Get all 7 Nicholas Rowe releases available on Bandcamp and save 25%.
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1. |
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What's the use in trying to write another song
When I've got a hundred others that are only half done
They've been stripped for parts and left to rest
Somewhere in the junkyards of my mind
I don't recommend you look for them
You never know what you might find
What's the use in trying to explain who I am
I am just the culmination of every book I've ever read
Every skyline I've looked upon
And every tune I've ever hummed
Every alleyway I've stumbled down
And every girl I've ever loved
I wish that I could tell you how I feel
I wish that I could lay it all out
I wish that I could open up my heart to you
I wish that I could sing it for you now.
Sometimes there just ain't nothing left that needs to be said
But I've got a concrete mixer rolling thoughts around my head
When it spits them out I catch them in a notebook
And I call it a new song
All my deepest fears and worries
Set to melody so that you can sing along
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2. |
Secret Patterns
05:12
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Sometimes I write in couplets
Sometimes I write in prose
Sometimes I write in secret patterns
That nobody knows
I wrote it all down in a letter
But it never got sent
I think I burned it in my bedroom
I didn't know where you went
I squandered up my youth
And I wasted my prime
I burn the candle now at both ends
Just trying to make up some time
I wish you could have seen me back then
When I had nowhere to go
You were looking way off into the distance
I was under your nose
I didn't ask for this but I'm not gonna turn it down
I gave up a long time ago with trying to figure it out
It doesn't have a thing to do with the person that I am now
Secondhand cigarette smoke
On a cold winter's day
I wore a secondhand winter coat
I felt the seconds slip away
You were the first thing that I
Thought about when I woke up today
I can't remember how long it's been
I still don't know what to say
I didn't ask for this but I'm not gonna turn it down
I gave up a long time ago with trying to figure it out
But it's got everything to do with the person that I am now
I gave up a long time ago
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3. |
I Built It Myself
02:56
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I couldn't find true love so I built it myself
I started at my backbone and I built it out from there
I put a little garden in the hardness of my heart
Kept a couple promises and that was the start
Of this love
I didn't find it I built it myself
I wrote the blueprints down for everything in my poems and my songs
Made some friends along the way and found a place to call my own
I learned as I went I did a little more each day
Now every thing you see here is our domain
I didn't find it like this though
I built it myself
You might say I'm lucky
You wouldn't be wrong
But it takes more than luck
To build a love this strong
I would give up everything
Then give a little more
Nothing else I'd rather
Be working for
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4. |
I Was Invisible
04:23
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When I was a child, I was invisible
I got used to the way that feels
So I might show myself for a little while
Then before you know it I disappear
It's just a little trick
That I picked up when I was young
I just sit still in the corner
And pretty soon I'm gone
And it seems like
So far it's worked
On nearly everyone
Everyone but you
When I was a child, I was invisible
I got used to living life that way
So if I disappear for a week or two
It's nothing that you did, I just had to get away
From all the crowds and all
The questions and get myself alone
You might think that I've forgotten you
You couldn't be more wrong
But there are times
When I can't let myself
Be seen by anyone
Anyone but you
Now I can't get you out of my head
How'd you do that to me?
I put my walls up and then
You just cut right through to me
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5. |
Dusk In Late December
04:50
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I've been trying hard to remember
That there is beauty in everything
But it's just like dusk in late December
The way this darkness sneaks up on me
It's out where you are and it's where we're going
My mind rewinds and keeps me up at night
Broken down car, black wind blowing
Don't try to tell me everything's all right
I can't seem to find my way
Can't carry all this weight
I promised myself that I wouldn't break
But I'm breaking
Sometimes I miss when i was more naive
Before my failure made me cynical
You broke your word to never leave
But at this point I guess that's typical
Why am I here so far away from home?
