Alphabet of Love

A - for the angels that did depart B - for the bitterness instilled in our hearts C - can’t you see you do me wrong? D - we’re on a detour from where we belong E - for the easiness with which you let things be F - while my poor heart burns in effigy G - for some gentle rain from above H - for the hostages of love I - for the ice water in my veins J - for the jaybirds that mock my pain K - I’ll never be OK on my own L - for a lever to move that heart of stone M - for our self-inflicted misery N - for the never-was and the never-will-be O - for opened doors back into lock P - for peace of mind so rare in stock Q - for the cues you gave that I missed R - you are the one without whom I can’t go on like this S - for the silence of your empty chair T - for the tenderness that we once shared U - are on my mind, I mourn my loss V - for a vehicle to get across W - for the trouble you put me through X - for the extra time I should have given you Y - do these love letters spell so bittersweet? Z - now the alphabet of love’s complete

Music & Lyrics by Tom Roger Low

Have you walked out that door Have you been dragged back in Has God laid His finger So cold on your chin

Have you caught a faint glimpse And you wanna see whole The brilliance of diamonds The blackness of coal

Have you ever beheld Your lover’s eyes glow When all you could feel Was low

Have you been made to feel Far beyond reach Where you could not be swayed By music, nor speech

Have you ridden high Upon this earth’s face Have you lost your stronghold Your state of grace

It is sworn by the stars And the rivers that flow That all shall cascade That’s low

Music & Lyrics by Tom Roger Timelock

Timelock I said something bad I nearly ruined all the precious things we had Didn’t mean the stuff I said Please forgive me, come to bed Get some sleep now on my arm I will do you no more harm

Timelock Life’s too short, I know I snap out of it and there you go Won’t you come back into my space And bestow your sudden grace I’d wear blisters on my tongue If I could only undo my wrong

The air’s so heavy here, so tense And this gravity’s immense Like some planet in some dark sphere But I do love you, please stay here

Timelock Wretchedly I fared Try and remember The joy and pain we’ve shared We can turn this page anew We’ve got some past, future, too We can change this, make it right If we just dodge off this night

Timelock Wind our love back up

Music & Lyrics by Tom Roger Millstones

I wrote that song while I waited for you to wake up Your sleep back then was so trustful and so pure And I filled it with all the affection that I could Thought it’d be my antidote, thought it’d be my cure

Now I understand that something has been twisted I see some dubious creatures beneath your bed Whoever did this, it was regardless of your features They just took a heart out, they meant to fill it up with lead

I see millstones around them necks I see windows where ravens peck I see them painting by numbers on your chest Millstones ‘round them necks would have been the best

Right now this river’s rough, I can’t get over I’ll have to leave you there and go and re-establish my trust But my lapsing faith can’t cover up these visions I see a flickering flame, I see you walk a floor of sudden gusts

The wind carries memories of your soft and steady breathing And the sunlight on my finger ignites a soulful pledge In my dream I stand beneath you with my arms reaching And you’ve opened up the window, you’re standing on the ledge

I see millstones around them necks I see a faint light that falls in specks I see them crowding you, see your throat congest Millstones ‘round them necks would have been the best

Well, I don’t know what it’s like to grow up in a snake pit To routinely have your expanding soul circumcised But I do know there’ll come a day of righteous judgment Though it may not necessarily be advertised

Go tell your doctor a song is a redeemer And a beautiful detector of the fractures of the soul All while you slept, you glowed with an angelic radiance While your half brothers made it big-time dealing coal

I see millstones around them necks I see bleached bones in deserted wrecks I see them painting by numbers on your chest Millstones ‘round them necks would have been the best

Music & Lyrics by Tom Roger Down to the Dishes

I’m down to the dishes now, except for some wine and some bread I’ve got a deadline on hold, a millennium winter ahead The list of my casualties touches the tiles of my floor Along with the names that I swayed from my prodigal door

You’d been to the dentist when I called from a boxcar last night You sounded so fragile, you really did give me a fright But I know you are up to it, I think we both know where it’s at There’s a wall with your name on it somewhere in a theatre flat

If you ask what I miss, there ain’t much, really, that I can name And if you asked what I’ve got, my reply would pretty much be the same And I’ve thought about therapy, I’ve thought about writing a book But nothing will capture remotely the way that you look

When I picture the faces of people I surely have hurt I wonder if I was too brilliant when I dug out the dirt The wounds in a child, doctor, tell me, how fast do they heal? I’m grateful and mourning, I can’t figure out how to feel

The last nights I’ve spent in the shallowest conceivable pit, Where the resonant walls of my Jericho hardly did fit I’m down to the dishes now, along with some grief and some shame, But I’m prone to be saved by a fragment of your secret name

Music & Lyrics by Tom Roger I Know I Idolize You

I know I idolize you Do you think you overestimate me? Well, as far as I can see We need each other Like a river needs a sea

You are my cool adviser You’re my real estate trustee You’re the shaker of my tree And I’m yours now, for all eternity

Never thought I’d find you once again, Never thought I’d lose you Never thought I’d find you, even when You told me if I needed I could use you

I know I idolize you Do you think you overestimate me? Well, as far as I can see We need each other Like a river needs a sea

You are my moisturizer So soothing to my dried out mind Every time we meet I find You’re one to trust, we’re two of a kind

Never thought my feet could get so cold, Never thought I’d get scalded Never thought you’d be for me to hold, The ascension never hurt, but then the fall did

I know I idolize you Do you think you overestimate me? Well, as far as I can see We need each other Like a river needs a sea

You are my tranquilizer You’re the stirrer of my scene And you fill the gap between What is and what could have been

Music & Lyrics by Tom Roger Us Everything

I buried my strange heart In the innocent snow I should feel at home here, But I just don’t know How long I can stay here With a face of content, Better tend to my flock now And crawl to my tent And curl up beside you And plan for a spring That’s gonna deliver us everything

This silvery landscape Where our troubles did start I was unable to conjure A straight line from my heart I strayed from the center With its foretelling boom Anywhere that I’d enter, You’d just left the room And the messengers perished And the birds ceased to sing That were gonna deliver us everything

Surrounded by fences That followed me through You slipped from my senses Like a blurry tattoo I abandoned my village To climb the steep hills I found, for each challenge, There’s a faint set of drills I reached out towards you To hand you the ring That’s gonna deliver us everything

When things started falling, I’d long hit the ground You may have been calling, But I heard no sound You may’ve been expecting, But there’s nothing I’d bring That’s gonna deliver us everything

I’ll soon be departing From this slavery coast I’ll search up my heartland And debate with my ghost Stay in vicinity, I believe that’s the code, From the pillars of trinity To the narrowest road The ground has a warning And the air has a sting That’s gonna deliver us everything

Music & Lyrics by Tom Roger Confidentially Baby

I got a note from the cleaner of your slates Said several people could swear they'd seen me showing several human traits I recognize their statements, but did they recognize my states? Your body and soul, I wanted both Now, I don't go for gossip, but I got some news from one of my connections Several of these people were observed practicing perversions to perfection I just think it might be wise if you did lend it some reflections They were drawing lots for your clothes

Confidentially, baby, This is a dangerous place Around here there's a jaw for a tooth Consequently, maybe We'd change our directions and our pace If you'll let go of your traditions, I'll let go of my truth

I spoke to your cousin, he always was the cleverest He hired the Empire State Building when he realized he couldn't have the Mount Everest And declared that he'd go through the moments considered the hardest and the heaviest Let go of his possessions and desires I watched you watching him and from the viewpoint of my solitude, I saw something that upset me and though it's not my habit to intrude, Now I know I should have told you, although I might have disturbed your mood He had it all tied up with hidden wires

Confidentially, baby, This is a dangerous place You know there's no easy way out Consequently, maybe We'd change our directions and our pace If you'll let go of your destiny, I'll let go of my doubt

The way I had your poems published in some phony magazine After bottling your breath for some brewer who claimed that he could turn water into gasoline, With your determined dreams, I don't blame you for deciding to turn off that machine Still, sometimes I wish you'd come home Well, the kind of people I always felt related to were men like Elijah and Ulysses Just like when I heard you'd left town that night with a very young man as Mr. and Mrs. In a jet plane bound for Babylon with her bribery and her business And making that short stop in Rome

Confidentially, baby, This is a dangerous place They say just one man got out of here alive Consequently, maybe We'd change our directions and our pace If you'll let go of your prejudice, I'll let go of my pride

Music & Lyrics by Tom Roger Transient

It fell upon you heavily, it took you by surprise But water that’s been stirred Still reflects a piece of sky So take these sunken dreams of yours And blow them up so high We’re just transient

I saw you turn to strangers Who took turns to turn you down To petty-money-changers Who never saw the substance of your ground Now you stand before them Won’t you share what you have found We’re just transient

So you who bear the name of prophets Carry it with pride The hemispheres may drift apart The oceans may collide But angels with their flaming swords May stand right by your side We’re just transient

These fragments that we whine over Shall whither like the dust And slowly give way to a love That flushes void of lust And the frailties we’ve gathered Shall be traded in for trust We’re just transient

Music & Lyrics by Tom Roger Ballad of Muddy Waters

‘I hear that Muddy Waters is frequenting these fairs With a pack of lies behind her and ribbons in her hair.’ A stranger thus approached me on top of Emerald Hill, I went down with a fever and woke up with a chill. Then stumbled to my bare feet, a-wondering what to say, And turned towards a creature so finely cast in clay, ‘Behold my grave misfortune at this renegade hotel, Now take me to these fairgrounds, I will reward you well.’

