1. |
Jealous God
03:37
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Jealous God
She can dance the seven veils or put pennies on your eyes
She can chase away the birds and replace them all with flies
And she dishes out the pills they fill us to the gills
She has pills for every ill till we dance off window sills
And thrill at oil spills and Chinese fire drills oh
She has hills of pills she has pills for every ill
She's a lover of darkness she's a harlequin in the night
She's a finger of vengeance a dipper of starlight
And secrets granite tombstone secrets hush upon her lips
As she rolls in the combers silhouetted by the ships light
Wrapped only in a wave she combs her hair silhouetted by the ships light and the first mist of the day
And to her I'm just a cop a jealous god a trick with a nightstick and a lightning rod
She's the miracle of destruction she's the endless birth of breech
She's the lesson all the wise ones in your life forgot to teach
And she revels in all misery does cartwheels in defeat
Has holidays at funerals tastes the bitter sweet
Enjoys abysses endlessly rolls laughing in the street
She treasures all her secrets loves to dance just out of reach
And to her I'm just a cop a jealous god a trick with a nightstick and a lightning rod
Words music and instruments by Paul Roessler
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2. |
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Still Life with Locomotive
Silent Railroads
Still life flicker like a strobe
The last train came right on time
And I'm turning to a life of crime
Lineman flapping all his flags in the dark
There's a faint pulse stopping in the heart of a hearth
The last train came right on time
And I'm turning to a life of crime
Words music and instruments by Paul Roessler
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3. |
Sweet
03:37
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Sweet
Sleep descends a merciful curtain
Deep and troubled where only nightmares can disturb
And nightmares are not real
Nightmares are not real
No matter how they feel
And I only want to heal but the doorbell rings and it's the imp again
Grinning his stupid grin
He waits for you to let him in
So the real fun can begin
And now that I've destroyed everything
That ever grew so green within
I close the door on all I missed
Seize up tighter than a fist and
If I ever get out of this
I'll be sweeter than a kiss
You read funny things I wrote
A long long time ago
While the flesh melts off my bones
Till there's nothing left at all and
I remember thinking that I'd never let it come to this
But winding roads and heavy loads
We slowly look for turns we missed
Words music and instruments by Paul Roessler
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4. |
A Poem
02:40
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A Poem
Sitting on a bench in Washington Square
With Sally, five a.m., watching the joggers come out of their caves.
Sat next to a man drinking cough medicine
Waiting to buy his first bottle of the day.
He said: "On this bench many years ago I wrote a poem
I'll recite it if you have the ears."
And the dawn broke over the playground in Manhattan
Like any other morning of any other year.
I was untarnished so full of my gifts
I sort of smiled and looked at Sally but she looked wise
And we listened as he spoke and watched the sun rise.
It was a poem about children playing on swings
Like children have always played on swings
About being an old man watching the children playing on swings
And children will always play on swings.
I looked into his eyes, he was sick but so was I
And Sally said: "Hey man, here's a five
I think the stores are opening, second coming's following
Hey man, go and get yourself some wine."
Words music and instruments by Paul Roessler
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5. |
Too Much Good Thing
03:57
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Too Much Good Thing
Well the separate paths they lay at your feet
The frozen waste and the tropical heat
And the unfriendly cats they spit at the moon
They howl at the cars and then sleep until noon
And like a good thing that becomes too much
You love it you want it but you'd better not touch
Traffic jam inside of you
A railroad track through your living room
The morning rush will be hitting soon
And I've gotta catch a train
Now I stand on my lawn waiting for dawn
With my hose in my hand I water the land
And my neighbor the cop his insurance is up
He's drinking from his uninsured cup
And like a good thing that becomes too much
You love it you want it but you'd better not touch
Traffic jam inside of you
A railroad track through your living room
The morning rush will be hitting soon
And I've gotta catch a train
Words. music and instruments by Paul Roessler
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6. |
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Someone Long Ago (Not Yet Born)
Sun child you've suffered enough
Rise up from your bed of torment
And see the dawn
Of your new day
Cast aside your instruments of torture
The tools of your miserable trade
Break the chains
That anchored your soul
As you sank beneath the waves
Now fly
Feel the air on your face
Walk the windways
See the light the end is in sight
Words, music and instruments by Paul Roessler
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7. |
Summertime
04:07
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Summertime
Summertime and the living's never easy
I'm not tired I've been sleeping all my life
It springs like a poison from my lips
Like the kiss of a demon unbidden
Springs from a heart that must be cold
And everytime that hurt you or was bad to you
Everytime I was cruel
I'm sorry
I'm crazy
Summetime in the shadows of the evening
I'm alive but sometimes just barely breathing
Somewhere I'll find cool waters running
Singing my lines
And everytime that hurt you or was bad to you
Everytime I was cruel
I'm sorry
I'm crazy
Words music and instruments by Paul Roessler
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8. |
Set Free
04:12
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Set Free
Stop. Listen to your words empty as your head
Filled with all the pain and hurt I can't believe you said them
Brought them in a world fragile as the wind
Set Free to land somewhere far and to grow and to live and to spread
Gone from out your crying mouth vicious as the night
Too late to to try to catch or stop tricky as the air
Set Free to land somewhere far and to grow and to live and to spread
Lost along a freezing shore flutter like a moth
Soft. Tender as our eyes we cover up our ears
But we hear every misspent word as if inside our minds
Set Free to land somewhere far and to grow and to live and to spread
Music and guitar by Adam Roessler Words and additional instruments by Paul Roessler
Adam wrote this when he was about 15.
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9. |
Risen
03:50
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Risen
The hemlock laced nightshade paste I dined on now I've shined on
The fishhook mouth dragged ripping off down south but things weren't always so right on
Lazarus slept in the pages of past ages
No one comes back from the dead
But if he did he would have said:
Hold me in the morning
Rock me in the powerlines
Blast me in the furnaces
Blind me with your neon signs
The angry mad gods lobbed rocks down on top of my bad tomb
The hot hands of my soft watch spun and stopped on a dime and grinned and said: "soon."
Circled and cornered the angles got shorter
Till the path was a straight line direct to the moon
And I cried as I tried to crawl back to the womb:
Hold me in my mourning
Rock me in the powerlines
Blast me in the furnaces
Nurse me on your cyanide
Wash me in the water
Bear me on your shoulders
Take me to the harbor
Watch the tankers dancing there
Cleanse me on your freeway
Rising through the poison air
Baptise me in uranium
Take me there
The cigarette smoke choked and ropes of dope broke and rock and rolled me
Jesus saved and the butchers flayed and the boss payed slave wages but no one told me
But Lazarus opened his eyes sees the old rusty chain shiny and bright
Speaks into the light and cried.
Hold me in my mourning
Rock me in the powerlines
Blast me in the furnaces
Nurse me on your cyanide
Wash me in the water
Bear me on your shoulders
Take me to the harbor
Watch the tankers dancing there
Cleanse me on your freeway
Rising through the poison air
Baptise me in uranium
Take me there
Words, music and instruments Paul Roessler
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10. |
I'll See You in Hell
05:27
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I'll See you in Hell
I watched you leave your tomb each night
Return before morning light
My love was like the evening star
Far away but ever bright
Wishing I could go to you
Something I could never do
Cuz people have to live by day
Even if their days are gray
Give me the gift
Give me the gift
I'll see you in hell my dear
Got to be better than here
I'll see you in Hell
You know I followed you right down the well
I hated you for your hellishness
Your acts of utter selfishness
But starving for your company
Never seeing you Sundays
I prayed for divine assistance
To bolster my resistance
But felt my resolve wavering
Like a honeymoon bride trembling
Give me the gift
Give me the gift
I'll see you in hell my dear
Got to be better than here
I'll see you in Hell
You know I followed you right down the well
When winter dusts our hair with frost
I'll know that all hope is lost
Staring in a mirror cracked
I saw nothing looking back
The nighttime wraps her arms around me
The daylight's just a memory
But this is the dark suit I chose
To walk with you on down your road
Give me the gift
Give me the gift
I'll see you in hell my dear
Got to be better than here
I'll see you in Hell
You know I followed you right down the well
Words, music and instruments by Paul Roessler
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11. |
Starlight Illusions
03:07
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Starlight Illusions
I know this looks bad
But it only gets worse
So lets cry and laugh
And love and hate and pray and curse
All that I am
What little I have
Whatever illusions that I used to cling to have all been smashed
Cuz just like the earth
I don't spin alone
However I run
i run to you
All that you are
The sky that you be
The fiery heaven of stars that you are
To sinners like me
The questions unasked
By fools that know
And in the end
What possible answers can be told
The starlight don't know
The sorrows they pass
The stones give not one second's remorse to the lives they smash
Words, music and instruments by Paul Roessler
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12. |
In My Dreams
04:27
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In My Dreams
Though I entertain my colorful doubts I am what I am and that's enough
Stars fall and suns go out and nobody knows what I'm talking about
If I could share one precious gift
I'd set you free and send you off with a kiss
In my dreams I'm the man of my dreams
In my dreams I am everything I wish I could be
The process of letting go and the concept of constant change
The sorrow and the healing slow and knowing it's gotta be that way
Forget my face forget my name
Forget you ever knew I was here
In my dreams I'm the man of my dreams
In my dreams I am everything I wish I could be
Words, music and instruments by Paul Roessler
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13. |
Under Control
05:26
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Under Control
They talk about the past but they tell you lies
The future looks bright through a rich man's eyes
He doesn't dwell on history's tears
He says "Genocide is sad but it brought us here."
Slavery's a shame but it's in the past
Better for us all to forget real fast
War is hell but somettimes it's okay
Killing is wrong but we do it anyway
The world is a mess but it's under control
The kids today well they're no damn good
In the good old days we all did what we should
White as snow and honest as hell
And if we weren't like that we sure didn't tell
The world is a mess but it's under control
Now we've solved the problems of the bad old days
Locked them in a box and threw them all away
Put them on TV how lucky we feel
Everybody knows that TV's not real
The world is a mess but it's under control
Words music and instruments by Paul Roessler
Outro guitar by Adam Roessler
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14. |
Wind in Search of Sail
03:49
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Wind in Search of Sail
She said "I don't know how you take it
Standing on that ladder all day.
