria once again
There is a minstrel, there you see,
There is a musician playing
And he stoppeth one in three
He stops one person in every three
He whispers in this one's ear
He whispers in someone's ear
"Will you kindly kill that doll for me"
"Can you please kill that doll for me?"
Now he has won chochona in the bingo
Now he has won the chochona prize in the bingo game
All the town has watched this crazy gringo
All the town has watched this crazy foreigner
As he pulls off the dolls head laughing
He takes off the doll's head while laughing
And miradlo! throws its body in the sea
And look! He throws the doll's body in the sea
El veinticinco de agosto
On the 25th of August
Abrió sus ojos Jaime Fearnley
Jaime Fearnley opened his eyes
Para el bebe cinquante cincampari
To drink fifty-five Campari
Y se tendio para cerrarlos
And went to bed to close them
Y Costello el rey del America
And Costello, the king of America
Y suntuosa Cait O'Riordan
And the sumptuous Cait O'Riordan
Nor vompere mis calliones
Don't step on my onions
Los gritos fuera de las casas
The screams outside of the houses
Contributed by Natalie G. Suggest a correction in the comments below.