Joe Rosato Jr.

  

Michael Rows

Michael Row your boat ashore, Hallelujah

Michael Row your boat ashore, Hallelujah

Michael this world is slowly crumbling

and dreams are hard to find

can't you seem that you've been rowing

against a cruel and angry tide

Michael rows…. Hallelujah 

 

Michael sees the ship go down, Hallelujah

Michael sees

Michael sees a stormy future 

with its lightning and its waves

he paddles with abandon

but it's too late to get saved 

Michael rows… Hallelujah 

 

Michael rows into the harbor

Michael rows and rows and rows and rows and rows, Hallelujah

but you should try to steer clear 

of the traps and mighty swells

the liars and the shut-ins 

and the tolling of the bells

Michael rows… Hallelujah

 

 This world's caught in the tides

getting smashed and getting battered

you're rowing to the shore

will you make it, will it matter 

Michael rows… Hallelujah

 

Sleeper

 

Sometimes this world gets angry

and i can't relate

so I sleep too late

I can't get up at all

 

Sometimes it's all too heavy

and i just pretend

I'll sleep until the end

and everything will be ok

 

You come to me and say

I'm not the answer to your questions now

You come to me and say 

I must emerge cause life is slipping by

 

You come to me and say 

I'm not the answer to your questions now

You come to me and say

I must've slept through everything somehow

 

All the thinkers are out there thinking

this sleeper's in here sleeping

this dreamer's in here dreaming again

 

Sometime's it all gets crazy

I have to hide my head

crawl into my bed

and dream of nothing at all

 

The Sparrow 

 

the sparrow rides, on a breeze

like a river through the trees

he says all, i've ever seen

is everything you've ever dreamed

 

i've seen a road up to the sun

long as the day is done,

maybe there's a road for everyone, to ride

 

Near the ground, he spreads his wings

sings a song he likes to sing

in a crowd he flies alone

with all this world to roam

 

He sings when the grass is tall, 

in the winter and the fall, 

might be singing to us all tonight

 

He casts no shadow

on the ground

on the ground

 

The sparrow rides, on the wind

then you'll never see him again

Gone away to points unknown

will he ever come back home

 

He says there's something more to see

destinations calling me

must be the burden of the free to roam

 

On a road up to the sun

long as the day is done

Maybe there's a road for everyone

ought to be a road for everyone

there should be a road for everyone to ride

 

Lonesome Freeway 

 

She's gonna drive 'till her tank is empty

she's gonna drive 'till her tires are low

the radio is set between the stations

playing soft and low

 

Another love has defeated its purpose

another love has left her blind

she's gonna drive him out of her system

as she swerves between the lines

 

Chorus

 Who's gonna drive her down this lonesome freeway

who'll take the wheel when she changes lanes

who's gonna hold her when she's lost her direction

it's a sad ride, down a sad road

 

She's taking off leaving everything behind her

she's taking off like never before

she's gonna use the distance as a cushion

and soften up the blow

 

Chorus 

 

It's a sad road

It's a sad world

 

See her crumpled up just like a rag doll

see her crumpled like an old toy

sitting there at the side of the embankment

staring at the fast lane

 

Chorus

 

Ode to a Disappearing Hill

 

The view of a hill

got blocked by a building rising like the sun

trapped, within their walls

like a mouse inside a cage, waiting out the days

 

But the songs, they still came

about a bird on a wire, or a river past a mill

and i could see a field, like a child with a book

sees a castle on a hill

 

chorus

and I will sing, when the roof is caving, the storm is bearing down

i will sing, when the world is crumbling, the stars rain from the sky

 

The ghosts, won't despair, floating weightless in the clouds

never contemplate the ground

where i, toil away. putting pen to the page, seeking music in the rage

 

chorus 

 

Oh lonesome song, bouncing down the street 

off the concrete and the steel

down to a hill, disappearing by the inch, beyond the window sill 

 

The Devi Came for Me

 

Someone called my name one night

Turned around, no one in sight

Tried to run, my legs wouldn't go

Something had my shirt pulling me in tow

 

 

The devil came for me, the devil came for me 

 

 

Devil opened his eyes, and I could see

everything I'd done there in front of me

I saw the broken hearts

heard a mournful wail

saw the broken dreams

by the side of the trail 

 

The devil came for me, the devil came for me

 

