Callahan started out as a highly experimental artist, using substandard instruments and recording equipment. His early songs often nearly lacked melodic structure and were clumsily played on poorly tuned guitars (possibly influenced by Jandek, whom Callahan admired), resulting in the dissonant sounds on his self-released cassettes and debut album Sewn to the Sky. Much of his early output was instrumental, a stark contrast to the lyrical focus of his later work. Apparently, he used lo-fi techniques not primarily because of an aesthetic preference but because he didn't have any other possibility to make music. Once he signed a contract with Drag City, he also started to use recording studios and a greater variety of instruments for his records.
From 1993 to 2000, Callahan's recordings grew more and more "professional" sounding, with more instruments, and a higher sound quality. In this period he recorded two albums with the influential producer Jim O'Rourke and Tortoise's John McEntire, and collaborated with Neil Hagerty. After 2000's Dongs of Sevotion, Callahan began moving back to a slightly simpler instrumentation and recording style, while retaining the more consistent songwriting style he had developed over the years. This shift is apparent in albums such as Rain on Lens, Supper, and A River Ain't Too Much to Love.
Smog's songs are often based on simple, repetitive structures, consisting of a simple chord progression repeated for the duration of the entire song. His singing is strikingly characterized by his baritone voice and a style of delivery without being over-emotional. Melodically and lyrically he tends to eschew the verse-chorus approach favoured by many contemporary songwriters, preferring instead a more free-form approach relying less on melodic and lyrical repetition. Themes in Callahan's lyrics include relationships, moving, horses, teenagers, bodies of water, and more recently, politics. His generally dispassionate delivery of lyrics and dark irony often obfuscate complex emotional and lyrical twists and turns. Critics have generally characterized his music as depressing and intensely introverted, with one critic describing it as "a peep-show view into an insular world of alienation." Despite this there is also a broad swathe of joy throughout Callahan's work and more attentive critics have picked up on Callahan's tendency to black humour, a tendency often confused with a depressed mental state or a genuine obsession with the morbid, a confusion no doubt caused by his deadpan vocals.
Cat Power (Chan Marshall) recorded Callahan's song Bathysphere on her 1996 album What Would the Community Think. She covered him again in 2000 on her Covers Record doing the song Red Apples.
Smog's Cold Blooded Old Times appears on the High Fidelity soundtrack. The song Vessel in Vain (from Supper) was also used on the soundtrack of the independent British film Dead Man's Shoes in 2004. In October 2007, Cadillac released a commercial which featured Smog's song Held and Bob Dylan driving a 2008 Escalade through the desert.
As of 2007 he lives in Austin, Texas where he released Woke on a Whaleheart. It was his first record release as Bill Callahan.
All Thoughts are Prey to Some Beast
Bill Callahan Lyrics
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The birds within were all the thoughts and desires within me
Hoppin' around from branch to branch, or snug in their nests listenin' in
An eagle came over the horizon and shook the branches with its sight
The softer thoughts: starlings, finches, and wrens
The softer thoughts, they all took flight
Maybe I'll make this one my home, consolidate the nests of the tiny
Raise a family of might like me
Then something struck him, wings of bone
Sweet desires and soft thoughts were all gone
The eagle shrieked, "I'm alone"
Well it was time to flee the tree
The eagle snuck up on the wind one talon at a time
Being sky king of the sky, what did he have to fear
All thoughts are prey to some beast
All thoughts are prey to some beast
Sweet desire and soft thoughts, return to me
Sweet desire and soft thoughts, return to me
In Bill Callahan's song "All Thoughts Are Prey to Some Beast", he uses the metaphor of a leafless tree to represent the inner workings of his mind. The birds within the tree represent his thoughts and desires, flitting from branch to branch or nestled in their nests. All seems well until an eagle appears, representing a more primal or dangerous aspect of his psyche. The eagle shakes the branches of the tree, scaring away the softer, gentler thoughts represented by starlings, finches, and wrens. The eagle then delves deeper into the tree, uncovering darker desires that Callahan may have been trying to suppress or ignore. He contemplates the idea of consolidating the nests within the tree, perhaps in an attempt to gain control over his thoughts and desires. However, something strikes the eagle, and he realizes that his softer thoughts and sweet desires are gone, leaving him feeling alone and vulnerable. In the end, he realizes that all thoughts and desires are prey to some beast or another, and he longs for a return to his softer, gentler thoughts and sweet desires.
Callahan uses the metaphor of the tree and the birds to portray the internal struggle that we all face between our base desires and our higher selves. The eagle, as the primal or more dangerous aspect of the psyche, represents our inner demons or negative thoughts that we may try to hide from ourselves or others. The idea that all thoughts and desires are prey to some beast speaks to the idea that we all have our own struggles and vices, and it is up to us to confront them and learn to live with them.
Line by Line Meaning
The leafless tree looked like a brain
The tree appeared like a brain without any leaves.
The birds within were all the thoughts and desires within me
The birds inside the tree symbolized my thoughts and desires.
Hoppin' around from branch to branch, or snug in their nests listenin' in
The birds were either jumping from one branch to another, or resting in their nests and listening.
An eagle came over the horizon and shook the branches with its sight
An eagle appeared on the scene and its mere sight caused the tree to shake.
The softer thoughts: starlings, finches, and wrens
Of all the birds inside, the starlings, finches, and wrens were the gentler of my thoughts.
The softer thoughts, they all took flight
The tender thoughts flew away and left me alone with the harsher ones.
The eagle looked clear through the brain tree, emptying thoughts saved for me
The eagle seemed to look through the tree and cause me to lose certain thoughts that I had kept hidden.
Maybe I'll make this one my home, consolidate the nests of the tiny
The eagle contemplated making the tree home and consolidating the small nests inside.
Raise a family of might like me
The eagle planned on starting a family that would be as strong as itself.
Then something struck him, wings of bone
Something suddenly hit the eagle, which was only made of bones and feathers.
Sweet desires and soft thoughts were all gone
All that remained were harsh thoughts and desires.
The eagle shrieked, "I'm alone"
The eagle let out a cry, realizing it was alone with its hard thoughts.
Well it was time to flee the tree
The time had come for the eagle to leave the tree.
The eagle snuck up on the wind one talon at a time
The eagle began its slow ascent into the sky, gripping the wind with its talons.
Being sky king of the sky, what did he have to fear
As the king of the sky, the eagle had nothing to fear.
All thoughts are prey to some beast
No thought is safe from being preyed upon by something or someone.
All thoughts are prey to some beast
This line is repeated to emphasize that all thoughts can be dangerous and are potential prey.
Sweet desire and soft thoughts, return to me
The desire to have kinder, gentler thoughts has returned to me.
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Written by: BILL CALLAHAN
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind