We got lucky! Matt from JATK broke down their latest single, “Ana!” It’s fascinating! Let’s see what Matt from JATK has to say!
Breaking down “Ana” lyrics with songwriter Matt Jatkola of JATK
Hello, my name is Matt and I am behind the Boston-based collaborative band JATK. We released our new single “Ana” in June, the follow-up to last year’s debut album Shut Up and Be the Light and a March video for the record’s companion track “Don’t Come Knockin’“. Since there are so many musical and lyrical references in “Ana” – mostly to things from ’90s – I figured I’d focus on the lyrics and break it all down for you! Come along and ride on a fantastic voyage…
“Ana, I was such a fool when we kissed in middle school”
Emotionally, “Ana” is an homage to a golden era of life. Musically, “Ana” is an homage to a golden era of alternative rock. “Ana” could be an idea. “Ana” could be a person. While there’s no person named Ana I actually kissed in middle school, my partner’s name is Aneleise. We didn’t meet in middle school, but we did go to the same elementary school for a couple years and didn’t find out ’til 20 years later when we met as adults and started dating… but that’s another song!
“You reached in your backpack and gave me your Hacky Sack”
As included in my ’90s kid starter pack, I had a Hacky Sack in middle school. Everyone did. I was horrible at it. I just kind of liked the way they looked. I remember one kid told me you were supposed to squeeze more beads out of it so that you could kick it better. Most of my memories of my Hacky Sack are just me painstakingly squeezing tiny beads out of the knit covering one by one. I spent most of my time doing that instead of kicking it.
“I’m wearing my JNCO jeans, you’ve got that long wallet chain”
During the mid-/late-’90s, we were all looking at who had the best baggy pants and the longest wallet chain. These were middle school status symbols. Symbolic of what, I’m not sure, but they were important nonetheless. This look went beyond gender, which in hindsight I think is really cool. Boys and girls were rocking this equally. I don’t see this look accurately depicted enough in ’90s nostalgia. I think humankind is trying to write it out of history and I’m here to do the opposite!
Actually, one of the best new TV shows, High School, which is based on the ’90s high school experience of one of my favorite bands Tegan and Sara, is the first period TV/film example I’ve seen that gets ’90s fashion right. I was pointing and yelling at stuff through the entire show, like, “That’s it!” One of the characters takes their wallet chain off at the end of the day, puts it down on the table, and it curls up with this heavy metal thud and I was like, “That’s the sound! The sound of the ’90s!”
“He’s simple like a hot cross bun, his sweater’s ’bout to come undone”
Musically, this song is a giant Weezer reference, specifically to the era of the Blue Album. In the bridge I also snuck in a lyrical reference to Weezer’s “Undone (The Sweater Song).” It’s a fitting reference about a simple boy thinking about his friend and the passage of time. This song had a different bridge originally. If you’d like to hear it, check out the alternate mix on our Bandcamp exclusive maxi-single (https://jatk.bandcamp.com/album/ana-maxi-single). When I went back and rewrote the bridge for the final version, I toyed with doing no bridge at all — just ambient talking over a picky guitar part (à la “The Sweater Song”), so this line is a little lyrical nod to my songwriting process as well, and the iterations this song went through.
“You’re all that I wanted of a girl”
Do you know the song “Susanne” by Weezer? This line is a direct reference to it. “Susanne” was released as a b-side to “Undone (The Sweater Song)” in 1994, and also appears on the Mallrats movie soundtrack. It’s a banger. One of their best. Thank you for the inspiration!
BIO: JATK (pronounced “Jack”), the power-pop project from Boston-based songwriter Matt Jatkola and his circle of collaborators, cranks up an arsenal of hooks and riffs with affecting jolts of guitar-rock reflected through his knack for pop melody. With the release of six eclectic singles between 2021 and 2022, the debut full-length album Shut Up and Be the Light was unveiled in April 2022, with the vinyl release hitting shelves and record collections in October. A video for “Don’t Come Knockin’” was released to widespread acclaim in March 2023, and a new single called “Ana” is set for release in June.
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jatktheband/
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/4muS2qRad6WkJtOL7brp4R?si=bqy06G5iS_CcT8yaiBX3KA&nd=1
Bandcamp: https://jatk.bandcamp.com/
