Kozelek was born and raised in Massillon, Ohio. Upon relocating to Atlanta, Georgia, he met drummer Anthony Koutsos. After the pair moved once again to San Francisco, California, Red House Painters formed in 1989 with the addition of guitarist Gorden Mack and bassist Jerry Vessel. From 1992 to 1996, Red House Painters released a series of acclaimed albums, showcasing Kozelek's intense, highly autobiographical songs.
However, Kozelek's parting with the record label 4AD, followed by a major label merger which left Red House Painters' 1998 album Old Ramon on the shelf, proved highly frustrating and stifled the group's momentum. Kozelek opted to occupy himself with a series of idiosyncratic solo recordings as Red House Painters dissolved.
In 2000, he released the solo EP Rock 'n' Roll Singer, which featured three original songs as well as covers of John Denver's "Around and Around" and three AC/DC songs ("Rock 'n' Roll Singer," "Bad Boy Boogie," and "You Ain't Got a Hold on Me"). Two of the AC/DC cover versions on Rock 'n' Roll Singer were radical re-arrangements of the originals which removed the Bon Scott-penned lyrics from their hard rock context and placed them into gentle, acoustic "folk ballad" settings.
Kozelek expanded on this idea in 2001, releasing a full-length album comprised solely of AC/DC covers titled What's Next to the Moon.These new arrangements sounded so unlike the originals that a KCRW radio executive insisted that the title track was a Leonard Cohen song.
This was not the first time Kozelek had drastically re-arranged others' material to his own ends. With Red House Painters, he had previously done similar reconstructions with Simon & Garfunkel's "I Am a Rock," The Cars' "All Mixed Up," Yes's "Long Distance Runaround," Paul McCartney's "Silly Love Songs," and Francis Scott Key's "The Star-Spangled Banner."
In the years between his band projects, Kozelek's music made a number of appearances on compilations and tribute albums. He contributed the song "New Partner" to the Will Oldham (a.k.a. Bonnie 'Prince' Billy) tribute album, I Am Cold Rock. I Am Dull Grass Around this time, Kozelek commandeered a tribute album to John Denver, entitled Take Me Home: A Tribute to John Denver, featuring Will Oldham, The Innocence Mission, and Low to name a few. The compilation also featured Kozelek covering "Around and Around" as a duet with Rachel Goswell.
A limited edition live recording, White Christmas Live, was released by the Sub Pop label in late 2001. In addition to his solo material, it featured several Red House Painters songs done in a stripped-down, acoustic guitar-and-vocals style, and one a cappella rendition. An early version of his current project Sun Kil Moon's "Lily and Parrots" is tacked on to the end as an uncredited bonus track. It also features one previously unreleased song, "Admiral Fell Promises."
Sun Kil Moon debuted with Ghosts of the Great Highway in 2003, and also features former RHP members Jerry Vessel and Anthony Koutsos as well as new collaborators Geoff Stanfield (formerly of Black Lab) and Tim Mooney of American Music Club. Their follow-up effort appeared in 2005 on Kozelek's newly formed label, Caldo Verde Records. Titled Tiny Cities, the album is made up entirely of covers of songs by Modest Mouse. Once again, Kozelek's cover versions varied greatly from the originals.
In 2006, Kozelek was invited by Toronto indie rock label Paper Bag Records to exclusively contribute to their See You on the Moon! Songs for Kids of All Ages compilation with his original song "Leo and Luna." Then in November 2006, Kozelek released a live album titled Little Drummer Boy Live. On the album's two discs, he plays songs from his solo career, covers, and material from the catalogs of both Red House Painters and Sun Kil Moon.
Kozelek returned in 2008 with the release of Sun Kil Moon's third album April. The album features 11 brand new recordings, including guest vocal contributions by Ben Gibbard, Will Oldham, and Eric Pollard.
