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It's a Bastard to Be Lonely

by D.G. Scherrer, the voice that lost its man

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1.
Tall 04:01
Your baby boy, he done grown so tall You lent him all your joy, he done spent it all Hear him cry for home in a dry creek bed Your baby boy, he grown so tall, got to hang his head O god of love, O song of home Who touched this body that I do not seem to own The sky is low and made of lead Your baby boy, he grown so tall, got to hang his head Where are you going? Where have you been? Heard you cry for home into an old tin can Well you ain't well-spoke, you just well-read My baby boy, you grown so tall, got to hang your head
2.
French Wife 03:44
She came back home and found me dead At least that's what the papers said Course, it ain't like I could tell it my way Hell, I don't even know where you go To get cyanide in New Mexico Babette, you are a clever little lady I met her when I used to work On weekends up in Albuquerque And she was just a co-ed from overseas And I never studied art the way Them queers all do in Santa Fe But Babette, I know perfection when I see it You might suggest and I might agree That she was way too good for me And why the hell'd she marry such a man? Could be she thought Americans Are all Cary Grants and Errol Flynns Folks got some weird ideas about this land Now don't cry princess, I forgive you I'll go run right up to heaven and plead your case I ain't the choicest guy to live with, God knows But tomorrow's gonna be a better place My funeral came, I saw her weep And hell, you know, that's kinda sweet I mean, that's how you know they really care They laid my flesh in Chamberine It ain't bright, but hell, it's clean And this may be the best I've dressed since we were married It's hard to make a marriage work Some days are bright, some days are dark Some days they just wake up and hate your face I was probably just a redneck clown Folks probably think you married down But what the hell, I love you when you're crazy Now don't cry princess, I forgive you I'll go run right up to heaven and plead your case I ain't the choicest guy to live with, God knows But tomorrow's gonna be a better place
3.
She tossed her cigarette as the ignition turned She said, "There's one thing now that every clown must learn" We drove away and she said, as the warehouse burned "There is no heaven for i Pagliacci" She said, "American boy, THAT'S how freedom feels Not the kind they give you, but the kind you steal And you will never be free until you see there really is No heaven for i Pagliacci" I said I'd pray for her, she said, "Tell a joke for me Life is much too short to waste on dignity Let our laughter burn all of Italy There is no heaven for i Pagliacci" And so we lay together 'neath the Turkish smoke I said my heart might break, she said, "It long since broke We are not vandals, love, we simply get the joke It goes, 'But doctor, I am Pagliaccio'" Was that how grace would feel? Was that how angels pray? "Trick or treat, my sweetheart"? "Tanti auguri a te"? From "Happy April Fool" to "Merry Judgment Day" There is no heaven for i Pagliacci And so that's how I found my way My signorina and the kerosene and me Drove to the shipyard, singing, "Ta-ra-ra-boom, non c'è Paradiso per i Pagliacci"
4.
Schools are named for teachers, streets are named for trees Girls are named for songs that boys sing on their knees I named you for some letters scratched in trees I named you for a song that begs for tender mercies I named you for the water on my kissing little tongue I named you for the wind in my crying little lungs I named you for the life's work of honey bees I named you for a song that begs for tender mercies I named you for the numbers on a little slip of paper I named you for a wish, I named you for the words I would whisper Half weeping, when I could not sleep "Help me keep her, help me keep her..." Schools are named for teachers, streets are named for trees Girls are named for songs that cry, "Baby please" I named you for a warm wash of memories I named you for a song that begs and begs and begs...
5.
The Lord was getting restless up there on the mercy seat He said, "I've killed a million Canaanites, I still feel incomplete Did you ever get that empty feeling way down in your feet? Damn, but it's a bastard to be lonely" Kind David made his million selling cell phones at the mall A boat, a house, a wife or two, King David had it all He hung a picture of Goliath in his office on the wall He said, "Damn, but it's a bastard to be lonely" I memorized each letter of your codes and your commands I petitioned you to let me come into your promised land O, I languished in that desert with my staff in my hand I said, "Damn, but it's a bastard to be lonely" I came to you with theory, I came to you with thirst I came to put in practice everything that I'd rehearsed You said my offering was perfect, but my faith somehow perverse I said, "Master, it's a bastard to be lonely" You led me up that mountain once to call the holy bluff I saw the wood, I saw the fire, you told me these would be enough How resolute your blade that day, how absolute your love When you said, "Damn, but it's a bastard to be lonely"
6.
Came the nighttime to the valley, came the shadows to my bed I would not go to meet you so you came to me instead And I cried when my body guessed your name, and I said "O help me be brave when you take me" O, I'd heard that you'd be coming, though I guess that's not quite true You'd been there like a whisper 'neath each breath that I drew Every bird bow its wing, each beast its breast down to you Crying, "Help me be brave when you take me"
7.
The devil sat on my shoulder, a little sparrow bird A bird who never sang, slowly, lowly, he whispered He said, "Dear boy, dear loving boy, dear lover, have you heard? You're losing her" "She's standing by the window, she's a daydream in her eye She's staring down the street to where the sidewalk meets the sky She wants to say she's sorry, she wants to say goodbye You're losing her" "You're losing her in pieces, you're losing her so slow She seeps away like water, you do not see her go You're losing her so gently you'd never even know You're losing her" My sparrow stopped his speaking, he spread his bat-like wings I said, "Devil, please don't leave me, I'll give you everything that I have left My darling devil, I cannot go on living Knowing I'm losing her" "Show me to the contract, show me where to sign Devil please don't leave me..." but already he was flying away He said, "Dear loving boy, your soul's already mine And still you're losing her"
8.
Lonely Night 02:43
Baby, it's a lonely, lonely night Baby, it's a lonely, lonely night There ain't no wind to shake the trees, no moon to shine its light Baby, it's a lonely, lonely night Girl, I know you're out there having fun Girl, I know you're out there having fun Gonna sit here in this chair, polishing this gun Girl, I know you're out there having fun Girl, let's hear you tell me all your crimes Girl, let's hear you tell me all your crimes I wanna hear you try to make your reasons rhyme Girl, let's hear you tell me all you crimes Baby, it's a lonely, lonely life Baby, it'a a lonely, lonely life The pain you get for doing wrong is the same for doing right Baby, it's a lonely, lonely life
9.
O my Lord, at last we meet Here in the temple of my defeat The boy is broken, no longer human And by his ruin is made complete O my Lord, at last I see The whole creation is weightless and empty The very evening will not receive me And everything is afraid of me O my Lord, I'm almost ready To say you knew me and then that I had need As one more sailor fulfills his failure Beneath your laughter and the useless sea
10.
Kids, here's all you need for a homemade tattoo A pin, thread, ink, cheap scotch and nothing to lose Tonight I'm gonna tear up this body O body, it's midnight and nobody needs you Well it costs damn near nothing and it don't hurt that much It's the one thing skin is good for, when that one thing isn't touch Tonight I'm gonna tear up my body O body, it's midnight and nobody needs you

about

Studio album by singer-songwriter D.G. Scherrer

credits

released November 6, 2013

D.G. Scherrer - voice, guitars, bass, keys
Shane Kennedy - drums
Cora Blouch - backing voices
Matt Wiser - pedal steel
Jeremy Stokes - trumpet

Recorded and mixed by jalipaz at audioconfusion.
Mastered by Carl Saff at Saff Mastering.

All songs (c) 2013 D.G. Scherrer.

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D.G. Scherrer, the voice that lost its man Phoenix, Arizona

D.G. Scherrer is a singer-songwriter and award-winning poet. He began writing songs when he was 12 years old, singing for a punk band. Since then he has become a songwriter's songwriter, crafting dark, catchy, lyrically sophisticated tunes in the tradition of Cohen and Van Zandt. Still, the vitriol of punk lingers in his songs, as well as in the sheer volume of his voice when he roars a chorus. ... more

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