© 2020 Aaron Nathans

In the room to the left/Sits an old wooden desk

Spiral bound notebooks concealed

Closed and locked in the drawer/With those rusting awards

Pressing down on two books/With gold seals

Gleaming typing machine/Round and yellowing keys

Each letter an old dusty dart

Here it’s quiet and dim/Not a shadow of him

Not even a piece of his heart

But listen close/You can hear his lighter/Flick down the hall/Ghost writer

In this New England town/Seen him walking around

At the store, or the school, or the bank

Of the creek, killing time/He casts an old sorry line

His bucket as bare as his tank

The townspeople know/They should never approach

They don’t smile, they don’t ask, they don’t tell

When the visitors come/questions like loaded guns

They just shake their heads and wish them well

‘Cause the more you push/He goes tighter/This is home/Ghost writer

Yes, he’s climbed the mountain/And he’s got no more to roam

Is a man not entitled/ To a little peace at home

Don’t a man have a right/To write the story of his life

The way he chooses?

Bills running high, the bank account dry

He shakes as he stands in the door

Now he sits in the chair, the blank page laying there

And he shuffles his feet on the floor

He looks to the skies/And he closes his eyes

As he waits for the words to appear

He hears them and then, he puts down his pen

And he goes to the fridge for a beer

He is G-d, the decider

His choice/Ghost writer

Ghost writer

Don’t a man have a right/to write his own life

But he thinks, then again, and he lays down his pen

And he shakes loose a 

To write his own life

© 2020 Aaron Nathans & Michael G. Ronstadt

You came to Coney Island

After the summer crowd scattered

You spent hours in these waters

And your teeth never chattered

You welcomed the winter

The cold was your friend

You left your windows open

No blankets on your bed

Oceans are rising, creatures are dying

It’s hotter than the sun, but our senses have gone numb

You’re up there flying, while we’re down here crying 

To save us, save us please

In the shadow of the Cyclone 

We stand here on New Year’s Day

As storm winds lash the shore

From off Jamaica Bay

I hold your ashes, o’ barbell man

You bathed below these rocks

You passed the hours in these icy waters

But now it’s too darn hot

Paupers are popping, You see them talking

Mouthing heavy words, Yet nothing can be heard

We feel the ice breaking, strongman, we’re shaking 

Save us, save us, please 

Help us, old strongman

We need your greatness

Look down on us kindly

With that smile so gracious

Help us, old strongman

To look trouble in the face

Now that you’re supernatural

Send us your strength

Please, Send us your strength

Send us your strength

© 2020 Aaron Nathans

I saw it in the paper

I was looking for a deal

I dickered and I bargained

I got it for a steal

I moved in my possessions

As I tucked in for the night

There was a howling in the hallway

And a pinging in the pipes

I get the sense that I’m not here alone

Guess I’ll have to make this haunted house my home

I went about my business

I tried to tune it out

But during meditation 

I could hear a screeching sound

My cat was acting funny

Hey, who left on the lights?

And I saw funny shadows 

In the corner of my eye

And I could swear I heard somebody moan

I’ll have to make this haunted house my home

I called in desperation

I called her out of fright

And there she came, with long white dreads

And a long silver flashlight

She asked questions of the static

And the shadows on the wall

Her beeper was a-beeping

As I felt a creepy pall

She said, “Without a doubt,

You’re not alone.

Guess you’ll have to make this haunted house your home”

Just then I heard the thunder

A flicker of the light

The house in total darkness

We stepped into the night

And I felt somebody push me

As a tree fell like a knife

Inches from my head, she said

That ghost just saved your life (x3)

And now we live together

The ghost, the cat and me

We all sprawl out on my big couch

And watch football on TV

He’s quiet and he’s tidy

Much to my surprise

It took some getting used to 

But now I live and let die

And I don’t ever have to be alone

‘Cause I get to make this haunted house

I get to make this haunted house

Yes, I’ll happily make this haunted house my home

© 2020 Michael G. Ronstadt

I fell for it, I fell for you, you called me up, I talked too

I answered back, one day ago, now I know, I have to go

Shining lights, show the way, shining lights, say to stay

stuck right here, feet won’t budge, forgive the sins, of younger love

you… yes you trapped me, I signed deeds, 11 years ago you see

was my only leap, it was my first fall, maybe I’ll go, but for now I stall

Believing all you promised, gave me hole-less grommets.

Bring back the village greens, sad days seldom seen…

The sunlight runs, down my spine, like fallen leaves, at the end of the line

if you believe, in higher life, they you’ll stay back, as we do this right

join me, as I report you back, 

to the better bureau, of business blues

to the better bureau, of business blues

© 2020 Aaron Nathans

I think it’s time that I go low

For me there’s no place else to go

Low is where the story’s told

It’s where the rubber meets the road

We’ve all fled the higher ground

We’ve come to terms with punching down

Riding with the raging flow

I get by when I go low

Go low, go low

Don’t say you weren’t warned

My lips are going to spark a storm

Oh, the things I’m gonna say

I swear, I’m gonna make them pay

To stop a bully in his shoes

Sometimes you’ve got to be a bully too

I’ve gone high, but now I know

I get by when I go low

Go low, go low

These are times that try the best intentions of the people we admire

But this man’s going to take a stand I’m going to pour more fuel upon the fire

My good manners lost their mind

Now I’m gonna be the fighting kind

‘Cause I’ve done kindness, what’s to like?

And I won’t be the last to strike

I won’t hold back another day

You can’t imagine what I’m gonna say

Stand back, I’m gonna blow

You go high and I go low

Go low, go low…

By Sting

I don’t take coffee, I take tea, my dear

I like my toast done on one side

And you can hear it in my accent when I talk

I’m an Englishman in New York

See me walking down Fifth Avenue

A walking cane here at my side

I take it everywhere I walk

I’m an Englishman in New York

Oh, I’m an alien, I’m a legal alien

I’m an Englishman in New York

Oh, I’m an alien, I’m a legal alien

I’m an Englishman in New York

If “manners maketh man” as someone said

He’s the hero of the day

It takes a man to suffer ignorance and smile

Be yourself no matter what they say

Oh, I’m an alien, I’m a legal alien

I’m an Englishman in New York

Oh, I’m an alien, I’m a legal alien

I’m an Englishman in New York

Modesty, propriety can lead to notoriety

You could end up as the only one

Gentleness, sobriety are rare in this society

At night a candle’s brighter than the sun

Takes more than combat gear to make a man

Takes more than a license for a gun

Confront your enemies, avoid them when you can

A gentleman will walk but never run

If “manners maketh man” as someone said

He’s the hero of the day

It takes a man to suffer ignorance and smile

Be yourself no matter what they say

Be yourself no matter what they say

Be yourself no matter what they say

Be yourself no matter what they say (oh, I’m an alien, I’m a legal alien)

Be yourself no matter what they say (I’m an Englishman in New York)

Be yourself no matter what they say (oh, I’m an alien, I’m a legal alien)

Be yourself no matter what they say (I’m an Englishman in New York)

Be yourself no matter what they say (oh, I’m an alien, I’m a legal alien)

Be yourself no matter what they say (I’m an Englishman in New York)

Be yourself no matter what they say (oh, I’m an alien, I’m a legal alien)

Be yourself no matter what they say (I’m an Englishman in New York)

Be yourself no matter what they say

© 2020 Michael G. Ronstadt

Just one minute, until you show.

Just one minute, don’t they know?

They tell me that I’ve got 30 minutes to go.

They tell me that I’ve got 30 minutes to go.

In the cell lot, gears turn my mind.

In the cell lot, sleeping off the time.

You tell me that I gotta wait another five.

