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.
Rivers of Babylon
Various Artists Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Ye-eah we wept, when we remembered zion
By the rivers of babylon, there we sat down
Ye-eah we wept, when we remembered zion
When the wicked
Carried us away in captivity
Now how shall we sing the lord's song in a strange land
When the wicked
Carried us away in captivity
Requiering of us a song
Now how shall we sing the lord's song in a strange land
Let the words of our mouth and the meditations of our heart
Be acceptable in thy sight here tonight
Let the words of our mouth and the meditation of our hearts
Be acceptable in thy sight here tonight
By the rivers of babylon, there we sat down
Ye-eah we wept, when we remembered zion
By the rivers of babylon, there we sat down
Ye-eah we wept, when we remembered zion
By the rivers of babylon (dark tears of babylon)
There we sat down (you got to sing a song)
Ye-eah we wept, (sing a song of love)
When we remember zion (yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah)
By the rivers of babylon (rough bits of babylon)
There we sat down (you hear the people cry)
Ye-eah we wept, (they need their god)
When we remember zion (ooh, have the power)
The lyrics of "Rivers of Babylon" describe the lamentation of the Jews following the destruction of their temple in Jerusaleem by the Babylonians in 586 BCE. The rivers of Babylon serve as a metaphor for their state of mourning and despair. The first verse describes the Jews sitting by the river, weeping and remembering Zion, their Holy City that once was. Zion also represents their connection to God and their cultural identity.
The following verses reveal that the Jews were taken into captivity by the Babylonian Empire, and were required to sing songs for their captors. The question then becomes; how are they supposed to sing the Lord's song in a strange land? The lyrics convey the Jews' inability to worship and connect with God in a land miles away from their home. The last verse shows the Jews pleading with God to accept their words and meditations, as they are stuck in Babylon, a strange land where they have little control over their destiny.
Overall, "Rivers of Babylon" is a powerful lament about loss, displacement, and the struggle to maintain cultural and spiritual identity in a hostile environment.
Line by Line Meaning
By the rivers of babylon, there we sat down
In a state of despair, we sat by the riverbank of Babylon
Ye-eah we wept, when we remembered zion
We became emotional and cried when we thought of our home, Zion
When the wicked
During a time when oppressors
Carried us away in captivity
Took us captive and enslaved us
Required from us a song
Forced us to sing, as if to mock our pain
Now how shall we sing the lord's song in a strange land
How can we find the will to express our faith in this unfamiliar, hostile place?
Let the words of our mouth and the meditations of our heart
May our thoughts and expressions be pleasing
Be acceptable in thy sight here tonight
May they bring us comfort and hope, even now
By the rivers of babylon (dark tears of babylon)
Amidst the sorrowful surroundings of Babylon
There we sat down (you got to sing a song)
We had no choice but to rest and try to find some solace, perhaps through music
Ye-eah we wept, (sing a song of love)
Even in our grief, we sought to express love and hope through song
When we remember zion (yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah)
Despite our pain, our thoughts inevitably return to our beloved Zion
By the rivers of babylon (rough bits of babylon)
In the midst of the difficult and harsh conditions of Babylon
There we sat down (you hear the people cry)
We could only sit and listen to the cries of our fellow captives and empathize with their pain
Ye-eah we wept, (they need their god)
Our tears stemmed both from our own suffering and from the shared need for divine intervention
When we remember zion (ooh, have the power)
Our yearning for a return to our homeland reflects our desperate desire for the power to change our situation
Writer(s): FRANK FARIAN, GEORGE REYAM, JAMES AGUSTUS MCNAUGHTON, BRENT DOWE
Contributed by Jackson C. Suggest a correction in the comments below.