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.
The Getaway
Ten Foot Pole Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Nearly forgot just what I'm running for,
I meant no harm,
My gas pedal is to the floor;
People watch this on TV,
Never thought that this could happen to me,
I can't stop now and it still seems like a dream,
Never thought I'd hurt someone,
You're playing for keeps,
There's no place left to run,
I had to make a choice I made it,
If I had another chance I'd take it,
I've got to find a way to make a getaway,
Today my future looked so bright,
All it took was one red light,
The sirens were close behind,
My brain said fight or flight,
So I ran from my mistake,
Not the best choice I could make,
The helicopter reminds me
That this time there' s no lucky break,
I always did things my own way,
Never cared what the experts say,
I thought they were so full of shit,
I guess it's time to pay,
I always dreamed I'd have it all,
Never thought I'd take the fall,
And now I've run out of chances
And all I can see is the wall
The song "The Getaway" by Ten Foot Pole is a powerful narrative of a person who made a wrong decision and must evade the consequences, ending in a high-speed chase to escape the authorities. The singer pleads with their pursuers, begging them to stop chasing them because they "meant no harm." They're frantically trying to escape from the pursuit, causing chaos and danger on the way.
The chorus shifts to the singer's realization of their mistake, depicting their remorse and desperation for a second chance. The line "If I had another chance, I'd take it, I've got to find a way to make a getaway," exemplifies this point. However, there's no escaping or evading this dire circumstance, as the singer now can only see the metaphorical "wall" closing in on them.
The lyrics illustrate the consequences of poor choices, and no matter how much we want to escape them, the results are inevitable. The song has a heavy emotional impact, portraying a sense of despair, guilt, and urgency throughout the track.
Line by Line Meaning
Please don't chase me anymore,
I'm begging you to stop pursuing me
Nearly forgot just what I'm running for,
I've lost my way and can't remember my original purpose
I meant no harm,
I didn't intend to cause any damage
My gas pedal is to the floor;
I'm driving as fast as I can
People watch this on TV,
I used to watch similar situations on television
Never thought that this could happen to me,
I never imagined being involved in a high-speed chase
I can't stop now and it still seems like a dream,
I'm unable to halt my actions and everything feels surreal
Never thought I'd hurt someone,
I didn't anticipate harming anyone
Now I see you clutching your gun,
I'm aware that you're armed and it makes me nervous
You're playing for keeps,
You're not joking around and are serious about catching me
There's no place left to run,
I have nowhere to go
I had to make a choice I made it,
I was faced with a decision and I made the call
If I had another chance I'd take it,
I regret my actions and would make a different choice given the opportunity
I've got to find a way to make a getaway,
I need to escape without getting caught
Today my future looked so bright,
Earlier today, I had high hopes for my future
All it took was one red light,
My circumstances changed quickly and unexpectedly
The sirens were close behind,
The police are right behind me
My brain said fight or flight,
I had to decide whether to confront the situation or run away
So I ran from my mistake,
I fled the scene after making a bad decision
Not the best choice I could make,
Running away wasn't the right decision
The helicopter reminds me
The sound of the helicopter overhead is a constant reminder of my predicament
That this time there's no lucky break,
I'm not going to get away with what I've done
I always did things my own way,
I've always made decisions based on my own beliefs and values
Never cared what the experts say,
I've never been interested in the opinions of others
I thought they were so full of shit,
I believed that so-called experts were ignorant or wrong
I guess it's time to pay,
I'm about to face the consequences of my actions
I always dreamed I'd have it all,
I had high hopes for my future and expected to be successful
Never thought I'd take the fall,
I never imagined that I'd end up in this situation
And now I've run out of chances
I've exhausted all of my opportunities to make things right
And all I can see is the wall
I'm facing a dead end and there's no way out
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: DENNIS STEVEN JAGARD, GLEN ALEXANDER MURRAY, STEVEN THOMAS CARNAN, TONY PALERMO
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@M8WhoSk8s
Takes me back to those good old days in the 2000s when the punk o rama stuff was going on
@mountainlife2411
90's for me
@skinnydogkew
They were such good days
@skinnydogkew
For such a good song this is the shiftiest film clip I’ve ever seen
@benfuller259
Morning surfs before school.. 20 years later,.still rocks
@nachodileva
One of those special songs when i was a teenager
@chokevic
Powerful Epitaph Records. Thank you.
@scottmcghie5060
Such a great song! Got me into punk and I’ll always be grateful for that
@indianturdeau9117
This song is so effing underrated.
@Karaoke_em_HD
karaoke version:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQW8oYOQWKE