Founded through a mutual love of 60’s and 70’s dub and punk by three friends namely Geoff Lagadec - (vocals / guitar) ; Dave Smith - (guitar / vocals) and Ben Murphy - (bass).
Jaya The Cat create songs ranging from booze fueled anthems to chilled out dance tracks to outright political commentary.
With a current line up including Jordi ‘Pockets’ Nieuwenburg on guitar, Jeroen Kok on bass, and Onverwagt on keyboards.
Following the 2001 release of their debut album Basement Style ( Gold Circle Records ), Jaya The Cat were joined by ex-Shadows Fall drummer David ‘The Germ’ Germain and began a steady touring schedule of stages across the United States and Europe, playing major clubs and festivals such as Lowlands in Holland, Pukkelpop in Belgium, and the Warped Tour in the US. Their music has also been featured in numerous skate, surf and snowboard videos.
Summer 2003 saw their sophomore release, First Beer of a New Day ‘’ (4tune Records).
Although both albums met with positive critical success and they had gathered a loyal worldwide following, personal differences saw the departure of Smith and Murphy that fall, which effectively left the band in limbo. After a freezing music-less winter working shitty jobs in Boston, Lagadec and Germain met up and decided to look for new members. Temporarily joined for a spring European tour by dutch musicians Jan Jaap Onverwagt (Green Lizard) and Alejandro Londoño, they took a 3 month sublet on an apartment in Amsterdam with the plan of regrouping and figuring out what the hell to do with themselves. Three months turned into three years.
In the interim, the band has continued to grow, playing hundreds of live shows to an ever expanding audience, as well as adding keyboards, samples, percussion and a tiki bar to their onstage act. An average Jaya the Cat concert usually becomes more of a party than a performance, with the audience singing, dancing and drinking right along with the band.
September 7th 2007, saw the European release of their third studio album entitled More Late Night Transmissions with... on I Scream Records. Drawing on their experiences, More Late Night Transmissions with... delivers 13 tracks filled with seedy bars, cheap hotels, dysfunctional love affairs and political disillusionment. Punk rock, reggae, ska and pop, glued in their own unique style.
More Late Night Transmissions with... was released on the 10th of May in the US by I Scream Records USA.
Discography:
* CD ‘Basement Style’ (Gold Circle Records 2000)
* CD ‘First ‘Beer Of A New Day’ (4Tune Records 2002)
* CD/LP ‘Ernesto’s Burning’ (Music Machine Records 2004)
* CD More Late Night Transmissions with... (I Scream Records 2007)
* CD Single ‘Closing Time’ (I Scream Records 2007)
* CD Single 'Good Morning' (I Scream Records 2008)
* CD More Late Night Transmissions with... (I Scream Records 2009)
Web links:
Jaya The Cat Official Site
Facebook Fan Page
Myspace page
Purevolume
Blur
Jaya the Cat Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
No one's looking too awake, but you can't stay here
Pick up your bags and you're gone again
Last night is just a blur
I think I blew it too bad, but I'm just not sure
Stumble out the door and into the van
Use your coat as a pillow on the window, man
Will someone please tell me what's going on
Cause it's like last night I got locked between the beers and all the shots
Man, I hope I didn't treat her wrong
Try to place the name, but everything just comes up grey
Guess in the end it just don't mean much anyway
So I turn around in the bed, pull the covers over my head, and I just drift away
And I want you to know, that everything changes
You can see it on all of us - everyone's waiting
Sitting in the bed just watch the white line flashing past
And trying to make sense of my memories
Open up one beer I found there laying on the floor
Put on my headsphones and let the sound just wash right over me
I don't know where I've been, but it don't matter in the end
Maybe it did once, but I just can't remeber when
So it's another night, another town, just plug it in and tune it out
You just drift away
And I want you to know, that eveything changes
You can see it on all of us - everyone's waiting
Wake up, it's time to go, turn your keys in down at the lobby
No one's looking too awake but you can't stay in
Pick up your bags and you're gone again
Last night is just a blur
I think I blew it too bad, but I'm just not sure
Stumble out the door and into the van
Use your coat as a pillow on the window, man
Wake up, it's time to go, turn your keys in down at the lobby
No one's looking too awake, but you can't stay in
Pick up your bags and you're gone again
Last night is just a blur
I think I blew it too bad, but I'm just not sure
Stumble out the door and into the van
Use your coat as a pillow on the window, man
The first verse of the song Blur by Jaya The Cat describes the aftermath of a night of heavy drinking and partying. The singer wakes up, seemingly in a hotel or motel, and is urged to leave by someone (possibly the hotel staff). They are disoriented and still feeling the effects of alcohol, but they gather their things and leave. As they ride in a van, they reflect on the previous night and the mistakes they may have made. The lyrics "last night is just a blur, I think I blew it too bad, but I'm just not sure" suggest the singer may have done something they regretted but cannot recall exactly what it was. They also mention using their coat as a pillow, which suggests exhaustion and a desire to escape from their thoughts.
