They’ve raised the bar with Strength to Survive, their fourth full-length album, an intoxicating mix of hot-rod reggae grooves and urgent, zeitgeist-capturing themes. The album, produced by John Alagia (Dave Matthews, John Mayer, O.A.R.), is the band’s first for ATO, the label co-founded by Dave Matthews.
Hemphill says the album was greatly inspired by Bob Marley’s Survival. “That’s the greatest reggae album ever made,” he says. “It has the best basslines and the best lyrics ever heard on one record. Marley wrote it after he went to Africa. I was 13 or 14 when I listened to it for the first time and it triggered all these long-forgotten memories of when I lived in Africa as a kid. My dad was an IMF res rep in Liberia in the late 80’s. I remember when the coup first started—- my family had to hide in these iron bathtubs for 3 days because the military was shooting at everything. I was 7 and that was one of my first memories. We made it out on the last flight. So Africa was always a big part of our lives—- it defined our family, in a way. Music came right after that, so, for me, music was always tied to Africa and music was always something powerful.”
Shortly after returning from Africa, Hemphill met Bobby Lee (bass) in the first grade in Virginia. The two instantly became best friends, finding common ground through their love of hip hop, rock and reggae which they performed together at their middle school talent shows. Throughout high school, they met Ryan Berty (drums), Kenneth Brownell (percussion) and Patrick O’Shea (keyboards) and together formed SOJA. The band gigged locally in the DC area while a couple of the guys finished school, all the while making plans to hit the road after graduation. They actually wound up owning the road.
Over the course of the past few years, SOJA has sold more than 200,000 albums, headlined large theaters in more than 20 countries around the world, generated over 40 million YouTube views, amassed nearly 2 million Facebook fans, and attracted an almost Grateful Dead-like international fanbase that grows with each tour, with caravans of diehards following them from city to city. Most impressive of all, they’ve accomplished all this on their own. This 8-piece band has spent the past year and a half grinding it out from venue to venue, playing more than 360 dates, including headlining sold-out tours of North and South America, as well as opening for O.A.R. and sharing stages with everyone from Dave Matthews Band to Matisyahu.
With Strength to Survive, the band makes an impassioned call for unity and change with universally relatable songs about faith, hope and love. “I could go on and on about the horrible damage we’ve done to the earth or the problems that arise when countries compete for money over an imaginary border, but the album has one central theme,” says Hemphill, “and that’s our hope for the world to be one family.”
It’s a concept best exemplified in the song “Everything Changes.” “People out there with no food at night,” sings Hemphill, “And we say we care, but we don’t, so we all lie/But what if there’s more to this, and one day we become what we do, not what we say/Maybe we need to want to fix it. Maybe stop talking, maybe start listening/ Maybe we need to look at this world less like a square and more like a circle.”
Among the album’s many highlights is the ethereal “Let You Go,” about the road not taken, “Mentality,” the disc’s hard-hitting opening track, and the one-two punch of “Be With Me Now” and “When We Were Younger,” the latter bringing together the macro and the micro with the simple yet resonant line, “All of my answers, now that I’m older, turn into questions.”
Hemphill says the band’s simple and honest approach to music is what’s enabled them to break through obstacles of language, distance and culture in amassing an international following. “What’s the alternative – pop music?” he laughs. “Pop music—especially American pop music, is about having money, sleeping with models, living in mansions, spending all of our time in clubs and generally being better than the rest of the world. It’s funny, ‘cuz everyone here is broke. We sing about different things—things that actually matter. I think our fans appreciate that.”
“When I look out in the audience and I see these kids with tears in their eyes, not because I’m singing a love song, but because I’m singing about how the world is dying and we’re the only ones who can stop it, that is huge. I live for that. We played a festival in Brazil in front of 80,000 people, and everybody was singing every word—in English. After one of the songs, I told them, ‘We’re on the road a lot, and people always ask me, “Don’t you ever get homesick? Don’t you miss your family?” I said, ‘It took me awhile to realize this, but this is my home, and you all are my family.’ The place just blew up. It was amazing. But it’s the truth—those are my people and I always want to do right by them. It’s is the only game in town for me.” ❖
Bring Back Truth
Soldiers of Jah Army Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Fight for yourself of be fought for, but
Find for yourself or be lost for ever;
You never know when it's gonna come. It's like...
Careful the game that you've been playing,
Every night and every day, and - or
You might just find yourself saying,
"Damn, I never really thought it would come..."
What people want, you know,
Is for someone to bring back truth...
And that's just what we want to do,
That's what a soldiers destined to do.
Just like the tree that's been planted by Jah
Water, you can never end it.
The worst you'll do is transplant it, believe me -
We've already seen that day come.
No guarantee on tomorrow -
Could bring you joy, could bring you sorrow,
So be careful how you beg, steal, and borrow, 'cause
You never know when that day will come.
What people want, you know,
Is just someone to bring back truth...
That's what I was born to do.
Truth is still revealing, and
Closets will need cleaning, I'm
Still searching for the meaning -
Can't stop me 'cause I know it'll come.
And while... artisis repeat the same phrases; they...
Copy the words off old pages; man,
Being someone else is dangerous...
Jah search me 'cause you know that I'm one...
What people want, you know,
Is for someone to bring back truth...
Soldiers of Jah Army destined and we blessed to do.
The lyrics to Soldiers of Jah Army's song "Bring Back Truth" speak to the importance of individual thought, self-determination, and truth‐seeking. The opening lines "Think for yourself or be thought for, and, / Fight for yourself of be fought for, but / Find for yourself or be lost for ever" highlight the importance of personal autonomy and the consequences of failing to take decisive action. The song advocates for truth and challenges listeners to carefully consider the path they are currently on without blindly following societal norms or external pressures.
The repetition of the phrase "What people want, you know, / Is for someone to bring back truth" emphasizes the universal desire for authenticity and transparency. The lyrics suggest that society lacks authenticity and people are in need of a guide to show them the path, to tell the truth, and to help people find themselves. The song encourages listeners to remain persistent in their pursuit of truth and to hold themselves accountable for their actions.
Line by Line Meaning
Think for yourself or be thought for, and,
Either you think for yourself or let others do the thinking for you
Fight for yourself or be fought for, but
Fight your own battles or let others fight it for you
Find for yourself or be lost for ever;
Find your path or you'll be lost forever
You never know when it's gonna come. It's like...
You never know when your time will come
Careful the game that you've been playing,
Be careful of the game you've been playing
Every night and every day, and - or
Every single day or night
You might just find yourself saying,
You could find yourself saying
"Damn, I never really thought it would come..."
"Damn, I never thought it would happen to me..."
What people want, you know,
People want
Is for someone to bring back truth...
They want someone to bring back the truth
And that's just what we want to do,
And that's exactly what we want to do
That's what a soldiers destined to do.
A soldier is destined to bring back the truth
Just like the tree that's been planted by Jah
Like a tree planted by Jah
Water, you can never end it.
Water sustains the tree forever
The worst you'll do is transplant it, believe me -
The most you could do is transplant the tree
We've already seen that day come.
We've seen it happen before
No guarantee on tomorrow -
There's no guarantee for tomorrow
Could bring you joy, could bring you sorrow,
Tomorrow could bring either joy or sorrow
So be careful how you beg, steal, and borrow, 'cause
Be careful how you obtain things
You never know when that day will come.
You don't know when that day will arrive
Truth is still revealing, and
The truth is still being uncovered
Closets will need cleaning, I'm
Dark secrets will need to be exposed
Still searching for the meaning -
Still searching for the truth
Can't stop me 'cause I know it'll come.
Nothing can stop me because I believe the truth will be revealed
And while... artisis repeat the same phrases; they...
While artists repeat the same phrases, they
Copy the words off old pages; man,
They copy words from old pages
Being someone else is dangerous...
It's dangerous to be someone you're not
Jah search me 'cause you know that I'm one...
Jah, please search me because I'm one of the soldiers who will bring back the truth
Soldiers of Jah Army destined and we blessed to do.
Soldiers of Jah Army are destined to bring back the truth, and it's a blessing
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
CityLimitsPK
My rough attempt at the lyrics, enjoy:
Think for yourself or be thought for, and
Fight for yourself or be fought for, but
Fight for yourself or be lost forever,
you never know when its going to call
Its like, care for the game you've been playing,
huh, every night and every day,
you might just find yourself sayin' Damn
I never really thought it would come
What people want, you know, is for someone to bring back truth
And that's just what we want to do, its what a SOJA is destined to do
Just like the tree that has been planted, by jah water you can never end it
the worst is you'll do it just transplant it, believe me we have already seen that become,
no guarantee of tomorrow, to bring you drugs to bring you sorrow
so be careful on how you beg steal and borrow, cause you never know when that day will come
Chorus:
[Cause what they want, you know, is for someone to bring back truth
And that's just what we want to do, its what a SOJA is destined to do] (slight variation)
x2
Truth is still revealing, and closets still need cleaning, I'm still searching for the meaning
Can't stop me because I know where to go,
I why artists repeat the same phrases, they copy the words of full pages,
Man, being someone else is dangerous, Just search me because i'm (?????)
Chorus:
x2
Are you, listening now, are you, listening now, I mean are you, listening now, are you, listening now, listening whoa
x2(slight variation)
To what Jah say
Agustín Álvarez
It is such a shame that this wondefull song has so little views. Makes me realize how most of us live in darkness.
We must change that brothers and sisters. We will change it
Denis Andres
Amen brother, even if we cant do so much, we have to, is our must
Garrett Peterson
It's what we are destined to do, what we were born to do 🙏😉
Agustín Álvarez
@Garrett Peterson Wow! Totally forgot i had made this comment. Amazing how my worldview has changed in 3 years, i wouldn't say that today, what i was seeing in others, that darkness, was actually the darkness in me.
Everyone deserves to give and recieve Love, complaining won't make things better for me or for others.
Thank you for remending me of this brother :)
Garrett Peterson
@Agustín Álvarez that's right, bring the truth back to ourselves first. Then others around us will feel it 👌
Ricardo canett
yea true tahts cause a little % of pop can see trought the box haha have a nice day and jah bless your life and ur family
Eurípedes da Cruz Marinho Costa
essas músicas são top
izak sameirix
love it!!! respect ☮
Prince Itic
Truth = the WORD = unconditional Love
Mp
p.s. Dear Jah,
May thou bless the western hemisphere in the name of Christ Jesus, Amen
Dragon And Bunny Greenchild
Prince Itic in the name of YAH