Don't you think it's time to put your shiny toys away?

Riding the Tiger

looking outside my window I see the rain coming down
don't wanna let this stuff get to me dammit no not right now

there's got to be some kind of misunderstanding
we're all in need of a bright sunny day
I'll admit it just might sound a bit demanding 
but don't you think it's time to put your shiny toys away

riding the tiger we know not to ever let go
but tonight while we wonder the beast is out there on its own

is this the worst of times or just the constant state of humankind
you know Heraclitus and the Mayans said we're bound to make the same mistakes
all over and over again
(but I do want to be on the good side)

someone is waiting her eyes are the death of winter
I still can't explain it but tonight I know that we last forever

she left a note and said the worst is almost over
the medication on the table should be all that you need
remember to include me in your prayers
we're all subject to the forces of entropy

Riding The Tiger

The Golden Age

faced with the rays of heaven
you'll see everything is how it's meant to be
so let that supposition result in dancing
and the sound arising as you feel the need

quiet harbingers have walked the path alone 
and left behind their guidance in the marking stones
there is substance to these dreams of Avalon
I know you feel it in your bones

messages of love by satellite the anthem of the final days
we gather in the starless night in the last of the golden age

the heavy burdens of this life 
can make us selfish and blind
I see you there and I know
you are honest and kind

there is no weapon that will prevail against us
as we  stand our ground in the final days
you must remember love is relentless
here in the golden age 

trust that your heart will fill with joy 

it's still so early in the spring
on the spectrum of life 
more subtle is the journey as we arrive
no more hiding in half light

will you be there in the light of love

The Golden Age

This song is a tribute to beautiful lives cut short. Back in November 2022 last year three University of Virginia football players were shot and killed by a former teammate as they returned from a trip to see a play in Washington DC. It happens all too often in this country. These three were outstanding young men much loved and mourned by the community.

The amazing Ceci Wynans paid tribute in song at their memorial service:  https://youtu.be/VLA6biZDTx0

The art is a painting by D'Sean Perry, one of the three young men lost. 

This is song is sung from the imagined perspective of their parents.

Brother Gone

I still see a little boy running hiding from me and laughing then
I'd like to think that losing you had some higher reason in the end
but how can anyone know how hard it is to let you go

you were the one who always knew everything is in God's hands
but you're not here and it's so hard to understand

just look at all these people standing here
calling out your name
this would be the happiest day of my life if you were here by my side
instead all I've got is this heartbreak and pain

how was I to know it'd be the last time
that I'd see your shining face next to mine
they can take away the good years that should've been yours to claim
but they'll never take away the good man you became

I'll always see a little boy running hiding away from me
but this time you're not coming back
and I'm not sure how I'm ever gonna live with that

God I need some peace of mind
I hope that it isn't far away

Brother Gone

Campy tongue in cheek or sincere lament? Well kinda both; this was just one of those stream of consciousness snippets that was ridiculous in the onset, and I never thought it'd be something I put out there but it kept snowballing and these things end up like a dog waiting by the door silently imploring  "Let's go for a walk."   My son attended an academic conference a few weeks ago and related that an environmental scientist believes we're cooked, literally and figuratively. We may need help but I don't think it's coming. My mortal expectancy extends only to introductory portents but my kids and granddaughter can expect to see the collapse of our environment unfolding in total, irreversible clarity. OK let's go back to making fun for now.

shining so long ago
you know it should've been time to leave
and to let you go

while there's still time before
you know it could've been beautiful with all that we have here
take a look around this around this is our only home 
there's nowhere else to go

we left before these things had come to mind
and now it's all so very clear it was not your time

where is that saving grace we left behind?
the shadow remnants of a world that could have been so fine
we left the saving grace to guide you through the perils of the darkest night
now your fragile world is burning

shining so long ago
you know it should've been time to leave and to let you go
are you ready for what's coming now?
doesn't matter that you don't believe

there will never be another time to make it right
there will be no dreaming in the common night
you had your chance and then another and another
but you never could comply 
any promises you make to change your habits just another lie

wait a minute there's something here that can't be found
anywhere else in this universe on this holy ground
take a minute take an hour take a day to change your mind
can't you see your way through to help us one more time

we settled you in Atlantis we left you signs in Peru
we taught you the secrets of life on the Nile
but you never could live up to the gifts that we gave to you

heaven knows we've been blind to the lessons we were given
time after time
and if we never seem to learn don't abandon us 
when our fate is so dire

is it too much to ask to want these things to last a little longer?
take pity on the children theirs is not the fault of the fathers