Must've been the devil made me run away

my soul is reckless like a runaway train

I hope you forgive me one of these days

Cause if I broke these chains I'd come to your side

across the broken glass and the blood red tide

but I wore this path and it's mine to ride

my bill to pay 

 

Before the devil turned and walked away

he said you'll never learn, and you'll never change

then he disappeared in a firery blast

and I was left a slave to my past

 

The devil came for me, the devil came for me 

 

The Bridge 

 

I'm hoping to find some love just in time

if one person smiles, I'll turn back and all this is done

I walk through the town, there's no one around

past the old school, where children would play in the yard

 

Chorus 

Bridge you're there waiting, I'm going, you're staying

I hope someone's praying for me

Bridge there'll all sleeping so here I come creeping

There's no one praying for me

 

I'd like to see what life holds for me

but fate has been cruel and time keeps on waging its war

From where I stand the world's icy hands 

reach in my soul, I stare at the water below

 

Chorus

 

Bridge… I step to the ledge of your heart

I'm restless and cold and I'm tired of voices I can't explain

 

Bridge… I step through the edge of the dark

I furious and alone I'll find beauty in ways they can't explain

 

Chorus 

 

Goodbye Maria 

 

You say life comes at all cost Maria

Surviving on a few crumbs, and a few prayers

Tell me what are they saying down on the corner these days

 

Another nickel, get a dime

Numb those years that you lost on the way

I heard you saying you should've been long gone by now

 

Chorus

I hate to say goodbye to Maria

Who knows when I'll see you my friend

I've gotta get back home to Alabama, she's calling again

 

They rolled up all the welcome mats in this city

left us here in the doorways and the roads

it's hard to see when you can't make out 

what you were looking for

 

Another nickel get a dime, 

I bought a 40 down at the liquor store

Maria looks as though she needs a little something

to ease her mind

 

Chorus 

 

I can hear your voice through this rumble

from this alley I can see the great divide

but it's hard to go on living

once you're living on the outside

 

Chorus 

 

 

Unsinkable(Ida & Isidor's last ride)

 

Oh… a starry night. 

A ship in flight

They'll never find us here

a razor in the dark

hits its mark 

will they find us here

 

Oh, a ship goes down

without a sound 

will they find us here

hope floats away

will they find us here

 

Chorus

 

And on and on and on and on… 

a journey's ending

on and on and on and on 

we're descending

 

Autumn fills the sky 

a last goodbye

will they find us here 

a finger toward the night

slips from sight

will they find us here 

 

Chorus 

 

Love never dies 

on a ship of lies

will they find us here

here we'll remain 

a sandy grave

will they find us here

 

chorus 

 

Dallas 

 

She was a wandering Texas girl

the friend of a friend of a friend

we sat on a sidewalk outside the club

life never felt the same again

 

All night truck stop - coffee shop

Merl singing how "Mama Tried"

Time was marching somewhere else

as I fell into the darkness of her eyes

 

I'm going to Dallas 

to find a girl I used to know

life is short so start the show

chase the wind, let it go

you wonder where it blows

I'm going to Dallas 

 

Cigarettes and songs 

and the great unknown

too young for the years to take their toll

back then love would walk the wire

and never fear the ground far below

 

I'm going to Dallas

to find a girl I used to love

life has turned to push and shove

chase the path from above

all I'm thinking of

I'm going to Dallas 

 

One day she said she had to go

broke the news over a pay phone

all alone, all alone, all alone

 

The years fly away like a frightened bird

You cannot cage what you what don't own

You chase the thing you never had

Cause cutting down the rose just makes it grow

 

Chorus 

 

It's Not What You Think 

 

It's not what you think

it's not what you heard 

nothing's in tatters

we're just ditching this road

dumping this load

nothing else matters

 

And I like feeling the world at my back

and I would trade in my past

and I think life would be better for now

 

It's not like they said

nobody's dead

no one's been battered

It's not like you read

nobody screamed

nobody scattered

 

And I feel like running away

and I keep calling your name

and I think life will be better for now

 

Chorus 

And why, why won't you wake up baby

 

We've got nothing fear

the ghosts have all cleared 

no mirrors have been shattered

we're just shedding this town

it's crumbling down

the vultures have gathered

 

And I like seeing the world in my mirrors

and I see everything clear

and I think life would be better for now

 

Chorus