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.
Scoring
bôa Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Score them deep just to make sure you told her
Destructive rage, it's just easier to be that way
At least you never have to eat the words you say
I take pleasure in being all alone
I save passion in making it on my own
I will never fall on my knees
Bear the weight of the world as you told her
But it weighs heavy on a wounded shoulder
Sow the petals on a dying flower
At least you know that she will stay in your power
I take pity, on those who can't see clearly
You take pleasure, in making it hard to see
I will never be taken by your humility
I will never fall on my knees
Make sure she's breathing
Make sure she's feeling
Make sure she's responding to you now
So you can tell her the score
Make sure she's breathing
Make sure she's feeling
Make sure she's responding to you now
So you can hurt her all the more
I will never be beaten by your brutality
I will never be shaken by your stupidity
In Boa's song Scoring, the lyrics depict the destructive and manipulative behavior of a person towards their partner. The first stanza begins with the idea of scoring lines in a deepening order, which can be interpreted as gradually increasing levels of hurtful behavior towards the partner. The lines "Score them deep just to make sure you told her, destructive rage, it's just easier to be that way, at least you never have to eat the words you say" indicate that the person is deliberately hurting their partner, and justifies it as a coping mechanism to avoid admitting fault or taking responsibility for their actions.
The second stanza shifts the focus to the person's attitude towards being alone, and taking pride in their independence. The lines "I take pleasure in being all alone, I save passion in making it on my own" suggest that the person values their own self-sufficiency more than the relationship they have with their partner. The third stanza returns to the partner, with the lines "Bear the weight of the world as you told her, but it weighs heavy on a wounded shoulder, sow the petals on a dying flower, at least you know that she will stay in your power" depicting the partner's emotional burden and the person's desire to control their partner's actions and emotions.
The final stanza is a repetition of the idea of making sure the partner is responsive to the person's actions, so they can continue to hurt them. The lines "Make sure she's breathing, make sure she's feeling, make sure she's responding to you now, so you can tell her the score, make sure she's breathing, make sure she's feeling, make sure she's responding to you now, so you can hurt her all the more" indicate the person's ongoing desire to harm their partner, and the lack of empathy they have towards their partner's well-being. The song ends with the lines "I will never be beaten by your brutality, I will never be shaken by your stupidity" indicating the person's resilience and determination to not be affected by their partner's abusive behavior.
Line by Line Meaning
Score the lines in a deepening order
Judge every word she says more severely than the last
Score them deep just to make sure you told her
Be overly critical of her words to ensure she's aware of your opinions
Destructive rage, it's just easier to be that way
Being angry and lashing out is simpler than being calm and rational
At least you never have to eat the words you say
You can avoid being wrong if you're always mean and negative
I take pleasure in being all alone
I enjoy isolation and don't need others to be happy
I save passion in making it on my own
I'm motivated and energized by my independence and self-sufficiency
I will never be, taken by your humility
I won't be swayed by your attempts to appear humble or modest
I will never fall on my knees
I won't submit to your dominance or authority
Bear the weight of the world as you told her
Blame her for everything that goes wrong in your life
But it weighs heavy on a wounded shoulder
Your negativity and blame are hurting her deeply
Sow the petals on a dying flower
Pretend to care for her but really just exert your control over her
At least you know that she will stay in your power
You're able to manipulate and control her because of her vulnerabilities
I take pity, on those who can't see clearly
I feel sorry for people who can't see the world as I do
You take pleasure, in making it hard to see
You enjoy confusing and manipulating others
Make sure she's breathing
Ensure she's alive so you can continue to hurt her
Make sure she's feeling
Confirm that she's emotionally affected by your abuse
Make sure she's responding to you now
Force her to listen and acknowledge your toxic behavior
So you can tell her the score
Use your judgments and criticisms to exert even more control over her
So you can hurt her all the more
Intensify your abuse and inflict even more pain
I will never be beaten by your brutality
Your cruel behavior won't defeat or break me
I will never be shaken by your stupidity
I won't be thrown off or confused by your lack of sense
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Travler
Gotta be in my top 3 Boa songs
Travler
Gotta be in my top 3 Boa songs