The band members met in the DC punk/indie scene, though their music draws from more faraway sources. The band formed in the fall of 1998 from the ashes of local bands The Impossible Five and Colour, when singer-guitarist Jason Simon, bassist Steve Kille, and drummer Mark Laughlin set out to fuse their love of early 70s hard rock and 60s psychedelia with their love of writers J.R.R. Tolkien and H.P. Lovecraft.
Dead Meadow released their six-song debut in 2000 on Fugazi bassist Joe Lally's Tolotta Records, and a joint vinyl release on Washington D.C. indie label Planaria Records. In 2001 the band released its second album, Howls From The Hills, on Tolotta. Whereas the first self-titled album was recorded in their practice space for a couple hundred dollars and plenty of learning curves, Howls From The Hills was born in a barn in Liberty, Indiana. Their sound fuller without losing its live essence, the band grew to encompass everything from ambient guitar drones to surging psych-funk sludge, blues-folk tunes to barbiturate space-rock, and some southern slow boogie thrown in for good measure.
In spring 2002, original drummer Mark Laughlin reluctantly quit the group, replaced by old friend and previous collaborator Stephen McCarty (whose grandfather's farmhouse is where the band recorded Howls From the Hills). Also in mid-2002 the band found an unlikely patron in Brian Jonestown Massacre's Anton Newcombe, who recorded, produced and printed Dead Meadow's live disc 'Got Live if You Want' it on his "Committee to Keep Music Evil" imprint of the legendary Bomp label. Soon after, they recorded a Peel Session at the Fugazi practice space - the first time the BBC recorded a Peel Session outside their own studios.
Shortly after signing with Matador in 2003, Dead Meadow self-produced 'Shivering King And Others' in the basement studio of the DC Pirate House over five months and during a busy schedule of touring. Along with the heavy rockers and bluesy numbers as on the previous two records, the band went deeper into the psychedelic realm, with chiming acoustic touches and lovely, disorienting ballads.
With the addition of 2nd guitarist Cory Shane and beautifully spacious production, their 2005 album 'Feathers' features songs like "At Her Open Door" and "Stacy's Song" influenced by the droning modal character of Eastern music as by classic rock riffs.
In early 2008, the band released Old Growth on Matador Records. A collection of songs that brought the band back initially to the same farm where their second release Howls from the Hills was created and eventually finished up at the Sunset Sound studio in Los Angeles.
In March 2010 the band released a live film and soundtrack, Three Kings, which was recorded at the final show of the band's five-month "Old Growth" tour.
In August 2010, it was announced that original drummer Mark Laughlin had re-joined the band.
Their album "The Nothing They Need" was released in 2018.
Indian Bones
Dead Meadow Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Don't ask why, I don't know
The North Star dances
Above the white dove
The stairway that never ends
Ends around the bend
Through the door of the sun
Through the sky
Higher and higher we climb
I'm not having a good time
The North Star dances
Above the white dove
Out on the plains
I had a vision of iron and steel
Isn't it strange
That my vision is real?
The lyrics to Dead Meadow's song "Indian Bones" have a dream-like quality to them, with imagistic language and a sense of wandering without purpose. The opening lines, "Up the mountain we go / Don't ask why, I don't know," set the tone for a journey into the unknown. The North Star is a recurring image throughout the song, hovering over a white dove and dancing in the sky. The line, "The stairway that never ends / Ends around the bend," speaks to the cyclical nature of this journey or perhaps how the end is always just out of reach. There is a sense of spiritual searching and transcendence in lines like, "Through the door of the sun / The buffalo run to be chased." The singer is climbing higher into the sky but doesn't seem to be enjoying themselves, saying "I'm not having a good time."
The final stanza of the song takes a sudden turn, with the singer saying, "Out on the plains / I had a vision of iron and steel / Isn't it strange / That my vision is real?" This image of industrialization and modernity seems at odds with the dreamlike imagery of the earlier verses. It's possible that the singer is commenting on the clash between the natural world and human progress, or perhaps lamenting a loss of connection to the earth.
Line by Line Meaning
Up the mountain we go
We're making our way up the mountain
Don't ask why, I don't know
I have no explanation for our journey
The North Star dances
The North Star seems to move as we progress
Above the white dove
Over the peaceful white dove
The stairway that never ends
The staircase doesn't seem to have an end
Ends around the bend
The staircase's end might be just out of sight
Through the door of the sun
We pass through the doorway of the sun
The buffalo run to be chased
Buffalo are running from a chaser
Through the sky
We're traveling through the sky
Higher and higher we climb
We're ascending higher and higher
I'm not having a good time
I'm not enjoying this experience
The North Star dances
Despite our discomfort, the North Star carries on
Above the white dove
As if unaware of our discomfort, over the peaceful white dove
Out on the plains
While on the open, flat land
I had a vision of iron and steel
I saw a vision of metal machinery
Isn't it strange
Doesn't it seem odd
That my vision is real?
That my vision has manifested in reality?
Contributed by Henry Y. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
metalandanimeyes
Killer album, love this band.
94ddare
Such a fucking powerful guitar solo. And the drums and bass keep chugging along with it! Dead Meadow gives me hope!
alex drieaz
heard this song for first time just the other day and can't stop listening to it
zztosha
Amazing album.
BILLY-BILL BEANO
Good to come back to this. Great track. Illest solo.
NizzBomb69
i'm thinkin about actually buying this CD instead of just torrenting it. they deserve it...fuckin awesome music
FenderJaguarMan12
Does anyone know what effects he uses? Im guessing a big muff or similar vintage style fuzz but does anyone know about the delay/echo?
Ozzmanconnection
I don't really like the vocals that much, the music is fantastic nonetheless
iamyohan
dead meadow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
David Griego
Over the mountain we go don't ask why I don't know!!!!!!!!!!!!!!