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.
Seven
Ten Foot Pole Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I don't fit in with these cruel earthlings,
I've done my time please take me home,
I was five, I was bad,
You sent me here erased my memory,
Babysitter washed my mouth with soap,
I was ten,
Had no friends,
The neighbors ate my little dog Ralph,
Father please take me back I don't fit in with these cruel earthlings
I've done my time please take me home
Please fly your spaceship out and beam me up
Don't leave me down here I'll be so good from now,
I had a girl,
She took her clothes off with my best friend,
I didn't know till they told me on TV,
I was mad,
My brother shot my favorite bird,
Everywhere I go they laugh at me
The lyrics in Ten Foot Pole's song "Seven" are a plea from someone who feels like they don't belong on Earth. The singer longs to be taken back by their father, who had sent them to Earth and erased their memories. Throughout their time on Earth, they have experienced cruelty and rejection from those around them. They recount traumatic experiences such as being hit with a paddle by their teacher and having their dog eaten by their neighbors. They also describe personal betrayals, such as their girlfriend sleeping with their best friend and their brother shooting their favorite bird.
The repetition of the line "Father please take me back/I don't fit in with these cruel earthlings/I've done my time please take me home" conveys the singer's desperation to escape Earth and return to a place where they belong. Their reference to a spaceship and being beamed up adds a science-fiction element to the song, emphasizing the singer's feeling of being an outsider.
Line by Line Meaning
Father please take me back,
The singer is asking their father to take them away from Earth.
I don't fit in with these cruel earthlings,
The singer feels like they don't belong on Earth because people are cruel.
I've done my time please take me home,
The singer feels like they have been on Earth long enough and want to go back to their true home.
I was five, I was bad,
The artist believes they were a bad child when they were five years old.
You sent me here erased my memory,
The artist believes that their father sent them to Earth and erased their memory.
Babysitter washed my mouth with soap,
The singer was punished by their babysitter, who washed their mouth with soap.
I was ten,
The singer was ten years old at one point.
Had no friends,
The artist did not have any friends growing up.
The teacher hit me with a paddle,
The artist was physically punished by their teacher with a paddle.
The neighbors ate my little dog Ralph,
The artist's dog Ralph was eaten by their neighbors.
Father please take me back I don't fit in with these cruel earthlings
The singer repeats their plea to be taken away from Earth.
I've done my time please take me home
The artist reiterates that they have been on Earth long enough and want to return home.
Please fly your spaceship out and beam me up
The singer is asking their father to come in a spaceship and take them away from Earth.
Don't leave me down here I'll be so good from now,
The singer promises to be good if they are taken away from Earth and not left behind.
I had a girl,
The singer had a girlfriend at some point.
She took her clothes off with my best friend,
The artist's girlfriend cheated on them with their best friend.
I didn't know till they told me on TV,
The artist found out about the affair through television or other media.
I was mad,
The singer was angry about the situation.
My brother shot my favorite bird,
The singer's brother killed their favorite bird.
Everywhere I go they laugh at me
The artist feels like they are being ridiculed no matter where they go on Earth.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: DENNIS STEVEN JAGARD, GLEN ALEXANDER MURRAY, STEVEN THOMAS CARNAN, TONY PALERMO
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind