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All compositions © 2025 by Louis Rosen. Published by Lullwater Music, ASCAP. All Rights Reserved. Album DT–270 ℗ & © by Louis Rosen. Distributed by Di-tone Records. All Rights Reserved. Unauthorized Duplication is a violation of applicable law. 

from Cadence Jazz Magazine Critics Poll 2025… 

AMERICAN SUNSET is a TOP TEN ALBUM of 2025

AMERICAN SUNSET, a twelve-song concept album, is a personal response to this very disturbing American political moment, a work about, of and for this time.  

The critics:

“Stunning work, and truly a concept album... ‘American Sunset’ is a perfect elegy to our battered country, a jazz protest song cycle…. It is brilliant…a profound musical statement." (The award-winning novelist and Substack columnist, Lorraine Devon Wilke)

“He's built up an impressive catalogue of albums that always carry some sort of theme…This time around, Rosen takes on the current American political scene, creating a red, white and blue tapestry that mixes challenges, satire and ultimately hope.” (George Harris at Jazz Weekly) 

“I'm knocked out…. American Sunset is a stunner. As both a gifted composer's wholly original tonal map of the times and as a storyteller of acute intelligence and poignance, this is indeed Rosen’s finest work, and the technical production is every bit up to that standard." (Jeremy Gerard, Biographer and Culture Critic)

…American Sunset is a thinking man’s Cri de Coeur….Articulate, wry, thoughtful, sad, and seething. (Alix Cohen at Cabaret Scenes) 

“This is a significant jazz protest album… with sensitive accompaniment of pianist Charity Wicks, bassist Pete Donovan, and drummer/vibraphonist Andy Blanco"  (Scott Yanow for L. A. Jazz Scene)

"…A voice for the voiceless… a jazz protest. I felt the heartbreak. (Suzanna Bowling on the "Times Square Chronicles Podcast) 

CLICK HERE TO SEE ALL OF THE PRESS FOR “AMERICAN SUNSET”

Click on LR's JUKE BOX on the bottom right to listen to selections from the album

Liner Note & Lyrics

I was contemplating putting a liner note in the CD booklet, but it ended up less as commentary and more as a scenario of the story-like arc of the cycle. For those who are interested, here it is. The lyrics follow immediately.

AMERICAN SUNSET

The cycle is divided into two parts. The titles of the 12 songs offer a hint of the overall narrative:

PART ONE: Track 1, “American Sunset,” the title song, sets up the premise of the cycle in a both serious and ironic fashion. Track 2, “The Wheel Goes ‘Round,” is a jazzy, R & B inflected meditation on the inevitable confluence of life, politics and karma here on earth and beyond; while Track 3, “Tango for Charlie,” is the first of two instrumental elegies in the cycle – with this one an expression of loss on the more personal side of the ledger. Track 4, “American Clown Car March,” offers a darkly satirical perspective on a contemporary cast of political characters in the form of a new American national march. Track 5, “Candice and Me,” is the one love song in the cycle. While tipping its hat to Voltaire’s “Candide,” it reflects on what remains unchangingly essential in a time when all around seems madness. Part One concludes with Track 6, “Gulf of Mexico,” a tongue-in-cheek, joyous jazz-rocker that catches our narrator as he plots his escape from the current national craziness down to a place that many in government claim no longer exists.

PART TWO begins with Track 7, “Executive Orders”—in some ways the centerpiece of the cycle—a composition for piano solo (played brilliantly by Charity Wicks) and spoken voice, with the spoken part being a recitation of the dates and titles of selected Presidential Executive Orders issued between Inauguration Day, January 20, 2025 and July 2025. Track 8, “Life on Earth,” offers a moment’s respite from the intensity of “Executive Orders,” and a gentle meditation on the contradictions of living. But the respite is short-lived: Track 9, “Run It Back,” finds the narrator raging against an unnamed, but understood, enveloping and anxiety-producing chaos, while still seeking a way to carry on. Track 10, “Elegy,” is the second instrumental elegy in the cycle – this one a lament for the nation. The penultimate Track 11, “Last Things First,” finds the narrator still raging, but this time with a shade of raucousness, while also offering something akin to a call to action. The cycle concludes with Track 12, “And Still I Sing,” a song of hope expressed as a secular hymn that suggests a more personal way forward for this moment in our lives.

