presents

The 2020 Louis Rosen album

I DON'T KNOW ANYTHING

an album in three acts

Music, Lyrics and Arrangements by Louis Rosen

Produced by Louis Rosen & Scott Lehrer

CD available for purchase and downloading at Louis' Store (top of this page), or Downloading at

Amazon.com, iTunes and all digital outlets.

"I've been listening to Louis Rosen's new album, I DON'T KNOW ANYTHING (Di-tone Records), and it's nearly impossible for me to express how moved I am by it. The songs are knowing and powerful and the composing and orchestrations are some of his best yet. And as always, the production is pristine, intimate and seamless. Bravo!" Jeremy Gerard, Broadway News and Theater News Online

"A philosopher-poet, [a] highly literate singer-songwriter whose lyrics address past and present with one foot in each...a meticulous orchestrator." Alix Cohen, Cabaret Scenes

"I recommend this album to every music lover out there. You will feel as if you have been on a journey of the soul and are renewed and ready for more." Suzanna Bowling, Times Square Chronicles

Click here to read the reviews.

CREDITS

Louis Rosen · Lead and Harmony Vocals, Acoustic Guitar; Nylon String Guitar (Tracks 12 & 14)

David Mansfield · Electric Guitar (Trks. 1 & 4); Acoustic Lead Guitar (Trks. 7 & 9); Nylon String Guitar (Trks. 8 & 13)

        · from yMusic Ensemble:

        Rob Moose · Violin (Trks. 3, 5, 6, 11, 15); Viola (Trks. 2 & 6); Electric Guitars (Trks. 3 & 16)

        CJ Camerieri · Trumpet (Trks. 1, 8, 10, 12, 13); French Horn (Trks. 2, 10, 14)

        Hideaki Aomori · Flute (Trks. 8, 10, 12); Clarinet (Trks. 2, 12, 14); Bass Clarinet (Trks. 1, 2, 10); Alto       Saxophone (Trk. 1 & 8); Tenor Saxophone (Trk. 13)         

        Nadia Sirota · Viola (Trks. 5, 11 & 15)

        Gabriel Cabezas · Cello (Trks. 2, 3, 5, 11, 15)

Max Moston · Violin (Trks. 10, 11, 12, 15); Viola (Trk. 12)

Sarah Roth-Hewitt · Cello (Trks. 10, 12, 14)

Clarice Jensen · Cello (Trk. 6)

Andrew Sterman · Clarinet (Trk. 6)

Erik Charlston · Vibraphone (Trks. 3, 5, 10)

Dave Phillips · Acoustic Bass (Trks. 4, 5, 7); Electric Bass (Trks. 1, 8, 10, 13, 16)

Gary Seligson · Drums & Percussion (Trks. 1, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 10, 11, 13, 14, 16)

Marialena Difabbio · Harmony Vocals (Trks. 2 & 13)

Recording and Mixing Engineer: Scott Lehrer

Recorded and Mixed at 2^ND STORY SOUND, NYC

Mastering Engineer: Oscar Zambrano

Art Direction & Design by Derek Bishop

Louis dedicates this album in three acts with tremendous gratitude and affection to a remarkable friend and angel, Joan McKay, without whom neither these songs nor this recording would exist. 

Louis thanks all of the extraordinary musicians who appear on this album and inspired him to make these instrumental and vocal arrangements. A heartfelt thanks, too, to the indispensable man, producer/engineer Scott Lehrer, for 30 years and counting of an always invigorating collaboration; Ben Miller for his last minute mixing assist; the following Patrons for their deeply appreciated ongoing support: Jason Brett, Lauren Streicher, George Petty, the late Marilyn Katz, Susan Friedlander, Elizabeth and Walt Bachman, Mary Ellen Geiser, Doug Hughes and Margaret Moore; Derek Bishop for once again surprising and delighting me with his imaginative art design; Oscar Zambrano for again sharing his superb mastering gifts; to Charlotte Maier, Teddy Rosen, Jason Brett and Thom Bishop for generously listening along the way; and to Maria Difabbio for helping me solve the structural puzzle of this album in three acts. Much love to all.

All Songs — Music and Lyrics by Louis Rosen, © 2019 by Louis Rosen/Lullwater Music, ASCAP, except “Kathleen O’Toole” and “What Are the Odds?” – Music by Louis Rosen, Lyrics by Louis Rosen and Arthur Perlman, © 2019 by Louis Rosen/Lullwater Music, ASCAP and Arthur Perlman/Forest Knolls Music, ASCAP.

