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
Gespeegeld in de raam
Rowwen Hèze Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Ze huurt zichzelf neet als ze net iets te hard lacht.
En als d'n trein vertrekt met enne lange deepe zucht.
Weid d'r sniej op vur 't raam.
Kiekt ze bijna opgelucht.
En dan zit ze moei te zien en rommelt in d'r tas.
Ze deud de kraag umlieg van urre zwoare jas.
En als ze achterover leunt, dan deud ze of ze rust.
Mar ik zij hoe ze in 't donker van d'n oavend staart.
Met oege woarachter god wet wat ik oeit wiete wuurd bewaard.
En vanaf 't moment dat ze nar binne kwaam kiek ik allien nog mar
Gespeegeld in de raam.
D'n trein makt enne groete bocht als we langzaam 'n station opgoan
D'r tas velt oet d'r hand, als ze te snel wil goan stoan.
'T geluid van remmend staal
Station Den Bosch, station Den Bosch keumt net op tied
En dan kiek ik 'r aan en dan kiekt ze nar meej
'N honderdste van enne tel en alles zo dichtbeej
Met urre lange sjaal um 'r lange hoar gedreid deud ze de kraag umhoeg vur
De kalde wind di weid.
En rechtop leup ze weg, zo recht als toen ze binnekwaam.
En ik zij Brabant in de nacht, gespeegeld in 'n zwarte raam.
En urre winterjas lost op in de winternacht,
Wat zal ze moei zien als ze straks teage 'm lacht.
The Rowwen Hèze song Gespeegeld In De Raam tells the story of a woman who sits and waves to friends outside in the night. She doesn't care if she laughs too loudly, but when the train departs with a deep sigh, she seems almost relieved. As she sits and looks tired, she fumbles in her bag and pulls her coat collar higher to keep warm. She flips through a book, pretending to read while leaning back and resting. The singer observes how she gazes into the dark of the night with mysterious eyes, keeping secrets that he might never know. Ever since she entered the room, he has only seen his own reflection in the black mirror, through a window.
As the train makes a big turn and slowly approaches the station, the woman's bag falls out of her hands when she tries to stand up too quickly. The sound of braking steel signals the arrival at Den Bosch station, and she looks at him for a split second, their faces almost touching. Her long scarf is wrapped around her hair, and she pulls up her collar to protect herself from the cold winter wind. She walks away, as straight as she did when she first came in, and disappears into the winter night. The song ends with the singer wondering what she will see when she laughs again.
Overall, the lyrics depict a lonely woman who is lost in thought and trying to escape from reality by pretending to read or engaging in other idle activities. The train seems to symbolize a form of release for her, and the singer's introspection hints at his desire to connect with her, although it is left unclear whether they ever do.
Line by Line Meaning
Ze giet zitte en ze zwaait nar vriende boete in de nacht.
She sits and waves to friends outside in the night.
Ze huurt zichzelf neet als ze net iets te hard lacht.
She doesn't care what she looks like when she laughs too loud.
En als d'n trein vertrekt met enne lange deepe zucht.
And when the train departs with a long deep sigh.
Weid d'r sniej op vur 't raam.
Snow falls on the window in front of her.
Kiekt ze bijna opgelucht.
She looks almost relieved.
En dan zit ze moei te zien en rommelt in d'r tas.
Then she sits looking tired and rummages in her bag.
Ze deud de kraag umlieg van urre zwoare jas.
She pulls the collar up on her heavy coat.
Ze bladerd dor 'n book en dan deud ze of ze lust.
She flips through a book and pretends to read.
En als ze achterover leunt, dan deud ze of ze rust.
And when she leans back, she pretends to rest.
Mar ik zij hoe ze in 't donker van d'n oavend staart.
But I saw how she stares into the darkness of the evening.
Met oege woarachter god wet wat ik oeit wiete wuurd bewaard.
With eyes hiding secrets that only God knows.
En vanaf 't moment dat ze nar binne kwaam kiek ik allien nog mar
And from the moment she came in, I only look at her.
Gespeegeld in de raam.
Reflected in the window.
D'n trein makt enne groete bocht als we langzaam 'n station opgoan
The train makes a big turn as we slowly approach a station.
D'r tas velt oet d'r hand, als ze te snel wil goan stoan.
Her bag falls out of her hand as she tries to stand up too quickly.
'T geluid van remmend staal
The sound of braking steel.
Station Den Bosch, station Den Bosch keumt net op tied
Den Bosch station, Den Bosch station arrives just in time.
En dan kiek ik 'r aan en dan kiekt ze nar meej
And then I look at her and she looks at me.
'N honderdste van enne tel en alles zo dichtbeej
For a split second, everything feels so close.
Met urre lange sjaal um 'r lange hoar gedreid deud ze de kraag umhoeg vur
With her long scarf wrapped around her long hair she pulls her collar up to
De kalde wind di weid.
Shield herself from the cold wind that blows.
En rechtop leup ze weg, zo recht als toen ze binnekwaam.
And she walks away, as straight as she did when she came in.
En ik zij Brabant in de nacht, gespeegeld in 'n zwarte raam.
And I said: Brabant in the night, reflected in a black window.
En urre winterjas lost op in de winternacht,
And her winter coat disappears in the winter night.
Wat zal ze moei zien als ze straks teage 'm lacht.
What will she see when she laughs at him later?
Writer(s): poels
Contributed by Muhammad F. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Huub Van Bezel
hopenliek nog lang doorgoen
Watermunt2
Ein mooj leedje
Ronald Jochems
😢