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100 Broken Words - Album

by Carl Lorusso Jr.

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1.
Tottenham 03:50
My father dropped me off In the grocery parking lot With a toonie & a five spot To get myself some lunch I bought a hockey card instead A Gilmour '96 To show off to my friends A memory on my mind & it won't let me sleep It was early in the morning time Like it always seemed to be I took a bottle to the park & somewhere out there in that dark The train whistle blew & I saw you going free Stale summer heat Empty downtown street Where the people ought to be But people ought to be a lot of things So I stomp this wasted land Kicking at that great ol' can Glory Tottenham A memory on my mind & it won't let me sleep It was early in the morning time Like it always seemed to be I took a bottle to the park & somewhere out there in that dark The train whistle blew & I saw you going free Now I'm stuck on downtown time Living by the page & the place I knew as freedom Has put me in its cage I'll let remembrance be kind So I can stay steady on the line Nothing screams salvation like a little white lie
2.
I've got to keep myself standing somehow A little clearness in my mind I try to keep myself pure in thought But I'm failing at it all the time This delta pen & this notepad Waiting on a thought I could use While I'm kicking here alone, with the two in the morning Last subway train westbound blues Standing on the platform with my guitar The handle's broken on the case, so it's under my arm & the fella on my right, he's all bourbon stanked & red-eyed He says he's been going hard, since Hoffman died They say the last train's delayed, on a busted rail & the lights in the haze tell a devils tale & this whole damn world's just a-spinnin' freely Every light in this town is burning down on me 100 broken words make the prayer A thousand fires wouldn't make it any brighter down there Man, look at me, with my words so deep Or at least as deep as I can make them seem I got to keep myself standing somehow A little bit of clearness in my mind But I'm fading & I'm buzzing, like a pair of old headphones busting In the bottom of the night There's a girl with a voice, like an angel from the skies Sings in the language of the world I got a voice that comes from the floorboards & fools gold wisdom in my words
3.
Last night, unless my memory fails me I walked alone to the corner of Elm Street & Johnson O'Leary, in town one night only Rolled us one big enough to take the pain from an army I got home lookin' like the demons had got me & fell asleep to the sound of every word ever said to me Every joke ever told, I laughed as if it wasn't old Last night I got stoned Last night, unless my recollection is mixed I went to the bar where my friends & I live But no one was there, not even a fly So I stared at my phone, & I drank down a pint Then I went to the station, to wait for the train For what seemed like an hour, but the train never came So I smoked all my smokes, & I walked the whole way home Last night I got stoned Last night, unless my hindsight is hazy I zoned out on the couch watching a movie on T.V. From '76, with Roman Polanski He moves into a new apartment building & goes crazy & I wondered if anyone in my building was crazy & how would I know that it's not me whose gone crazy & I felt kind of crazy, so I took a pill & I burned down the bushes & I rolled down the hill Then I lost track of time, & the next thing I knew I was old Last night I got stoned Just look at this dream that I rolled Last night I got stoned Oh what I'd give just to be alone Last night I got stoned Better the enemy that you know Last night I got stoned
4.
White doves with dynamite & an old lonesome song The hours fly past & the night's nearly dawn But pints pulled from heaven, that'll keep you along White doves with dynamite & an old lonesome song You can't fault the river for running so wild Jumpin' up & down with the grace of a child With an excitement & a fury that never goes tired You can't fault the river for running so wild Sometimes I don't sleep just to stave off the sun There's something in the night of which I can't get enough & in the morning I'm a soldier who's misplaced his gun Sometimes I don't sleep just to stave off the sun Rocky is the way, & green is the glory Or at least I've been told & I'm stickin' to that story Just one more shot, & I'll be along White doves with dynamite & an old lonesome song White doves with dynamite & an old lonesome song The hours fly past & the night's nearly dawn What's a sick boy to do when the medicine is gone? White doves with dynamite & an old lonesome song
5.
Wreckage 05:03