Liner Note

I DON’T KNOW ANYTHING is my ninth album. It includes fourteen songs and two instrumental interludes played by a terrific roster of musicians, most of whom are long-standing collaborators. The songs were written over an intense and exhilarating period from February to April, 2016. Recording began in January 2018 immediately upon the completion of the recording of PHENOMENAL WOMAN: The Maya Angelou Songs, and was finished this past summer.

When 16 songs come in a burst over a compressed period of time – in this case, about 10 weeks – with no literal story being told, they create a collage of that particular moment. The songs fit together. The album’s title, I DON’T KNOW ANYTHING, along with its sub-title, “An Album in Three Acts” (as well as the title of each “act”), offer initial clues to the arc of the whole work.

Act I: “I Don’t Know Anything”

Act II: “My Third Act”

Act III: “A First Farewell”

The art design also hints at the album’s themes. The cover photo was taken when I was 17, the year I began writing songs. That photo reappears on the back tray opposite one taken when I was 61, the age when these songs were composed. There’s a suggestion here of the two fellows looking in each other’s direction – at least the older fellow seems to be looking at his younger self – which suggests the possibility of a circle closing, some integration of then and now. Then there’s the background texture in the art design, the infinite repetitions of 2016-61 – code for being 61 years old in 2016, the year these songs were written. It’s a numbers quirk of being born in a year that ends with a 5, which means that if I’m still around I’ll be 72 in 2027, 83 in 2038 and… well, no need to tempt fate.

LYRICS

All Songs — Music and Lyrics by Louis Rosen, except where indicated.

“Act One” 

1. BEFORE THE WINDOW CLOSES
When the window is open
You won’t understand.
Suddenly skies look like oceans
Weeds smell like roses
Anything can happen
And nothing is planned
Better grab your paintbrush —
Before the window closes

There won’t be a guidebook
You won’t see a sign.
Put aside all expectations
Pretense and poses
When the window is open
The planets align
Point your telescope skyward —
Before the window closes

You may not know what you’re looking for
You leave the everyday behind
Lost in the moment
Time is redefined
Then out of the blue
You’ve made something new

When the window is open
The bandwidth is wide
You tune in that wave-length
Hear all it proposes
When the window is open
You’re one with the tide
Gotta let the fresh air in —
Before the window closes.

Sometimes you won’t be sure what road to take
Then you know it when it comes
You feel the rhythm when the engine hums
You leap and you grow
You hate to let go —
Don’t let go.

When the window is open
The temperature’s high
You ride in that heat wave
Feel all it exposes
When the window is open
You never ask why
You just feel the wind blow —
Before the window closes
Before the window closes.

2. KATHLEEN O'TOOLE
(Music Louis Rosen, Lyric by Louis Rosen and Art Perlman)

The car horns and wind sang a street song
Last night as I rested my head
My mind wandered back to a sweet song —
Autumn nights and a warm lover’s bed.
'Twas love at first note when I met her
Each song cast a spell in my ear
When she asked me to sing a duet
Her eyes gleamed, so electric, so clear.

Kathy — Kathleen O’Toole
With your voice so fair and your coal-black hair
Kiss me, Kathleen O’Toole
Come, away we go
On the fly, we will flow
Though I know I’m a fool
To give my heart to Kathleen O’Toole.

I was just seventeen, on my own then
Kathy, a worldly twenty-two
We were mythically happy alone then
Like a tale both fantastic and true
Many days spent in bed, nights spent singing
Our two voices blending so fine
Our music was reckless and swinging
She was sly — she was free —
She was mine.

Kathy — Kathleen O’Toole
With your voice so fair
And your coal-black hair
Kiss me, Kathleen O’Toole
Come, away we go
On the fly, we will flow
Don’t I know I’m a fool
To give my heart to Kathleen O’Toole.

And now comes the point in our story
When all things begun have to end
The road called, and seeking her glory
She was gone —
My young heart had to mend
Tonight, with a click, I could find her
Maybe learn if life’s treated her well
But I know that it’s bolder and kinder
To be still — let the memory dwell
In that space even time can’t dispel.

