Duvet

Duvet
	;
From the album	The Race of a Thousand Camels
Recorded	1997
Genre	Alternative rock
Length	3:23
Label	Polystar
Producers	Neil Walsh, Darren Allison, bôa

Duvet is the third track of The Race of a Thousand Camels, an album by the British rock band Bôa, released in 1998. During the recording of the band consisted of Alex Caird, Ben Henderson, Jasmine Rodgers, Steve Rodgers, Lee Sullivan and Paul Turrell. The lyrics revolves around communication and the relationships we develop, "it’s about expectation and hope and maybe, at the time, about relying on other people." ^[1]

Director Chiaki J Konaka chose Duvet as the opening theme after seeing a translation of the lyrics and thinking that they seemed very Japanese. it was at the time unusual for an anime to have a theme song entirely in English.

Lyrics[]

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 then 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

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

Story[]

The song was selected by the director Chiaki J. Konaka, after the band Bôa signed with the Japanese record label Polystar despite Boâ being a British band with the main singer, Jasmine Rodgers being only half-Japanese and only speaking a "really little bit" of the language.

It was an unusual choice as most anime opening themes are written for the show. For Jasmine, "Lain was a happy coincidence".

The song became a huge hit among anime fans. As the success continued, Bôa was invited as guests to conventions.

After an album released in 2005, the band went quiet and Jasmine Rodgers started a solo career writing a piece for a classical Indian musician. In an interview from 2018, Jasmine Rodgers shared that she doesn't want to sing "Duvet" anymore, specifying that the song “is ours, not just mine” talking about the band. Despite this interview, to announce their new album, Bôa came back with a new music video for "Duvet" thanking fans for their support since the release of the song in 1997 ^[2].

Fandom[]

As the opening theme of Serial Experiments Lain, this song is now deeply associated with the TV show but also the theme presented in it despite having little to do with the cyberpunk or sci-fi themes.

There were numerous attempts by the fan community to create remixes and covers of it. Some notable works are the 8-bit cover by Otaku Bits or the Orchestr/a/ cover by 4chan members.

Trivia[]

The song also inspired the name for Bolivian rock band Duvet.
Despite being a huge success and the band being British, the album The Race of a Thousand Camels was never released in UK. ^[3]

External Links[]

New MV

YouTube - Bôa - Duvet 2023 [Official Video] by Bôa Oct 6, 2023

Original MV

YouTube - Bôa - Duvet (Official Video) by Bôa Apr 24, 2021

News

Anime News Network - Lain Title Song Gets New Video, New Fans and a Reformed Band by Andrew Osmond 2023-11-03 09:00 EDT

Citations[]

[1] ttps://beneaththetangles.com/2018/09/05/jasmine-rodgers-of-boa-reflects-on-duvet-20-years-after-lains-premiere/

[2] ttps://www.animenewsnetwork.com/interest/2023-11-03/lain-title-song-gets-new-video-new-fans-and-a-reformed-band/.203589

[3] ttps://beneaththetangles.com/2018/09/05/jasmine-rodgers-of-boa-reflects-on-duvet-20-years-after-lains-premiere/

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