You tell me that you need just a little more time

Just one minute, until you’re here.

Just one minute, I know you care.

Give one minute of you’re time, 

but they tell me, that I gotta go home.

They look fast, push me in the road

They’re the ones who don’t see us.

They’re the ones who run the globe.

They’re the ones who sniff the lines.

They’re the ones who have the gold.

They’re the ones who ignore humans.

They’re the ones who chose no soul.

They’re the ones who have no limit.

They’re the ones who have no hold.

Tip them twenty, they won’t take a bribe.

Tip them plenty, yet they don’t seem alive.

Just one minute, until you show.

Just one minute, but they tell me to go.

Just one minute, until you show.

Just one minute, but they tell me to go.

© 2020 Aaron Nathans

These choices were not mine/Process of elimination

I am making my way

Tried to be my brother’s keeper/Now that’s in the rear view mirror

It’s eat, or be eaten

To survive you must be cunning/To be cunning you must smile

You swoop in, but you do it with style

Protect the things that matter/What matters is your own

If you heed the Sinner’s Bible, you will never walk alone

I can hear her sobbing/It’s coming through the walls

I hear voices growing shrill

I think of knocking on that door, there’s someone I could stand up for

But that could get me killed

To survive you must be ruthless, to be ruthless you must turn

Away from the fire lest you get burned

Protect the things that matter/What matters is your hide

If you heed the Sinner’s Bible, you will feel that peace inside

Oooh…

There’s a hawk above the prairie/He finds his mark and stares

They never see him coming from above

Is that hawk a sinner/For hunting down its dinner

And bringing it home to those he loves?

I have made my choices/They were not choices at all

What a man will do when his back’s against the wall

To survive you must be loving/To be loving you must kill

If you heed the Sinner’s Bible, you will always eat your fill

Oooh…

© 2020 Serenity Fisher and Michael G. Ronstadt

Serenity Fisher (lyrics)

Michael G. Ronstadt (music/lyrics)

Come on sun, come back over the hill, warm these little hands,

take away the shrill wind that’s been tumblin’ around here.

Come on sun, come back over the hill. the trouble you’ve been feeling

still matters like the heavens lights, golden rain and epic sights. 

Come on love, come back over my dear, the silence in the many

are only signs of danger lurking fear is turning like the time.

Come on hearts, come find your rhythm , that sickly song they’re speaking

is bound to find a melody no matter how things seem

I’ll make a promise to you, 

I’ll do everything I can do

to make it up to you, to you

Come on sun, get out of that rut, come on pretty pretty pretty please

You’ve been hiding behind the trees and the clouds and windy breeze

You’ve been hiding behind the trees and the clouds and windy breeze

I’ll make a promise to you,

I’ll do everything i can do

to make it up to you, to you, to make it up to you. 

© 2020 Aaron Nathans

You see colors I don’t, sounds I can’t hear

You have a third eye and a fourth and fifth ear

You’re in your own world, but then you appear

Like you’ve been there all along

You bounce to the beat that you hear in your head

You’re wearing the words of old books that you read

And you’re bearing the scars of the life you fled

Won’t you sing for me a song

Whereever you go, you carry a tune

Weightless and wild, deep as the moon

And I wonder if I’ll be seeing you soon

A neighborhood bar, a pen and a pad

A table for one, they’re keeping your tab

You keep your hand moving in the back of a cab

And I wonder if you think of me

What I wouldn’t give to climb into your head

To hear what you hear, and to sing what you said

But I guess it’s enough to watch you instead

And I’m thankful I can do that 

Whereever you go, you carry a tune

Weightless and wild, deep as the moon

And I wonder if I’ll be seeing you soon

Wherever you go, you carry a tune

Whereever I go, I want to carry it too

And I wonder if I’ll be seeing you soon

A concert for one, I’ll pull up a chair

I will sit here, and you can sit there

You open your lips and then you disappear

Into a song