The band is described, along with Low and American Music Club, as one of the linchpins of the slowcore movement, a subgenre of Indie Rock characterized by downbeat melodies, slow tempos, and often minimalist arrangements. The genre was shaped by musical influences like Folk Rock, Contemporary Folk, and later on, Indie Folk, creating a subdued atmosphere that clashed against most of the comparatively brash Alternative Rock that was popular at the time. Kozelek used this group primarily as a vehicle for his very personal and emotional songs of despair, pain and suffering.
While in Atlanta, Kozelek became friends with Anthony Koutsos, a drummer. He then moved to San Francisco, adding guitarist Gorden Mack and bassist Jerry Vessel to complete the line-up for Red House Painters. After forming, the group played the San Francisco scene extensively, and recorded demos from 1989 to 1992, building up an impressive amount of material. Once they were signed to 4AD Records in 1992, they put out five-and-a-half LPs worth of material in two-and-a-half years--between September 1992 and March 1995, they released three LPs, one double LP, and one EP on 4AD.
Their first 4AD release was an album made up of select demos titled Down Colorful Hill. It was a compilation of haunting melodies complemented by Kozelek's eerie yet rich and emotional vocals. In 1993, the group came out with two self-titled records (now commonly referred to as "Red House Painters I" or "Rollercoaster" and "Red House Painters II" or "Bridge" (based on their cover artwork), solidifying Kozelek's reputation as a talented songwriter with their harrowing autobiographical tales of his troubled life and errant living with no punches being pulled. The music, which ran the gamut from beautiful acoustic folk-rock to intense, dissonant, lengthy soundscapes, effectively conveyed the sadness of the lyrics.
In 1994, they released an EP entitled Shock Me and in 1995, the introspective Ocean Beach, which saw Kozelek's songs becoming more acoustic-based and folk influenced, and featured far less of the lengthy, dreamlike epics of the group's first two albums. His lyrics also showed a considerable shift in tone, as he increasingly began to write about the power of memory and the significance of geography, a subject that would become an obsession in his subsequent recordings.
While Kozelek was beginning work on a solo project, he parted ways with 4AD Records after a somewhat tumultuous relationship. Entitled Songs for a Blue Guitar, which was released on Island Records subsidiary Supreme Recordings in 1996. It was more of a guitar-driven rock album that they released under the Red House Painters name to give the album more publicity. A year later, they came up with Old Ramon, arguably their most accessible, optimistic recording to date. However, major label mergers during the late 90's would leave them without a record label, and it wasn't until 2001 that they were able to release the album on Sub Pop.
Prior to the release of Old Ramon, Kozelek released a solo six-song EP entitled Rock 'n' Roll Singer in 2000. The record was comprised of three original acoustic compositions with minor full-band arrangements and three covers: two AC/DC covers from the Bon Scott era and one John Denver cover. Following the release of the first solo EP, Kozelek released his first solo album six months later. The record, entitled What's Next to the Moon, was released in January of 2001, but would greatly surprise fans. What's Next to the Moon was comprised entirely of shimmering, melancholy acoustic AC/DC covers from the Bon Scott era. The record was also greatly uncharacteristic of Kozelek (though he was prone to enjoy covering songs by his favorite artists) in that it is the shortest full length to date clocking in at just over thirty minutes. Even the first Red House Painters album with only six tracks was more than 45 minutes in length. Both solo albums were released by Badman Records.
4AD would release the best-of package, "Retrospective", on a double-disc in 1999. Kozelek subsequently organized and appeared on a John Denver tribute album, played a part in Cameron Crowe's film Almost Famous and also appeared as a rock musician in the Steve Martin vehicle Shopgirl. He contributed to both a benefit album for AIDS and an album of classic rock covers.
In 2003 Kozelek and Koutsos, along with Geoff Stanfield and Tim Mooney, reformed as Sun Kil Moon, releasing the acclaimed album Ghosts of the Great Highway on Jetset Records. In a 2005 interview with The Onion's AV Club, Kozelek confirmed that he considers Sun Kil Moon essentially the Red House Painters, but that he changed the band name to grab the interest of critics who had gotten bored with, or stopped paying attention to, the Painters. The move was successful, as Ghosts of the Great Highway would be his best-selling album yet, while garnering extremely positive reviews.
