Ranaldo was born in Glen Cove, Long Island, New York, and graduated from Binghamton University. He has three sons, Cody Linn Ranaldo, Sage Ranaldo and Frey Ranaldo and is married to the experimental artist Leah Singer, with whom he has performed many live installation pieces with improvised music.
Among Ranaldo's solo records are Dirty Windows, a collection of spoken texts with music, Amarillo Ramp (for Robert Smithson), pieces for the guitar, and Scriptures of the Golden Eternity. His books include Bookstore, Road Movies, and Jrnls80s (published by Soft Skull Press). A full-length book of writings on Moroccan travels and music, as well as a book of new poems, Lengths & Breaths, are out now. Recent visual work has been included in exhibitions at the Hayward Gallery in London, the Sydney Museum of Contemporary Art and Mercer Union in Toronto.
Ranaldo has produced albums for artists including Babes in Toyland, You Am I, Deity Guns, Magik Markersand Dutch art rock-ensemble KLEG. He has edited a volume of tour journals from the 1995 Lollapalooza Tour written by Thurston Moore, Beck, Stephen Malkmus, Courtney Love, and others. Ranaldo has also worked with jazz drummer William Hooker on improvised music, and reading and improvising poetry.
In 2004, Rolling Stone ranked Ranaldo and Thurston Moore, of Sonic Youth, the 33rd and 34th best guitarists of all time. Their playing style is very innovative and they both use a large variety of extended techniques, such as their 3rd Bridge screwdriver technique.
Ranaldo usually uses Fender Jazzmaster and Telecaster Deluxe electric guitars, with radically altered tunings, and modifications.
Xtina As I Knew Her
Lee Ranaldo Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Traveling with a friend
As xtina came of age
I hung with xtina's friends
They would all come 'round the house
And slowly go insane
Every night up around the bend
I'm in xtina's house again
She was just a lonely soldier
Running with the times and the tides
Maybe just a little older
Quite a ways into the night
Quite a ways into the night
I can see you coming
Creeping slowly up the lane
I can see her falling
In and out of love again
I can still see that tree
With that boat off by the shore
Drifting in and out of time
We're in xtina's house once more
Slip behind the valley curtain
Looking for a place to hide
Shaky and those times uncertain
Everyone drunk on red wine
Drunk on red wine
Turn on a flashlight in the dark
At 3 am in the morning
Drunk on red red wine
Tommy smashing bottles against the wall
Xtina waiting at the wall
It's what you know and you know it
It's every place you go, so don't blow it
Confusion takes away, makes it all turn wrong
It only takes a day or two before I'm gone
Long gone
Well step right up
To the house of pain
Step right up on the porch
You bet on the wrong horse
Walking through the door at 10
Right about a quarter to 10
Being very very certain
We're in xtina's house again
She was just a lonely soldier
Running up and down the ride
She was pure and wide and open
She was somehow out of time
Now she's frozen in time
In Lee Ranaldo's song "Xtina As I Knew Her," the singer reminisces about the past and the experiences he had with a woman named Xtina. He describes traveling with a friend while Xtina came of age, as he hung out with her friends who would come over to their house every night and slowly go insane. The lyrics evoke a sense of nostalgia and longing as he fondly remembers spending time with Xtina and her friends.
The lyrics suggest that Xtina was an outsider, a lonely soldier running with the times and tides. The lines "She was pure and wide and open / She was somehow out of time / Now she's frozen in time" suggest that she was a unique and pure spirit who was unable to keep up with the times and eventually became stuck in the past. The lyrics also touch upon the theme of confusion and how it can make everything turn wrong.
The song paints a vivid picture of the past, with images of a tree with a boat by the shore drifting in and out of time. The lines "Everyone drunk on red wine / Drunk on red wine" conjure up a sense of wild abandon and recklessness, as the singer describes drunken antics like Tommy smashing bottles against the wall while Xtina waits at the wall.