You must be some kind of acrobat
Or a pigeon that lost its way"
No I'm just a criminal looking for a jail
And you must be a wind looking for a sail
She said "I bet I could lose you
Lose you in the storm
You're not so fast you're not so strong
You're still just busy being born."
I said I'm a mourning glory in the evening I will fail.
And you are just a wind looking for a sail
She took me far away took me to the edge
She took me to the very top and pushed me off the ledge
And now she's probably riding somewhere on the back of a killer whale
The girl was just a wind looking for a sail.
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15. |
Go
06:54
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Go
Leave now it is time
There's nothing left for you to find here
Sealed tight in a dusty room
All you've left behind here
Run as fast as your feet will fly
Don't look back at the ruins
Walk like water fast as light
Watch where you're going
Let fear have no place
You've been tested and you've passed through fire
Don't listen to advice from those you know to be liars
Run as fast as your feet will fly
Don't look back at the ruins
Walk like water face your eyes straight on what you're doing
Wishing for a dream to fall out of a sky blue
Waiting for another miracle to come through
Sleeping in a coma hoping that we'll come to
Just talk from the paralyzed
Realize, say goodbye
Forever goes my love with you
Don't wait here's your chance
The door of the cage stands open
Fly away out of my hands
Every chain is broken
Run as fast as your feet will fly
Don't look back at the ruins
Walk like water fall so high cool clear and flowing
Wishing for a dream to fall out of a sky blue
Waiting for another miracle to come through
Sleeping in a coma hoping that we'll come to
Just talk from the paralyzed
Realize, say goodbye
Forever goes my love with you
Words music and instruments by Paul Roessler
For Alex
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16. |
Blue Indigo
05:02
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Blue Indigo
Look at them don't they have all the fun
While I'm just sitting here having none
What's wrong with me?
I'm sailing off the edge of the sea
My blues won't let me be
I'm gonna let my worries go
I'm gonna get on with the show
But it's so hard when you're blue indigo
Look at them, don't they have all the luck
While I'm just sitting here run over by a truck
Feel like such a fool I'm drowning in my swimming pool
But what am I supposed to do?
I'm gonna let my worries go
I'm gonna get on with the show
But it's so hard when you're blue indigo
Words, music and instruments by Paul Roessler
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17. |
Satellite
04:39
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Satellite
Far away across the sea
Everything all it seems
Oh yeah all right with me
Honey sweet steel rail
It's only me setting sail
Oh yeah and if I die tonight
All right and if I fail
It's only me
Only your sun
Only your sun
Your flesh and blood
Your glass and wood
Your satellite
Words music and instruments by Paul Roessler
For Carl
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18. |
Halfway Tonight
03:48
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I know whatever she does next will be bad
I know whatever she's doing now is gonna make me feel sad
But I will meet her halway tonight
I don't know what she needs to ease her disease
But I'm just looking for my own sense of peace
I've got to meet her halfway tonight
Sprung from sorrow raised from Cain
Drive through tomorrow's pouring rain
Yesterdays pain fades into the gloom
Running straight into the arms of the rising moon
The story's written on the pages of her face
And in the drifts of junk piled up around this place
And in my words and in my soul and in my ways
That I have met her halfway tonight
Sprung from sorrow raised from Cain
Drive through tomorrow's pouring rain
Yesterdays pain fades into the gloom
Running straight into the arms of the rising moon
Words music and instruments by Paul Roessler
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19. |
So Now you Know
04:11
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So Now you Know
Chained to the rock the bird picks at my side
With a nail through my foot the sun laughs in my eyes
With the curse of the gods and the sin of pride
With the gift of fire and the love of mankind
Burn baby burn the fire's in your mind
It's lighting up your eyes
Let it blaze up the skies
It's a pyro's delight
So now you know (everybody's burning now everyone's on fire)
So now you know (everybody's got the secret what do you desire?)
It's an awful long wait for eternity
It's a long cold road for poor little me
And the gods are laughing well hardy har har
Just think of me when you're toasty and warm
Burn baby burn they wanted you to freeze
But now the gods are on their knees
There's nothing you can't do
And they blame it all on me
Words, music and instruments ny Paul Roessler
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20. |
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Music and instruments by Paul Roessler
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21. |
Soft in a Hard World
11:00
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Soft in a Hard World
Look who you admire
Which side you come down
The men you set on fire
The women you tear down
Where do people like you get off?
How does it feel to be so soft in such a hard hard world?
Your eggshell oyster back
Your snailfoot train of thought
Your slow leechlike attack
The veal life you have bought
And the backbone that you lack
Where do leeches like you drop off?
How does it feel to be so soft in such a hard hard world?
Where do people like you get off?
How does it feel to be so soft in such a hard hard world?
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Paul Roessler Los Angeles, California
Paul Roessler is a musician, composer and producer who lives in Los Angeles
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