Drop
Red House Painters Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
My voice shakes from the hurt that I hide
Ashamed of my existence
And of my petty often wounded pride
I'd like to come home to see you
And to catch your sickness by the bedside
But then you'd know how much I really need you
All the love in an instant
Makes my life stop
But then my hate for you
Makes my feelings altogether drop
If only I were blind to your selfish fling
And your desperate cause
And didn't press you for the details
That threaten my physical flaws
I'd like to come home to see you
And embrace your illness under soft light
But then you'd know how much I really need you
All the love in an instant
Makes my life stop
But then my hate for you
Makes my feelings altogether drop
So much that I can say to you
With affection that I burn inside
You're aching from the distance
Avoiding strain that's running still alive
If only I could heal you
In the sprinkling of the ocean side
But then you'd know how much I really love you
All the love in an instant
Makes my life stop
But then my hate for you
Makes my feelings altogether drop
In "Drop," Red House Painters explore the complex emotions of love and hate that can coexist within a relationship. The lyrics express the confusion and pain of a narrator who wants to love someone deeply but is also hurt and frustrated by their actions.
The first verse sets the tone, with the singer confessing that there is "so much" they can't say to their lover. Their voice trembles with the weight of the hurt they are hiding, and they feel ashamed of their own pride. Despite these feelings, they long to see their lover and care for them, but they fear that this will reveal how much they need them.
As the song unfolds, the singer grapples with their conflicting emotions. They experience intense love for their partner, moments when "All the love in an instant / makes my life stop." But they also feel hate, a feeling that makes their "feelings altogether drop." The singer is angry about their partner's "selfish fling" and the details that threaten their "physical flaws." Yet, they can't help but feel drawn to them despite everything.
In the final verse, the singer wishes they could heal their lover's pain and "sprinkle" them with love by the ocean. They long to express the "affection that burns inside" and ease the "strain that's still alive." However, they ultimately fear that if they reveal how much they love their partner, it will leave them vulnerable and open to more pain.
"Drop" is a haunting and poignant exploration of the complexities of love and hate. It shows how even when someone hurts us deeply, we may still feel deeply attached and conflicted about our feelings.
Line by Line Meaning
So much that I can't say to you
There are things that I want to tell you, but I can't bring myself to say them.
My voice shakes from the hurt that I hide
I'm hiding my pain and it's causing me to struggle to speak.
Ashamed of my existence
I feel embarrassed or guilty about who I am as a person.
And of my petty often wounded pride
My ego is fragile, and I'm easily offended or hurt by others.
I'd like to come home to see you
I want to come back to see you.
And to catch your sickness by the bedside
I want to be there for you when you're sick and help take care of you.
But then you'd know how much I really need you
If I did that, you would realize just how much I rely on you and how important you are to me.
All the love in an instant
I can feel a rush of love or affection towards you.
Makes my life stop
It's an overwhelming feeling that can feel like it's taking over my entire life.
But then my hate for you
At the same time, I can feel anger or resentment towards you.
Makes my feelings altogether drop
These intense emotions can be so conflicting that they cancel each other out, leaving me feeling numb or empty.
If only I were blind to your selfish fling
I wish I didn't know about the time when you were selfish or self-centered.
And your desperate cause
I wish I didn't know about the situation that led you to act that way.
And didn't press you for the details
I wish I hadn't asked you to explain what happened or to give me more information.
That threaten my physical flaws
Learning about what happened has made me feel insecure about my own physical flaws or vulnerabilities.
I'd like to come home to see you
Once again, I want to come back to see you.
And embrace your illness under soft light
I want to comfort you and show you love, even when you're sick or not feeling well.
But then you'd know how much I really need you
But if I did that, you would realize just how much I rely on you and how important you are to me.
All the love in an instant
Again, I can feel a rush of love or affection towards you.
Makes my life stop
This can be such an intense feeling that it feels like everything else in my life just fades away.
But then my hate for you
But again, these intense emotions are often followed by negative ones like anger or resentment.
Makes my feelings altogether drop
These conflicting feelings cancel each other out and leave me feeling numb or empty once again.
So much that I can say to you
There are still things I want to say to you that I haven't said yet.
With affection that I burn inside
I feel a lot of love towards you and it's burning inside of me.
You're aching from the distance
You're hurting because we're apart and can't be together right now.
Avoiding strain that's running still alive
You're trying to avoid any further tension or conflict, but it's still present and alive between us.
If only I could heal you
I wish I could take away your pain and make everything better for you.
In the sprinkling of the ocean side
Metaphorically, I wish I could heal you with something as soothing and gentle as the sprinkling of ocean water.
But then you'd know how much I really love you
But if I could do that, you would realize how much I love you and care about you.
Lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Written by: Mark Edward Kozelek
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind