I would appreciate some of DU's good vibes or

[highplainsdem]

74. I've finally found some info on how George contributed to Boudewijn de Groot's new album,

Windveren.

One of the songs, anyway, for which George wrote music for Boudewijn's lyrics. (I'll post about more of George's contributions if I find out more.)

The song is "The Closer I Get" - "Hoe Meer Ik Dichterbij Kom" - and it's about getting close to death. Its lyrics are also about Boudewijn's mother, who died in a Japanese internment camp during WWII, a year after giving birth to him.

There had been info about this in the Volkskrant article I posted about in my last reply, but I'd skimmed past the mention of George in that section of the long article. That section explains that Boudewijn knows his mother only through a few photos. He's written a couple of songs about her for earlier albums - songs bringing her to him, as he put it. But in this song he wonders about a reunion after death, a reunion his mother believed in.

Some of the lyrics, in English translation:

The closer I get, the more I think about you/ Maybe it will happen, I don't know/ and you will be pleasantly surprised when you see/ that I am beckoning to you.

It's a beautiful song, thanks to George's melody, and he also did the arrangement and sang on a demo he did for Boudewijn.

As I found out from a post on Boudewijn's Facebook page:

https://business.facebook.com/pg/boudewijndegrootofficial/posts/

English translation below, before the original Dutch - and I want to emphasize that the last line of the English translation, which sounds like an insult aimed at George, was badly mistranslated on Facebook. As you can tell, Boudewijn preferred the demo where George was singing, after he'd written the music for Boudewijn's song, but George refused to let his vocals be used. (Even though this had originally been intended for a still-unreleased album by their supergroup Vreemde Kostgangers (Strange Boarders, also mistranslated om Facebook) rather than a solo album by Boudewijn.) When I used Google Translate to check that last sentence, I got "Only you should not hear George's performance wrong" which is also awkward, but echoes what Boudewijn said earlier. He loved George's vocal on this song, and believes his own is inferior - wrong.

Boudewijn has just released a new song by "Windferen". The final chord of the album, called "The More I Get Closer". The song features lyrics by Boudewijn and music by Golden Earring singer and guitarist George Kooymans. Boudewijn himself about the song: “We were supposed to record the song for the Strange Costgoers album at first.” I wrote the lyrics during a period when composing music was not my big deal. So I sent some pieces to Henny and George, hoping they would get on with it. "The closer I get", ended up with George like this. I got it back complete with an elaborate arrangement. He also sang it himself. So beautiful it gave me goosebumps. His version hit me hard. So I actually thought it should be on the Strange Costgoers album like this too. George did not agree with that. The text was so personal, especially since it was about my mom. Only i could sing that one. Eventually I had to admit that he was right. I also decided to put it on my own album. It took me a while to grasp the melody, because it was written in a style I would never do myself. I'm not saying itgave me sleepless nights but I've been at it for a long time. Practice a lot especially, at home. In the studio the sweat was still in my hands. But I had to. I had to do it right now. Well, so this is what it has become. It's not that bad. Except you don't have to hear George's performance anywhere. "

“We zouden het nummer in eerste instantie opnemen voor het album van de Vreemde Kostgangers. Ik schreef de tekst in een periode dat het componeren van muziek mij niet zo lukte. Ik stuurde dus wat stukken naar Henny en George, in de hoop dat zij er verder mee konden. ‘Hoe Meer Ik Dichterbij Kom’, kwam zo bij George terecht. Ik kreeg het terug, compleet met een uitgewerkt arrangement. Hij had het ook zelf ingezongen. Zo mooi dat ik er kippenvel van kreeg. Zijn versie raakte me enorm. Ik vond dus eigenlijk dat het zo ook op het album van de Vreemde Kostgangers moest komen. George was het daar niet mee eens. De tekst was zo persoonlijk, vooral omdat het over mijn moeder ging. Alleen ik kon die zingen. Uiteindelijk moest ik erkennen dat hij gelijk had. Ik heb toen ook besloten het op mijn eigen album te zetten. Het duurde een hele tijd voor ik de melodie te pakken had, want het was geschreven in een stijl zoals ik dat nooit zelf zou doen. Ik wil niet zeggen dat het mij slapeloze nachten bezorgd heeft, maar ik ben er lang mee aan de slag geweest. Vooral veel oefenen, thuis. In de studio stond het zweet nog altijd in mijn handen. Maar ik moest wel. Ik moest het nu goed doen. Enfin, dit is dus wat het geworden is. Het is niet slecht. Alleen moet je de uitvoering van George er niet naast horen.”

This is the song:

I hope that someday George's demo for this song, with his vocal, will be released, especially since Boudewijn said it was so beautiful it gave him goosebumps.