'Fight Softly' is the third album by New Zealand's pop masters The Ruby Suns. Ryan McPhun (their prime mover) has the kind of voracious musical mind that cites as equal influences '80s/'90s New Jack Swing and modern Angolan kuduro, Fleetwood Mac and Britney Spears, Brazilian tropicalia and Argentinean cumbia. He's the kind of diligent, meticulous soul that spends days hunched over a laptop in a tiny rented studio in Auckland, NZ just to perfect a sequenced drum track (mission accomplished). And Fight Softly is the kind of head-spinning combination of big-picture vision and sumptuous detail that only comes from an artist with an urgent need to express all the stuff he's seen. And you can dance to it!
California-born (and NZ citizen) McPhun took childhood trips to New Zealand and finally made Auckland home in 2003. Though he soon started playing with Kiwi indie darlings The Brunettes, he'd been making his own music for years—four-track bedroom stuff that mixed his faraway vocals with effects-laden guitar, synths, and all manner of field-recorded samples. With his own new band, Ryan McPhun and The Ruby Suns, McPhun recorded and released his first album for NZ label Lil' Chief Records. By the time its follow-up, Sea Lion, was ready, the foreshortened Ruby Suns had gained a college following in New Zealand and toured Australia with The Shins and the UK with Field Music, among others. The album came out on Sub Pop in early 2008 and landed on various best-of lists that year.
And for a few summer months The Ruby Suns landed in Seattle. There they played Sub Pop's not-so-humble 20th anniversary festival and began work on Fight Softly. "Mingus and Pike" is about their temporary Victorian abode and its happy-go-lucky pit bull mascot Mingus; “Cranberry” captures a day trip to Cranberry Lake, a dream of a swimming-hole 90 minutes from Seattle on Fidalgo Island. The former is beat-buzzed bedroom R&B swathed in reverb while the latter is part tequila-drunk marching band, part Eastern Bloc candy rave.
In the spring of '09, The Ruby Suns took a whirlwind tour of Europe that included 10 days at a friend's spread outside Szeged, Hungary. McPhun and friends Bevan Smith (Signer, Aspen, Skallander) and Matthew Mitchell (Skallander, Muriel Tsains) spent their time devouring veggie pizzas and jamming, improv-style, in an old farmhouse. These sessions didn't make it to Fight Softly as-is but were a springboard into new ideas McPhun brought back to his Auckland studio.
Like "Closet Astrologer," a song that started in Hungary and concluded, vaporous and Vangelis-like, in New Zealand. Or "How Kids Fail," a multi-movement epic that sounds like a post-techno hymn and nods to How Children Fail, John Holt's groundbreaking book on the general out-of-touch-ness of the public education system. "Haunted House" bounces on a pitch-shifted vocal sample and bubbly synth line,
simultaneously lush and minimal. "Cinco" and "Dusty Fruit" share a similar digital-tropical soul.
This is where Fight Softly veers from the path set by its predecessor. Thematically, it's not as wide-eyed or lighthearted, picking apart the relationships faced as we pass through the world—with our surroundings, each other, ourselves. Sonically, it remains as beat-centric, though these beats are deliciously artificial—stretched and compacted and distorted beyond recognition. Melodies are scuzzy and digital, not many guitars strummed or basses plucked. McPhun's soulful upper-register croon, swallowed into the mix, replaces group chants and full-throated singalongs. Rather than an album of clearly-drawn influences, Fight Softly is a unique, inscrutable synthesis, more itself than anything else.
Kingfisher Call Me
The Ruby Suns Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
The look on your face, waterfalls
[Chorus]
Dry your eyes, it’s what to do
Don’t listen to anyone except for you
They took tracks like a river
Pressure is what you are
Emerald eyes, I want you to take you desire
What goes on with you and I
Whenever we’re together,
I’ve opened your eyes, give me something
Something in return whoa
I don’t need to fight mine
In more than one lifetime
[Chorus: x3]
The lyrics to The Ruby Suns's song Kingfisher Call Me contain a mix of imaginative and personal themes. The first verse, "You came so far, from the psychological high-school / The look on your face, waterfalls," highlights someone who has overcome obstacles and grown. The imagery of waterfalls suggests that this transformation has been tumultuous and emotional.
The chorus, "Dry your eyes, it's what to do / Don't listen to anyone except for you," seems to symbolize the need for self-care and self-love. The next verse, "They took tracks like a river / You are sure be back but bright needs stone / Pressure is what you are," is more abstract, but perhaps alluding to the cyclical nature of life and the need to endure pressure in order to grow.
The bridge, "Emerald eyes, I want you to take you desire / What goes on with you and I / Whenever we’re together, / I’ve opened your eyes, give me something / Something in return whoa / I don’t need to fight mine / In more than one lifetime," is more focused on a relationship dynamic. The singer seems to be addressing someone with "emerald eyes" and expressing a desire to help them fulfill their desires. The line "give me something / Something in return whoa" suggests a desire for reciprocity from their partner. The final line, "In more than one lifetime," implies a long-lasting connection.
Overall, Kingfisher Call Me seems to touch on themes of transformation, self-care, cyclical nature, and relationship dynamics.
Line by Line Meaning
You came so far, from the psychological high-school
You have come a long way from your emotional and mental adolescence.
The look on your face, waterfalls
Your expression is filled with intense emotions that flow like waterfalls.
Dry your eyes, it’s what to do
Stop crying and compose yourself.
Don’t listen to anyone except for you
Don't let others dictate your actions or thoughts. Trust yourself.
They took tracks like a river
They followed the path of least resistance like a river flowing downhill.
You are sure be back but bright needs stone
You have faith in your ability to return, but it will take effort and hard work to succeed.
Pressure is what you are
You are experiencing stress and tension.
Emerald eyes, I want you to take you desire
I am drawn to your bright green eyes and want you to pursue your passion.
What goes on with you and I
What transpires between us.
Whenever we’re together,
The times when we are in each other's company.
I’ve opened your eyes, give me something
I have shown you something new and want you to reciprocate with something in return.
Something in return whoa
I am hoping for some kind of response or action from you.
I don’t need to fight mine
I don't need to struggle with my own issues or challenges.
In more than one lifetime
Over the span of multiple existences or lifetimes.
Dry your eyes, it’s what to do
Stop crying and compose yourself.
Don’t listen to anyone except for you
Don't let others dictate your actions or thoughts. Trust yourself.
Dry your eyes, it’s what to do
Stop crying and compose yourself.
Don’t listen to anyone except for you
Don't let others dictate your actions or thoughts. Trust yourself.
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
usedfuzzbox
I can always dig an 80's vibe, loving this!
InfinityOwl
this video saved me, 8 years back, during the most confusing breakup,
18-20 is a weird age.
It was ironic seeing it for the first time because i had been channeling all my emotions by digging the most gigantic hole, "by hand", that was ever dug.
Henry Downes
Grabbed the mp3 download last night, thanks! I'm dubmental and i absolutely love this. I like the ambiguity of the vid as it implies the listener can imagine a narrative, and perhaps why this song was written in the first place. Too much music these days is contrived bs. Thanks for giving me the time to stop and think. Your sense of refrain is your magic. Look after it. All the best... i'm taking this baby home.
J J
I love when the sound effects from the video superimpose over the song!
Lucius
Curti o som, bem diferentão!
carolinetruerecords
Love this track ;-)
Daedalus
When this video autoplayed I didn't expect it to be this good. This song is great
El Ojo Creepy
Esta canción apareció en mi lista de reproducción sin saber como WTF
MT. OSSA
Oh man soo good! Love you dudes!
renzo590
So good!