Jay-Jay Johanson was born Jäje Johansson on 11 October 1969 in Trollhättan, Västra Götaland. His debut album, Whiskey, was released in August 1996. Recorded at Break My Heart Studios in the Stockholm archipelago, the album was characterized by its jazzy vocals over trippy, film noir arrangements.
In 1998, Johanson released Tattoo, taking a step into a more richly textured, poetic ambience. Johansson's third album, Poison, was released in April 2000 and went straight into the French charts at number four. The album featured contributions from Cocteau Twins founder and guitarist Robin Guthrie. The same year Johanson also composed the soundtrack to French director Ilan Duran Cohen's film La Confusion des Genres, and in 2001, Johanson emerged with "Cosmodrome", a sound-and-image installation first exhibited in the French city of Dijon. This art-piece has travelled around the world and was last shown at the Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris.
Antenna was released in 2002, recorded with assistance from German experimental electronic group Funkstörung. 2004 marked the release of the compilation Prologue, meant for the American market. It was followed by Rush in 2005, an album partly produced by French producer Jean-Pierre Ensuque.
Johanson co-wrote and contributed vocals to The Knife's 2006 song "Marble House".[1] In the spring of 2006, he called together the musicians he had worked with on the three first albums, and January 2007 saw the release of their collaborative effort The Long Term Physical Effects Are Not Yet Known. A tour in promotion of the album kicked off in China and continued to more than thirty cities around the world.
Johanson's eighth studio album Spellbound was released on 2 May 2011.[2] "Dilemma" was released as the album's lead single on 11 March 2011.[3]
On 3 March 2017, "You'll Miss Me When I'm Gone" was released via iTunes as the first single from Johanson's upcoming album Bury The Hatchet, due 15 September 2017 on 29 Music. [4]
Out of Focus
Jay-Jay Johanson Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Sitting in his comfortable chair
His instruments
Controlling my refractive state
By changing settings
Reading the letters on the chart
Change eye and take it from the stars
It’s better this way or that
A perfect vision
Every hour that she's here
I see her sitting in my comfortable chair
No instruments
Could control our delicate state
We’re changing settings
And because of the tears in my eyes
I saw her leaving out of focus
Because of the tears in my eyes
I saw her leaving out of focus
Because of the tears in my eyes
I saw her leaving out of focus
The lyrics of Jay-Jay Johanson's song, "Out of Focus," explore the theme of control and its elusive nature when it comes to relationships. The first verse speaks about a yearly appointment where an optometrist changes the settings on their instruments to control the refractive state of their patient's eyes. This process results in a perfect vision, a controlled and precise outcome. However, as the song progresses, a shift in this theme is evident. The second verse refers to a woman who sits in the singer's chair, but no instruments can control their delicate state, and they constantly change settings, indicating a lack of control. The final lines suggest that tears in the singer's eyes cause the woman to leave, and he sees her departing "out of focus."
The lyrics evoke a sense of powerlessness when it comes to controlling the outcome of a romantic relationship, which is a common experience for many people. In contrast, the first verse highlights the satisfaction that comes with precise control. The use of the repeated line, "Because of the tears in my eyes, I saw her leaving out of focus," reinforces the idea that the singer's emotional state clouds his vision and causes him to lose control. Overall, the song conveys a relatable experience and builds a mood of melancholy by emphasizing the lack of power in maintaining relationships.
Line by Line Meaning
For an hour every year
Once a year, there is an hour when he gets his eyes examined
Sitting in his comfortable chair
He sits in a comfortable chair during his eye exam
His instruments
The instruments used to examine his eyes
Controlling my refractive state
The instruments control how light rays bend when entering his eyes
By changing settings
The instruments' settings are adjusted to correct vision
Reading the letters on the chart
He reads a chart with different letters to test his vision
Change eye and take it from the stars
He alternates between covering each eye to test them individually
Shifting lenses
Different lenses are used to test for optimal vision
It's better this way or that
The lenses are adjusted to determine which gives the best vision
A perfect vision
The desired outcome of the eye exam is perfect vision
Every hour that she's here
Whenever she's around
I see her sitting in my comfortable chair
He envisions her in the same chair where he has his eye exam
No instruments
No instruments or settings control their relationship
Could control our delicate state
Their relationship is fragile and not easily controlled by outside factors
We're changing settings
They must adapt and make changes in order to maintain their relationship
Because of the tears in my eyes
Due to his emotional state
I saw her leaving out of focus
His tears cause his vision of her to become blurry and unclear
Because of the tears in my eyes
Reiterating that his emotional state caused the blurred vision
I saw her leaving out of focus
Again, his tears caused him to see her blurry and unclear
Contributed by Adam N. Suggest a correction in the comments below.