Painter Hieronymus Bosch inspired #1 hit song

This music video is called Boudewijn de Groot – The Land At Rainbow’s End.

Dutch folk singer Boudewijn de Groot recorded this song in 1966, 450 years after famous painter Hieronymus (or: Jeroen) Bosch died. The song refers to Hieronymus Bosch, and his imagery of strange beings: ‘All creatures from the circus of the late Hieronymus Bosch‘. The lyrics are here.

In January 1967, the record came out.

For the release of the song in Britain, Boudewijn de Groot called himself Baldwin. The record did not become a hit in English-speaking countries.

The Land At Rainbow’s End is the translation of the Dutch original Het Land van Maas en Waal. Which did become a #1 hit in the Netherlands.

This video is an animation of Boudewijn de Groot’s Het Land van Maas en Waal, with Hieronymus Bosch-like imagery.

The Land van Maas en Waal in the title is the region north-east of Den Bosch city (where the painter Bosch lived and worked), between the Meuse and Waal rivers.

This music video was recorded on 12 February 2016, the day of the official opening of the big Hieronymus Bosch exhibition in Den Bosch, commemorating that the painter died 500 years ago. As a parade with Jeroen Bosch-inspired costumes, and the king of the Netherlands and other authorities pass, rappers Ali B and Brace rap their own version of Het Land van Maas en Waal.

Boudewijn de Groot, now grey haired, congratulated them at the end of the song.