Kathy — Kathleen O’Toole
With your voice so fair
And your coal-black hair
Kiss me, Kathleen O’Toole
Come, away we go
On the fly, in the flow
Though I know I’m a fool to give my heart to Kathleen O’Toole
Kathleen O’Toole
Kathleen O’Toole

3. I DON’T KNOW ANYTHING
All I was taught
The school books I read –
Just figures and facts
That filled up my head
I don’t know anything
I don’t know anything

The longer I live, the less that I know
You can run from the world
You can fight it or flow
I don’t know anything
I don’t know anything
I don’t know anything
I don’t know anything

Trapped on this earth
In body and mind
We serve ourselves
Or we serve mankind.
I don’t know anything
I don’t know anything

We all have a story of how we came to be who we are —
A mythical story, that helps us to heal every scar
But what if our story is only a story
To make sense of pain
Of distant glory?
A sister was cruel
Teachers darkened the light
Mama treated you wrong
But who are we if Mama was right?

The less that I look, the more that I see
The wonder of life in the mystery
I don’t know anything
I don’t know anything

The softer I speak, the louder I hear
The static dissolves
The channel is clear
I don’t know anything
I don’t know anything

I no longer claim my story is true
In tenuous times, it carried me through
I don’t know anything
I don’t know anything
I don’t know anything
I don’t know anything

The canvas is white –
That’s where I start
I look at the sky
I open my heart
I don’t know anything
I don’t know anything
I don’t know anything
Anything…

4. GURU, PLEASE TELL ME
Guru, please tell me what you know
Are there heavens above us?
Is there fire below?
Are time and space like Einstein said?
I got all these questions in my head

I’ve read some books
And I’ve read them well
And I’ve read that Earth is really Hell
And sometimes I think so
It kills my mood -
How the rich get richer and the poor get screwed.

Guru, please tell me
Do we return?
Is it life we long for?
Is it rest we yearn?
See, I’m kind of old and the end’s in sight
But I got this date on Friday night…

Now if we return we should all take heed
‘Cause we know where our misdeeds will lead –
Right back where we started
No passing Go –
Just another opening of another show.

If the past and the now and the future are one
My granddad’s father
Could shake hands with my son
But if the lives that I’ve led are all happening now
I’ll never clean up this mess, no how

Yes, if the past and the now and the future are one
My granddad’s father could shake hands with my son
But if the lives that I’ve led are all happening now
I must confess –
It’s an S.O.S. –
'Cause I’ll never clean up this mess –
No how!

5. LIMITLESS WORLD
It’s a limitless world
Filled with limitless choice
For the fortunate few
With a privileged voice
While the rest of us toil
And our spirit succumbs
To a soul-killing hunger
As we pick up the crumbs
In this limitless world
This limitless world

It’s a limitless world
Filled with limitless dreams
Where the promise of hope
Inspires limitless schemes
Where anger and fear
May trump all belief
And a well-heeled huckster
Can be Commander-in-Chief
In this limitless world
This limitless world

In this limitless world
Our holy men say
That our limitless gods
Send blessings our way
But our feelings of want
Get confused with need
And our earthly desires
Sow a spoiled seed
In this limitless world
This limitless world

There’s limitless longing
Limitless thirst
Limitless pain when bubbles burst
But limited trust in ties that bind
And limited faith that your own child won’t be
Left behind.

It’s a limitless world
In the U. S. A –
That’s the story we tell
That’s the prayer we pray
But societies change
And societies crack
When the chaos is over
It’s a long road back
In this limitless world
This limitless world
This limitless world
This limitless world

6. ACQUAINTED WITH NIGHT 

(Song Without Words)

Act Two: My Third Act

7. MY THIRD ACT
There are no second acts in American lives
(Spoken: F. Scott Fitzgerald told me that.)
Well, tell that to second husbands and second wives
My first wife she was crazy
Kind of paranoid and such
My second wife – that’s hazy –
Heaven knows we drank too much
We laughed and loved and fought ‘till we were done
So, whaddya know
My third act has begun

My joints are creaky, my back won’t haul the hay
There’s no one playin’ down where I used to play
Met a young waitress at a diner
And it seemed to be like fate
Felt this mutual attraction –
Finally asked her on a date
She said, “You remind me of my Dad –
This might be fun.”
I said, “Call me Pops”
My third act has begun

Sometimes grief and failure can fill your cup
I was down so long that it felt like up
But I’ll be happy-and-go-lucky for a while
In my irrepressibly middle-class
Bohemian style

I’m waitin’ for my pension to begin
I’ll jump for joy when Medicare kicks in
With the dough I save on health care, I will be a wealthy man
I’ll be workin’ on my memoir while I’m workin’ on my tan
On a beach beneath the hot Miami sun
Gonna pack my pills, my back brace and my gun
Gonna shed responsibility
'Cause that stuff weighs a ton
My gift for being lazy’s next to none
Gonna live life as a writer on the run
Oh, it’s a fact
My third act has begun

