As a group they opened for bands such as Rasputina and Paris Loves L.A., and toured with Veruca Salt. Wes Precourt has supported Justin Timberlake, played the Grammys, soloed with national orchestras and serenaded the dedication of the Heifitz studio. Ana has played with Arthur Lee and LOVE, The Eels, Trent Reznor, Queens of the Stone Age, A Perfect Circle, Gnarls Barkley, ZWAN, Kidney Thieves, Brian Wilson and Sparkle Horse to name a few, Dan is the founder of Music ‘N Me, a school dedicated to music education for small children, and finally Morgan has sung on the trailers for “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire”, “Pride and Prejudice” and “Lady in the Water”, and left the Romanovs to collaborate and tour with French electronic/shoegaze band M83 (for the album Saturdays=Youth).
Winners of the 2007 Toronto Independent Music Awards where they won for Best USA Band, The Romanovs released their debut and final album “…and the moon was hungry…” in November of 2007.
Morgan Kibby: Writer, Vocals
Wesley Precourt: Violin
Ana Lenchantin: Cello
Dan Rosa: Piano
Randy Cooke: Drums
2) The Romanovs are also an independent alternative rock band from Minneapolis. They released their first album War & Peace on August 16, 2009.
Mr. Okada
The Romanovs Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
For I find your life echoes mine in the strangest ways
I just had to write you
The man who created you
Oh, what a beautiful mind
Oh, what a lovely head to get inside
Peek around, sit astride
Ooh ooh, no one invited me
Me, me
Do you drink the water or the wave?
Do you drink the water or the wave?
Oh, Mr. Okada, I have stepped into your fiction
Which is fantasy and reality to me, don't you see?
Oh, I am ready, set the teeth to the thigh, one ear to the soil
With my bridle held way up high
Ooh, no one invited me
Ooh ooh, no one invited me
Me, me
Do you drink the water or the wave?
Do you drink the water or the wave?
I catch the train, sit next to you
As we chit-chat, the coast falls away
And a lullaby of steam and time
It throws me into a fitful sleep
The branches point, they are like pistols
They urge along our playful minds
And on into the deep dark forest
We will whinny and we will whine
And with sugared feet we flee the captors
We precede
We run real deep
And I come to as the train approaches
And you are gone and I'm all alone again
Do you drink the water or the wave?
Do you drink the water or the wave?
Dear Mr. Okada
No one invited me
Me
The Romanovs’ song “Mr. Okada” tells the story of a person who identifies with the main character of Haruki Murakami’s novel, “The Wind-up Bird Chronicle,” named Mr. Okada. The singer writes a letter to Mr. Okada, expressing how their lives run parallel and how they have stepped into his “fiction” which is a mix of fantasy and reality to the singer.
The singer admires Mr. Okada for his “beautiful mind” and wishes to get inside it to explore it more. Despite this admiration, the singer feels uninvited and excluded from Mr. Okada’s world. The lyrics suggest a sense of longing for acceptance and belonging.
The lyrics use water and waves as metaphors for choice and power, asking if Mr. Okada chooses to drink the water or ride out the waves. This is a metaphor for the choices in life and whether one chooses to follow the steady and safe path or to take risks and ride the waves towards new opportunities.
Overall, the song presents a sense of admiration, longing, and a desire for acceptance and good life choices, seen through the lens of a fictional character from a novel.
Line by Line Meaning
Dear Mr. Okada, I am writing this letter
I am reaching out to you because I see similarities in our lives
For I find your life echoes mine in the strangest ways
I feel like your life is a reflection of my own, in unexpected ways
I just had to write you
I couldn't resist reaching out to you
The man who created you
The person responsible for bringing you into being
Oh, what a beautiful mind
Your mind is truly remarkable
Oh, what a lovely head to get inside
I find your mind so intriguing that I would love to understand it better
Peek around, sit astride
Explore and immerse myself in your mind
Ooh ooh, no one invited me
I feel like an outsider or interloper
Me, me
My own desires and curiosities
Do you drink the water or the wave?
Do you prefer to go with the flow, or actively shape your own destiny?
Oh, Mr. Okada, I have stepped into your fiction
I have entered your imaginative world where the line between reality and fantasy is blurred
Which is fantasy and reality to me, don't you see?
I can no longer tell what is imaginary and what is real
Oh, I am ready, set the teeth to the thigh, one ear to the soil
I am prepared to fully immerse myself in your world, with a sense of grounding and readiness
With my bridle held way up high
With a sense of control and readiness to explore
I catch the train, sit next to you
We are on this journey together
As we chit-chat, the coast falls away
Through our conversation, we are transported from our mundane reality
And a lullaby of steam and time
The soothing and hypnotic sounds of the train lull us into a dreamlike state
It throws me into a fitful sleep
I am overtaken by a restless and agitated state of sleep
The branches point, they are like pistols
The trees outside resemble weapons or danger
They urge along our playful minds
They encourage us to continue to explore and imagine
And on into the deep dark forest
We plunge deeper into the unknown and mysterious
We will whinny and we will whine
We will express ourselves vocally, like animals
And with sugared feet we flee the captors
With a sweet and nimble spirit, we free ourselves from anything holding us back
We precede
We move forward, with confidence and purpose
We run real deep
We explore the depths of our imaginations and souls
And I come to as the train approaches
I am brought back to reality as our journey comes to a close
And you are gone and I'm all alone again
You are no longer there, and I am left to process this immersive experience on my own
Contributed by Adeline V. Suggest a correction in the comments below.