We Left

There is no love of life without despair of life -- Albert Camus

inside my head a strange conviction
I am separated from everything I used to know
is there a name to put to this condition that leaves me so hollow

waiting for a break in the weather
waiting for a sea change in the back of your mind
stranger things have happened 
but you're wasting precious time

or was I just meant to be a broken thing
was it fiction to believe it would be otherwise
in the final reckoning

you woke last night to the sound of her voice
calling your name once again
she said you still have a choice 
but your chances are getting slim

inside you're bleeding
because you know it's never going to be the same again
and I know that every memory  
is like jagged glass in your hand

were you just meant to be a broken thing
was it fiction to believe it would be otherwise
in the final reckoning

you feel the weight of a thousand miles
every step that remains should be easy now

but the road goes on

there's a rain that flows away
every doubt and darkness of mind
and it comes to remind you
that every child will find the light

let us never take for granted
all the blessings of the rising day
brother if you and I are the last ones standing
we'll raise a glass to the ones we knew on the way

Broken Things

Spotify Link

Keeping this up in the interests of national security...

 in honor of the toxic human being who would sacrifice everything for the sake of his own brittle ego  (if you disagree please don't bother telling me--we inhabit different cognitive universes, and I wish you the best in yours)

This Jeremiad just gets truer by the day 

hazy yeah I have a memory
bought with a ticket by the back gate it's coming to me now

if no one can name the deed there's no way to come back to me
there's no room in my house for back stabbers

I could be the one you need with the greatest of ease
you're gonna see a plan work out
you might be the one to bleed but don't you love me
you're gonna be free so have no doubt

I keep a list of all the things they've done to me
and a payback posse with a violent creed
you oughta know better than to fuck with me

I need a girl that keep her legs open and her mouth shut
don't say you didn't sign right there on the line
you'll be kicking and screaming but your ass is mine

who's that waiting there over by the dim light
I can feel the stare but I'm not scared
somebody's gonna bleed but don't you love me
you're gonna be free so have no doubt

I'm gonna burn this house down tonight
it's always been about me

Burn This House Down (explicit)

Ummm yeah, well these things just kinda take a life of their own.  This started out life as an innocent funk bass riff. More apocalyptic existential panic with a dash of Jansenism thrown in.

Art: William Blake The Ancient of Days

Save Me

you know I wonder how to fill out the days 
as I schedule my life in reverse
I'm highly aware of my failings 
and not sure if that's a blessing or curse

we're given the gift of this life
and still we find ourselves maligned
awash in a violent tide
how can this be

we're given the gift of this life
and turn away to choose the darkest side
is that all we see

save me from myself just one more time

toxic repercussions keep having their way
I mean like who knew 
as if the actions of today 
come back tomorrow looking for you

you start to feel like the world is unwinding
right before your eyes

and the way the tide is shifting
you're gonna need a place to run and hide

I knew a girl from another time in my life
she used to wake up and drink herself back to sleep at night
we showed each other just how low we both could climb
last I heard she's still alive 

won't you save me from myself just one more time

I wanna be free of the memories
of the worst of the human race right there living inside of me
I wanna believe that irrestible grace is coming after me
even if it wants my life

out there on the streets tonight 
so many souls are yearning for the light
how to win day from night
will we ever
I don't know what's there inside God's mind

how many times must we fall

Hear on Spotify

Save Me

Tired of cold short days? Me too. Let's party!!  I haven't posted anything new in a while so here's a 10 year old tune that will be new to some of my peers, and those who've heard it have already gotten over the shock. This is an exercise in licentious sexual innuendo and lewd, funky sounds. It's what happens when an otherwise innocent childhood is spent listening to Jimmy Castor Bunch, New Birth, Slave, James Brown, Funkadelic, etc, and there are some biblical metaphors thrown in for good measure. It can be downloaded in case I decide to run for Governor and need to quickly hide all scandal.

OK where does this nonsense come from? 

"There's a primordial dread and fear of the power of the Feminine expressed in the feckless desire to dominate and control a situation that the poor fool just oughta accept as way beyond his own meager forces."  -- Carl Jung

James Brown --  Hot Pants (use what she got to get just want she want)
https://youtu.be/lehBlK2MrD8
James Brown -- Just Look at Those Cakes (yeah he got away with this stuff)
https://youtu.be/7fMNganQ-z0
Jimmy Castor -- Trogolodyte (that bass tho')
https://youtu.be/n0zfdptxQvY
P-Funk -- Undisco Kid (the girl was baaad)
https://youtu.be/o38j7m3ZMWE
New Birth -- Got to Get a Knutt (sorry their title not mine)
https://youtu.be/2HQsslSYDbA
Ohio Players --  Skin Tight (ditches britches stitches, delicious)
https://youtu.be/5Smb9DkYDr8

TASTES LIKE CHICKEN
I went down to the melon patch 
gonna find myself a big 'un
it was Saturday morning and the sun was shining 
and I was ready for diggin'

there she was alone with her hands around a vine
sunlight shining through her summer dress I said my my my

my name is Daisy hope you don't mind
that I'm down here pulling on your vines
now if you please may i keep on pickin?
and one more thing I taste like chicken

she was in my melon patch already picking
and now she tells me she tastes like chicken
this could be the thing that I've been missing
now here's a girl that tastes like chicken

she followed me home with a couple juicy melons
I said baby where you are from but she wasn't telling
now something about her story just wasn't clickin'
I know a lotta girls don't none of them taste like chicken

back in my kitchen I cut the rind
it was pink and juicy on the inside
she said baby just a minute
I need to step outside before we get in it

she went outside behind a big old tree
I was following close behind but I didn't let her see
then I heard something that blew my mind
she was talking alien on a radio line

she came back in through the front door
wearing nothing but a smile
I know she's an alien
but I'll let it go for now

now I'm not sure how it's gonna all work out
I still got my extraterrestrial doubts
but man she looks good standing in my kitchen
and she tastes like chicken

Tastes Like Chicken

I just posted a silly tune because I needed cover for this one -- it's pretty heavy.  It's about a neighbor who has ALS, which is one of the worst diseases that anyone could get. Sorry if this is too somber, it kinda had to get done.

Artwork by Carlos Cardona -- Jukar:  https://www.instagram.com/stories/jukarcardona/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/133332765@N07/

Marking Time
the first misstep is a vital sign
but you can never know if it was just the fault of wine
how you missed it doesn't matter anymore anyhow
just rest your eyes and breathe for now

the tiny comforts of each day
the simple pleasures that remain 
binding soul to body
until the morning that this all goes away

I'm only marking time till the day that the end is in sight
I won't there to hold your hand like you're holding mine
and it's tearing me up inside

I think she's out there working on another plan
she thunders through the day with all these papers and phone in hand
as if some new ray of science
will shine a light on what we don't understand

every morning birds singing outside my window
sunlight shining down into my eyes
I know I'll never see the faces of children
born to my own child
but if I'll see you in another life know that I'm satisfied

the tiny comforts of each day
these simple pleasures that remain 
while I'm soul in body
until the morning that this all goes away

I'm only marking time till the day that the end is in sight
I won't there to hold your hand when it's your time
I'll be there on the other side

Marking Time

I'm sorry y'all--this is another downer of a song with preachy lyrics but it's an idea that came up and demanded to be completed. 

The only side I take is the human one, but I couldn't have more contempt for the ostensible leaders of both Gaza and Israel who seek their own interests at the cost of so much suffering among innocents. Nothing good comes out of "Let's go kill some people."



You Let This Happen

have you understood that this is the final warning call
abandon hope all those that linger here

you lived the diamond life and could not lend your ears
and now the sand is wet with blood beyond our wildest fears 
how could you let this happen here

we plant the seeds of death beside the seeds of life 
so they can pay the price and have the will to fight

the bloodied face that no one could identify
now here's the news that was a mother's precious baby
how could you let this happen here

so how do you think this story ends
when it begins with the death of innocents
another thousand years of war is in the cards
another generation with daggers in their hearts

and you let it happen

You Let This Happen

This is messy and rough, more like a demo -- it was all done in my scratch pad context (FL Studio), but then again the subject is messy and rough.

Take You Down

I can take you down
I can bring you right down put your face down to it
I can wait around ready for you

you are free to change your mind
you are free to leave this life behind
there's an open door but you don't go through it

I try to get away clean but you got me in a hold
you put your fingers in my head and I loose control
how will I ever be satisfied

I can help with the pain for a little while
cause you know it really just ain't my style
to let you feel what I'm doing when I'm doin it

got what I need and I need it
where does it end now
now that I've paid with my freedom

I just want to be free from all the craving of the night
hey yeah will there ever be a time when I feel it

Take You Down

This is about community. I love listening to your music and having you listen to mine. New album out on Spotify (link below). I would love to have you visit and listen there!!

Any song on Bandcamp (link below) is a free download (does anyone download anymore?).

Jeff Roberts

Pinned to spotlight

Popular tracks