bôa is a British alternative rock band formed in London in 1993 by drummer … Read Full Bio ↴bôa is a British alternative rock band formed in London in 1993 by drummer Ed Herten, keyboard player Paul Turrell, and guitarist/vocalist Steve Rodgers. Bôa's current lineup consists of Jasmine Rodgers (vocals), Steve Rodgers (vocals & guitar), Alex Caird (bass), and Lee Sullivan (drums & piano). The band progressed from a funk band to a rock band over the years. They produced two major albums, Twilight in 2001 and Get There in 2005. The band was originally signed by Polystar in Japan and produced their first album Race of a Thousand Camels in 1998. However, the band decided to change labels and signed with Pioneer LDC (now called Geneon) to produce their album Twilight in 2001.

They have released three full length CDs, one EP and one single. They are most widely known for the song "Duvet", which was used as the theme song for the anime series Serial Experiments Lain. As a result, they are fairly popular among anime fans worldwide; in particular, they performed in a live concert at the anime convention Otakon in 2000.

Their first full-length album was released in Japan in 1998 and titled "The Race Of A Thousand Camels." In 2001, the album was released in North America under the name "Twilight." It contained extra songs not found in the initial Japanese release.

After long delays by Pioneer's record label, bôa set up their own record label, "Boa Recordings", in 2003 and began recording their new album, "Get There", released in February of 2005.

The band is currently on hiatus until further notice.

(Note that bôa is not to be confused with the Korean pop artist BoA.)

bôa was formed in 1993 by original drummer, Ed Herten. Ed had played in several bands including "Delirious Groove", from whom he recruited Paul Turrell (keyboards) and "Draggin' Bones", from whom he recruited Alex Caird (bass). Ed had also been to school with Steve Rodgers, who soon joined bôa on guitar and vocals.

"Fran", an early song penned by Ed and Paul, had a chorus which lent itself to a female vocal. Steve's sister, Jasmine Rodgers, then just 16 years old, was persuaded to record a vocal on an early recording. This happened a number of times until Jasmine was eventually persuaded to become a full member of the group.

bôa actually started out as a funk band and soon recruited Ben Henderson, who had played in the band "Doctor Sky" with Alex, on saxophone.

1994
After several months of intensive songwriting and practicing, bôa played their first gig at "The Forum" in London. The gig was the first of many great live successes (and a few early disasters!)

In summer 1994, Ed left the band to concentrate on his studies, but remains a good friend of the rest of bôa to this day. After a couple of drummers were tried out but, for one reason or another, didn't work out, bôa found themselves with a gig to play and no drummer. Alex persuaded the drummer of yet another ex-band, "Chapter 6", Lee Sullivan, to help out. Lee's debut was a great success and he soon became bôa's permanent drummer.

Ed's laid back feel had worked perfectly with bôa's early funk songs. However, Lee brought a more powerful, rocky feel to the band and the songs naturally followed suit. Consequently, saxophone became somewhat surplus to requirement and Ben switched to guitar.

1995
This was a good year for bôa - they played many successful gigs including a short tour of the South of England which ended in two performances at the Glastonbury festival, where they were chosen as the focus of a TV documentary about the festival that was shown on the London art/music magazine show, "Shift".

The members of bôa were so pleased with the way the band was going that Jasmine delayed studying for a degree, Alex dropped out of his and Paul quit his full time job as a computer salesman (he didn't like it much anyway!) and moved to the spiritual home of bôa, the incredible town of New Malden.

1996
A relatively quiet year for bôa in which they received considerable interest from British record companies but no actual offers of deals. Salvation came in the unlikely form of an offer of a deal from Japanese company, Polystar Records, which bôa signed.

In December, bôa went into Red Bus Studios, London with producer Darren Allison (who has also worked with Skunk Anansie and The Divine Comedy) and recorded three songs: "Twilight", "Deeply" and "Elephant".

1997
Production of the bôa album was delayed by Polystar but the remainder was recorded in September at "Monnow Valley Studios" with producer Neil Walsh. It was mixed at PWL studios (Manchester) in November by Neil Walsh and Jason Barren.

1998
The bôa album was finally released by Polystar in the second half of the year under the dubious title "Race of a Thousand Camels" (inspired by a dream of Jasmine and a computer game written by Paul). Jasmine and Steve went to Japan to promote the release with some TV and radio appearances though the rest of the band were not invited by Polystar. Polystar also failed to fulfil contractual obligations to release the album in America and Europe. The song "Duvet" was released as a single.

1999
Despite to this day owing money to bôa, Polystar finally did something to help rather than hinder the band when they secured the use of the song "Duvet" as the theme tune to Serial Experiments' anime "Lain". This led to DJ Wasei remixing "Duvet". The show won several awards in Japan and has become hugely popular with anime fans around the world, most notably the USA. This web site suddenly became inundated with notes of appreciation for the song "Duvet". Paul and Alex wrote to Pioneer-USA, distributors of Lain, and discovered they too had received many enquiries about bôa.

Meanwhile, bôa were working with producer Stuart Epps and recorded some new material including an acoustic version of "Duvet" and the song "Drinking". The "Tall Snake E.P." was released in Japan featuring all three versions of "Duvet" and two songs ("Little Miss" and "Two Steps") than had been intended as B-sides of further promotional singles in Japan that Polystar had failed to release.

2000
Ben left bôa to concentrate on his other band, "Moth", in which he plays with his wife, Tina.

2001
bôa's debut US album "Twilight" was released on March 27th 2001. bôa played a mini-tour of Los Angeles in April and hope soon to perform a promotional tour. They are well on the way to completing a second album. The future looks bright....

