Performer and fan DAAN STUYVEN waves Bobbejaan goodbye: Theres more important things in life than being an artist.
19/05/2010
Performer and fan DAAN STUYVEN waves Bobbejaan goodbye: Theres more important things in life than being an artist. (De Standaard, may 19th 2010)
I think he had a slight problem with reality, but thats a good quality of course.
In the end it actually took off for a few meters Thats what the mechanical engineer had to say about the UFO Bobbejaan sponsored somewhere around the year of my birth. Who on earth is this man, pouring millions into four propellers and an improvised motor, trying to escape provincial gravity? The 1999 documentary film offers the best possible picture of Bobbejaan: somewhere between countryside reality and sheer mad escapism. After all, what are roller coasters, mechanical bulls and a merry-go-round but condensed dreams of a child looking for a way of release, what else the big Ferris wheel but a perpetuum mobile that has to make up for the self-chosen fixity of getting stuck in a morass. When you have been looking at the world from a stage, the decision to settle down does not come easy. Bobbejaan once explained the switch with a wry remark: I had just performed for a crowd of 10,000 in Germany, and when I came back in the hotel I asked for something to eat. The manager said the kitchen was closed: Die Küche ist geschlossen, Herr Schoepen. That was the limit. From then on, Bobbejaan would simply and solely invite people to his own place. All were welcome, as long as they came up to his doorstep with a childs twinkle in their eyes.
Flight case
But then whats a visionary dreamer to do? You have Zorros horse shipped from America to your premises, along with an antlered Cadillac or two. You build a museum for Indian primitive art, along with a large and spacious villa for a large and charming family. For this was one of his many good advices that never come amiss: theres more important things in life than being an artist. Being a father lasts longer, and I think his five most impressive songs are from flesh and blood. As if it was predestined, already fifty years ago. In De lichtjes van de Schelde he already announced this Monday morning: And if eventually the sea turns against me, and heavy damage incurs, take care of the children and never lose heart, and often tell them about me.
Thats why sometimes Im quite offended when I hear people talk about Bobbejaan in terms of a shrewd businessman/ex-musician, because he was a family man first and foremost. Im acquainted with a fine lot of artists, but I know of only one that sold five million records and yet managed to keep his lifelong muse and descendants so close by his side. Chapeau! Or better: Stetson! And by the way, Bob, thanks for the good old days cowboy hat-flight case you recently gave me. Who on earth travels with a flight case for his Stetson? Talk about having western class!
Figurines
In the end we all have our own impression of Bobbejaan, and he was only too happy to add some more characters over and above this image: that too was common ground for us. I understand this inclination, he gave a lot to lots of people, and thats when you feel the need to put up some barriers between the public and your inner self. Those barriers are figurines, caricatures, and really getting to know him was like waiting patiently for a lock to open. But it wasnt a waste of time: once your ship passed through the final lock, you reached a very warm-hearted and intelligent man as much as he liked to play the fool, you wouldnt be able to fool him.
I think he had a slight problem with reality, which is a good quality of course, and a precondition for writing smart songs. Having your feet on the ground will soon grow stale, so no wonder you climb a horse, take a stage or jump in a roller coaster. But just the same he always was in full command of his own cooked up fiction, with an in my eyes very Belgian-absurdist style. Thats probably how well miss him; as a major Belgian character, just when we need those great elated Belgians more than ever. And yes, even the timing of his farewell is quite in character: a true professional knows when its time to leave the stage.
Fortunately after years the moment is ripe to revive the first vocation, the singing. Not as a comeback, but as a crowning glory. Everybody in his circle shared this dream, as far back as ten years ago, but there was a minor practical problem Cancer. But it wasnt so drear as a pub with no beer: Bobbejaan surmounted the disease with characteristic vigour, with his no nagging-nonchalance, and eventually he got back in the studio and came to the microphone once again. Never I resign, he sings in the final song on the album. Well, lets cherish the memory of this image. Straight on his horse, a radiant smile, and an eternal twinkle in the eyes. Big hug and kiss, and above all: merci.
DAAN STUYVEN
De Standaard (19/05/2010)
(Translation: Pieter Peyskens)
I think he had a slight problem with reality, but thats a good quality of course.
In the end it actually took off for a few meters Thats what the mechanical engineer had to say about the UFO Bobbejaan sponsored somewhere around the year of my birth. Who on earth is this man, pouring millions into four propellers and an improvised motor, trying to escape provincial gravity? The 1999 documentary film offers the best possible picture of Bobbejaan: somewhere between countryside reality and sheer mad escapism. After all, what are roller coasters, mechanical bulls and a merry-go-round but condensed dreams of a child looking for a way of release, what else the big Ferris wheel but a perpetuum mobile that has to make up for the self-chosen fixity of getting stuck in a morass. When you have been looking at the world from a stage, the decision to settle down does not come easy. Bobbejaan once explained the switch with a wry remark: I had just performed for a crowd of 10,000 in Germany, and when I came back in the hotel I asked for something to eat. The manager said the kitchen was closed: Die Küche ist geschlossen, Herr Schoepen. That was the limit. From then on, Bobbejaan would simply and solely invite people to his own place. All were welcome, as long as they came up to his doorstep with a childs twinkle in their eyes.
Flight case
But then whats a visionary dreamer to do? You have Zorros horse shipped from America to your premises, along with an antlered Cadillac or two. You build a museum for Indian primitive art, along with a large and spacious villa for a large and charming family. For this was one of his many good advices that never come amiss: theres more important things in life than being an artist. Being a father lasts longer, and I think his five most impressive songs are from flesh and blood. As if it was predestined, already fifty years ago. In De lichtjes van de Schelde he already announced this Monday morning: And if eventually the sea turns against me, and heavy damage incurs, take care of the children and never lose heart, and often tell them about me.
Thats why sometimes Im quite offended when I hear people talk about Bobbejaan in terms of a shrewd businessman/ex-musician, because he was a family man first and foremost. Im acquainted with a fine lot of artists, but I know of only one that sold five million records and yet managed to keep his lifelong muse and descendants so close by his side. Chapeau! Or better: Stetson! And by the way, Bob, thanks for the good old days cowboy hat-flight case you recently gave me. Who on earth travels with a flight case for his Stetson? Talk about having western class!
Figurines
In the end we all have our own impression of Bobbejaan, and he was only too happy to add some more characters over and above this image: that too was common ground for us. I understand this inclination, he gave a lot to lots of people, and thats when you feel the need to put up some barriers between the public and your inner self. Those barriers are figurines, caricatures, and really getting to know him was like waiting patiently for a lock to open. But it wasnt a waste of time: once your ship passed through the final lock, you reached a very warm-hearted and intelligent man as much as he liked to play the fool, you wouldnt be able to fool him.
I think he had a slight problem with reality, which is a good quality of course, and a precondition for writing smart songs. Having your feet on the ground will soon grow stale, so no wonder you climb a horse, take a stage or jump in a roller coaster. But just the same he always was in full command of his own cooked up fiction, with an in my eyes very Belgian-absurdist style. Thats probably how well miss him; as a major Belgian character, just when we need those great elated Belgians more than ever. And yes, even the timing of his farewell is quite in character: a true professional knows when its time to leave the stage.
Fortunately after years the moment is ripe to revive the first vocation, the singing. Not as a comeback, but as a crowning glory. Everybody in his circle shared this dream, as far back as ten years ago, but there was a minor practical problem Cancer. But it wasnt so drear as a pub with no beer: Bobbejaan surmounted the disease with characteristic vigour, with his no nagging-nonchalance, and eventually he got back in the studio and came to the microphone once again. Never I resign, he sings in the final song on the album. Well, lets cherish the memory of this image. Straight on his horse, a radiant smile, and an eternal twinkle in the eyes. Big hug and kiss, and above all: merci.
DAAN STUYVEN
De Standaard (19/05/2010)
(Translation: Pieter Peyskens)
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