‘I fear I’ll be rewarded in the currency of shame, And they call it reputation, by the way, what you call fame.’ I took her by her collar, said, ‘Are you not aware?’ ‘I’ve been deprived of anger to which I was the rightful heir.’ ‘It’s not for lack of pity I refuse your sorry state, Nor on grounds of virtue, Sir, that I hesitate.’ I let go of her collar and ventured down the stairs. She gathered her composure and said, ‘I’ll take you to these fairs.’

‘It falls upon the gentle and on the innocent, too. I hear the devil needs a showcase, it might as well be you.’ With these kind words of comfort she agreed to take me on, Though blindfolded and naked, of no harm to anyone. To ridicule and laughter I exposed this heart of mine, With a fever high and rising and my spirits in decline. For just like Job before me I cursed the day I was born, Like the sparrows in the bushes I felt the sting of thorns

Awhile my persecutor flourished like a rose As I buried my companion in the very ground she chose. Through tears and perspiration my weary eyes assumed To undertake the verses that would decorate her tomb. I knew my time was coming, if no one intervened, When someone turned me over and said, ‘I’m Jeremiah Spleen.’ ‘As much as I’m a stranger, I’m the stranger in your dream.’ I recognized that moment Muddy Waters’ seam.

Her petty accusations swirled above the noise As Jeremiah warned me with low and fearsome voice, ‘Some are broken vessels, impossible to fill. I believed that truth was brilliant, well, sometimes it’s just shrill.’ I spied her ‘cross the fairgrounds, her hair was shining red, As I stepped up to her charges, she stayed two or three ahead. Then suddenly she silenced, like someone did appear, And when she gave a curtsey, I knew the Prince of Lies was near.

Cried Jeremiah plainly with piercing eyes so blue, ‘Her time of apprehension is well nigh overdue!’ His arms swung low with fury, his voice resembled smoke, She turned around to waste him just when my fever broke. I threw a burning slingshot from the bottom of my heart And got myself together as Muddy Waters fell apart. She rubbed her face with ashes, she tore her faded jeans, She wrote that name in charcoal, ‘Jeremiah Spleen’.

Music & Lyrics by Tom Roger Love Should Flow

Love should flow Abundantly like mother’s milk Enshrouding you like precious silk Heavy from expectancy, ripe with need Love should flow As certainly as young girls bleed

Love should flow From the canyons and to the stars Exhibiting exquisite scars Take me through your streets, The ones you know so well Love should flow Relentlessly like children tell

Love should flow Where access is denied Where a sad song is your only guide Filling every vessel with a pounding roar Love should flow Abundantly and ever more

Music & Lyrics by Tom Roger Obviously Embraced

He was doing research, One night by the harbor, She’d learned by word of mouth. Someone approached him in a bar, Escaping her redemption, Said, 'Come over to our table, She’d come up from the south. You know, you can only stretch your luck this far.' He was vague in conversation He could feel the years dividing About where exactly he was based. As it all fell into place, They left at separate hours For there she was, his one true love, So obviously embraced. So obviously embraced.

Later on it surfaced, The regulars were leaving They were each other’s perfect match. As she took him by the hand, Her old man did warn her Saying, 'Tell me how you’ve held up, He wasn’t bound to get attached. Are you still reaching for the grand?' She never cared to know the number At first he was reluctant, Of eyebrows being raised But then she whispered to his face, As they prepared for solitude And so he laid his story down So obviously embraced. So obviously embraced.

Apparently they broke up Barrenness and virtue To the sound of tumbling dice. Are easily confused, She dropped back on him one evening, People keep up their appearances Saying, 'I had to check up on your eyes.' With their hearts and their souls all bruised. It certainly impressed him, But when everything is measured But he was careful not to chase, And all lines have been rephrased, On the walls he’d seen their destiny Still remain the lines we made So obviously embraced. So obviously embraced.

After their agreement, He went down like a cannonball. Later he’d say, ' If I was losing it, It’s ‘cause I really had it in the fall.' Clearly he was shaken, Though punches thrown were poorly placed. To his credit, God knows he took the blows So obviously embraced.

Pursuing her career, then, She soon received her degrees, But you couldn’t tell whether she was a healer Or an afflicted one in search of remedies. She carefully examined The soft skin that he had grazed And could not help but feeling So obviously embraced.

There were rumors of desertion, She wondered if he was still around. She searched the internet and the churches, But he was nowhere to be found. When she was lying on them couches, Steel-blade-possessed and crazed, She still held hopes to find her love So obviously embraced.

Music & Lyrics by Tom Roger