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.
Void
Red House Painters Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Let me lock you in my room and keep you
For a while
Could you be the answer to my every prayer?
Could you be the one for who I care?
Come into my arms and let your worries die
Come out from the web of all your tangles lies
Judge me not for what I've done but what I'll do
A million nights have led
To this one that we are spending
And I know it's better here
Than anywhere I've been going
With every morning grew
A void more wide and endless
Come out from the burning fire butterfly
Let me lock you in my room and keep you
For a while
You watch over me and I'll watch over you
And if you go tomorrow choke me 'till I'm blue
A thousand days have passed
In this house she and I were sharing
And I hate myself for it
But I have stopped caring
The Marilyn sky tonight
Is so black and blue and beautiful
The lyrics to Red House Painters' song "Void" are expressive of a desire for companionship, freedom from emotional baggage, and finding solace in someone else’s company. The lyrics open with the singer's request to the butterfly to come out and be locked in a room for a while, presumably away from the burning fire, signalling the need for safety. The lyrics convey the singer's feeling of finally finding the one for whom they care and a companion who could be the answer to their prayers, seemingly having gone through a lot of struggles.
The lyrics express a desire to move on from a past filled with emptiness and sadness. The singer wants the butterfly to come into their arms and shed off all worries and lies that may be holding them back. They promise to be true to each other regardless of what they have done in the past. However, there is a hint of melancholy as the singer acknowledges the void in their life that has grown wider and more endless every morning. This sense of despair is further emphasised when the singer talks about having stopped caring and hating themselves for it.
Line by Line Meaning
Come out from the burning fire butterfly
Leave whatever bad situation you're in and come to me.
Let me lock you in my room and keep you for a while
Stay with me for some time, away from everything that's troubling you.
Could you be the answer to my every prayer?
Could you be the one I've been waiting for?
Could you be the one for who I care?
Could you be the person I care about the most?
Come into my arms and let your worries die
Be comforted in my embrace, let go of all your worries.
Come out from the web of all your tangled lies
Leave behind all your deceitful ways and be honest with me.
But be true to me and I'll be true to you
If you're honest and genuine with me, I'll reciprocate the same way.
Judge me not for what I've done but what I'll do
Don't judge me based on my past mistakes, but rather by my future actions.
A million nights have led to this one that we are spending
Everything that's happened in the past has brought us to this moment.
And I know it's better here than anywhere I've been going
I realize that being with you is better than anything I've experienced before.
With every morning grew a void more wide and endless
Every day the emptiness inside me was growing more and more.
You watch over me and I'll watch over you
Let's take care of each other and look out for one another.
And if you go tomorrow choke me 'till I'm blue
If you leave me, I won't be able to handle it and will feel suffocated with grief.
A thousand days have passed in this house she and I were sharing
I spent a thousand days with my ex-partner in this house.
And I hate myself for it but I have stopped caring
I regret those days and feel guilty, but I've moved past caring about it.
The Marilyn sky tonight is so black and blue and beautiful
The sky tonight reminds me of Marilyn Monroe, it's dark yet strikingly beautiful.
Lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Written by: Mark Edward Kozelek
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind