Song Of The Week: 10/9/11

Song: "I Luv I Jah"

Artist: Cave In

Album: "Never Give In: A Tribute To Bad Brains"

Year: 1999



"I Luv I Jah" appears to be a song about not being accepted for who you are, how you act, what you wear, etc. The vocalist gives you the impression that people look down on him for the way he lives his life, even his own family tends to disagree with who he is as a person. In the end, it doesn't matter to him because as long as he has the love of his God, then he can continue to be true to himself and be himself and it's his faith that makes everything ok. Some say this song was written in response to the band Bad Brains joining the Rastafari movement, which some fans weren't happy about or left some fans feeling alienated by Bad Brains. Bad Brains was a legendary hardcore punk band from Washington D.C. that formed in 1977. Their original recording of "I Luv I Jah" was released on their self-titled album in 1982. It was their fusion of hardcore punk and reggae that influenced several reggae/ska/punk bands in the future such as Sublime and Fishbone. Boston based Cave In covered "I Luv I Jah" for a Bad Brains tribute album in 1999. The song was also re-released in 2010 as part of Cave In's b-side album, "Anomalies, Vol. 1". Cave In formed as a band back in 1995. They started out very much a screaming metalcore/hardcore band. Over the years, however, they would change their style from album to album. Sometimes their music is very spacey, featuring long instrumentals while other releases are more alternative rock based. Their 2003 album "Antenna" is very much an alternative rock album and thanks to the single "Anchor", became their most successful album to date. From 2006 to 2009, Cave In went on a bit of a hiatus from recording and touring. When they did get back together and record, the band seemed to revert back to their old hardcore days using less and less clean vocals and more screaming/shredding vocals. Currently, Cave In recently released their last studio album entitled "White Silence" in May of 2011. The band has said that they plan to start releasing future projects in mainly digital format while touring a little less frequently as well.