Wandering in the moonlight, whiskey on my breath
Sometimes I feel like I can see the shore
When I try to stand up I am still out in the depths
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6. |
My Fences Have Gates
05:24
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I find it easy to talk to strangers
Hard to talk to the people I love
They call me the rearranger
Because I can shift the blame onto anyone
And I change with the seasons
Just like all things do
It never seems to change the way
That I feel about you
Give me a minute
Before you go away
I been way down in it
I put up a wall
And I pushed you away
But I need you to listen
To all of these things
That I just couldn't say
I want you to stay
Baby don't go away
My fences have gates
I been so out of focus
I don't know how I got like this
But when I start feeling low I know
I just crawl down into my chrysalis
There's a distance between myself
And everything that I hear and see
It's gonna take me a couple years
To process what you just said to me
Oh I know that it's all my fault
I try to act tough but I'm not.
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7. |
Sweet Rosalina
03:28
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I remember
That upright piano in your old apartment
I tried to play a song for you but I couldn't find it
The way you sat down next to me
And played Tangled Up In Blue
Sweet Rosalina
I remember
That dimly lit diner we walked to every night
The shortcut down the alley, the motorbike we used to ride
The way you clung so tight to me
We sped down 2nd Ave
Sweet Rosalina
I remember the way your eyes flashed when you smiled
The freckles on your cheeks, Your dark hair going wild
I remember you so kind, beautiful and strong
I remember everything except what went wrong
Rosalina,
Do you remember me? Because I remember you.
I remember
Walking through a bookstore, going out for coffee
Talking with the lights out comfortable and easy
The way we laughed until we cried
The secrets only meant for you
Sweet Rosalina
I remember
The last time that I saw you, umbrellas in the rain
When you held me close and kissed me
I should have known it was the end
That's just the way these things unravel
And there's nothing you can do
Sweet Rosalina
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8. |
This Used To Be A Garden
03:24
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This used to be a garden
I would tend to it and keep it looking good
Now here it is abandoned
A monument to the things I should
Have done different
And the person that I'll never be
This used to be a garden
Now it's just a clump of weeds
Sometimes I get lost inside my own head
The people that know me know
Not much use in trying to pull me out of it
Its best to just leave me alone
We're not so different
You and I both have our little routines
This used to be a garden
Now its just a clump of weeds
It's really not uncommon
For a garden to need a little help
But then again, it's not uncommon
For me to be way too hard on myself
But this feels different
I can't seem to shake it off of me
This used to be a garden
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9. |
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My dad laid down a path for me
That I never did take
I was too busy planting apple trees
That my kids would never pick
Just as sure as I didn't want to follow my dad
My daughter didn't want to follow me
But her oldest son is learning guitar
And he's written a book's worth of poetry
So you see, round and round
It just keeps going
Everything evens out
The circle remains unbroken
I went to work each day and then I came home
I took the same road every time
I saw a deer that was hit by a truck
There were turkey vultures circling in the sky
I gave 35 years to the factory
When finally my last day was coming
I met my replacement on the way out the door
He said that these machines can never stop humming
Sometimes life is just heartbreaking
It's the hardest thing you'll ever have to do
Whenever I have found myself sinking in despair
There has always been some great joy that pulls me through
The kindness of a stranger
The beauty found in nature
The sunlight through the trees
At the breaking of the dawn
The quiet little rush that comes
From putting pen to paper
More often then not its been
You and your mom
There is always something beautiful
Waiting just around the corner
Spring is always gonna come
And save us from the winter
But the pendulum has got
To swing all the way out
Before it comes back
To the middle
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Nicholas Rowe Columbus, Ohio
"One of the most interesting in indie folk today… a singer to watch closely for years to come." -
MEDIUM
"Fans of artists like Conor Oberst and Father John Misty will find a lot to love here, and the artist’s blend of personality and classic, folksy appeal breathes a tonne of life into the genre." - CLOUT
NICHOLAS ROWE is an indie alt-folk singer-songwriter with a brooding, folksy style.
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