The release of the new album also brought the re-issue of Nights of Passed Over, a 256-page, hard-cover book of all the lyrics to Kozelek's solo songs, Red House Painters' songs, and Sun Kil Moon's songs. It also features setlists, handwritten lyrics, and a preface by Kozelek himself. The original edition of this book was released in 2002 in Portugal, and featured all the lyrics up to that point, printed in both English and Portuguese. The updated edition spans to his current Sun Kil Moon days, and the book also includes a 12-track bonus CD, titled Nights LP, featuring live and rare versions of songs dated 1996 to 2007. The edition is sold exclusively on his label's website link and is limited to 2,500 copies.
On December 9, 2008, Kozelek and Caldo Verde Records issued The Finally LP, a CD collection of 10 unreleased tracks, including covers of songs by Stephen Sondheim, Will Oldham, Hüsker Dü, and Low among others, as well as two previously unreleased instrumentals. Two newly-recorded live albums, Find Me, Ruben Olivares: Live in Spain and Lost Verses Live, followed in spring 2009.
On April 23, 2010, the release of Sun Kil Moon's fourth album, Admiral Fell Promises, was announced. The album was released on July 13, 2010.
A documentary film entitled Mark Kozelek: On Tour was released via Caldo Verde Records on August 16, 2011. The movie was filmed during portions Mark Kozelek's European/North American tours of 2010 and early 2011.
In 2012, an article at Queensberry-Rules.com by staff writer Mark Ortega detailed Kozelek's fascination with the sport of boxing, which inspired the name of his Sun Kil Moon project as well as a few songs on a Desertshore album.
“Their backgrounds are extremely harsh and they work very hard to move up in their careers. I was in attendance at the Manny Pacquiao-Agapito Sanchez fight in San Francisco in 2001. When I heard Sanchez was murdered shortly after, it had a profound effect on me. It hurts when anyone dies young, but when you see the backgrounds of these guys and the path they've taken to try to find some light in their lives, it hurts to see them die young.”
Void
Mark Kozelek Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
When you need to get away
Her guitar leans against the couch
Sometimes I pick it up and play
Loosen and stretch it's ancient strings
Until it sounds the way I feel
Brush my thumb against it soft
Give it life or give it pause
When you look up in my eyes
I'm looking down in yours
All looks good up in the sky
Down to your wooly carpet floor
And I know that I have picked
The most perfect songs out yet
Even on a sketchy day
Just outside her shore we stay
When all it's colours turn and dry
Will you live or will you die?
When all it's poets fall away
Will you go or will you stay?
Fill the void in me now
Making love to me girl
Red light cruising the night
Red light getting me home
Driving down the freeway in your truck
I watched the river flowing up
Headlights cutting through the night
Hear them pass this place in time
And I know that I have slept
In the warmest bedroom yet
Even on the coldest day
Here inside her shore we stay
A verse of hope
There on that reel
Lets you know the way I feel
Ram my fists up in your hair
Feel me cruise up in the air
Fill the void in me now
Making love to me girl
Red light cruising the night
Red light getting me home
Fill the void in me now
Making love to me girl
Red lights float in the night
Red lights getting me home
Fill the void in me now
Smile down on me girl
Red light cruising the night
Red lights getting me home
Fill the void in me now
Making love to me girl
Red lights float in the night
Red light getting me home
Pull the weight of me now
Wrapped around me so good
Red light cruising the night
Red lights getting me home
Pull the weight off me now
Wrapped around me so good
Red light cruising the night
Red light getting me home
Fill the void in me now
Making love to me girl
Red lights cruising the night
Red lights getting me home
The song "Void" by Mark Kozelek is a contemplative and introspective meditation on love, art, and mortality. The first verse introduces us to a scene in which Kozelek is alone in a room with his lover's guitar, picking it up to play when he needs to "get away." In this brief moment of solitude, he is able to "loosen and stretch its ancient strings" and use them to express the way he feels inside. This moment of musical communion is juxtaposed with the second verse, in which he looks into his lover's eyes and sees a reflection of himself. The imagery of looking up and down suggests a power dynamic, with Kozelek in the dominant position. However, this dynamic is disrupted by the line "All looks good up in the sky / Down to your wooly carpet floor," which reveals the vulnerability and intimacy of the moment.