NOTE: A Bonus Track, “Executive Variations,” is available to those purchasing the album.

Lyrics

1. AMERICAN SUNSET
American sunset
You can see it from here
Off in the distance
Yet perfectly clear

Controlling the message
A circle of lies
The limitless profit
That influence buys

The carnival has come to town
The barkers are on parade
And the sun goes down

American sunset
Distraction’s the thing
When everything’s money
The con man is king

Millions of people
So willingly fooled
If you’re easily lied to
You’re easily ruled

The carnival has come to town
The barkers are on parade
And the sun goes down

American sunset
Mistaken for dawn
The lots have been chosen
The lines have been drawn

Divisions are tribal
You’re in ‘till you’re out
We scapegoat the stranger
We silence the doubt

American sunset
A threat to us all
When anger trumps reason –
Thinking –
The dominos fall

The carnival has come to town
The barkers are on parade
And the sun goes down

American sunset
You can see it from here
 

2. THE WHEEL GOES ’ROUND
Watching the wheel go ’round
An infinite law of living
Make a move or make a sound
The wheel goes ’round

Everything has its price
Pay today or pay tomorrow
You can skate by once or twice
Make a play for paradise
But you’ll find that pound for pound
The wheel goes ’round

I do believe
Whether this life or the next
The debt we accrue comes due
And I do believe
Whether billionaire or poor man
Or Commander-in-Thief
The debt we accrue leads to a rendezvous
For whom the wheel turns
It turns for you

The daily law that guides us
Not a soul should feel immune
And the hour comes all too soon
You may sail or run aground
But there’s comfort to be found
That the wheel turns
The wheel goes ’round
The wheel goes ’round
The wheel goes…

3. TANGO FOR CHARLIE
[Song Without Words]

4. AMERICAN CLOWN CAR MARCH
The American Clown Car March
The American National Clown Car March
A song for those feeling weary and sad
Who’ve never known politics half this bad
No matter how you pray
The American clown car march is on its way

Begin with the Republican March
The Republican Cowardly Clown Car March
This tough guy party, in all of its might,
Surrendered itself with nary a fight
Their conqueror comes to call
The Republican clown car bows down one and all

The Oligarch Clown Car March
The American Oligarch Clown Car March
These parasites thrive on the quid pro quo
Their principles shift as the four winds blow
Morality’s a charade
When their clown cars buy the inaugural parade

The Cabinet Clown Car March
This President’s Cabinet Clown Car March
Each a liar galore, an unqualified hack
There to bring their department to ruin and wrack
Venality up and down
When the cabinet clown car’s carving up the town

Paris Treaty – goodbye
The W.H.O. – goodbye
Maybe NATO – goodbye
You know we’re gonna miss you
USAID and the NEA
Education and the DOJ
The VA and the FBI –
This old lefty’s gonna cry
I can’t believe I’ll miss the FBI

The American Electorate March
The American Electorate Clown Car March
Too many are hoodwinked, selfish or blind
To America’s trust being left behind
Divided here we stand
A reckoning is due
We tear apart or start anew
The American Clown Car March
Is coming through

5. CANDICE AND ME
Candice and me
We open our eyes
And watch our garden grow
The life there we see
It all mystifies
We watch our garden grow

And the world turns
And the storm blows
And the heart learns
What the soul knows to be true
What’s real to me is you

Candice and me
Wake up each day
And help our garden grow
Sometimes it’s work
Sometimes it’s play
To help our garden grow

And the wars rage
And the seas rise
And this cruel age
Tells us cruel lies must be true
Still one and one make two

Candice and me
Alone, not alone
Watch our garden grow
Promises kept
Like seeds that are sown
Help our garden grow
Watch our garden grow

Candice and me
Watch our garden grow
Candice and me
Watch our garden grow

6. GULF OF MEXICO
Goin’ on the run
Need a place to go
Gonna make our way
Gulf of Mexico

My bride and me
We saved our dough
Gonna make our escape
Gulf of Mexico

Where the sky and sea are one
Where the winter north winds blow
The Gulf of Mexico

Call it Mexican Cove
Call it Yucatan Sea
All the ancient names
Tell its history

Where the weather is warm
And the living is slow
Where the ruins are old
Gulf of Mexico

Where the sky and sea are one
Where the winter north winds blow
The Gulf of Mexico

Gonna rent us a house
A casita for two
Let our bodies relax
Let our spirits renew

Under Mexican skies
Where the living is slow
Where the water is called
Gulf of Mexico

Where the sky and sea are one
Where the winter north winds blow
The Gulf –
The Gulf of Mexico

Where the spices are hot
The Corona is cold
Where the water is warm
Where the ruins are old
Gulf of Mexico
Down in Mexico
My bride and me
We saved our dough
Gulf of Mexico
Gulf of Mexico

7. EXECUTIVE ORDERS
(Instrumental score with spoken text)

8. LIFE ON EARTH
You’re nowhere, then you’re somewhere
You’re hiding ‘till your found
You’re on your way
Yet ever homeward bound

You’re traveling in the stillness
You’re silent in the din
You breathe a sigh
The air comes flowing in

Life on Earth
Just another day here
Life on Earth

We sleepwalk through the daytime
We toss and turn at night
We fear the dark
But strain to see the light

Our past is in the ocean
The future’s in the sky
We’re specks of dust
A blink in time
And more than meets the eye

Life on Earth
Just another year here
Life on Earth

Life on Earth
Just another ordinary lifetime
Life on Earth
 

9. RUN IT BACK
I can’t understand
I can’t let it go
I can’t, I can’t
Run it back
Run it back
I can’t look away
Unknow what I know
I can’t, I can’t
Run it back
Run it back

Run it back
Through the din
Find the quiet
Within
The way in?
Know what’s true
The way out
Is through

The cards are all dealt
The table is set
I can’t, I can’t
Run it back
Run it back
Each hour a gift
Each moment a threat
I can’t, I can’t
Run it back
Run it back

Run it back
Through the maze
Through the fire
The haze
In the wild
With no clue
The way out
Is through

Through the light
Through the doubt
Through the flood
The drought
Still we do
What we do
The way out
…Out
Is through

I can’t understand
I can’t let it go
I can’t look away
Unknow what I know
The cards are all dealt
The table is set
Each hour a gift
Each moment a threat
I can’t, I can’t
I can’t, I can’t
Run it back
Run it back
Run it back
Run it back
 

10. ELEGY
[Song Without Words]
 

11. LAST THINGS FIRST
Seen a lot of strange things
The best down to the worst
Time to try to change things
Time to flip the script
Put the last things first

Money likes its power
It’s hard to quench its thirst
Hides up in a tower
Laughing when it hears
Put the last things first
Last things first

Look who we admire
Scoundrels, megalomaniacs and billionaires
The darkness of desire
Con men caring only what the market bears
So much left behind
A laundry list, from housing to a living wage
While election deniers
Sycophants and liars
Feed us all a diet filled with fear and rage
They’ll drag us to the Stone Age

Judges with their hands out
Established law reversed
The shady dealing stands out
Time to pay the bill
Put the last things first

A time of hope or sorrow
Are we blessed or are we cursed?
Faith can come tomorrow
We’re tested here and now
Put the last things first

Devil’s at the door
His act is well rehearsed
Fraud and nothing more
Put the last things first
Thunder’s gonna roll
The bubble’s gonna burst
Look into your soul
Put the last things first
Look into your soul
Put the last things first
 

12. AND STILL I SING
And still I sing
A song for you
To guide us through this day
A song of love
Both real and true
To bless us on our way
A plainsong
A hymn
When everything feels broken
A hosanna
A prayer sung
Of dreams that aren’t yet spoken
And still I sing
A song for you
Of life lived on the wing
A song of love
Both real and true
A song for us to sing
A song of love
My song for you
And still –
And still I sing
And still –
And still
I sing

13. Bonus Track: EXECUTIVE VARIATIONS

Note from LR: “The AMERICAN SUNSET cycle concludes with Track 12, And Still I Sing. This bonus track, Executive Variations, is the same piano composition written for Track 7, Executive Orders, but offered here without the spoken material. The pianist, Charity Wicks, played two takes of this piece, each brilliantly performed, each subtly different. The version used for Track 7, Executive Orders, was Take 1. I'm so fond of both of these performances that I decided to offer Take 2 without the spoken text as a bonus track. It's the same composition except for the very ending. Thus the name, Executive Variations.