The second verse continues the theme of confusion and regret. The singer wakes up with someone they don't remember and hears voices in their head. They express a desire to know what happened the night before and are afraid they may have mistreated the person they were with. However, they cannot seem to remember anything clearly. They sit in the van and try to put the pieces together, but ultimately give up and turn to music as a means of escape. The chorus "everything changes, you can see it on all of us - everyone's waiting" seems to suggest that life is constantly changing and fleeting, and that the singer is struggling to keep up with it.
Overall, the song Blur paints a picture of a person who is lost, confused and struggling to find their way. They are grappling with the consequences of their actions, but their memories are hazy and they can't seem to make sense of anything. The use of repetition in the chorus and verses reinforces the idea that life is constantly changing and unpredictable, and that the singer is adrift in this sea of uncertainty.
Line by Line Meaning
Wake up, it's time to go, turn your keys in down at the lobby
It's time to leave the hotel, so go to the front desk and turn in your keys
No one's looking too awake, but you can't stay here
Everyone looks tired, but you can't stay in the hotel room
Pick up your bags and you're gone again
Grab your bags and leave the hotel room
Last night is just a blur
You can't remember what happened last night
I think I blew it too bad, but I'm just not sure
You messed up badly last night, but you're not exactly sure how
Stumble out the door and into the van
You stumble out of the hotel room and into the van
Use your coat as a pillow on the window, man
Use your coat as a pillow against the van window
Who is this body in my bed, what are these voices in my head
You wake up to a stranger in your bed and can't remember hearing the voices in your head
Will someone please tell me what's going on
You need someone to explain what happened last night
Cause it's like last night I got locked between the beers and all the shots
Last night, you drank too much beer and shots, and can't remember what happened
Man, I hope I didn't treat her wrong
You hope that you didn't treat the stranger in your bed badly
Try to place the name, but everything just comes up grey
You're trying to remember the stranger's name, but it's all a blur
Guess in the end it just don't mean much anyway
In the end, it doesn't matter who the stranger was
So I turn around in the bed, pull the covers over my head, and I just drift away
You go back to bed, hide under the covers, and try to forget about the previous night
And I want you to know, that everything changes
The world is constantly changing
You can see it on all of us - everyone's waiting
It's evident that everyone is waiting for something to happen, as change is expected
Sitting in the bed just watch the white line flashing past
You're sitting in the van looking out the window and seeing the white lines on the road flash by
And trying to make sense of my memories
You try to recall and make sense of what you can remember from the previous night
Open up one beer I found there laying on the floor
You open up a beer you found on the floor of the van
Put on my headsphones and let the sound just wash right over me
You put on your headphones and let the music drown out your thoughts
I don't know where I've been, but it don't matter in the end
You don't know where you were last night, but it doesn't matter now
Maybe it did once, but I just can't remeber when
It might have mattered at one point, but you can't remember when
So it's another night, another town, just plug it in and tune it out
It's another night and town of touring, so just go through the motions and ignore the past
Wake up, it's time to go, turn your keys in down at the lobby
It's time to leave the hotel room and turn in your keys at the front desk
No one's looking too awake but you can't stay in
Everyone looks tired, but you can't remain in the hotel room
Pick up your bags and you're gone again
Grab your bags and leave the hotel room
Last night is just a blur
You don't remember what happened last night
I think I blew it too bad, but I'm just not sure
You're uncertain of how badly you messed up last night
Stumble out the door and into the van
You stumble out of the hotel room and into the van
Use your coat as a pillow on the window, man
You use your coat as a pillow against the van window
Contributed by Blake P. Suggest a correction in the comments below.