There are at least three artists called Johan.

1. Johan is a Dutch … Read Full Bio ↴There are at least three artists called Johan.

1. Johan is a Dutch indie rock band, established in 1990 in the town of Hoorn, The Netherlands, by singer, guitarist and songwriter Jacob de Greeuw, who initially named the group Visions Of Johanna (after the Bob Dylan song of the same name).

The name was changed into Johan in 1996. That same year the band put out their début album, Johan, to overwhelming acclaim from the Dutch music press. The band underwent several personnel changes. De Greeuw soon was the only permanent member. Johan recorded and released three more studio albums of melodic, crafty, Beatle-esque guitar pop with English lyrics that often touched on De Greeuw's personal life. The frontman suffered several bouts of serious clinical depression, the subject of many songs on the Dutch indie classic Pergola (2001) as well as THX JHN (2006). By 2006 De Greeuw had re-located to Amsterdam and formed an Amsterdam-based line-up of the band.

The album 4 (2009) would be thought to be Johan's swan song: the band - to the surprise of many fans - decided to call it a day after a sold-out 'farewell show' at Amsterdam's Paradiso in December 2009. In 2018 they released their 5th studio album Pull Up(2018) All five of Johan's albums (particularly the first three) are regarded as Dutch indie gems, but Johan never made a mark outside of The Netherlands, which is why they are regarded by many (in spite of their domestic success and 'gold' certification for Pergola) as criminally underrated.

Frontman Jacco (or Jacob) de Greeuw is the only permanent Johan member. The first Johan line-up (the 'Hoorn line-up' of 1996) was completed by Remco Krull, Niels de Wit and Wim Kwakman.

The 'Amsterdam line-up' line-up that called it a day in late 2009 consisted of De Greeuw, Maarten Kooijman (guitar, vocals), Diets Dijkstra (guitar, bass guitar, vocals) and Jeroen Kleijn (drums).

De Greeuw's decision to call it quits was perhaps more of a surprise than his decision to re-form the band in 2018 after nine years of absence. The comeback album, Pull Up was regarded by most critics as 'just as good as the first three'. A long string of Dutch festival shows and sold out club gigs followed. The current line-up of Johan is the 'Amsterdam line-up' of 2009, with the exception of guitarist Maarten Kooijman, who penned several songs on 2009's 4. Robin Berlijn (previously in Fatal Flowers, Moke and Kane, amongst others) replaced him.

2. Johan is an American singer and music producer who, until 2010, had never seriously listened to any kind of popular music--he was fully immersed in the world of classical, as an award-winning composer and self-taught pianist. But then Johan was introduced to Kanye West's symphonic 2010 album, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, while on acid at a house party in the suburban Massachusetts town where he grew up. Captivated, he immediately began teaching himself how to sing and produce contemporary songs.

In 2016, Johan became the composer for Yeethoven--a concert featuring the music of Kanye West and Beethoven juxtaposed and combined by a 50-piece orchestra. Johan's work soon caught the attention of Mike Dean and No I.D., both of whom he's worked with extensively since then on albums for Travis Scott (Astroworld), Teyana Taylor, Nas, Kanye West, Vic Mensa and others. His contributions on these records range from writing & production, to composing & singing grandiose choral atmospheres to orchestrating symphonic interludes.

Now, Johan is releasing new music of his own, featuring the same vocal and orchestral textures he contributed to these artists. They appear not as background components in his work, but as a central compositional feature--something Kanye West personally encouraged him to consider when working on Teyana Taylor's album.

Johan's songs, which he produces largely himself, explore a feeling of suburban ennui and anxiety about growing up, often viewed through a darkly humorous, self-deprecating lens.

3. Johan is also a Dutch folk/pub singer. His full name is Johan Hengeveld, 'Jij hebt de hemel verdiend' (2009) his best known song.

