Their first release was a double-A-side 7" single on Off The Wall (later signed to Peacefrog) that had two tracks: "Twice" and "Test".
Nagano was born and raised in Göteborg to a Japanese father and American mother. She grew up listening to American folk, but always had an affinity for R&B. Keyboardist Wirenstrand spent his childhood in Småland before moving to Göteborg where listened to a lot of Swedish folk music before getting into electronic music. Bodin grew up listening to early hip-hop and jazz. Fredrik was influenced by experimental, noise and electro house.
Nagano and Bodin play live with José González. Bodin also drums with Peps Perrson, a Swedish blues/reggae artist. Swedish electronic jazz duo Koop's albums Waltz for Koop and Koop Islands feature Yukimi Nagano's vocals on several tracks.
The band collaborated with Gorillaz on two tracks ("Empire Ants" and "To Binge") from their 2010 released album, Plastic Beach. Little Dragon also collaborated with Maximum Balloon (the solo project of David Andrew Sitek, producer and member of TV On the Radio), for one track entitled "If You Return". In 2011, the band's collaboration with SBTRKT on "Wildfire" was released as the lead single from his self-titled début LP.
Cat Rider
Little Dragon Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Since she came around this house
Her answering machine's full
He thinks listening could give her doubts
But when this girl's made up her mind
She's made up her mind, made up her mind
Looking out to the horizon
No turnin' back
Smooth cat rider
Stop bragging cause she broke your facade
Don't we all want to be stars in love
Stop playin' with the one that you love
Smooth cat rider
Stop ringin' cause it's gone to your head
So smooth
But she was smart instead
Stop playin' with the one that you love
I felt a new hole
Big old portraits of himself on the wall
Diamonds sculpt your face
This peacock is flying all over the place
The tiger's extra claws
No she's not impressed
Your laughs at stupid jokes
The only thing she missed
Now you can't stop looking back
Leaving messages
Smooth cat rider
Stop bragging cause she broke your facade
Don't we all want to be stars in love
Stop playin' with the one that you love
Smooth cat rider
Stop playin' cause it's gone to your head
So smooth
But she was smart instead
Stop playin' with the one that you love
Empty bottles, where to go next
Knowing what you truly missed
It's too late, can't rewind it
Can't get out your king-size bed
Now you're left with names to forget
Tryin' to heal from the pain
If only you could rewind it
Would not have acted the same
Smooth cat rider
She broke your facade
Smooth cat rider
Mmhmm
The lyrics of Little Dragon's "Cat Rider" describe the end of a relationship, with the singer reflecting on how the man she was involved with is handling the breakup. The first verse introduces the recent breakup and sets the stage for the rest of the song. The man's answering machine is full and instead of listening to the messages, he believes it could give her doubts. The second verse describes the man's larger-than-life persona, with portraits of himself on the wall and diamond-encrusted everything. The chorus repeats a warning to the man, calling him a "Smooth cat rider" and telling him to stop playing games with the woman he loves.
The third verse reflects on the aftermath of the breakup, with the man left with empty bottles and trying to heal from the pain. The singer acknowledges that it's too late to go back and undo the past, but wonders if things would have been different if the man had acted differently. The song ends with a repeat of the chorus and a simple "mmhmm" at the end.
Line by Line Meaning
Two months ago now
It has been two months since someone came to this house.
Since she came around this house
Since the girl came to this house.
Her answering machine's full
The girl's voicemail is full.
He thinks listening could give her doubts
The person thinks that listening to her voicemail could make the girl doubt him.
But when this girl's made up her mind
But once this girl decides on something,
She's made up her mind, made up her mind
She sticks to it.
Looking out to the horizon
Gazing into the distance.
No turnin' back
No going back.
No wastin' time
No time to waste.
Smooth cat rider
Smooth operator.
Stop bragging cause she broke your facade
Stop boasting because the girl has exposed your true self.
Don't we all want to be stars in love
Don't we all want to be romantic?
