The term Various Artists is used in the record industry when numerous singers and musicians collaborate on a song or collection of songs. Most often on Last.fm, compilation album tracks appear under the name of Various Artists erroneously because the individual artist is not listed in the album's ID3 information.
Compilation albums, for example.
Sometimes, single releases may be credited to Various Artists when their profits are going to charity and, usually in high-profile cases, are sometimes known by a group name. Examples include Band Aid with their releases of Do They Know It's Christmas? and USA for Africa with We Are The World.
Various Artists is also an actual performance name for Torsten Pröfrock, who runs the German DIN label. Torsten performs also as Dynamo, Erosion, Resilent, Traktor besides some others. He's a good friend of Robert Henke and since the Fall of 2004, he is a member of Monolake.
Various Artists was also a short-lived Bristol punk band formed by brothers Jonjo and Robin Key (originally from Birmingham). Other members were also simultaneously in Art Objects who went on to become The Blue Aeroplanes, the latter the Key brothers also co-wrote some songs and were involved in. When Various Artists imploded, the Key brothers went on to form Either / Or.
Various Artists also appear on tracks from musical theater soundtracks, due to the nature of having many cast members on one song, as well as an ensemble in some cases.
Déjà Vu
Various Artists Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
And we'll go back in time
Everything's the same
We've fallen into place
Why does this keep happening?
Crashing down with the lightning
Smash my heart into pieces and sing
These moments fall apart
We've walked this path before
You've said your lines, now it's
Time to play my role once more
And we'll restart the cycle again
And we'll restart breaking each other again
We're trapped in here, we're trapped in here for good
I'm lost in here, I'm lost in here with you
Together, through and through
Bring on the excuses
Tell me that I deserve this
Don't let me open my mouth
Don't stop the rain from pouring down
So why does this keep on happening
We're crashing down with the lightning
You smash our hearts into pieces and sing
These moments are your fault
I'm losing a rigged battle
And you restart the cycle
And you restart breaking me again
We're trapped in here, we're trapped in here for good
I'm lost in here, I'm lost in here with you
Together, through and through
These moments fall apart
We've walked this path before
You've said your lines, now it's
Time to play my role once more
And we'll restart the cycle again
And we'll restart breaking each other
We're trapped in here, we're trapped in here for good
I'm lost in here, I'm lost in here with you
Together, through and through
In the song Deja Vu by Various Artists, the lyrics speak to the experience of being stuck in a cycle with someone, repeating the same mistakes over and over again. The first verse sets the scene with the hopelessness of the situation, "Bring on the chill rain, and we'll go back in time, everything's the same, we've fallen into place." It's as if the singer and their partner are stuck in their ways, unable to break free from a pattern of behavior that keeps leading them to the same outcome.
The chorus repeats the question of why this keeps happening, with the imagery of lightning striking and smashing their hearts into pieces, while they continue to play their assigned roles in the cycle. The second verse shifts to blame, with the singer accusing their partner of being the cause of their repeated failure, "These moments are your fault, I'm losing a rigged battle, and you restart the cycle, and you restart breaking me again."
Line by Line Meaning
Bring on the chill rain
Let the rain fall, creating a cold mood for us to relive the past
And we'll go back in time
We'll both go back to the past, just like we're reliving it
Everything's the same
Just as it was, everything is still the same
We've fallen into place
We're both where we're supposed to be
Why does this keep happening?
What is the reason for this constant repetition?
Crashing down with the lightning
We're falling hard, just like lightning strikes
Smash my heart into pieces and sing
You shattered me emotionally, and now you sing like nothing happened
These moments fall apart
These moments disintegrate one by one
We've walked this path before
We've been down this road multiple times
You've said your lines, now it's
You've spoken your part, and now it's my turn
Time to play my role once more
Now it's my turn to act my part in this play
And we'll restart the cycle again
We'll start over again
And we'll restart breaking each other again
And we'll start destroying each other again
We're trapped in here, we're trapped in here for good
We're both trapped here, never to escape
I'm lost in here, I'm lost in here with you
I am lost here, and you are the only company I have
Together, through and through
We are together, for better or for worse
Bring on the excuses
Give me any reason, any excuse to justify the situation
Tell me that I deserve this
Tell me I brought this onto myself
Don't let me open my mouth
Don't let me speak, just accept what's already happening
Don't stop the rain from pouring down
Let the rain fall, don't stop it
These moments are your fault
It's your fault that these moments are falling apart
I'm losing a rigged battle
I'm losing a game that was already fixed in your favor
And you restart the cycle
And you start the whole thing over again
And you restart breaking me again
And you start destroying me again
Writer(s): MAURICE ERNEST GIBB, ROBIN HUGH GIBB, BARRY ALAN GIBB
Contributed by Caleb T. Suggest a correction in the comments below.