The group initally formed to compete in the National Campus Band Competition in 1997. Temperley and Quartermain were already in a band at the time, Freud's Pillow, but had met with little success and asked Temperley's childhood friend MacLeod to form a new band, which became Eskimo Joe. The band ended up winning the competition prize: a slot at the 1997 Livid Festival and a session in a studio to record their first EP, Sweater. The title track became so successful on national broadcaster Triple J, it gained much airplay and featured in the Hottest 100 of 1998. A second EP Eskimo Joe followed up in 1999.
Later in 1999, Eskimo Joe was signed on to Modular and in 2001, their debut album Girl, which went gold. After splitting with Modular, they signed a new contract with Mushroom in 2002, releasing sophomore album A Song is a City in 2004. The album went double-platinum and earned the group Best Artist the following year.
Settling down for six weeks over Christmas in 2005, the noticeably darker album Black Fingernails Red Wine, was recorded and released the following June, debuting at number one on the ARIA charts and later going platinum. The band (jokingly) described the album as their "stadium rock" record and headed out on extensive touring around the country, including a stint at Live Earth in Sydney.
The band eventually went on to tour the globe, with trips around the US and Europe, before recording their fourth album, Inshalla, in Byron Bay. The album was released in May 2009 and topped the charts at number one in the ARIA album charts. It explores a very different sound for Eskimo Joe, with lead singer Temperley saying the band were a stage where they wanted to do something different musically and also in their personal lives.
Echo
Eskimo Joe Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Then they open up and I'm born again
Like an empty space in an empty bed
Oh there's a sound that keeps repeating
Going faster as I leave it goes...
Ooh-oh-oh-oh, ooh-oh-oh-oh
And I can't seem to let go
Baby I hear an echo when I'm with you
Well I see your face in the shadow moon
Where the echos dance with the ghosts of you
Like an empty space in an empty room
Oh there's a sound that keeps on beating
Going faster as I leave it goes...
Ooh-oh-oh-oh, ooh-oh-oh-oh
I can hear an echo when I'm with you
And I can't seem to let go
And baby I hear an echo
(I hear it)
I can hear an echo when I'm with you
And I can't seem to let go
Baby I hear an echo when I'm with you
Ooh-oh-oh-oh, ooh-oh-oh-oh, ooh-oh-oh-oh
A hundred thousand times it keeps repeating
Ooh-oh-oh-oh
Can you hear it?
I can hear an echo
And I can't seem to let go
Baby I hear an echo
I can hear an echo when I'm with you
And I can't seem to let go
Baby I hear an echo when I'm with you
When I'm with you
Maybe I can let go of that feeling
The song "Echo" by Eskimo Joe seems to be about the lingering feeling of someone after they have left. The lyrics describe the feeling of emptiness and being alone, but the echo of memories and emotions still remain. The opening lines, "Well I shut my eyes and the world is dead, Then they open up and I'm born again," suggest that the singer is living in a constant cycle of feeling alive when with this person, but then feeling empty and alone when they are gone. The echos that the singer keeps hearing when they are with this special someone can represent the memories that keep replaying in their mind even when the person is physically gone.
The repetition of the line "I can hear an echo when I'm with you, And I can't seem to let go, Baby I hear an echo when I'm with you" emphasizes the strong hold that the memories of this person have on the singer. The line "A hundred thousand times it keeps repeating" further emphasizes this, as if the memory is constantly being played back in their mind.
Overall, "Echo" captures the feeling of being stuck in the past and unable to move on from the echoes of someone that has left.
Line by Line Meaning
Well I shut my eyes and the world is dead
When I close my eyes, it feels like the world around me ceases to exist
Then they open up and I'm born again
When I open them again, I feel like I have been reborn
Like an empty space in an empty bed
I feel an emptiness within me, like an unoccupied bed
Oh there's a sound that keeps repeating
I can hear a sound that is persistent and keeps on repeating
Going faster as I leave it goes...
This sound gets louder and quicker as I move away from it
I can hear an echo when I'm with you
Being with you brings about a sound that echoes within me
And I can't seem to let go
I find it impossible to let go of this feeling
Well I see your face in the shadow moon
In the dark, I can see your face in the shadows
Where the echos dance with the ghosts of you
The echoes mix with the memories of you and create an illusion in my mind
Like an empty space in an empty room
My mind is like an empty room with nothing but your echo in it
Oh there's a sound that keeps on beating
The sound inside me keeps beating persistently
A hundred thousand times it keeps repeating
This sound keeps repeating countless times
Can you hear it?
Can you hear this sound too?
Maybe I can let go of that feeling
Perhaps one day I will be able to let go of this feeling for good
Contributed by Liam E. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@digitaldeitymedia
Thankyou for playing this at telethon last night. It was a very cathartic experience x
@TheTravelTart
Talk about an underrated band. These guys should be way bigger than they are.
@Cuzjudd
They were actually pretty massive at their peak
@joshnkaismum
ive been in america for 2 years and i've missed the hell outta hearingeskimo joe on the radio absolutely addicted to this band and this song is one of the best... love it so much
@apocalypsing7412
I recently rediscovered Eskimo Joe and I've become hooked in listening to a lot of their music again, having listened to them a lot in the past. It's weird hearing this song again after so long, it's been over 8 years since I last heard it, on local Perth radio I believe. I really dig this song, I'd have to say it would be my favourite song from Ghosts of the Past, although this music video was darker than I expected towards the end
@west8436
They say Fremantle WA for me 😅😂😊
@jakeyoung5623
a real music video that makes you think about life <3
@Cuzjudd
Possibly my favourite EJ song of all time. And I've been a giant fan since 97
@MimDownUnder
What an amazing clip. The colours are absolutely beautiful and the girls eyes are stunning.
@ssjs1437
Beautifully Tragic.. such an Amazing clip <3