Stop playin' with the one that you love
Stop toying with the girl you love.
Stop ringin' cause it's gone to your head
Stop calling her because you're not thinking clearly.
So smooth
Too suave.
But she was smart instead
But the girl was clever.
I felt a new hole
I felt a sense of emptiness.
Big old portraits of himself on the wall
There are big portraits of the man on the wall.
Diamonds sculpt your face
Your face is chiseled like diamonds.
This peacock is flying all over the place
This man is flaunting himself everywhere.
The tiger's extra claws
His attempts to impress are ineffective.
No she's not impressed
The girl is not impressed.
Your laughs at stupid jokes
Your laughter at silly jokes.
The only thing she missed
The only thing she regretted.
Now you can't stop looking back
Now you can't stop thinking about the past.
Leaving messages
Leaving voicemails.
Empty bottles, where to go next
Empty bottles, where to go next.
Knowing what you truly missed
Knowing what you've lost.
It's too late, can't rewind it
It's too late to go back now.
Can't get out your king-size bed
Can't get out of your huge bed.
Now you're left with names to forget
Now you're left with people to forget about.
Tryin' to heal from the pain
Trying to recover from the hurt.
If only you could rewind it
If only you could go back.
Would not have acted the same
You would have acted differently.
Smooth cat rider
Smooth operator.
She broke your facade
The girl revealed your true self.
Mmhmm
An expression of agreement or acknowledgement.
Lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Written by: Erik Oskar Bodin, Fredrik Daniel Wallin, Hakan Wirenstrand, Yukimi Eleanora Nagano
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@charisse5250
Lyrics:
Two months ago now
Since she came around this house
Her answering machine's full
He thinks listening could give her doubts
But when this girl's made up her mind
She's made up her mind, made up her mind
Looking out to the horizon
No turnin' back
No wastin' time
Smooth cat rider
Stop bragging cause she broke your facade
Don't we all want to be stars in love
Stop playin' with the one that you love
Smooth cat rider
Stop ringin' cause it's gone to your head
So smooth
But she was smart instead
Stop playin' with the one that you love
I felt a new hole
Big old portraits of himself on the wall
Diamonds sculpt your face
This peacock is flying all over the place
The tiger's extra claws
No she's not impressed
Your laughs at stupid jokes
The only thing she missed
Now you can't stop looking back
Leaving messages
Smooth cat rider
Stop bragging cause she broke your facade
Don't we all want to be stars in love
Stop playin' with the one that you love
Smooth cat rider
Stop playin' cause it's gone to your head
So smooth
But she was smart instead
Stop playin' with the one that you love
Empty bottles, where to go next
Knowing what you truly missed
It's too late, can't rewind it
Can't get out your king-size bed
Now you're left with names to forget
Tryin' to heal from the pain
If only you could rewind it
Would not have acted the same
Smooth cat rider
She broke your facade
Smooth cat rider
Mmhmm
@Tali_mudae
"Smooth Cat Rider Stop Bragging Cause She broke your Facade, Don't We all wanna be Stars Inlove"
Fave Song in the album. Love from South Africa.
@JamarD421
I can't wait to see this hit 1 million. We're responsible for getting it there.
@jadiellima8922
I play this at least twice a month
@JamarD421
@@jadiellima8922 Only twice a month? Haha I play this nearly twice a day. Favorite track on the album.
@imthewizardofoz
and here we are.
@scarlettlenoir3324
It’s reached 1mil ❤👏🏽🙌🏽
@SRHisntSilent
It's gotten 1million views
@sidneyceballos5367
My life wouldn’t be complete without Little Dragon. This band is food for the soul ❤
@louisstrickland8825
as a heavy metal guy... this is an awesome release from the norm... I can fall asleep to this any night of the week.... beautiful music 🙏🏽🙏🏽🤔
@MelanieMlalazi
My faith in the future of music has been restored. I love how Little Dragon's sound is re-invented on each album.