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.
When Leon Sphinx Moved Into Town
Califone Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
A child made out of a song about money
Our sex became a boxer who moved in next door retired
A separate man we thought we knew
Joked about him feared a little bit nodded hello
Admired from a distance
Like when leon spinx moevd into town
Whispered on the black stairs
The cord disappears behind the kitchen door
Breathing in the pauses seeing how long
We can go without saying anything
The opening two lines of Califone’s song "When Leon Sphinx Moved Into Town" harness the power of metaphor to emphasize the consequences of manipulating natural elements. The “machine” that is created by “describing the landscape” suggests a mechanization of nature and its reduction to something that exists purely for human consumption. The child “made out of a song about money” similarly undermines the fundamental innocence and purity of childhood by suggesting that even something as pure and untainted as a child is vulnerable to the corrosive effects of capitalism.
The second verse of the song picks up on the theme of reductionism and objectification but this time in the context of sex. The line “Our sex became a boxer who moved in next door retired” implies a sense of ennui and lethargy as if even the excitement of sex has been sucked out or replaced by something manufactured and mundane. This is compounded by the use of the phrase “a separate man we thought we knew” which suggests an underlying sense of alienation or distance between people, even when they should feel a deep connection. But despite the sense of disquiet in the song, there is also a sense of nostalgia and reverence for something that has passed. “Joked about him feared a little bit nodded hello admired from a distance like when Leon Sphinx moved into town” suggests a sense of community or shared experience, even if it is marked by unease or anxiety.
Line by Line Meaning
Made a machine by describing the landscape
We created something by using words to describe the surroundings
A child made out of a song about money
Metaphorically comparing the creation of something precious like a child to a song about a valuable commodity like money
Our sex became a boxer who moved in next door retired
Our passion and intimacy became a defeated warrior who has come to live nearby and is familiar to us but is no longer a threat
A separate man we thought we knew
Someone we believed we knew well but turns out to be an individual with his own secrets and personality
Joked about him feared a little bit nodded hello
We made jokes about him, but also harbored some fear or suspicion and only greeted him with a nod.
Admired from a distance
We appreciated him but kept a safe distance
Like when leon spinx moved into town
Drawing parallels to a previous experience of having a certain level of fascination and apprehension when someone new comes to live nearby
My leg falls asleep and becomes a telephone call
A metaphor for the numbness or lack of sensation in one's leg becoming a message or sign of something
Whispered on the black stairs
A secretive conversation held in a dark or isolated spot
The cord disappears behind the kitchen door
The connection or communication is kept private as it happens behind a closed door
Breathing in the pauses seeing how long
Taking time to reflect or keep silent, as if measuring how long we can bear it without saying anything
Lyrics © ROUGH TRADE PUBLISHING, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Written by: Temistoclas Hugo Rutili
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind