Originally part of short-lived Chicago group I Rowboat, Johnson and two of his fellow Rowboat members, guitarist Dan Strack and drummer Brian Belval, created Fruit Bats as a side-project. When I Rowboat split up, Fruit Bats became Johnson's main focus. Spurred on by Califone/Perishable Records honchos Tim Rutili and Ben Massarella, the group recorded their first album, Echolocation, released in 2001.
After tours with Gorky's Zygotic Mynci, Modest Mouse and The Shins, Fruit Bats signed with Sub Pop in late summer 2002, recording their second album, 2003's Mouthfuls, which included new bandmate Gillian Lisee.
After relocating to Seattle, the group released their third album, Spelled in Bones, in 2005. Afterward, Eric D. Johnson played with The Shins and Vetiver. In 2008, the Fruit Bats began working together again, with revised membership of Johnson, Christopher Sherman, Ron Lewis, Graeme Gibson, and Sam Wagster. In 2009, they released The Ruminant Band and in 2011 came Tripper.
In November 2013, Eric D. Johnson announced he would be dissolving Fruit Bats. That month they played what was to be their farewell show at a sold out Aladdin Theatre in Portland, OR. The following year Johnson released an album under the name EDJ.
Reforming in 2015, Fruit Bats released their sixth official full-length LP, Absolute Loser, in 2016 via newly formed Los Angeles-based label Easy Sound.
Fruit Bats signed to North Carolina-based independent label Merge Records in 2018. Also in 2018, Johnson formed the folk group Bonny Light Horseman with Josh Kaufman and Anais Mitchell.
In 2019 Fruit Bats’ Merge debut "Gold Past Life" was released.
Fruit Bats’ 2020 album The Pet Parade was produced by Johnson's Bonny Light Horseman bandmate Josh Kaufman.
In 2021, Fruit Bats released a full-album cover of Smashing Pumpkins' 1993 record Siamese Dream.
The Fruit Bats’ double-disc, 20-year career retrospective "Sometimes A Cloud Is Just a Cloud: Slow Growers, Sleeper Hits and Lost Songs" was released in 2022.
Tangie and Ray
Fruit Bats Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
to go rolling with the rubber tramps
and see the last few mountain men
In the back of a truck
with the bags of sugar and the guns
Over the bumpy USFS roads
With all the other fledgelings falling from the limbs,
Tangie and Ray, they got hair down to their knees
and Tangie rides a bighorn ram
and Ray can talk to trees
Now they're one with the dirt
With the mouldering bones and litter leaves
Down in the dirt
Under the cloudy sky and unbroken canopy
They're never going home
Never going home
Down in the dirt with the spineless animals and seeds
They live down in the dirt
Under the cloudy sky and unbroken canopy
and never going home
Down in the dirt with the spineless animals and seeds
They live down in the dirt
Under the cloudy sky and unbroken canopy
They're never going home
The lyrics to the song Tangie and Ray by Fruit Bats describe the story of two individuals, Tangie and Ray, who left their hometown of Columbia, Maryland to join the rubber tramps and explore the world. In the back of a truck, with bags of sugar and guns, they travel across the rough and bumpy roads of the USFS, where there are young and inexperienced people, who are possibly never going to return home, falling from the limbs. Tangie and Ray, with their hair down to their knees, ride a bighorn ram and talk to trees, wandering in the wilderness of the world.
As the story progresses, they ultimately become one with the dirt, rotting bones, and littered leaves down below where the spineless animals and seeds thrive, under the cloudy sky and unbreakable canopy. They have found their new home in nature, leaving behind the world of human society from where they had come. They have chosen to live in the present, and will never return to the world they had once known.
Overall, the song is a metaphorical representation of the idea of breaking free from societal constraints and escaping into the wild, embracing the unknown and finding a new home with nature.
Line by Line Meaning
Tangie and Ray left Columbia, Maryland
Tangie and Ray, a couple, left their hometown of Columbia, Maryland
to go rolling with the rubber tramps
They set out to join a group of vagabonds who travel by hitching rides on rubber trucks
and see the last few mountain men
They aim to meet a few of the last remaining mountain men, who live in remote areas
In the back of a truck
During their journey, Tangie and Ray sit in the rear end of a truck
with the bags of sugar and the guns
Carrying bags of sugar and weapons along their ride
Over the bumpy USFS roads
Traversing through a rough terrain of the USFS (United States Forest Service) roads
With all the other fledgelings falling from the limbs,
Witnessing other young people like them, who without roots, aimlessly drift from one place to another
who are never going home
These young people are not attached to any place and have no intention of settling down at any one place
Tangie and Ray, they got hair down to their knees
Both Tangie and Ray have long hair, that goes down to their knees
and Tangie rides a bighorn ram
Tangie also has a love for adventure, riding a bighorn ram
and Ray can talk to trees
Ray has a deep sense of communion with nature and has the ability to communicate with trees
Now they're one with the dirt
Tangie and Ray have become integrated with the earth
With the mouldering bones and litter leaves
They are now alongside decomposed bones and decaying leaves
Down in the dirt
They have descended to the lower levels of dirt
Under the cloudy sky and unbroken canopy
They live under the cover of clouds and the unbroken span of the forest
They're never going home
Since they prefer a nomadic life, they have decided not to go back to their hometown
Down in the dirt with the spineless animals and seeds
Tangie and Ray live in seclusion with other docile creatures such as animals and seeds
They live down in the dirt
Tangie and Ray have taken permanent shelter in the soil and go about their daily lives there
and never going home
They have consciously stopped looking for a place to call home
Contributed by Charlotte D. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Ben Riseman
They killed at Bonnaroo. They deserve so much more popularity.
Stoalan Mulyyf
I noticed that with other bands. they have a good sound setup in this studio.
primusvix teddywas1dog
fantastic!
Will Sargent
Such a great awkward moment. Such a great song. I love the fruit bats like my nipples.
primusvix teddywas1dog
odd that coincidentally i was researching actual fruit bats today; many kinds...just part of my job
Phoebe Anderson
Yes I love you. They were fantastic.
Nate Logston
you guys have a new fan!
fore1gn
Bearded music at its best.
Ted Williams
Better than the album version IMHO
dedZombie
Didn't know that Dwight was in a band