Get all 8 The Roseline releases available on Bandcamp and save 20%.
Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of Keystone of the Heart, Constancy, G O O D / G R I E F, Blood, Townie, Vast as Sky, Lust For Luster, and A Wall Behind It.
1. |
Keystone of the Heart
03:47
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Is love alone enough to sustain us
What a lie to be told that the truest form is painless
Is love alone structurally dangerous
Is the keystone of the arch decorative or load-bearing
In the limestone vernacular barn where we were married
If I may be bold, could I possibly beg
To be held and not to hold – my heart is a wreck
Well I gave you my love, gave you all that I had
What was roarin’ last December
Now’s a glowin’ orange ember
And we’re both growin’ resentful
Throw some wood on the fire
I’d hate to grow old caretakin’ but never cared for
And I’m ashamed to be told when I was carryin’ on in rare form
We made a family and home so why must we declare war
Is the keystone of the heart decorative or load-bearing
Like the limestone vernacular barn where we were married
If I may be bold, could I possibly beg
To be held and not to hold – my heart is a wreck
Well I gave you my love, gave you all that I had
What was roarin’ last December
Now’s a glowin’ orange ember
And we’re both growin’ resentful
Throw some wood on the fire
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2. |
Aloneness
02:39
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Aloneness – It ain’t loneliness
It’s a state of being where I feel at home
And I notice that I can’t focus
‘Cause it’s more often than not I ain’t alone
It’s a thin and fragile line
O’er a man can lose his mind
‘Cause solitude can saw right through a soul
All I think I’m needin’
Is a big unruly weekend
Fan the flames and as for the reins
I’m gonna let ‘em gooooooooooooo
Oh aloneness – it ain’t hopelessness
It’s the state of being that miss the most
Before this unrelentin’ chorus
To provide and strive and pine for more and more
It’s a thin and fragile line
O’er a man can lose his mind
‘Cause solitude can cause an early death
All I think I’m needin’
Is a still and quiet weekend
A lil leisure sure to ease your heart and heeeaaaaad
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3. |
Hot Dice
04:08
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Feeling low but never lonely
I am loved and I will love them always
Bless my family and band
Everything else is looking grim
Sweep my arm wide and gesture broadly
Shape your ash and throw one back like it'll solve things
Ain't one answer to be had
Why we're perpetually sad
Hot dice and cold beer too
Everybody's feeling good in the greenroom
Then it entered in my head
For no good reason then I said
Oh my we had a real good ride
Now we're in over our heads
At the rate of the sea level's rise
Ain't got no home to inherit
Yeah I can murder the mood in seconds if you want me to
Breaking bread with my family
Salty air is just rustling the palm trees
Keep it jovial and light
Keep your mouth muzzled tight
Tap a glass, wait for silence
God bless bipartisan imperial violence
Cast a pall over the room
The cousins look kinda confused
Where's the love or compassion
You involuntary celibate fascists
What did your daddy do to you
Unpack your trauma for the truth
Oh my we had a real good time
Can't barely get outta bed
Hollowed out about a case of good wine
I got an ache in my head
I'm doing damage control over coffee and eggs again
I'm a little ornery and kinda contrarian
You can slap that microphone out of my hand
Kick me off my soapbox
Insist that I don't walk that walk
You'd be right and I would just sulk in the sand
Hot dice and cold beer too
Everybody's feeling good in the greenroom
Then it entered in my head
I told a gross joke instead
Oh my we had a real good ride
I say we do it again
The hardest part is the waiting in the line
And waiting as we ascend
And then the free-fall starts and we're born in to joy again
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4. |
I Was a Gun
03:59
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I hate to say it but I’ll likely never change
A head of ironwood
You thought that maybe you could mold me into something
Beyond boyhood
I’m a joke, a gas, with no slant rhyme or reason
Can’t even hold a job down for more than a season
I was a gun
You were a flower
I was poorly gettin’ paid by the hour
I was a wrecking ball and downright dour
You were the only one that saw any good
I was plum
Unpleasant and sour
I wasn’t ripe but your patience was power
You let me sweeten up and then you devoured
You were the only one that saw any good
That saw any good
It’s hard to say it but the children that we made
Are all that saved me
Now I awake and there’s promise in the day
Our blue-eyed babies
As for us, a shrug and a love in disrepair
Have we given up? Regardless I promise I’ll be there.
I was a gun
You were a flower
I was poorly gettin’ paid by the hour
I was a wrecking ball and downright dour
You were the only one that saw any good
I was plum
Unpleasant and sour
I wasn’t ripe but your patience was power
You let me sweeten up and then you devoured
You were the only one that saw any good
That saw any good
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5. |
In My Way
04:17
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I’m in my way again
Listless and lost – a malcontent
Hissin’ and all recalcitrant
A boy among men
I’m in my way again
The whites of my eyes are splinterin’
All Red #5 and cinnamon
They’re spoiled and spent
Yet when she holds my face
Her kisses and laughter shakes
The notion that I’m just some joyless boy about to break
I’m in my way again
This small spartan room I’m workin’ in
Feels like a tomb or impediment
To where I belong
I’m in my way again
Pink wine and bread ain’t sustenance
I’m absent of all sweet common sense
I stutter and stall
Yet when she holds my face
Her kisses and laughter shakes
The notion that I’m just some joyless boy about to break
I’m in my lane again
I’m finally home and settled in
Heartbeat is slow and steadyin’
I’m not in my way
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6. |
Hang 'em High
04:39
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I’ve been over-served, I admit it
Couldn’t possibly walk a line
But I am over this standard of livin’
Three different gigs and barely gettin’ by
Who is to blame? Who is forgiven?
