Marinus de Goederen, singer and songwriter of a balladeer, spent a year living in the United States. He has always been fascinated by the land of the free and the home of the brave. “To me America is the land of movies and freedom, of Puritanism and a deep-rooted faith. Faith in God or at least faith in the American Dream. Nothing happens half-hearted there. When Americans believe, they do so intensely, when they dream, their dreams are large, and when they fall, they fall deep.” This vast country and its inhabitants form the backdrop to the new Balladeer album Where Are You, Bambi Woods?

Let’s start with the title track:
Bambi Woods is the star in the 1978 cult porn movie Debbie Does Dallas. Some years (and some sequels) later the young actress vanishes from the face of the earth. Marinus: “I am fascinated by the fact that no one knows where she lives or even if she’s alive at all. Some people say she died of a drug overdose and others that she packed her bags to disappear into a life of anonymity. Marylyn Monroe once said: 'A smart girl leaves before she is left' and I would love to believe that Bambi was a smart girl.”

Marinus did Dallas too.
“When I was 16 I spent a year at school somewhere close to Dallas. Jesus Doesn't Love Me partly deals with that period and the first single Mary Had A Secret is completely devoted to it. But the song America, America best represents my experiences in that year. I really had a wonderful time but found it extremely bizarre to have to pray in church for strength for the troops in the Gulf War and to have to start each school day saluting the American Flag.”

Where Are You, Bambi Woods? further refines the sound of its predecessor Panama with the airplay hit singles Swim with Sam and Fortune Teller. Again it is a finely crafted album with beautiful lyrics driven pop/rock songs. “We did not set out to do something different just for the sake of being different,” explains drummer Tijs Stehmann, “but of course the band continues to develop its sound.” One of these developments was that for the song Oh, California Erik Meereboer switched from lead guitar to mandolin after a 5 minute crash course. Erik explains: “We were looking to create an authentic atmosphere for this song. With the mandolin and Bas Kennis on accordion and Peter Slager playing double bass we achieved the sound we were aiming for.” On the album’s title track Marinus switched from piano to Wurlitzer and for a small number of songs a male-voice choir was required, but that is about the extent of the trimmings for the album. All band members agree: “We made some definite choices and with each song went for what suited it best.”

Just like Panama the new album is a deeply personal record. But where the predecessor was autobiographical, the lyrics on Where Are You, Bambi Woods? deal with third person’s stories as well. “I took my inspiration from American movies and Hollywood. If there is one spot in the world where dream and reality are interwoven it must be Hollywood. That intrigues me no end,” Marinus says. This fascination informs songs such as Where Are You, Bambi Woods? and Superman Can’t Move His Legs.

But it also contains life stories that could easily form the basis of a movie script. Thus the album features stories about Jackie Kennedy (Nightmare On Elm Street) and Matthew Shepard. This 21 year old student appears in the poignant Poster Child. Marinus: "Matthew Shepard was murdered in 1998 in a gruesome manner, probably because he was gay. His assailants tied the heavily wounded Matthew to a fence, where he was found 18 hours later. All those hours he was still alive. Matthew studied political science and believed in equality above all. He really wanted to improve the world. Poster Child takes its inspiration from Matthew’s father’s speech in court, facing the perpetrators. Despite his anger and grief his father somehow managed to put across a positive message in his speech. Very moving.”

That seems to be something typical American too, an almost indestructible positivism. And whatever outsiders may feel about the deep-rooted faith of many Americans, it is precisely that faith that feeds that positive attitude. Or, in the words of the album’s first single Mary Had A Secret: “It was all about forgiving…”