Bill Callahan (born 1966), also known as Smog and (Smog), is an American si… Read Full Bio ↴Bill Callahan (born 1966), also known as Smog and (Smog), is an American singer-songwriter born in Silver Spring, Maryland. Callahan began working in the lo-fi genre of underground rock, with home-made tape-albums recorded on four track tape recorders. Later he began releasing albums with the label Drag City, to which he remains signed today.

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.

Call Me Mister
Bill Callahan Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

I never was the things I said I was
But it's not as if I lied
What I was, all I was
Was the effort to describe
The effort to describe
Now, I may not have been born to deliver the truth
But I sure do love to ride the route

When I'm on my bicycle
I am a seagull
Made of man and metal
And I am flying, flying
Let the blind call me dark
Let the weak call me peak-ridden
Let the butchers grind our hearts
And claim there's no love within
But you can call me anything
Just as long as I can sing
Yeah, you can call me anything
Just as long as I can sing
I sing for answers

I sing for good listeners
And tired dancers

Overall Meaning

The opening lines of the song 'Call Me Anything' by Bill Callahan suggest that the singer has been inconsistent in their self-description. He maintains that he never was the things he said he was, but it's not due to him lying. Instead, he posits that everything he was or is, was the effort to describe himself. He admits that he might not have been born as a truth-teller, but he enjoys taking on the journey to communicate, even though he may be an unreliable narrator.

The second part of the song is a celebration of the singer's love for riding his bike. He compares himself to a seagull as he flies on his bicycle. The idea of transformation and metamorphosis is central to this metaphor where he becomes a creature made of "man and metal." He encourages people to call him anything they like, dark, peak-ridden or whatever else, as long as he can sing. It seems that music is a means of self-expression and an outlet for his voice. He sings for good listeners and tired dancers and ends the song on a hopeful note.

Overall, the lyrics of 'Call Me Anything' portray self-discovery, transformation, and self-acceptance. While the singer might not be truthful in his self-descriptions, he is truthful in his effort to describe himself, and he is still searching for his identity. The song emphasizes the freedom of choice and self-expression, where people can call us anything they want, but we're free to be whatever we want.

Line by Line Meaning

I never was the things I said I was
I never truly embodied the qualities I spoke of

But it's not as if I lied
I may not have been truthful, but I wasn't intentionally deceitful

What I was, all I was
My true self was simply an attempt to convey an idea

Was the effort to describe
My essence was in the attempt to articulate a message

Now, I may not have been born to deliver the truth
My inherent nature may not be to convey honesty

But I sure do love to ride the route
But I thoroughly enjoy the journey regardless

When I'm on my bicycle
When I'm cycling

I am a seagull
I feel free like a bird

Made of man and metal
But I'm grounded and human

And I am flying, flying
Yet I still feel like I'm soaring

Let the blind call me dark
Let those who cannot see accuse me of being dishonest