Born Jérôme Cotta in Marseille, Jehro moved to London at age 20, where he u… Read Full Bio ↴Born Jérôme Cotta in Marseille, Jehro moved to London at age 20, where he used to live in an artists' squat in Hammersmith, performing in the tube. He now lives in Paris and using his guitar skills he composes acoustic songs with a mixed Caribbean/reggae/folk/Latin sound.

As a child Jehro’s imagination was fuelled by the dreams of his Greek-Italian-Corsican mother, and the songs of his Georges Brassens-inspired singer of a father in the Panier area of In that Hammersmith artists’ squat he immersed himself in pop, rock and reggae, surrounded by Spanish and Jamaican musicians. Perfecting his skills as a guitarist by covering all his favorite pop standards, he broke free from his native French by lending his voice to the songs of his new-found idols - he fell in love with Bob Marley’s music, its roots and its spirituality, when busking to it in London's tube stations.

He then moved to Paris, settling in a small hotel on the rue Marcadet in the 18th Arrondissement. A new city meant new places to play: Pigalle, Montmartre, Belleville, Saint-Germain, where he wrote the lyrics and music for his first solo album. “L’arbre et le fruit” was released by Chrysalis / EMI under his real name Jérôme Cotta, earning him well-deserved praise from the French critics in 1999. Jérôme’s songs were heard on the radio, and he took to jamming in the studio of a couple of new acquaintances he met in the courtyard of his block of flats: Christian Brun and Richard Minier. By giving him the opportunity to explore new musical avenues and Jehro moved away from his solo career and sparked a profitable artistic collaboration.

From indo-electro theme tunes for the advertising industry through calypso-pop songs co-written and sung for the Marathonians’ “A Tropical Soul Adventure” LP (Superfruit, 2003), Jehro was gradually finding his own distinctive voice. Somewhere in the South of France, in a little village full of sing-song accents and surrounded by ochre-red hills and olive groves, he came up with the first tune of an album almost entirely written in English, “Shantytown Carnival,” produced by the Marathonians duo and signed to their Superfruit record label. Jehro’s self-titled debut is an album inspired by Caribbean and American grassroots music (reggae, folk, Latin etc.), full of snapshots and tales from the lives of ordinary people.

More information, tour dates, and photos can be found at: http://jehro.free.fr/htmlen/home.htm

Stand On
Jehro Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Paint your face pretty young Maria
This filthy place will seem a little cleaner
Smile on, smile on, smile on

A soldier's brave but pour some more tequila
You're dancin' while we drink away the fear
Dance on, dance on, dance on

Behold what burns in our eyes
Desire we trust you
To keep it alight, delight us tonight
Delight us tonight

A ghostly boy, mmh

A ghostly boy drinks huddled in the corner
A face so fresh they're takin' to the slaughter
Head on, head on, head on

You lift his face
And stare into a mirror
Your night's for sale
And now your fate is clear
Dance on, dance on, dance on

Behold what lights up your eyes, desire
While fate may

Have struck off your life, defy it tonight
Defy it tonight

Overall Meaning

The lyrics to Jehro's song "Stand On" are about the concept of escaping reality and indulging oneself in destructive behaviors in order to deal with the harshness of one's everyday life. The song begins by painting a picture of a young woman named Maria who is trying to escape the filth and hardships of her surroundings by painting her face pretty. She is encouraged to smile on, despite the difficulties she faces. The lyrics then introduce a soldier who is brave but still needs to drink away his fears. He is dancing with Maria, who is also drinking, as a way to escape from their reality.

The chorus speaks to the desire that burns in their eyes, asking it to keep them going through the night. The lyrics then introduce a ghostly boy who is drinking in the corner, a face so fresh that it's heartbreaking to see him being taken to the slaughter. Maria lifts his face and stares at herself in the mirror, realizing that her fate is the same as his. The chorus is repeated as a reminder to defy one's fate and indulge in the moment.

Line by Line Meaning

Paint your face pretty young Maria
Maria, put on a smile to make this dirty place seem less bleak.

This filthy place will seem a little cleaner
If you smile, it'll compensate for the current uncleanliness of our surrounding.

Smile on, smile on, smile on
Keep on smiling to spread some positivity in this sad environment.

A soldier's brave but pour some more tequila
Even though we're soldiers, we drink more to numb the fear in us.

You're dancin' while we drink away the fear
While we drink to forget our fear, you dance to infuse some lively spirit in us.

Dance on, dance on, dance on
Keep dancing to keep the energy flowing.

Behold what burns in our eyes
Take a good look at the passionate spark in our eyes.

Desire we trust you
We believe that following our desire is the right thing to do.

To keep it alight, delight us tonight
We want to keep our desire alive, so please entertain and please us tonight.

Delight us tonight
Please us by setting the right mood and keeping the energy up throughout the night.

A ghostly boy drinks huddled in the corner
A young looking boy drinks in the corner, sheltering himself from the crowd.

A face so fresh they're takin' to the slaughter
He looks so young and pure that it's sad to see him here, presumably being taken to his doom.

Head on, head on, head on
Be bold and approach him.

You lift his face
You grab him by the chin and lift his face upwards.

And stare into a mirror
You stare at his face as if you're looking at yourself in a mirror.

Your night's for sale
You're a prostitute and you're selling your services for the night.

And now your fate is clear
You know what's going to happen to you and have accepted your fate.

Defy it tonight
Despite your pre-determined fate, challenge it by having some fun in the moment.

Behold what lights up your eyes, desire
Take a good look at the flame in your eyes, sparked by your desire.

While fate may have struck off your life, defy it tonight
Even though fate has already decided your downfall, make the present count by defying it through enjoyment.

Defy it tonight
Have a night full of fun and liberation despite your fate.

Lyrics © SM PUBLISHING FRANCE
Written by: Jake Bailey, Christian Brun, Jerome Cotta, Richard Minier

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind

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