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.” ❖
Let You Go
Soldiers of Jah Army Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
when you're around, and it's slowly turning me upside down (upside down X2)
You can be who you want to
You can see who you want to
There's nothing I can tell you now except
I'm always thinking of you
Even when I don't want to
Cuz I didn't meant to let you go
Should've been the first one to let you know
Change your mind
And let me slide just one more time
It doesn't have to be this way
We could stop fighting and wake up in your place, or
I could go
Leave it to chance and just let this go on...
And when we're in the future
And now is a million miles away
Will we start to reconsider what now belongs to yesterday
This whole life is moving fast for me, is it for you the same?
And do you dream and when you do, do you wake up saying my name?
You can be who you want to
You can see who you want to
There's nothing I can tell you now except
I'm always thinking of you
Even when I don't want to
In more ways than I can count
Cuz I didn't meant to let you go
Should've been the first one to let you know
Change your mind
And let me slide just one more time
It doesn't have to be this way
We could stop fighting and wake up in your place, or
I could go
Leave it to chance and just let it go, let it go
We were only children still deciding who to be
I remember following you, hoping you'd look back at me
But then a band became my life
And you heard California's nice
And then we go older like people do
But I didn't mean to let you go
The lyrics of Soldiers of Jah Army's song "Let You Go" is a wistful reflection of lost love and regret. The singer realizes that things are so much better when the person they love is around, but now it's too late. The song starts by describing the realization that everything is slowing down, and it's much better with the loved one, and their absence has turned their life upside down. The singer admits that they always think of their love interest, even more than they'd like to. It is a realization of what was lost and the desire to have them back.
The chorus of "Let You Go" talks about the regret of letting the person they loved go, and now they cannot do anything about it. The singer wishes they could turn back time and tell their love interest how they felt. They plead that they didn't mean to let them go and should have let them know how they felt. The singer is willing to do anything to make it work between them, even if it means changing their mind and letting them slide for one more time. The singer believes that things don't have to be this way, and they could stop fighting and wake up together.
The song's last verse speaks about the future and the realization that the present moment becomes a distant memory. The singer wonders if they will reconsider their love for them and whether they will wake up thinking of them. In the end, the singer still regrets letting them go and wishes they hadn't lost their love.
Line by Line Meaning
It occurred to me as things are slowing down that it's always much better
when you're around, and it's slowly turning me upside down (upside down X2)
As life is calming down, I realize that everything is better when you are here. Your absence is making me feel disoriented
You can be who you want to
You can see who you want to
There's nothing I can tell you now except
I'm always thinking of you
Even when I don't want to
In more ways than I can count
You have the freedom to be whoever you want and see whoever you want. I don't have any advice to give you right now except that I always think of you, even when I don't want to, in countless ways
Cuz I didn't meant to let you go
Should've been the first one to let you know
Change your mind
And let me slide just one more time
It doesn't have to be this way
We could stop fighting and wake up in your place, or
I could go
Leave it to chance and just let this go on...
I didn't intend to let you go. I should have been the first one to tell you my feelings. Please reconsider and give me one more chance. We don't have to keep fighting. We could either wake up together or I could leave it to the universe and let fate decide what will happen
And when we're in the future
And now is a million miles away
Will we start to reconsider what now belongs to yesterday
This whole life is moving fast for me, is it for you the same?
And do you dream and when you do, do you wake up saying my name?
When the future comes, and the present feels like a long time ago, will we regret the choices we made? My life is moving quickly, I wonder if it feels the same for you? Do you dream of me and wake up thinking of me?
We were only children still deciding who to be
I remember following you, hoping you'd look back at me
But then a band became my life
And you heard California's nice
And then we go older like people do
But I didn't mean to let you go
We were just kids still figuring out our identity. I remember following you and wanting your attention. But then I joined a band, and you went to California. We grew older like everyone else, but I never intended to let you go
Contributed by Colin S. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@ryuji9577
Original Tradução
It occured to me
As things are slowing down
That it's always
Much better when you're around,
And it's slowly turning me
Upside down,
Upside down,
Upside down - wait
You can be who you want to
You can see who you want to
And there's nothing i can tell you now,
Except:
I'm always thinking of you
Even if i don't want to
In more ways than i can count
Cuz i didn't mean to let you go,
Should've been the first one to let you know
Oh change your mind,
And let me slide just one more time
It doesn't have to be this way
We could stop fighting and wake up in your place
Or, i could go, leave it to chance
And just let this go go on...
And when we're in the future,
And "now" is a million miles away,
Will we start to reconsider
What now belongs to yesterday?
This whole life is moving fast for me,
Is it for you the same?
And do you dream?
And when you do, do you wake up saying my name?
You can be who you want to
And you can see who you want to
And there's nothing i can tell you now,
Except:
That i'm always thinking of you
And even when i don't want to
In more ways than i can count
Cuz i didn't mean to let you go,
Should've been the first one to let you know
Oh change your mind,
And let me slide just one more time
And, it doesn't have to be this way
We could stop fighting and wake up in your place
Or, i could go,
Leave it to chance
And just let it go, let it go
Yeah yeah
Cuz, we were only children, still deciding who to be,
I remember following you
Hoping you'd look back at me
But then a band became my life,
And you heard california's nice,
And then we got older like people do
But i didn't mean to let you g
@kaleocobb-adams2895
Makes me think about life and what god gives you in life that u should appreciate what you have cuz ur going to miss it when it’s gone :)
@aryannereis5405
Amo tanto essa música, que nostalgia 😍
@eg2331
Si mami
@joiceslx
Me sinto em outro patamar quando escuto essa música maravilhosa, as vezes lembro de como foi minha vida e que rumo eu poderia ter tomado. E, se tivesse tomado esse rumo o que seria de mim ? Será se estava bem ? Mas talvez fosse tudo melhor? E se fosse pior? É Deus sabe de tudo 🥺. Passamos por cada uma que meu Jesus . Lembrar que tudo poderia ter mudado me faz me sentir incapaz de viver o verdadeiro sentido da vida !!!! :/
@Udamasta
i love how every soja song has so many likes and almost no dislikes, no haters, and no flames. so many devoted fans and no trolls. its the mark of an iconic band
@loonyhaole
SOJA IS the best thing thats happened since BOB MARLEY!!! respect!
@gabrielapinheiro4146
nostalgia💞
@thalesdesousa2422
Verdade rss
@MarcosVinicius-cs1ru
Sempre kkkkk
@triballl9
malta de 80