Whose leather boot can I lick to a shine?
Call it a slog. Call it a privilege.
Grindin’ daily mornin’ to night
I guess I’ll call it a life
Made to believe I’m sick and selfish
I never did quite fall in line
Been branded sensitive and helpless all my life
I barely function in the madness
They never fix it by design
Planned obsolescence and a pile of debt ‘til ya die
Oh it’s a wonderful life
All these big broad strokes I’ve been brushin’
Painted over the joys of life
My daughters’ laughter, good bread and butter,
To watch you undress, or the Northern Lights
The comeback kids and the championships
A Porsche’s curves, your soft tan lines
Man this life can feel pretty crushin’
I’ll stick around in the meantime
But I better call it a night
Made to believe I’m sick and selfish
I never did quite fall in line
Been branded sensitive and helpless all my life
I barely function in the madness
They never fix it by design
Planned obsolescence and a pile of debt ‘til ya die
Oh it’s a wonderful life
We got the numbers on our enemies
They’re in our crosshair lines
As they exacerbate our suffering
Let’s let the masses hang ‘em high
(repeat)
Made to believe I’m sick and selfish
I never did quite fall in line
Been branded sensitive and helpless all my life
I barely function in the madness
They never fix it by design
Planned obsolescence and a pile of debt ‘til ya die
Oh it’s a wonderful life
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7. |
Dimed
05:17
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My temperment’s sure tempermental
Capacity rage but I carry on
Heard there’s an asteroid with potential
Of fallin’ in our path
Fingers crossin’ behind my back
Theses cosplay kids seem so provincial
Armed to the teeth for a petty war
I’m empathetic to one impulse
Of lying in the road
After pullin’ on a push door
With a low and heavy sun
All the colors start to run
Into peach, pink, tangerine, and plum
Yet the blues have never won
Due to beauty sneakin’ up
And cuttin’ the cuffs of anhedonia
I am exhausted by the rallying cry for caution
Let’s dime it out just a little more often
I need my palm read, a clairvoyant or a prophet
A vision of good comin’ down the line
For my daughters in their lives
Or tell ‘em a good lie
I put two fingers to my temple
In the shape of the gun but I laugh it off
‘Cause life’s become absurdly simple
Love all and pack it up
Throw a party when we’re gone
May we always remain civil
If our love were to ever warp
Into something gnarled, mean, or sinful
An unnecessary chord
All dissonant and misinformed
With a low and heavy sun
All the colors start to run
Into peach, pink, tangerine, and plum
Yet the blues have never won
Due to beauty sneakin’ up
And cuttin’ the cuffs of anhedonia
I am exhausted by the rallying cry for caution
Let’s dime it out just a little more often
I need my palm read, a clairvoyant or a prophet
A vision of good comin’ down the line
For my daughters in their lives
Or tell ‘em a good lie
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8. |
Saber Rattlers
03:50
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All these saber rattling, racist frat boy, cop cucks in control
Frame compassion as the enemy
In my dreams I'm thrashing, teeth are gnashing, dust became of bone
Ain't got faith but we got fealty
Oh my love, you're sweet as syrup or a radio song
Stuck inside my head however long
Oh my girl, you don't deserve to be belittled at all
Condescended or projected on
We used to make fun of those married couples at each other's throats
Swore we'd never be that miserable
I can feign disgust at greed and lust -- I'm poorly clutching pearls
While my own behavior's terrible
Oh my love, you're sweet as syrup or a radio song
Stuck inside my head however long
Oh my girl, you don't deserve to be belittled at all
Condescended or projected on
All our roses always bloom again
And lay in contrast to our rotting deck
It's time I swing a hammer and break a sweat
And take care of our home I did neglect
Every love needs maintenance, oil changes, physicals and blood
Work to diagnose and remedy
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9. |
Lopsided Luck
04:50
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Runnin’ wild
Untethered from civilian life
He’d always romanticize like a little child
An impulsive mind
Heavy pours of inexpensive wine
A credit score in decline
And an ex-wife
He’s at a low he hasn’t felt in ten long years
Four decades old, but a kid between the ears
Lopsided luck compared to fellow privileged peers
He’s always passin’ the buck and avoidin’ the mirror
His only child
Is literally all his life
He wakes up in the mornin’ only to see her eyes
His yellowed whites
Indicate an organ’s cry
The copperhead is cornered and always in sight
He’s at a low he hasn’t felt in ten long years
Four decades old, but a kid between the ears
Lopsided luck compared to fellow privileged peers
He’s always passin’ the buck and avoidin’ the mirror
Some friends have started dyin’ off and he parties at their wakes
He tries to keep it dry enough not to decay or fade
The ballast keeps his balance but those waves carry more weight
They beat against the bow and port while he refreshed his drink
A mosquito’s whine
The early mornin’ purple light
That smudges the horizon line
Woke on a lawn alive
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