The chorus of the song, "Fill the void in me now / Making love to me girl / Red light cruising the night / Red lights getting me home," serves as a kind of refrain that ties the disparate images of the verses together. The image of the "red light cruising the night" suggests a sense of momentum and direction, but it is also associated with the "void" that Kozelek is trying to fill. The repetition of this phrase reinforces the idea that love and physical pleasure are being used as a means of escape or transcendence.
The final verse of the song shifts the focus from the personal to the universal, asking the questions "When all its colors turn and dry / Will you live or will you die? / When all its poets fall away / Will you go or will you stay?" Here, Kozelek is grappling with the idea of mortality and legacy, wondering whether anything we create or experience has lasting value in the face of eventual decay and oblivion. The song ends with one final repetition of the chorus, suggesting that while we may not be able to answer these questions, we can at least try to find temporary solace in physical pleasure and human connection.
Line by Line Meaning
Find another corner of the house
Find a secluded area within the house to escape to
When you need to get away
When you require a break and moments of solitude
Her guitar leans against the couch
Her guitar is propped up against the sofa
Sometimes I pick it up and play
Occasionally, I grab the guitar and play it
Loosen and stretch it's ancient strings
Relax and extend its old strings
Until it sounds the way I feel
Modify the sounds until it captures my current emotions
Brush my thumb against it soft
Gently run my thumb against it
Give it life or give it pause
Bring it to life or halt the playing
When you look up in my eyes
When you gaze up into my eyes
I'm looking down in yours
I'm staring down into your eyes
All looks good up in the sky
Everything appears pleasant in the sky
Down to your wooly carpet floor
Lowered to your wooly carpeted floor
And I know that I have picked
And I am aware that I selected
The most perfect songs out yet
The most ideal tunes thus far
Even on a sketchy day
Even on a doubtful day
Just outside her shore we stay
We remain just outside of her realm
When all it's colours turn and dry
When all the colors fade and become barren
Will you live or will you die?
Will you survive or perish?
When all it's poets fall away
When all its poets deteriorate
Will you go or will you stay?
Will you leave or remain?
Fill the void in me now
Satisfy the emptiness inside me at the moment
Making love to me girl
Being intimate with me, girl
Red light cruising the night
Driving slowly through the night under red lights
Red light getting me home
Red lights guiding me back home
Driving down the freeway in your truck
Riding on the freeway in your truck
I watched the river flowing up
I observed the river running upwards
Headlights cutting through the night
Headlights piercing through the darkness
Hear them pass this place in time
Hear them traverse through this moment in time
And I know that I have slept
And I am sure that I have dozed off
In the warmest bedroom yet
In the cosiest bedroom so far
Even on the coldest day
Even on the iciest of days
Here inside her shore we stay
We remain within her boundaries here
A verse of hope
A stanza of optimism
There on that reel
There on that reel
Lets you know the way I feel
Tells you how I am feeling
Ram my fists up in your hair
Push my fists up into your hair
Feel me cruise up in the air
Senses me moving upwards in the air
Red lights float in the night
Red lights drift in the night
Pull the weight of me now
Take on the responsibility of me at present
Wrapped around me so good
Embracing me so wonderfully
Contributed by Sarah W. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
michelleinhawaii
When he listens to music, he rocks front and back. When he sings with the radio, it's in falsetto. I was surprised when I heard him sing for real. One night: I fell asleep as he played songs that turned into love songs, something in the eyes more confident than this earth, penetrating my sleepy ones, honoring me with a love, after years, that loved me more after having known me. Thank you Mark.