Califone is the musical project of former Red Red Meat frontman Tim Rutili. Its regular and rotating contributors include many former members of Red Red Meat and some members of other Chicago bands, such as Tortoise. Their music is less rooted in blues-rock than Red Red Meat and is more directly inspired by experimental music and early American folk music as can be found on Harry Smith's Anthology of American Folk Music.
Califone's current lineup includes Joe Adamik (drums), Jim Becker (banjo, violin), Ben Massarella (percussion), and Tim Rutili (vocals, guitar, keyboards). Each member is a multi-instrumentalist.
Tim Rutili has collaborated with a number of other artists as well. He joined up with Modest Mouse frontman Isaac Brock and others in 2002 to release the album Sharpen Your Teeth under the band name Ugly Casanova. Some members also toured with Freakwater and served as a backing band to record the album Thinking of You in 2005. In 2006, Tim Rutili teamed up with Wil Hendricks and Michael Krassner under the name The Unseen Hand to record the soundtrack for Rank, a documentary about bullriding. In the same year Califone worked with animator/musician Brent Green on a series of performance art pieces featuring animation, live music, and spoken word. They are also featured on the soundtrack for the movie Stranger than Fiction.
Fisherman's Wife
Califone Lyrics
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Soaked in the sound, waiting to be found
With your heart attack shoulders, the parking lot shakes
You come like a natural disaster
The fisherman's wife sends you out to sea with more requests
You bite like a hammer but you don't mean a thing
The cardinal staggers, vinegar skies
Burned up carpet, lazy to change
Dizzy and shortchanged charms you blind
When you fall, you fall like fists of snow soaked in turpentine
Paul and silas soaked in the sound
You're a razor in the silk aching to be found
No light
No light
No light
No light
The fisherman's wife sends you out to sea with more requests
What else is there left to do, but love
The lyrics to Califone's "Fisherman's Wife" is a song that is open to interpretation. It seems to be a collection of impressions and images, an ode to nature, with the fisherman's wife being a recurring character throughout, sending the singer out to sea and urging him towards something. There are also haunting elements typical of Califone, such as violence and corruption.
The song's stark lyrics speak to the isolation and hardship of a fisherman's life. The first stanza mentions "no light in the window" and "holes in the plot," suggesting that the singer is adrift without purpose, stuck in the middle of something without momentum. The second stanza talks about the singer's physicality, with references to their "heart attack shoulders" and coming "like a natural disaster." These lines suggest that the singer is both strong and destructive, but perhaps without a clear path or purpose.
The fisherman's wife seems to be a recurring image throughout the song, with the line "The fisherman's wife sends you out to sea with more requests" repeated several times. This suggests that the singer is beholden to someone, and that they are being sent out on missions that are potentially dangerous or fraught with uncertainty. The song also touches on themes of chaos, with references to "vinegar skies" and "lazy to change" suggesting that the world is a difficult and inhospitable place.
Line by Line Meaning
There's no light in the window, holes in the plot
The absence of light in the window depicts despair and the holes in the plot signify incompleteness.
Soaked in the sound, waiting to be found
The singer is deeply engrossed in something and is hoping to be discovered, whether it's through their work, talent, or personality.
With your heart attack shoulders, the parking lot shakes
The singer is describing someone with tense, anxious shoulders, causing vibrations in their surroundings.
You come like a natural disaster
The person being addressed enters a room or situation with the same unpredictability and uncontrollable force as a natural disaster.
The fisherman's wife sends you out to sea with more requests
The wife of a fisherman is used as a metaphor for life, and how it continues to present more challenges and demands to the person being addressed.
You bite like a hammer but you don't mean a thing
The person being addressed is aggressive and forceful, but ultimately ineffective or meaningless.
The cardinal staggers, vinegar skies
The singer is observing nature, and describing the imagery of a cardinal bird struggling against a backdrop of harshly acidic skies.
Burned up carpet, lazy to change
This line is also referring to nature, and describing a carpet of leaves or grass suffering from harsh weather conditions, but being slow to recover or revert to its original form.
The cashier grins an electrical storm
The artist is using a surreal image to describe someone coming across as threatening or foreboding, but with a smile or facade of friendliness.
Dizzy and shortchanged charms you blind
The person being addressed is easily swayed by charm and flattery, but ultimately left unstable or unsatisfied.
When you fall, you fall like fists of snow soaked in turpentine
The person being addressed can bring about catastrophic consequences when they falter, resembling the destructive impact of blizzards mixed with toxic chemicals.
Paul and silas soaked in the sound
This line is ambiguous, but likely referring to the biblical figures of Paul and Silas, and how they were prayerful in the midst of suffering.
You're a razor in the silk aching to be found
The person being addressed is sharp, precise, and has great potential, but feels unfulfilled or unrecognized.
No light
Repeating a previous line, referring back to the feeling of despair.
No light
Repeating a previous line, emphasizing the sense of hopelessness.
No light
Repeating a previous line, indicating the persistence of darkness.
No light
Repeating a previous line, representing the absence of any positive change.
The fisherman's wife sends you out to sea with more requests
Repeating a previous line, underscoring life's unending demands and struggles.
What else is there left to do, but love
Despite all the difficulties and trials, the singer sees love as the only viable option, and offers it as a solution or comfort.
Lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Written by: Temistoclas Hugo Rutili
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind