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
Water
Rowwen Hèze Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
't Is net of Teun met ziene föhn meej constant langs mien oere weit.
En ik geaf gas en ik rem af, ik staj heer al ongemerkt.
'n Dik half oor, ik koom nurgens door, d'r wuurd oaveral an de weg gewerkt.
Water, ik wil water.
Water, breng meej water, breng meej thoes.
't Glaas, dat blinkt terwijl ze drinkt, en 'r parasol makt niks paraat.
En 't schouderbendje zakt hiel langzaam oaver urre erm.
En oh, ze bukt en mien zwiet, dat jukt, en ik krieg 't nog ens zoe werm.
Water, ik wil water.
Water, breng meej water, breng meej thoes.
't Licht wuurd greun, 't licht wuurd roei en iederien stiet stil.
Ik wil ni verder nar 't strand, 't ienige wat ik nog wil, is water.
Water, breng meej water, water, breng meej water.
Breng meej terug nar hoes, zo vlug als 't giet.
Nar hoes, woar miene koelkast stiet.
Oet de fles of oet de bron, woar 't water klatert in de zon.
Water, koel meej af, breng meej water.
Water, koel meej af, breng meej water, breng meej thoes
The song "Water" by Rowwen Hèze is a beautiful and insightful piece about a driving experience on a hot day. The lead singer is driving in his car and feeling the heat of the day while trying to navigate around roadwork that seems to be obstructing every route he takes. He's getting frustrated and starts to feel as though he's been driving aimlessly for quite some time. Suddenly, he comes across a sight that captures his attention- a woman sitting in the sun drinking a cold drink under her parasol. He realizes that he's thirsty too, and begins to crave water.
The chorus repeats the phrase "Water, ik wil water. Water, breng meej water, breng meej thoes." This translates to "Water, I want water. Water, bring me water, bring me home." The singer is desperate for water, begging for it with a song.
The final verse describes the way that the light changes in the day, but the singer doesn't care about anything except finding water. He wants to be cooled down, brought back to his house, and allowed to quench his thirst with fresh, cool water. This song is a representation of how people can get so caught up in the heat and the frustration that they forget to savor the small moments of pleasure, like the sound of water trickling from a bottle into a glass.
Line by Line Meaning
Werme wind, oh, werme wind, mein god, wat is 't heit !
Hot wind, oh, hot wind, my god, it's so hot! It feels like someone with a hair dryer is constantly blowing near my ears.
't Is net of Teun met ziene föhn meej constant langs mien oere weit.
It feels like Teun is blowing his hair dryer near my ears continuously.
En ik geaf gas en ik rem af, ik staj heer al ongemerkt.
I accelerate and slow down, and I realize I've been standing here unaware for quite some time.
'n Dik half oor, ik koom nurgens door, d'r wuurd oaveral an de weg gewerkt.
An hour passes by, but I can't seem to make any progress on the road, as construction work is going on everywhere.
Water, ik wil water.
Water, I need water.
Water, breng meej water, breng meej thoes.
Water, bring me water, bring me home.
De groete stad is 'n saunebad, dit is zomer in 't kwadraat.
The big city feels like a sauna, it's summer at its hottest.
't Glaas, dat blinkt terwijl ze drinkt, en 'r parasol makt niks paraat.
Her glass is shining as she drinks, and her parasol is not helping at all.
En 't schouderbendje zakt hiel langzaam oaver urre erm.
Her shoulder strap slowly slides down her arm.
En oh, ze bukt en mien zwiet, dat jukt, en ik krieg 't nog ens zoe werm.
And oh, she bends over and her sweat touches me, it itches, and I feel even hotter.
't Licht wuurd greun, 't licht wuurd roei en iederien stiet stil.
The traffic lights turn green and red, and everyone stands still.
Ik wil ni verder nar 't strand, 't ienige wat ik nog wil, is water.
I don't want to go to the beach anymore, all I want is water.
Water, breng meej water, water, breng meej water.
Water, bring me water, water, bring me water.
Breng meej terug nar hoes, zo vlug als 't giet.
Take me back home as fast as possible.
Nar hoes, woar miene koelkast stiet.
To home, where my fridge is.
Oet de fles of oet de bron, woar 't water klatert in de zon.
From a bottle or a spring, where the water gurgles in the sun.
Water, koel meej af, breng meej water.
Water, cool me down, bring me water.
Water, koel meej af, breng meej water, breng meej thoes
Water, cool me down, bring me water, bring me home.
Contributed by Amelia G. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
tomfa2
@wientjens wat is der gen mooi nummer van ?