Save Game
Johan Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

You drove me away, out of your life again,
Into the darkest minor cold and empty place.
Ran out of luck, you'd never throw your hand
Took all the fuel, broke every rule
To win this race

Well, if I could only save
This game.

Before you get us all insane
And this could be a great escape
Reload and play all over again

Driving too fast,
Now you were miles ahead
Into the night my wait other lives
Make no mistake
Try to explain, but you wouldn't understand.
It's getting you killed the walls I've built will never break

Well, if I could only save
This game.
Before you get us all insane
And this could be a great escape
Reload and play all over again For every game a greater loss
For every win a higher price to pay,
Loosing control again

Fatal exception on the screen
Fatal injection blows the hights away
Too late again

I really should have saved
This game.
We could have made a hall
Of fame.
This could have been
The greatest game,
Reload and play,

Start over again.
You drove me away out of your life again

Overall Meaning

The lyrics of Johan's song "Save Game" depict a relationship that has been driven apart by one person's reckless behavior. The singer is speaking directly to their partner, accusing them of consistently endangering the relationship by pushing their luck too far. They describe their partner as someone who takes all the risks, breaks all the rules and is solely focused on winning the game, even if it means causing the destruction of the relationship. The singer is ultimately left feeling hurt and abandoned, forced into a dark and empty place that they liken to a "minor cold."

Throughout the song, the singer begs for the chance to start over again, to reload the game and to play all over once more. They portray their partner's reckless behavior as something that is getting them killed, a situation that they could avoid if only they could "save" the game. The lyrics convey a sense of desperation and nostalgia, painting a picture of a relationship that was once great but is now on the brink of falling apart.

Overall, "Save Game" speaks to the importance of taking responsibility for one's actions in a relationship, and the consequences that can result from recklessness and a lack of communication.

Line by Line Meaning

You drove me away, out of your life again,
You pushed me out of your life once more and left me in a dark, lonely place.

Into the darkest minor cold and empty place.
You left me in the coldest and emptiest place, where there is no hope to be found.

Ran out of luck, you'd never throw your hand
You ran out of luck, but you refused to quit and accept defeat.

Took all the fuel, broke every rule
You used up all your resources, and went beyond the limit to try and win this game.

To win this race
You were determined to be the winner no matter what it takes.

Well, if I could only save
If only I could save what we had before things got out of hand.

This game.
Our relationship that we were playing like a game.

Before you get us all insane
Before we lose our minds and hurt each other even more.

And this could be a great escape
We could have a chance to escape our problems and start over again.

Reload and play all over again
We should reset and start again as if nothing has happened.

Driving too fast,
We were moving too quickly and lost control of the situation.

Now you were miles ahead
You've left me behind, and you were too far gone for me to catch up.

Into the night my wait other lives
I spend my time waiting for something else while my real life seems far away.

Make no mistake
Don't be confused or misled by what is happening.

Try to explain, but you wouldn't understand.
I tried to tell you how I felt, but you refused to listen or comprehend how I feel.

It's getting you killed the walls I've built will never break
Your stubbornness and inability to understand my feelings are hurting our relationship, and the distance between us will never be bridged.

For every game, a greater loss
Every time we play this game, we lose more than we did before.

For every win a higher price to pay, Loosing control again
Winning comes at a cost, and we lose control of ourselves more each time we win.

Fatal exception on the screen
Something terrible happened and we couldn't fix it.

Fatal injection blows the hights away
The mistake we made was irreversible and had severe consequences.

Too late again
Once again, we were too late to fix our relationship, and we lost each other forever.

I really should have saved
I should have held onto what we had and not let it slip away.

This game.
Our relationship that crumbled and ended like a game with a loss.

We could have made a hall
We could have made a significant impact, achieving something good together.

Of fame.
We could have been remembered for the right reasons.

This could have been
Our lives could have been filled with joy and fulfilment.

The greatest game,
Our relationship could have been the best thing ever.

Start over again.
We should restart our relationship and start again from scratch.