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For a New Deal

by The Timid Roosevelts

supported by
Casey Jost
Casey Jost thumbnail
Casey Jost I keep going back to this album. I love it so much. So many great songs. I hope they make another album. Favorite track: Dennis Kufinich.
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1.
Feast I will scrape a field of clay to preserve your house of stone. With ocean shells, I’ll peel away until I’m digging with bare bones, And while you hide inside, pilgrims rage and writhe. Stone-cut arrows fly past your safe wall, but don’t mind me, ‘cause I will be collecting driftwood by the sea, for higher fences; happy homes. Soft and safe in the sand, I will bake beneath the sun. If I give all I can, will you take the rest and run? ‘Cause as the moon burns bright, I can hear the hounds at night, crying wildly just for you, and if I turn my head, I can hear just what you said, that you could never love me too. Buried now in the land, the remains of what we had.
2.
Barnacles 03:49
Barnacles I found the ocean in an inch of black tar. I tried to wash it, but found I couldn’t swim that far. So I sank my sorrows in gin, and prayed that you’d come clean again, on your own. When I released you into the sea, I thought you’d disappear in vastness, but you floated back to me, and I took you home again, disappointed in my lack of discipline. Now my house is full of broken things I found. What I tried to fix pulled me clear into the ground. I was a scholar, searching for life. Brimming with color, in a puddle of light. From beneath the dredges, you sank your hooks. A parasite with sorrow’s name, I didn’t look. Now my mother saw his face and couldn’t tell, and like a mother, she took sorrow in as well. And the tide’s been ebbing steadily and strong, since my reflections shouted back “No! You were wrong.” I was a sailor, engulfed in deep blue. You, an illusion; you sculpted the truth. So I scraped the barnacles from off my shoe, and gave the ocean back my memories of you.
3.
Stillwater 03:21
Stillwater Yesterday’s history. Tomorrow’s a mystery. Today is just a gift. Love me like lovers do. Do what you want me to. Long as you promise me this; Just to give me love. I’ll be ready when you say you’re not. I was stuck in a rut. Fever kicked in my gut. I was in such pain. Then you came and kissed me, but I made you miss me, like fire in the rain. But I left love in my thunderous wake. I’m sorry for the sins I know that you forewent for me. I’m not playing savior. My reckless behavior is not what I wanted to be. I’ve learned such great amounts from the birds that fly south to feel the sun’s embrace. I take what I’m given, but love, I’m not livin’, one second more in this frigid place. I need love, and the warmth from above. I’m learning quickly falling fast is painfully such fun. So in I go. I hold my nose, but I can’t stop the plunge. With one eye open, two fingers crossed, I’ll hold you through the night. If I am an owl, your stiff arms may snap but I’ll fly before I pick a fight. The snow outside’s melting. I’ll grow when I’m well because I’ve still got my bass and all my love.
4.
Baby Beluga 03:49
Baby Beluga I was swimming in the ocean alongside a small sail boat. I came across a giant whale. I said please spare me. I’m one of many tiny fish in this ocean that you own. Many years passed before I saw him again. He said, “My friend, hello.” I didn’t recognize his tiny size. This whale was so much weaker than the one I know. But he knew just what I saw through wiser eyes, passed through a war on his way back here. And with weakened, weary, soaring cries, he told me this, I swear, “You can save a nation from an atom bomb, but somebody’s gonna have to feel the flames. And you can wake the world with open, willing palms, but there’s nothing in your hands that they won’t take.” I was floating towards the surface, eating some algae from a rock. I saw a seagull’s big black eyes. They were on me, but I was wise, said, “I know what you want, sir, and I am not.” He opened his beak despite my cries, but what came out, to my surprise, was the advice of his father, he squacked, “You can run, rebel, or cower from my claws, but eventually you’ll be eaten alive. You think you can change the world with words, your logic’s flawed, ‘cause either way your bones are taken with the tide.” I escaped, but I was frightened. My fins they still shake just from the thought. But then my friend the whale returned, he said I’ve got a lot to learn, “Survival is key, but unfortunately, diplomacy’s not.”
5.
Colors 03:55
Colors It seems that you’ve been born anew in a sphere long distorted by crimson and blue, and each day I pray that the headlines are far from your future. I lived for your oils, acrylics, pastels. Reds, blues, and yellows for koi and seashells, but I fear that the colors you see now are far from the peace of the paintings you dreamed of. It seems that I’ve been trapped inside of a brain I’m afraid ot overanalyze, but it’s been gutted and prodded and poked like the heart that I carved out. It’s got a face made of wax, a grinning horrified mask that illuminates just like a ruby. The candle inside that I light keeps me warm through the night as the wick wears down quick to its stem. Dear, I fear my intentions were unclear. The life that I chose includes choice. I could lend you my skin but the warmth from within is from something so much deeper. The saffron you met in July and the sapphire indigo dye don’t hold a candle to the rose red you painted my face that day you left, you left like a coward.
6.
Dennis Kufinich Little fish, are you floating towards the surface? Little fish, are you giving up so soon? You’ve come so far since for the sharks you suffered serfdom. The tides kept them at bay thanks to the moon. Little fish, is the glass behind you daunting? Little fish, is the sun above too bright? Your future’s scary, but your past it won’t stop haunting. You shield your eyes and surge into the light. You made promises to bigger fish than you, and now they’re holding out their hooks and teeth for food. Little fish, I know you’ve gotten into troubles once before, and now I’m counting on you to pull me through once more. Little fish, the current gives you your direction. You don’t need planes or cars or trains to get you there. With some effort, I can offer you protection, if you promise just to be aware. I noticed that your home life’s getting pretty rough. The kids you raised in conflict now are growing up. Little fish, you know you’ve still got some explaining left to do if you don’t want those kids to turn out just like you.
7.
Peh gu 02:17
Peh-gu If I could tell you just how much I like you, you'd probably be paralyzed in fright. I didn't mean to scare you just then, but I know times are hard and the money is tight. You can be where you want to be, but just tell me if you're calling me back. (Lean back.) You can go where you want to go, just let me know if I can follow you home. If I could be just what you want me to be, I probably would not change myself much. You know I live to impress you, but frankly, the only thing I know I want is your touch. Give it time, maybe it will pass, but chances are my heart is racing too fast to stop. Just in case I don't get your embrace, I'll walk it off. It's not like I'd break into your house. I wouldn't, ‘cause I don't want your grandma to get hurt. If I could break into your heart, I might, but I'd take off my shoes first so I don't track in any dirt. If I could tell you just how much I liked you, you'd do just what you did last Friday night. Don't think I didn't know you didn't want me. When you said I was too good, you were right. So you know, I'm better on my own. My band is stronger and my pockets are grown. Don't get me wrong; I know it's all about this_ _. But please don't call me until you're all grown up, Chris.
8.
A Great Wave 03:38
A Great Wave Once, you were Zeus. I was your Hera. We ruled in splendor, our empire wide. Your lightning bolts fell into the ocean. Poseidon was furious. We laughed ‘til we cried. Athena was born out of your forehead. She said, “Daddy, don’t fret. The best is yet to come.” Then came a great wave, it washed us all away. And now we’re on dry land, but where have you gone? What is home? I don’t know. We were sick when we were born. Please tie me down, or throw me out. Skin on my hands worn to the bone. Once you were great, now you are nothing. I’m searching for something, ‘cause I know this ain’t mine. Once I was strong, but I’m getting stronger. I learned from my losses when I left you behind.
9.
Tu Casa 03:21
Tu Casa My dear, you sit complacent as your house is set aflame. As I bite my nails in worried wonder, you wonder who to blame. Love the answer’s right in front of you. It’s written on the wall. And though I can’t quite see right through it, I know you can see it all. You say she’s just a victim, out of pity, but you’re right. Because you were never innocent. You had a match in hand that night. I know you miss its absence like a sheet misses its ghost. The hole it left inside you was the vault that you miss most. I’ve been around your block, but keep my arm outstretched at least. My palm can block your firebomb. My eyes can fight your beast. I used to think that I should sob for all the love you lost, But you flushed it down the toilet with the remains of your lover’s ghost. Child, you can hide the evidence, but it’s written on your face. You hate the monster you’ve become, and blur the dreams you chase. I know you hate to hear the phrase, “It’s time to act your age,” but you’re thirteen, and if I’m watching you, I should get paid. Kid you’re not a kid no more, so please get off my back. Maybe when you learn to walk upright, you’ll face the lonely fact that You never had me and you never knew me. You don’t exist, so you didn’t ever lose me. You can’t be happy unless you choose to be. We don’t exist, so you didn’t ever lose me.
10.
Wolves 01:28
Wolves I’ve got this pack of wolves that live in my back yard. They only bother me sometimes so I let them stay. But as the clouds rolled in, it started to get dark, and they tried to come inside one rainy day. I met this cutie with a tranquilizer gun. She read my mind, I swear she knew all I couldn’t say, but as they woke up I knew I would have to run, so I threw her to the wolves that rainy day. And though I know I’m weak alone, I must fight them on my own, but I’d rather run until I no longer can. And as the past consumes the best of me, the wolves can have the rest of me, ‘cause I’d rather be a memory than a man. I’ve got this aching in my feet each time I walk. My knees they call me coward every time I stop. And as the wolves catch up I turn to see her grave. I threw my future to the wolves that rainy day.

credits

released July 11, 2012

All songs written and performed by The Timid Roosevelts (Bobbie Parker, Jaime Parker, and
Ricky Lorenzo), with guest appearances by Ian Bennett
Produced and engineered by Ian Bennett at Moshi Moshi Productions
Cover art by Anthony Catanese, back photo taken by Mike Dillon

Special thanks to Mom & Dad, Ian Bennett, Frank Lettieri, Anthony
Catanese, Mike Dillon, Jeff Sarafinas, Tim Kuhn, Mike Virok, Baris Yakin, Russell
de la Torre, Steve Benci, Dean Luis, Andrew Wilkinson, James
Gilchrist, Darrin Annussek, Shannon Perez, Hannah Zaic, Scott Frost,
Joe Rivera, Dave Locane and the Mill Hill Basement, Scruff Cardinale
and The
Tea & Whiskey, Honah Lee, The Paper Jets, Scott Silvester, Ray Weiss,
Cameron Ferrara, Josh Landow, Kevin's Mom, Isis Cheech Guevara, Elmo,
anyone who's come out to see us play and whoever is still listening.
www.thetimidroosevelts.com
www.moshiproductions.net

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