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Old Rhymes

by Mossgazer

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1.
all the trees are dying quick they lost all of their love they look for light and bend towards it snap and then dissolve we can’t use the soil it is toxic like our blood strange times are coming and I don’t want them to go strange makes the wind blow strange times are coming and I don’t know what to say strange makes up the days I will catch the robber if you hide out on the roof look for space between the stars that holds some kind of truth we can’t leave 'til morning there are creatures in pursuit strange times are coming and I don’t want them to go strange makes the blood flow strange times are coming and I don’t know what to say strange makes us want to stay fallow fields on fire rows and rows nothin' grows the flames creep higher and you’ve had long days and you're dead tired and your bones ache and you look sidelong just to check on me only I’m not there
2.
Dear Daniel 03:15
dear Daniel how do you fare? I write from Lincoln I heard you ain’t doin' so well we fight this war I’m not scared hummingbirds and honeybees buzzin' 'round my head well I ain’t scared sing songs for the loved ones who lost their lives in the wilderness bury them close to our gardens and make our soil rich dear Daniel time took its course I remember you lyin' in the reeds the day you fell off your horse we grew apart I’m not scared never could tell mom a thing her heart was weak when we weren’t there whistle classic tunes as we kick up dust on the dirt road harmonize with me brother and find our way home are you sleeping brother Daniel?
3.
Tailbone 03:52
you slipped on the sidewalk you cracked your tailbone I didn’t know what to say we took the bus home and I want the saints to come marching in but they're all gone this world is full of sin please don’t let it get to your head please don’t let it get to your head we drove by the rail yard your breath on the window you drew a pine tree it was ten below and I can feel the teeth melt in my mouth I want to find a hole that I can crawl into and not come out please don’t let it get to your head please don’t let it get to your head you slipped on the sidewalk you cracked your tailbone I didn’t know what to say we took the bus home budding dogwood on the hill looking down fighting still providing shade the heat abates you look restless and afraid so afraid providing shade still afraid still afraid
4.
Loose Tooth 04:44
something's tuggin' at the clothesline watch my honey shake yeah see my honey scared pained and frettin’ 'bout a loose tooth we all lose it in time just give it a little time everyone is locked inside so everyone is safe guess who’s standin' out there to pass away the days and I’ll rise at dawn careless in the daytime I will wash my eyes 'til I am blind sleepin' sound timbers shake like rattlesnakes on dusty lawns that I curate old rhymes they show all their love in lines pages burn but the lessons we still learn feel the pen press to paper as it writes we share stories in the moonlight something’s stirrin’ in the moonlight watch my pupper run yeah listen to him howl finally boardin' up the windows desperate for a change I got pockets full of change everyone is huddled close they’re begging for a sign vines and trees take over now they’ve lost themselves to time and I’ll rise at dawn careless in the daytime I will wash my eyes 'til I am blind sleepin' sound timbers shake like rattlesnakes on dusty lawns that I curate old rhymes they show all their love in lines pages burn but the lessons we still learn feel the pen press to paper as it writes we share stories in the moonlight something's tuggin' at the clothesline
5.
Fettered 02:28
skidding into chaos I’m humbled by the beauty stuck here fettered again thinkin' 'bout a phantom limb sharing stories with ghosts on the lam the future cannot distract me my past already destroyed me chronically verbose parasite needs a host dead friends and loved ones listen close barren wastelands covered by the blankets we don’t sleep with now you spin sideways to find a way to fix all the trouble that you brought to this town wind and rain kick the dust and pine into my eyes and blind me someone called my name I think I’ve heard that voice before lingers in my headspace as I crawl across the floor it pains it rings and writhes I’m careless I’m godless I'm loving no more
6.
The South 03:40
there was a breeze on fire in the dusty south leeches on my feet dirt in my mouth it’s a landscape rich with rot cities built on desert hills trees and rain ain’t been for years it’s a wasteland raped and wrought farmers won’t find what they came here for Rio Grande Valley's now the ocean floor ma and pa running from the law just because they can’t pay the bills they’re sick with shame as they bury their name their legacy lay wasted in the hills man the south really kills fake howdy do’s and rotgut booze nothing but oil to heal my wounds it’s a wild snake with a poison tongue buzzards flyin’ around my head look at the stars they spell out dread it’s a sad song already sung bless the ones who found an out there ain't no water but you can somehow drown here there ain’t no hope with an ounce of dope you’ll find yourself behind bars you will you’re wrought with shame as they bury your name your legacy lay rotten and spilled man the south really kills take the records off the shelf fast music's gonna help can we dance a little longer please? all this moving quells my shaking knees can we just all get along?
7.
8.
Curse 04:30
long I’ll sleep in the dead of night I will hold my grudge 'til the blood turns white as stone and I’ll fall down in the whiskey woods where my devil lay bare with the spoils and blood that I spilled and there’s a curse comin' la di dum and there’s a curse comin' la di dum and all my pages fly with the dust I will rip them to shreds to hide in the brush for ages and ages and ages 'til I grow old and all my nightmares come down the line they'll spit back the words that I once wrote for comfort, for comfort, for comfort that I wrote for peace and there’s a curse comin' la di dum and there’s a curse comin' la di dum rocks align in the garden seems a lot to take in fingers point to the children we'll blame it all on those wretched kids
9.
letters stop comin' around I miss the wind and the rain a fair winters warning the springtime is warming I cut my hair to stay sane listen to Sasha cuz she knows the science I barely know my own name feral and limping I can’t see too far I cut my skin on the bones in the yard all of this useless fighting for nothing diverse species all gone the stubborn and silent indignant and violent will the tide still roll on? homes for the children that might have a future will they all hum along? blinded and grinning I dance and I twirl I ask for directions to the end of the world and all these worms they consume my body they squirm around inside my brain I open my eyes just to see nothing change I open my eyes just to see nothing change
10.
Decay 04:14
the ground opens up to reveal a violent chasm that leads us to the sea a riptide foaming toxic swell a blue tide darkness we knew so well isn’t this our home? mortar, brick, and stone calcified dust that consumes us the dewy vines up in the trees fall to the floor as they mimic autumn leaves frozen soil changing shape an ancient disease that eats us away the experts in their fields have been warning us for years we’ll all melt away as we look for shade I tried to warn my mother she laughed and looked away I tried to tell my sisters they weren’t answering their graves la di da
11.
shoes filled with sand I walk my dog with a gun in my hand I've seen the lobster's threat ain't nobody gonna pinch me on my deathbed and I'll drink the blood that the doctors prescribe hell I'll even wash it down with the local news that’s coming on at five I found my favorite pen I scribbled a picture of my brother his eyes were painted red he thought the sun was no bother and I'll drink the blood that the doctors prescribe hell I'll even wash it down with the local news that’s coming on at five hold my head underwater and watch me drown dig your nails into my neck and watch the bubbles go down
12.
Andrew 03:48
Andrew gives me grief like he's Charlie Brown so I hack his Roller Coaster Tycoon account and disassemble the tracks we're much older now no more fights in the marsh I said some dumb things when we were young please forgive me bud Andrew looks concerned the family's getting him down always know that I got your back those fuckers can go to hell three strikes you're out I've spent some time alone I didn't know what to say during your angry days then you got to know you that’s who I look up to I know that I was wrong so Andrew please come home I know that I was wrong so Andrew please come home

about

Brought together by the love of traditional folk music and the natural world, Mossgazer started out as impromptu jam sessions between Josh Florence and Chris Paradis on a cabin porch deep in the woods of Western Massachusetts. Chris’s banjo and mandolin take a melodic front seat in Mossgazer’s self-recorded debut album, Old Rhymes. The meandering, sometimes ominous melodies transports listeners to a familiar, yet distant place. Paradis’s varied musical background is showcased through blended sounds of tender, cascading arpeggios and chords that create the landscape for Florence’s words.
Once described as a curious boy who studied science then found folk music, songwriter Josh Florence takes a stab at exploring the visceral fever dreams of a not-so-distant future. A proud public-school science teacher, Florence writes about the cataclysmic aftermath of ecological collapse while peppering in bits of hope for the next generation. The juxtaposition of end-time cautionary tales and complex interactions with loved ones and one’s self strike a harmonious balance between what is and what might be. Josh and Chris blend their voices on Old Rhymes to create short intimate stories for the listener, pulling away from traditional love songs to dive deeper into the mysteries of humans and nature.
Their homegrown, organic sounds came to fruition through honest friendship, long hikes, and heaping mounds of 85% (or more) dark chocolate.

credits

released April 10, 2020

All songs written by Chris Paradis and Josh Florence

All songs performed by Chris Paradis and Josh Florence

Recorded at Ice Box Studios in Holyoke, MA

All songs mixed and mastered by Josh Florence and Chris Paradis

Big thanks to John Panagotopulos for his master ear

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Mossgazer Massachusetts

we show all our love in lines

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