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.
Polish Girls
Califone Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
The lyrics of Califone's song Polish Girls present a hauntingly beautiful imagery of two lovers in decay. The song's opening line, "the words avoid my tongue," sets the tone of the lyrics, where the singer is unable to express his feelings through words, and the images painted in the song are devoid of any picture. The love between the two has withered away, but their bodies continue to yearn for each other, "to lean your fever up against mine." The mention of trees growing from their grave and roots tangled with their bones creates a landscape of death and decay, signifying the end of their love story.
The song's chorus, "polish girls in ruins tease like Chinese letters left undone on a black wall invitation," is a beautiful yet cryptic image that is open to interpretation. The "polish girls" mentioned in the chorus could represent the forgotten past, love, or even innocence. The "ruins" signify the brokenness of the relationship or the impermanence of beautiful things. The mention of Chinese letters left undone on a black wall invitation adds to the mystery of the lyrics, and the idea that sometimes beautiful things are left unfinished.
The song's final verse brings together all the elements of these hauntingly beautiful lyrics. The moon representing the cycle of life, the writing spider counting teeth symbolizing the passage of time, and the ocean representing the vastness of existence. The line "something broke in you before your heart stopped ticking" indicates the passing of life but also signifies the breaking of something more profound. The black wall invitation that appears throughout the song represents the ending of something beautiful but also the potential for a new beginning.
Line by Line Meaning
the words avoid my tongue
I am struggling to articulate my thoughts and feelings about our relationship.
a wish to awake picture-less
I desire to experience the intensity of our connection without external distractions or influences.
to lean your fever up against mine
I want to merge our passions and share our physical and emotional energy.
trees are growing from our grave
Our love will continue beyond death and nourish life even after we are gone.
roots are tangled in our bones
Our connection is deep and profound, rooted in our very being.
polish girls in ruins tease like chinese letters left undone on a black wall
The allure of Polish girls is tantalizing, yet unattainable and mysterious, like unread Chinese characters on a dark surface.
invitation say goodnight before you go
In order to preserve the purity and intensity of our relationship, we must end each encounter before it becomes tainted or corrupted.
cut lips on frozen words cracked teeth on hard syllables
Communicating our feelings and desires is difficult and painful, leading to cutting remarks and broken teeth on harsh words.
wolf's milk and painted eggs an opium eaters dream
Our love is intoxicating and addictive, like the hallucinogenic substances of an opium dream.
polish girls in silent tease ruined and undone
Despite their allure, Polish girls ultimately leave us unfulfilled and incomplete.
when the moon decides to show a writing spider counts your teeth
The darkness of the night brings fears and anxieties, symbolized by a spider counting teeth and foretelling death.
something broke in you before your heart stopped ticking
You were damaged and scarred before our relationship began, leading to your emotional detachment and eventual withdrawal.
you go undone cold & quiet ocean lungs to peel away time & distance
Your departure leaves me adrift and drowning in despair, struggling to overcome the temporal and spatial distance between us.
a black wall invitation calm & lost
The darkness of night and the inaccessibility of our desires leave us feeling distraught and helpless.
the ripeness of the hour a black wall invitation say goodnight
The intensity of our relationship must be restrained, controlled, and protected by ending each encounter before it becomes destructive.
baptize this off of me before we turn bad
We must cleanse ourselves of our destructive desires and impulses before they overwhelm and corrupt our relationship.
Contributed by Elliot H. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
James Chiahan Lee
unbelievably under-appreciated
Rustic Rod
Califone takes you 'somewhere else' and I love it there.
David James Buckner
stained & lit (pt. two)
Áká Friðbjarnardóttir
glupio tylko ze taki tekst bo melodia naprawde super !