Paul Turrell
Sadly, after much soul-searching, Paul has deciced to leave the band in order to pursue other interests. We wish him all the best and ask you all to wish him congratulations for his wedding to Jai-un and further congratulations for their forthcoming little one!

In August, bôa were tempted away from songwriting for a moment when they were invited to play at the Animefest in Dallas, Texas where they were treated to a fantastic audience and good Texan Beer, all in all a good one.

2002
bôa were scheduled to record their second album for Pioneer but due to a series of re-shufflings in the record company the album has been delayed for the moment. bôa, however have enjoyed writing more and more songs, only stopping for a break in June when Alex went to Australia for a couple of months travelling and Jasmine went to the Far East.
In September bôa supported Bad Company on their UK tour playing in Newcastle, Glasgow, Manchester, London, Birmingham,Sheffield, Nottingham and York. The tour was brilliant and bôa are back in gigging mode and planning many for the next year!

2003
BOA record the new album in Southampton, England. The album is entirely self-funded and the band set up a record label, Boa Recordings.

2004
The album is then mixed and mastered and finally titled Get There!

2005
Boa have finally accomplished what they set out to achieve.

Originally, this was just a simple wish like all bands to record the next set of songs that all musicians feel compelled to write. However, like all bands again, Boa met with a series of delays and eventually decided that doing it on their own would be the best course of action.

As a result, a record label, Boa Recordings was set up and Get There was recorded, mastered and is out on the 1st. We wish to thank all of you for waiting so patiently and supporting us so marvellously.

Duvet
bôa Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

And you don't seem to understand
A shame you seemed an honest man
And all the fears you hold so dear
Will turn to whisper in your ear
And you know what they say might hurt you
And you know that it means so much
And you don't even feel a thing

I am falling, I am fading
I have lost it all

And you don't seem the lying kind
A shame that I can read your mind
And all the things that I read there
Candlelit smile that we both share
And you know I don't mean to hurt you
But you know that it means so much
And you don't even feel a thing

I am falling, I am fading, I am drowning
Help me to breathe
I am hurting, I have lost it all
I am losing
Help me to breathe

I am falling, I am failing, I am drowning
Help me to breathe
I am hurting, I have lost it all
I am losing
Help me to breathe

Oh-oh, yeah
Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh, yeah

I am falling, I am failing, I am drowning
Help me to breathe
I am hurting, I have lost it all

I am losing
Help me to breathe

Overall Meaning

In the song "Duvet," Boa expresses deep emotions of pain and disillusionment in a relationship. The first set of lyrics reveals a feeling of betrayal and confusion as Boa sings, "And you don't seem to understand/A shame you seemed an honest man/And all the fears you hold so dear/Will turn to whisper in your ear/And you know what they say might hurt you/And you know that it means so much/And you don't even feel a thing." The song describes a sense of detachment between two people who should be close, with the singer feeling like her emotions and words are falling on deaf ears.

The second verse of the song is a reflection on this disconnect, exposing the idea that even when you think you know someone, their thoughts and actions can still surprise you. Boa sings, "And you don't seem the lying kind/A shame that I can read your mind/And all the things that I read there/Candle-lit smile that we both share/And you know I don't mean to hurt you/But you know that it means so much/And you don't even feel a thing." These words express a feeling of sadness and loss, with the singer recognizing that she is losing her own sense of self and her perspective as she tries to hold onto a relationship that is slipping away from her.

Overall, "Duvet" is a song that delves deep into the complexities and contradictions of relationships. Through its haunting melody and poignant lyrics, the song captures the pain of feeling like you are losing someone you love but cannot seem to reach or understand.

Line by Line Meaning

And you don't seem to understand
I am communicating my emotions, but you don't seem to comprehend them.

A shame you seemed an honest man
You appeared to be honest, but now I doubt your sincerity.

And all the fears you hold so dear
The anxieties that you hold onto closely will eventually be insignificant.

Will turn to whisper in your ear
Your fears will become small and insignificant as time goes on.

And you know what they say might hurt you
You are aware that words can hurt, but you choose to ignore their potential impact.

And you know that it means so much
You recognize the importance of what is being said, but it doesn't seem to affect you emotionally.

And you don't even feel a thing
You are emotionally detached and unaffected by the situation.

I am falling, I am fading
I am losing control and slowly disappearing.

I have lost it all
I have lost everything and am now vulnerable.

And you don't seem the lying kind
You don't come across as a deceitful person.

A shame that I can read your mind
It's unfortunate that I can understand your thoughts and intentions.

And all the things that I read there
I know what you're thinking because you're not hiding it very well.

Candle-lit smile that we both share
We still have a connection, despite the honesty of our thoughts.

And you know I don't mean to hurt you
I don't intend to cause you harm, even though I know what you're thinking.

But you know that it means so much
Despite my good intentions, the situation is still significant and impactful.

And you don't even feel a thing
You are still emotionally detached, even though you know the situation is serious.

I am falling, I am fading, I am drowning
I am losing control and becoming overwhelmed by the situation.

Help me to breathe
I need assistance to recover and regain control.

I am hurting, I have lost it all
This situation has caused me pain and I am now vulnerable.

I am losing
I am losing myself and my identity in this situation.

Help me to breathe
I require assistance to regain control and find stability.

Lyrics © O/B/O DistroKid
Written by: Jasmine Shay Rodgers, Lee Terence Sullivan, Alexander Peter Wynne Caird, Ben Peter Henderson, Paul Richard Turre

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind

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