There's a wreckage by the water You can hear it at night Smashing itself against the boat dock side & it echoes down river, & when the farm makes no sound I can see its shadow dancin' like no one's around In the forest in the morning Stoned on the isle & I sure would like to stay like this for a while, love But all it can be is kept alive in my dreams & I ain't sleepin' much, & dreams ain't what they used to be for me Come hell or high water, paradise or low tide Amongst these field snakes I'll wander 'til it's my time in the sky I've grown tired of this growing up, this giving in, this giving up Go yell up at the tower that these two hands have had enough Put a twenty on the blue team, & the rest on my sin Wait for the three knocks, & let that ol' devil in Ain't no cross on my chest, nor idol I fear But I swear on this cold blowin' wind if there's a g-d he lives here There's a wreckage by the water You can hear it at night Smashing itself against the boat dock side & it echoes down river, & when the farm makes no sound I can see its shadow dancin' like no one's around
6.
Give the drunk a pistol, leave the car downtown Ol' stumblin' mister, spirit heavy on the ground Sir blackened lung, roper toe tapper, two packs on the day Train jacket still neat & dapper though the pocket square is frayed Coffee stain on his stetson, another shot on the way Give the drunk a pistol, breakfast can wait Ol' Freddy boy is for real, you'll excuse his departure He's perched up on his barstool like a graveyard sculpture High on the alley smoke & the dust from his crystal ball Never been a son to anyone he just cripples up & down the hall Of the old hotel, he's a shape-shiftin', wallet-liftin' saint & when the cops come a-trailing, the desk clerk tells 'em where he ain't Shouting vows at every passing girl, greetings aren't his strength Thinks himself the machine, but he's just twistin' the crank Says "you believe in sipping whiskey, boy, yeah & the devils just a friend I'll slow down on my drowning when I see our savior rise again" His hands scanning the panels of this boring hotel hut 57,000 channels & the cable's been cut Freddy says "you don't know the night 'till you've carved her initials in the sand & you don't know life 'till you've held it dying in your hands & you don't know dirt until it's buried your every breath & you don't know work until it's done in your head" Freddy I've seen a little but I don't claim to know a thing So thank you for your wisdom, let me buy you a drink To find peace amongst these burdens, I lay hope for your glory Freddy my shaking hands can only scratch out the story Of life in the wintertime, defiant of season And love old & splintered by drunken unreason Between you & me, man, I'm feelin' pretty hot So give the drunk a pistol, won't you load me a shot
7.
The Flame 04:02
Glory be, a good nights sleep & rest to come with peace But I've been struck by the absence of time & haven't slept in days Glory be, an ease to the thoughts That keep drifting past her name For as long as I care to remember I could not stay away from the flame When I was a child, I sat on the counter & put my mother in a screaming state I picked up a knife, placed it on my finger & admired the blade as it sank I still have the scar, a pale white mark The stitches like the tracks of a train For as long as I care to remember I could not stay away from the flame Those lonesome nights when you can't draw a line in the sand to keep yourself straight Blessed the burn, of losing your turn But it's good to know your place Those lonesome nights, coked out of your mind When your heart feels like a grenade For as long as I care to remember I could not stay away from the flame I might go out asleep at the wheel In some twisted metal fate I might go out in a hospital bed With my soul drifting calmly away I'll probably go out with a gun in my hand That I don't know how to aim For as long as I care to remember I could not stay away from the flame

about

Recorded in 2016 at Chapter Two Studios in the Junction, Toronto.
All songs written by Carl Lorusso Jr.

credits

released March 25, 2017

Engineered, mixed & mastered by Dave Plank.

Carl Lorusso Jr. (guitar/vocals)
Alan Zemaitis (organ)
Noah Zacharin (guitar)
Jared Craig (bass)
Erik Bleich (ebow)

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Carl Lorusso Jr. Toronto, Ontario

2017 Toronto Independent Music Award nominee for "Best Folk/Roots".

"Carl is a powerhouse wordsmith whose songs represent the dystopian view of a youthful generation.”
-Harrison Fine, producer, FINE Productions

“Shades of Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen rolled into his own unique style. Very well written & sung.”
– Randy Skaggs, Q108 Kingston
... more

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