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.
Too Late
Ten Foot Pole Lyrics
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No one cared about her shame
No one cared about her pain
And she could not accept that no one gave her time
She said, "They will watch me
Yes, by God, I'll make them see."
My God, I can't believe you're gone
Sometimes you just have to wait
This time it's just too late
She keeps apologizing every single night
Every night she wrings her hands
Every night that's where she stands
And I cannot accept that I could have changed her fate
If I only would have known
My friends keep telling me that it will be all right
But they don't know the cost
No, they don't know what I've lost
They keep on talking, but to me there's nothing left
There is nothing you can say
The song "Too Late" by Ten Foot Pole tells the story of a woman who has made a mistake and is struggling to come to terms with it. She apologizes, but no one seems to care about her feelings or her pain. She becomes trapped in a cycle of self-blame and regret, convinced that she will never be able to earn forgiveness or redemption. The singer of the song watches helplessly as she spirals downward, haunted by the knowledge that he could have done something to help her if only he had known.
The lyrics capture the feelings of despair, regret, and helplessness that can be triggered by a tragic event like a suicide or loss of a loved one. The woman's remorse and self-doubt are palpable, and the singer's sense of guilt and loss are painfully real. The song speaks to the difficulty of moving on and finding closure after a devastating event, and the fact that sometimes, no matter how much we wish we could go back and change things, it's simply too late.
Line by Line Meaning
When she first apologized, it seemed that no one cared
At the beginning, when she apologized, people didn't pay attention to her or show her any empathy
No one cared about her shame
People didn't care about her embarrassment and sorrow
No one cared about her pain
People didn't acknowledge her suffering
And she could not accept that no one gave her time
She couldn't understand that nobody was there for her when she needed someone to listen to her
She said, "They will watch me Yes, by God, I'll make them see."
She wanted to make people aware of the pain she was going through so that they acknowledge her struggles and take them seriously
My God, I can't believe you're gone
She didn't expect to lose the only person that could have helped her through her problems
It's too late to say "hang on"
It's too late to give her hope or try to bring her back from the edge because she doesn't see any way out of her situation
Sometimes you just have to wait
Sometimes, to help someone, you just have to wait and give them the space to process their emotions and speak when they're ready
This time it's just too late
But in this case, waiting and giving her space is no longer an option because she's already gone
She keeps apologizing every single night
She's still struggling with her pain and feels guilty about it, as if it's her fault for feeling that way
Every night she wrings her hands
She's going through a lot physically and mentally, and it's difficult for her to calm down or get any relief from her stress
Every night that's where she stands
She's stuck in the same place, unable to move forward, and every night feels like a repetition of the last
And I cannot accept that I could have changed her fate
The singer feels like they could have done more to help her and blames themselves for not intervening earlier
If I only would have known
If they had known how much she was suffering, they could have helped her
My friends keep telling me that it will be all right
The singer's friends are trying to comfort them by saying that everything will be okay
But they don't know the cost
But they don't understand the gravity of the situation or the emotional toll it's taken on the artist
No, they don't know what I've lost
They don't realize the personal loss the artist is experiencing, the pain and grief of losing someone they cared about
They keep on talking, but to me there's nothing left
Even though their friends are trying to help, the singer feels like they can't do anything else to make the situation better because the person they cared about is already gone
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: DENNIS STEVEN JAGARD, PETER DOUGLAS NEWBURY, STEVEN THOMAS CARNAN, TONY PALERMO
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind