Steve Aoki, the DJ/Producer, grew up in Newport Beach, CA, and went to coll… Read Full Bio ↴Steve Aoki, the DJ/Producer, grew up in Newport Beach, CA, and went to college at UCSB. In his early 20s, he founded his own label, Dim Mak Records, in 1996. The label has released music by other electro house artists such as Datsik, Infected Mushroom, Dada Life, Zeds Dead, his own collaboration with Tiësto, MSTRKRFT, The Bloody Beetroots, Felix Cartal and Mustard Pimp, as well as by Bloc Party, Battles, The Kills, The Gossip, Klaxons, Scanners, Whitey, and Mystery Jets to name a few. The label has released over 250 records so far.

Aoki's debut mix album, Pillowface and His Airplane Chronicles was released in January 2008.[6] He also had an Essential Mix that aired on BBC Radio 1 on August 2, 2008.

Aoki's latest solo album, "Wonderland" was released January 2012 and features guest vocalists and musicians LMFAO, Kid Cudi, Travis Barker, Will.I.AM aka Zuper Blahq, Wynter Gordon, Rivers Cuomo, Lil Jon, Chiddy Bang, Lovefoxxx of CSS, Big John former guitarist of the punk band The Exploited, and others.

Aoki has also been busy in the studio collaborating with other fellow producer friends and thus far has released singles with The Bloody Beetroots, Armand Van Helden of Duck Sauce, Afrojack, Laidback Luke, Tai, Sidney Samson, Tiesto. In his interviews, Twitter feed or from his YouTube channel, he has shown teasers or has discussed doing future collaborations with Diplo, Knife Party, Datsik, Chris Lake, Rune, Iggy Azalea, Angger Dimas, and Dirtyphonics.

He has remixed many artists and bands, including Jackson 5, Drake, Kanye West, Eminem, Lil Wayne, Mike Posner, Girls Generation, All American Rejects, Refused, The Killers, Bassnectar, Lenny Kravitz, Bloc Party, Snoop Dogg, Robin Thicke, S.P.A., Kid Cudi, Chester French and Peaches.

Through relentless touring he gained huge support from colleges. Performing an average of 250 shows a year, he has recently started touring with production via bus tours like the spring 2012 Deadmeat Tour he headlined over 55 cities in 60 dates across the United States and Canada.

In March 2010 Aoki released "I'm In The House", a collaboration with Zuper Blahq—alter-ego of The Black Eyed Peas singer will.i.am. The song charted at #29 in the UK Singles Chart in its first week of release.

In May 2006, Aoki became a board member for MC5 bassist Michael Davis' Music Is Revolution Foundation,[9] a non-profit organization that provides music education support within public schools.

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The Boy Who Ran Away
Steve Aoki Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

There was a boy a ran away
From what he didn't know
Whom, he wouldn't say
He just had to go

Something snapped inside of him
As he fled from a nameless threat
Crowds of people stood aloof in Waterloo

There's no sunset, sunset

And when he gets to this mythic place
The streets are dirty, dark and deep
There is no rest there
There is no place to lay a head to sleep, to sleep...

There was a boy who ran away
From what he didn't know
Whom, he wouldn't say
He just had to go

Went to so much trouble
To banish you from my sight
He said that you're an accident
An accident about which I should forget, forget...

And now that the wheel has gone around
He's back where he belongs
And he knows there is no hope
Only solace in the words of this song
Solace in the world of this song
Solace in the world of this song...

There was a boy who ran away
From what he didn't know

Whom, he wouldn't say
He just, he had to go

Overall Meaning

The lyrics to Steve Aoki's "The Boy Who Ran Away" paint a picture of a young boy who runs away from an unknown threat, seeking solace in the mythic place he has been dreaming of. The song opens with the boy's inner turmoil, he doesn't know what he is running from nor will he reveal his destination. Something has undoubtedly snapped inside of him, indicating that he is facing grave danger. As he runs, crowds of people stand aloof in Waterloo and there is no sunset, suggesting his journey can only bring gloom and darkness.

In the second verse, the boy eventually reaches his destination where he discovers the environment there is even darker than what he has left behind. Laying his head to rest becomes a challenge as there is no place to find comfort in the dirty, dark and deep streets. The song then takes a shift, telling a story of a person who went through much trouble to banish someone from their sight. However, in hindsight, they realize that the person has always belonged in their life and the only solace comes from those realizations that the person finds in the world of the song.

The lyrics of this song are both cryptic and vague, leaving room for interpretation for the listener. It is a touching and haunting story of a young boy's journey to escape from the unexplainable. In summary, the song tells a story of a person who finds solace in the world of a song after a troubled existence.

Line by Line Meaning

There was a boy who ran away
Introducing the singer of the song, a boy who is running away from something he is unsure of

From what he didn't know
The reason why the boy is running away is unclear to him

Whom, he wouldn't say
The boy is not disclosing the identity of the person or entity he is running away from

He just had to go
Despite not knowing why he is running away or who he is running from, the boy feels a strong compulsion to leave anyway

Something snapped inside of him
There was a mental or emotional trigger that caused the boy to flee suddenly and urgently

As he fled from a nameless threat
The reason why the boy is running is not explicit; it's an ill-defined danger that's compelling him to run

Crowds of people stood aloof in Waterloo
At the moment when the boy decides to run, he's surrounded by people who are indifferent to his plight

There's no sunset, sunset
The imagery of a sunset, which typically symbolizes the end of a day, is being subverted- suggesting that there is no clear resolution for the boy's situation

And when he gets to this mythic place
The boy is searching for a fabled destination that he thinks will provide him with relief or safety

The streets are dirty, dark and deep
However, upon arriving at his intended location, he finds that the reality is bleaker than he thought

There is no rest there
Despite hoping for solace in this place, the boy realizes that it provides no peace

There is no place to lay a head to sleep, to sleep...
Even rest, which most people take for granted, is not available to the boy at this location

Went to so much trouble
The boy took great pains or suffered considerably to get away from the unidentified threat

To banish you from my sight
The entity or person the boy is running from has impacted him deeply enough that he wants to remove it entirely from his field of vision

He said that you're an accident
The boy has internalized the belief that he is running from something or someone who is an unintentional negative influence in his life

An accident about which I should forget, forget...
The boy is trying to convince himself that by running away, he can erase the impact of this entity or person from his life altogether

And now that the wheel has gone around
Some time has passed since the boy fled, and circumstances have shifted

He's back where he belongs
Despite his traumatic experience, the boy has returned to a place he considers his rightful home

And he knows there is no hope
The boy has come to terms with the realization that there is no positive resolution to the situation he fled from

Only solace in the words of this song
The boy finds emotional comfort in the music and lyrics of the song itself

Solace in the world of this song
The song provides the boy with a space where he can escape from his troubles and find comfort

There was a boy who ran away
The song ends with the same line that began it, indicating that the boy's situation has, in some sense, come full circle

From what he didn't know
Again emphasizing that the boy's motivations for fleeing were not entirely clear or rational

Whom, he wouldn't say
The boy is still not disclosing the identity of the person or entity he ran from

He just, he had to go
Ultimately, the song leaves the reason for the boy's flight unresolved, suggesting that some traumas may never be fully articulated or resolved

Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: HENRY WILLIAM HARRISON, KAI FISH, KAPIL TRIVEDI, STEVEN BLAINE HARRISON, WILLIAM REES

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind

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