Bill Callahan
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.
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Bill Callahan Lyrics


35 I can't see myself in the books I read these…
747 Is it going? I woke up on a 747 Flying through some…
A Man Needs a Woman or a Man to Be a Man When you leave, I go into our room And lay me…
All Thoughts are Prey to Some Beast The leafless tree looked like a brain The birds within were…
All Thoughts Are Prey To Some Beasts The leafless tree looked like a brain The birds within were…
America! America! America! America! America! You are so grand and…
Angela Angela Whoa Angela Like motel curtains, we never really met…
Another Song When work ain't been working all day Why don't you come…
Arise Therefore There will be no end soon If I've seen things right…
As I Wander I travel, I sing, I notice when people notice things Well,…
Baby's Breath There grows a weed looks like a flower Looks like baby's…
Bathysphere When I was seven I asked my mother To trip me to…
Black Dog On The Beach A black dog followed me We chased the seagulls in the…



Blackness of the Night In the blackness of the night I seem to wander…
Breakfast I can hear her out In the kitchen Making breakfast for me I…
Call Me Anything I never was the things I said I was But it's…
callahan 20090610 10 all thoughts are prey to some beast The leafless tree looked like a brain The birds within were…
Camels Camels dying in the desert Dropping to their knees War is ma…
Circles I made a circle, I guess When I folded her hands…
Confederate Jasmine Life has given you a gift May I have it? Sitting up…
Cowboy Well, I've been living like a cowboy On the late, late…
Coyotes Yes I am Your loverman Yes I am Your lover, lover,…
Day Some people are a sickness on this land They're killing, …
Deacon Blues This is the day of the expanding man That shape is…
Diamond Dancer She was dancing so hard She danced herself into a diamond Da…
Drover The real people went away But I'll find a better word…
Eid Ma Clack Shaw Working through das pain Last night I swear I felt your…
Expanding Dub You look like world wide Armageddon Don't die, just yet An o…
Faith It's time to put God away Damnin' the children Makin' the i…
Footprints oh oh oh last summer's footprints are walkin' walkin' do…
For a Rainbow where did our dreams all go? if you touch me you…
Free's I'm standing in a field A field of questions As far as…
From the Rivers to the Ocean When you were blind, you touch things for their shape hav…
Goldfish Bowl With all your health tips and your guilt trips I can't…
Highs In The Mid-40's Dub The road is dangerous Tires spinning on snow Time itself A …
Honeymoon Child You are a true honeymoon child Conceived on an island on…
Javelin Unlanding You looked like worldwide armageddon While you slept You loo…
Jim Cain I started out in search of ordinary things How much of…
Leaving the Army ( Drag City Supersession album ) Even as the sun Paints the…
Let's Move To The Country Let's move to the country Let's move to the country Just you…
Lonesome Valley Everybody must walk the lonesome valley Yeah, they must walk…
Morning Is My Godmother Morning is my godmother Loving me like no other Yeah, mornin…
My Friend I looked all around It was not written down And so I'll…
Night We do not know how things work We do not know…
No Dancing There's always some bird-dog Snuffling, choking Looking like…
One Fine Morning One fine morning I'm going to ride out Yeah, one fine…
Our Anniversary The crickets are chirping They stop at my step I stop my…
Pigeons Hello, I'm Johnny Cash Well, the pigeons ate the wedding ri…
Protest Song The other night after a hard day at work Where I…
Released Like two wrestlers I am mostly still As the Four Horsemen Co…
Ride My I don't ever want to die Do you know this arrow…
Riding For the Feeling It's never easy to say goodbye To the faces So rarely do…
Rock Bottom Riser I love my mother I love my father I love my sisters…
Rococo She lay beside me like a branch from a tender…
Ry cooder Ry Cooder He's a real straight shooter Is that Ry Cooder? S…
Say Valley Maker With the grace of a corpse In a riptide I let go And…
Sea Song You look different every time you come From the foam-crested…
Seagull A bar room may entice A seagull like me Right off the…
Shepherd's Welcome Well, it's been such a long time Why don't you come…
Small Dub You used to take me up No navigation system I always went…
Small Plane You used to take me up I watched and learnt How to…
So Long Marianne Come over to the window, my little darling, I'd like to…
Son Of The Sea The house is full of life Life is change Even death is…
Spring The wind is pushing the clouds along Out of sight A power…
Summer I painted names on boats for a summer For luck you…
Sycamore There's sap in the trees if you tap 'em There's blood…
Thank Dub Drinking, while sleeping Keep me company In the hotel bar L…
The Ballad Of The Hulk Well, I've been looking back At the old whales Over my shoul…
The Beast Sky change the sea Love changed me In that battle cloud way …
The Breeze / My Baby Cries I'd like to touch you, but I've forgotten how And said…
The Mackenzies My car broke down In front of my house I was turning…
The Sing Drinking while sleeping strangers Unknowingly keep me compan…
The Wheel The wheel has turned one full circle Time for my meal…
The Wind and the Dove Somewhere between the wind and the dove Lies all I sought…
Too Many Birds Too many birds in one tree Too many birds in one…
Truth Serum Me and some friends of mine We stayed up all night…
Tugboats and Tumbleweeds Some time alone when you are young is good High, high…
Universal Applicant Without work's calving increments Or love's coltish punch …
Watch Me Get Married The stars are blue around me, that much I can…
What Comes After Certainty True love is not magic It's certainty And what comes after c…
When We Let Go When we let go Our arms are open And our hearts are…
Winter Road The road is dangerous And pretty and white Tired of spinning…
Writing It feels good to be writing again Clear water flows from…
Young Icarus Young Icarus flew at night for years He flew and flew…


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