A few months in, things were beginning to take off for the band. A limited 1000-disc run of the debut album 'Tsunami' was released and quickly sold out. It was reprinted and, pretty much instantly, sold out again. The band was taken by surprise by the phenomenal response and signed with a management company to enable them to keep focusing on the music, rather than the business.
Without having signed a record deal, Khoma started to work on the follow-up to 'Tsunami'. It soon became obvious that they had to do something about the line-up. As Khoma began as a side project, members often were scattered around the globe making it almost impossible to play live. The members didn't even consider themselves a real band, merely a project filling a musical void, something created because of a need to play together. Khoma decided to create two faces: one that writes, rehearses, and records songs and another that gathers to play live.
The band hail from varied musical backgrounds and all members still play in a number of different groups: Cult of Luna, The Perishers, and The Deportees to name three. With no pressure and total creative freedom, the members write the music they personally want to hear.
Besides playing music, all band members hold strong views on issues and ideologies spanning from anarchism, feminism and socialism to animal and environmental rights.
In creating their most recent music, the band have broadened their perspective and introduced new elements most notably cello and piano.
Jan Jämte - Vocals
Johannes Persson - Guitar
Fredrik Kihlberg - Guitar/Vocals/Piano
When the band signed to Roadrunner in 2005 and it became clear that the next records were going to be released outside of Scandinavia the band realised that the name Koma (under which they released their debut CD) was already taken – by quite a few artists! So, instead of changing to something else, the band simply changed the spelling to Khoma.
In April 2006 their second album 'the second wave' was released. It includes three songs from the debut.
The band recently made their UK festival debut on Sat 17th June 2006 at the Download Festival.
HARVEST
Khoma Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
All that hides beneath comes to life
Been too silent too long
Grew inside of me
Speak black tongue
Now the ships have sailed
There's only you and me, and false ideals
They became a part of me
Give it time to heal
The pulse goes down, I can hear you crying
Say you're ready to leave. There is no point in trying
Forgive this part of me, Pray for it to be over (I wish it wasn't so)
So i scream for air, in a world that's choking (Just give me time to heal)
The opening line of Khoma's song "Harvest", "Kneel to pick up the stone, all that hides beneath comes to life", simply means sometimes we need to dive deep down into ourselves and face our inner demons in order to move on from past grievances. The repetition of "been too silent too long" suggests the singer has been bottling up their emotions and has let them fester deep inside, causing them to grow and take hold of them. The line "speak black tongue" indicates that the singer has reached a point where the truth needs to be spoken, no matter how hard it may be. The ships have sailed and it's just the singer and their false ideals left.
As the song progresses, the singer pleads for forgiveness and healing, asking to be equipped with a blade to cut out the negativity from their life. The pulse goes down, but the singer can still hear the cries of others and feels the urge to help them. However, they realize that there is no point in trying to help others until they have helped themselves. The line "forgive this part of me, pray for it to be over" shows that the singer is aware of their shortcomings and is asking for forgiveness while acknowledging they need to overcome them. The final lines, "so I scream for air, in a world that's choking", suggests that even though the singer is trying to heal and move on, the world around them is still a difficult and harsh place to exist in.
Line by Line Meaning
Kneel to pick up the stone
Bend down to retrieve the stone lying on the ground
All that hides beneath comes to life
When the stone is lifted, whatever was hiding underneath it becomes visible and active
Been too silent too long
I have refrained from speaking my thoughts and feelings for too much time
Grew inside of me
My emotions have developed and intensified within me such that they can no longer be suppressed
Speak black tongue
Express my darkness, pain and negativity through words
Now the ships have sailed
Opportunities have passed and cannot be retrieved, circumstances have changed
There's only you and me, and false ideals
Nothing else matters except our relationship, which is marred by insincere beliefs and values
They became a part of me
False beliefs and values have become embedded in me and are difficult to shake off
Equip me with a blade
Supply me with a weapon to defend myself or to attack others
Give it time to heal
Allow me time to recover and recuperate from the damage inflicted upon me
The pulse goes down, I can hear you crying
My heartbeat slows down, and I am aware of your tears and distress
Say you're ready to leave. There is no point in trying
If you claim that you are prepared to depart, then there is no use in attempting to reconcile our differences
Forgive this part of me, Pray for it to be over (I wish it wasn't so)
Pardon this aspect of my character that is causing trouble, and hope that it will come to an end, despite my desire for things to be different
So i scream for air, in a world that's choking (Just give me time to heal)
I cry out for help to breathe in an environment full of suffocating stress and pain, begging for patience in letting me recover
Contributed by Sophia G. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Thakur Mishra
Kneel to pick up the stone
All that hides beneath
Comes to life
Been too silent too long
Grew inside of me
Speak black tongue
Now the ships have sailed
There's only you and me
And false ideals
They became a part of me
Equip me with a blade
Give it time...
To heal
The pulse goes down
I can hear you crying
Say you're ready to leave
There is no point of trying
Forgive this part of me
Pray for it to be over
(I wish it wasn't so)
So I scream for air
In a world that's choking
(Just give me time to heal)
Z. S. N.
Damn this is really good.
Pascal Guicherd
Superb song
Z. S. N.
Fuckin a dude. Just finding this