Overall, the lyrics to "Xtina As I Knew Her" reflect on the passage of time and the fleeting nature of memories. The song speaks to the universal human experience of looking back on the past with a mixture of nostalgia, regret, and a sense of longing.
Line by Line Meaning
I was traveling light
I had few possessions with me
Traveling with a friend
I was accompanied by someone I knew
As xtina came of age
As Christina got older
I hung out with xtina's friends
I spent time with the people Christina knew
They would all come 'round the house
They would visit Christina at her home
And slowly go insane
Gradually lose their mental stability
Every night up around the bend
Every night we would end up at Christina's house, which was located around the bend
I'm in xtina's house again
I find myself at Christina's house once more
She was just a lonely soldier
She was a single person fighting her own battles
Running with the times and the tides
Living life as it came at her
Maybe just a little older
Perhaps slightly more mature than expected
Quite a ways into the night
Very late at night
I can see you coming
I can anticipate your arrival
Creeping slowly up the lane
Approaching slowly on the pathway
I can see her falling
I can see her losing faith or tripping over
In and out of love again
Falling in and out of love again and again
I can still see that tree
I remember the sight of that particular tree
With that boat off by the shore
Next to the shore, there was a boat
Drifting in and out of time
Going back and forth between different periods of time
We're in xtina's house once more
We find ourselves yet again at Christina's home
Slip behind the valley curtain
Go behind the curtains in the valley
Looking for a place to hide
Trying to find somewhere to conceal oneself
Shaky and those times uncertain
Feeling uneasy and unsure about the future
Everyone drunk on red wine
Everybody was intoxicated with red wine
Turn on a flashlight in the dark
Turning on the light in the darkness
At 3 am in the morning
At three in the morning early in the day
Drunk on red red wine
Intoxicated with red wine
Tommy smashing bottles against the wall
Tommy breaking glass bottles against the wall
Xtina waiting at the wall
Christina standing by the wall, probably waiting for someone or something
It's what you know and you know it
You know what you know
It's every place you go, so don't blow it
It exists at every location you happen to find yourself, so be mindful of how you conduct yourself
Confusion takes away, makes it all turn wrong
Confusion gets rid of things, and causes everything to go wrong
It only takes a day or two before I'm gone
It doesn't take long before I leave
Long gone
Gone for a long time
Well step right up
Come forward confidently
To the house of pain
To the place that is a source of agony
Step right up on the porch
Come forward and stand on the porch
You bet on the wrong horse
You backed the wrong option
Walking through the door at 10
Entering through the door at ten in the night
Right about a quarter to 10
Slightly before ten-fifteen in the night
Being very very certain
Being absolutely certain
We're in xtina's house again
We are once again at Christina's house
She was just a lonely soldier
She was a solitary fighter
Running up and down the ride
Running towards and away from a goal
She was pure and wide and open
She was devoid of impurities, and was very welcoming of people
She was somehow out of time
She was not living in the present, and didn't belong in the current era
Now she's frozen in time
Now she is fixed in a specific point in the course of history
Lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Written by: Lee M Ranaldo
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
William Cate
i love lees voice.
ChipsDim
A musician in his own right. A brilliant aural syncretism of psychedelia, no wave, Generation NO, and punk.
Chris Wiegel
i had the pleasure this song 4 nights in a row when he opened up for M. Ward back in May - this is easily my favorite off the album and was my favorite every night! I picked up the demo LP but it's cool to hear this one, especially with Nels on it. Very nice!
Ghost-Youth
Fucking gold. Lee is a genius.
iain mutch
I sense the essence of CSNY ala wind on the water in this song.Granted it’s buried but I can feel it man
naturphilosophie1
lees the best! never a song I don't love!
TheKubrick182
awesome!
Josh Orange
NYC sound :)
Alen Mecan
Slip behind the valley curtain
looking for a place to hide
shaky and those times uncertain
everyone drunk on red wine :)
Adam Borkowski
Hey, that's my album!