Scared Straigh… Read Full Bio ↴Ten Foot Pole was founded in 1983 as Scared Straight.
Scared Straight was a punk band from Simi Valley, California. The band was formed in 1983 by a group of friends and was originally called S.O.F. Original members were Scott Radinsky, Mike Thompson, Gary Gallanes and Dennis Jagard, who started the band to enter a "Battle of the Bands" competition at a local skate rink. After going through several members and name changes, they began playing with some "Nardcore" bands from nearby Oxnard, California, which helped them gain recognition. All of the Scared Straight records were released by Mystic Records.
In the early 1990s they changed their name to Ten Foot Pole. One of the reasons for the name change was to move away from the "straight-edge" reputation that followed the band with a name like Scared Straight. In the beginning, Ten Foot Pole had a reputation of being a more aggressive, hardcore punk band that likes to party and have fun. The band released two albums under their new name with the old lineup: Swill and Rev. After the release of Rev and a split EP with Sweden's Satanic Surfers, Radinsky was forced to leave the band due to his professional baseball commitments and Ten Foot Pole's desire to be a full-time touring band. From then on Dennis Jagard took over lead vocals for the band.
The next albums, Unleashed and Insider, developed a new fan base but lost some old time fans who preferred Scott's voice. This included decision makers at Epitaph Records, and the next album, Bad Mother Trucker, was released on Victory Records, followed by Subliminable Messages on Go-Kart Records. The band toured Europe to promote the album, along with Phinius Gage. Various musicians joined and left along the way as the band toured heavily in the US and Canada. Various members included Glen "Vegas" Murray Eric Cody, Kris Kwiatkowski, John Chapman, Dan Kelly, Chris Dalley, Keith Divel, Chris Del Rio, and Mike Levy who is a teacher in California, along with Kevin Ruggeri, who is an English teacher for Conestoga High School in Berwyn, Pennsylvania. Lead singer Dennis is a sound engineer, who has mixed for artists including Prince, Beck, AFI and Jimmy Eat World.
On 4 April 2009, the band ended a three-year hiatus with a show at the Riorock festival in Belgium, followed by some shows in California in late 2011 and a short tour in Australia in November 2012.
They were also featured 2000 in the Punk Goes Metal compilations performing a cover of "Love Song" by Tesla.
Last call for Russell's balls
Ten Foot Pole Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Stares down her coke-burned nose and sets new rules
Forbids his listening to punk rock music
Tried to burn his copy of The People's History
His face is blank, bloodless, inexpressive,
All passion drained by the unhallowed leech
The demon must be fed
Last call for Russell's balls
They're hanging by a thread
Russell says it's true love more like sick games
A bitter brawl at midnight in the street
Some cars have stopped to watch the loud commotion
Laughing at the wicked witch of West Hollywood
Strings held tight a dancing marionette doll
A painted smile on a wooden face
Last call for Russell's balls
The demon must be fed
Last call for Russell's balls
They're hanging by a thread
A phone call woke up Russ in the middle of the night
As she reached down his trousers with sharp scissors
and a light
Caught the blades before the amputation was complete
It seems the rearview mirror's where she would've hung the meat
Born-again with pride, Russ hands her the broomstick
Says it's time for her to fly away forever
Last call saved Russell's balls
The demon's face turned red
Smoke shot out her ears
When he kicked her of bed
He saved himself this time
From the evil bride-to-be
So clearly serpentine
Now she's just a memory
The song "Last call for Russell's Balls" by Ten Foot Pole is a tale of a man named Russell and his newly-found love interest, an uptight trust-fund princess. The lyrics detail how the woman forbids Russell from listening to punk rock music and even tries to burn his copy of a book, The People's History. Russell's passion for life is drained by the woman, who is compared to an unhallowed leech.
The title of the song, "Last call for Russell's balls," is a reference to the woman's attempt to castrate Russell with scissors, hence the lyrics "they're hanging by a thread." However, he managed to save himself just in time, despite the woman's attempts to mutilate him. The lyrics sarcastically refer to the woman as the "wicked witch of West Hollywood," who would have hung his meat on her rearview mirror if she had succeeded in castrating him.
The song ends with Russell finally standing up for himself and kicking the woman out of bed, saying that she can fly away forever. This ending is a message of empowerment, recommending that people recognize and stand up to toxic relationships.
Line by Line Meaning
Russell's new uptight trust-fund princess reigns
Russell's partner, who is from a wealthy background and is overly controlling, now dominates their relationship
Stares down her coke-burned nose and sets new rules
She looks down on Russell and establishes new oppressive policies
Forbids his listening to punk rock music
She prohibits Russell from enjoying his preferred genre of music
Tried to burn his copy of The People's History
She attempted to destroy a book that is important to Russell
His face is blank, bloodless, inexpressive,
Russell appears lifeless and devoid of emotion
All passion drained by the unhallowed leech
The controlling nature of Russell's partner has deprived him of his vitality
Last call for Russell's balls
This is a desperate plea for Russell to save his masculinity from his emasculating partner
The demon must be fed
The 'demon' or oppressive partner requires some sort of payment or sacrifice
They're hanging by a thread
Russell's masculinity is precariously close to being completely destroyed
Russell says it's true love more like sick games
Russell acknowledges that his partner's behavior is not that of a loving partner, but rather that of a sadistic tormentor
A bitter brawl at midnight in the street
A physical altercation occurs between Russell and his partner late at night in a public place
Some cars have stopped to watch the loud commotion
Passersby have taken notice of the disturbance
Laughing at the wicked witch of West Hollywood
Some observers find humor in the abusive behavior of Russell's partner
Strings held tight a dancing marionette doll
Russell is controlled like a puppet on strings by his partner
A painted smile on a wooden face
Russell's partner appears to be happy on the surface, but is actually insincere and controlling underneath
A phone call woke up Russ in the middle of the night
Russell is awoken by a phone call late at night
As she reached down his trousers with sharp scissors
His partner attempts to castrate him with scissors
Caught the blades before the amputation was complete
Russell is able to stop his partner from completing the castration
It seems the rearview mirror's where she would've hung the meat
Russell's partner intended to display his manhood as a trophy
Born-again with pride, Russ hands her the broomstick
Russell regains his sense of self-worth and gives his partner what she deserves
Says it's time for her to fly away forever
Russell ends the abusive relationship and tells his partner to leave him alone for good
Last call saved Russell's balls
Thanks to his decision to leave his partner, Russell is able to preserve his masculinity
The demon's face turned red
Russell's partner is angered by his decision to leave
Smoke shot out her ears
The intense anger his partner experiences is depicted by this image
When he kicked her of bed
Russell forcefully removes his partner from his life
He saved himself this time
Russell is able to protect his own well-being by ending the relationship
From the evil bride-to-be
Russell identifies that his partner is planning to marry him and is not someone he wants as his wife
So clearly serpentine
Russell sees his partner for the manipulative and abusive person that she is
Now she's just a memory
Russell is pleased to have left his abusive partner behind him
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind