what it's like
 
alabaster, brick, concrete
these are the secrets that I keep
‘cause in my skin is all i know
all these secret I can’t show

why can’t I give you what you need
lay all my sins down at your feet
it never goes how it should be
in conversations and in dreams

this is what it’s like to see me
and this is what it’s like to be me
this is what it’s like to feel me,
c’mon feel me


words don’t come so easily
my confidence striptease
you got it good, I got it hard
and pale white skin beneath the scars...

so what if I run when the words don’t come
it’s okay, I’ll be all right
I do not need you to change me
I only need one, to save me...

this is what it’s like to see me
and this is what it’s like to be me
this is what it’s like to feel me,
c’mon feel me

words & music: Steve Roth (BMI)








beautiful addiction

sweet like pain she calls my name
sweet like sin she lets me in
it’s 4 am she never asks me where I’ve been
or where I am (I’m never home)

the colors change from day to day
along with the words I long to say
you’re with me now but I don’t know
how long much longer i can hold on
(i’m letting go)

this beautiful addiction
it’s all I ever need
this beauiful addiction
has brought me to my knees


the lines are drawn across her face
across my heart to this love embrace
shackled and cuffed it’s never enough
enough ‘till it gets to be too much
(it’s never enough)

this beautiful addiction
it’s all I ever need
this beauiful addiction
has brought me to my knees


you give me hope when hope is gone
you give me a voice to sing this song
I sing this song

words & music: Steve Roth (BMI)



 
thinking of susan

they were words I never thought I’d forget
it was a time and place I now regret
she was the symbol of my destiny
now lying in the mud of my misery
she took my heart, my soul, my mind
she left me standing naked in a check-out line

she comes and goes like april snows
she feeds me lines like I should know
I got a cut that won’t be healed
so she buried my heart in a stoney field
and forgot

it’s like feeling sad on a sunny day
the beautiful friend that you sent away
a smile and a shot in the dark
all the same
and I don’t know if I'll ever find a friend
don’t know if I'll pass this way again
I'm just thinking of susan


so now I’ve got to find my way on my own
she’s “you’re welcome” but I’m not going home
alone and lost on this dead-end street
broken glass and stones underneath my feet
dogs cry out as the lights go on
and I look for the signs that lead me out of this town

it’s like feeling sad on a sunny day
the beautiful friend that you sent away
a smile and a shot in the dark
all the same
and I don’t know if I’ll ever find a friend
don’t know if I’ll pass this way again
I’m just thinking of susan

words & music: Steve Roth (BMI)
telegraph road

I hit the road I got no place to go
think I’ll head to telegraph road
beat the black top and concrete
say goodbye to these swollen streets
uh, uh, uh
there’s something about the dirt dust and stones
by myself but I’m not alone
bleed my soul as dry as this land
find salvation anyway I can
uh, uh, uh

but I know, yeah I know
‘cause you told me so
send a message to my soul
it’s coming on down the line
it’s all right, it’s all right
it’s down the line


there’s a woman living in my house
there’s a lot I don’t know about
there’s some feelings that I can’t explain
I know I shouldn’t sometimes I do
I close my eyes and I think about you
she feels like water in my hands
the taste of salt on her snow white skin
(let me in)

but I know, yeah I know
‘cause you told me so
send a message to my soul
it’s coming on down the line
it’s all right, it’s all right
it’s down the line

telegraph road
don't you go...

words & music: Steve Roth (BMI)


 
 tattoo

tattoo me to you
make it all come true
somewhere under my skin
without and within

tattoo you to me
let the whole world see
though I’m falling apart
you’re in my heart

and when I look in your eyes
it comes as no surprise
I’m ragged and worn
my skin is tattered and torn


let the colors bleed
like my heart on my sleeve
wipe this dirt from my hands
help me make a stand

and I don’t know where to go
and I don’t know what to say
I wanna take it all off
I wanna give it away
you make me hurt like I want
somewhere under my skin
just like a needle and ink
without and within


tattoo me to you
tattoo you to me

words & music: Steve Roth (BMI)





save me

save me, fix me up lord, set me free
deliver me from the hands of my enemy
I’ll be forever in your company
‘cause now I see
your grace is all I need

mercy me, resist the devil and he will flee
scary, all my bad poetry
I believe you’re right now right here in this place
and I can see
your grace is all I need

I was dying ‘fore I knew ya
I was crawlin’ could not walk
I was locked up in the tower of babel
I could not talk

God damn the things that take me away from you
I am, a better man because of you
I’ll stand, right here if you want me too
‘cause now I see
your grace is all I need

words & music: Steve Roth (BMI)














 
give it up

do you believe
in things you can’t see
have you seen things
you just don’t believe
have you heard angels
calling your name
and are you scared that things
are never gonna be the same

give it up, while you can...

what if I told you
that love is not real
it’s not something you can see
taste, touch or feel
would you just laugh and say
I over simplified
would you just shake your head
and tell me goodbye

give it up, while you can...

this life is crazy
so hard to understand
for every step I take
I fall down ten
don’t ask me no
questions about God
‘cause I’ll only tell you what
I think it’s all about

give it up, while you can...  

words & music: Steve Roth (BMI)





wish that I could be with you


I hear you live among the stars
jupiter and mars
how’d you get so high
how’d you get so high
they say you’re never home
always on the road
do you ever come this way
I’d love to see you today

wish that I could be with you
wish that I could believe
I’ve got no one to hold
and planet earth is so cold
there’s no one knocking on my door
no one calling on my phone
I’ve got a table set for one
and lately I sleep alone
my dreams don’t get me anywhere any more
they keep me up at night
but I’d give them all to you
if you want me to

wish that I coule be with you
and I wish that I could believe
but all my thoughts turned black
I wish that I could have them back
because I heard your voice once before
it was like a stranger at my door
did I turn my back on you

words & music: Steve Roth (BMI)




cry an ocean

sent my love down the river
cry an ocean for me today
sent my love down the river
cry an ocean for me today

we all know how hard life can be
it plays games with you and me

so cry, cry me an ocean today

sent my love down the river
cry an ocean for me today
make a promise then
make it go away
cry an ocean for me today

was a time so dark in my life
it was hell for my kids
it was hell for my wife

so cry, cry me an ocean today

don’t know why we do what we do
it runs off of me
it runs onto you
and these feelings, they’ll
come and go
so you best hold on
to what you know

and cry, cry me an ocean today...

words & music: Steve Roth (BMI)





what I want

I never know just how to pray
I never know what words to say
but I want, what I want
I want to know you

I never know when the world fall down
I’m never sure just where I’ll be found
but I want, what I want
I want to be found with you

I never am who I want to be
I’ll never see what you see in me
but I want, what I want
I want to be just like you

and you never fade away
though I sometimes do
what’s it gonna take for me
to really believe in you
what’s it gonna take for me
to really believe in you

I’ll be true to you
I’ll get through to you
do anything you want me to...

words & music: Steve Roth (BMI)















 
 here in my heart

there is nothing I could offer
nothing I could give
that could make up for the lies I’ve told
or for the life I’ve lived
‘cause I’ve tried to do it on my own
undo some of what I’ve done
but I always seem to fall down
can’t finish what I’ve begun

but I know, it’s gonna be okay
I don’t have to be afraid, here in my heart
I’m learning to pray


there are times I go outside at night
and wander from my home
and I look up at the stars
and I don’t feel so all alone
it’s the spirit of this place we’re in
the rhythm and the sound
and I see that every step we take
we step on holy ground

but I know, it’s gonna be okay
we don’t have to be afraid
if we open our hearts
and hear what you say


you’re there in the shadows
your breath is the breeze
I see you more clearly when I’m
down on my knees
keeper of light, maker of music
you’ve given us life
help us to use it for you

I am weak and I am foolish
I stumble and fall down
and I always try to reach the sky
with my feet stuck on the ground
but maybe there’s this chance I’ll see
my life for what it’s worth
not made up of the things I do
for better or for worse

but I know, it’s gonna be okay
‘cause I don’t have to me afraid
‘cause here in my heart
it’s a brand new day...


words & music: Steve Roth (BMI)