8. THE HISTORY OF FRIENDSHIP
The history of friendship —
Always a transaction
Sometimes you give
Sometimes you take —
Some take a little more
The mystery of friendship —
Repulsion and attraction
What you feel or what you fake
Can open any door
In the history of friendship

Stephen you rely on
Constant as the seasons
There for celebrations
There when life has come undone
David, he’s a phantom
And though he has his reasons
The smallest complications
You just know he’ll cut and run —
In the history of friendship

Mary, she’s a huntress
Success is long behind her
No happily ever after here
She feeds on younger prey
Bernie stays in motion
A consummate reminder
That a life well-lived will face its fears
And then embrace the day
In the history of friendship

Prices paid and lessons learned —
The only way we grow
Allies made and bridges burned
We harvest all we sow

Bobbi keeps her distance
Has only work to ground her
Feels a longing to connect
But stumbles as she tries
Jenny’s door is open
She welcomes friends around her
Plays the host to great effect
Affection in her eyes
In the history of friendship

Once my father told me,
“A true friend is a wonder.
Don’t ask much, but when you bleed
He’s there to see you through
But friends will disappoint you
They’ll cast your trust asunder
And have no doubt, it’s guaranteed
You’ll disappoint them, too”
In the history of friendship

Friendships come and friendships fade
We simply carry on
Life’s the sum of choices made
We’re here and
Boom
We’re gone

Lonnie’s faith in people
Some might find surprising
But acts of kindness, acts of grace
Amaze him every day
Through years and years of questions
He’s finally realizing
An act of love will leave a trace
That time won’t waste away
It’s the mystery of friendship
An act of love will leave a trace
That time won’t waste away
It’s the mystery of friendship
The mythology of friendship
The ecology of friendship
It’s the history of friendship

9. UNKNOWN NAME, UNKNOWN NUMBER
Wrapped in the peace of a sweet, deep dream
A peace only sleep can bring
A church bell rang a familiar song
And I woke to my ring-tone’s ring

Unknown name, unknown number
Such a sweet dream to lose
Got the “Unknown Name, Unknown Number Blues”

I met my dream girl on Friday night
A bar in some swank hotel
The bets were off and the game was on
But you know what broke the spell?

Unknown name, unknown number
Such a sweet spell to lose
Got the “Unknown Name, Unknown Number Blues”

When the world’s gone cold and you feel the sting
And you need a friend, and what a friend can bring
Much to your surprise, your phone may ring
But it’ll be someone tryin’ to sell you some damn thing…

Tonight I dreamt that life’s a dream
Searched heaven for some sign
Got so confused that I called myself
And my voice came on the line

Unknown name, unknown number
Man, that really lights my fuse
Got the “Unknown Name, Unknown Number Blues”
The “Unknown Name, Unknown Number Blues”

10. THEN CAME YOU
I came to New York on my own
I came to New York on a dare
I came to New York, came to find my future
Then came you
Then came you
Then came you…

I looked for myself in the crowd
I looked for my voice in the din
I looked for my path with no map to guide me
Then came you
Then came you
Then came you

You came like a light through the fog
You came like a strong wind at sea
You came here for me
You came here for you, and your story
Our story

The city was rust on the street
Ambition would claw through the dust
Illusion and lust in the bars and doorways
Then came you
Then came you
Then came you

If you fall eight times, rise up nine
Fall down nine times, rise up ten
Then rise again
It’s no failure to fall
If a fall comes it deepens the story Your story
Our story

I came to New York on my own
I came to New York on a quest
I came to New York, came to find my future
Then came you
Then came you
Then came you
You
Then came you

11. SLOW GOES THE NIGHT
The rain pours
The lights flick
Slow goes the night
The wind roars
The clocks tick
Slow goes the night

The soup cools
The tea steeps
Slow goes the night
A cat mewls
A soul weeps
Slow goes the night

Jill is angry
Life is empty
Since he’s gone she’s on her own
“How could he do that?
How could he go first?”
Leave her here to face these endless nights alone?

His last week
His mood swings
Long, sleepless nights
He hurt her
He said things
Long, sleepless nights

“Don’t you love me?”
“I used to.”
Slow, sleepless nights
“After all I…”
“How could you? —
Slow, sleepless nights.

Jill is fading
Body broken
What remains is grit and pride
“It won’t be long now
Will he be waiting?
What if there’s no there there on the other side?
Is there another side?”

The soup’s cold
Her hands shake
Slow goes the night
Her thoughts race
Her bones ache
Slow goes the night

The rain pours
The lights flick
Slow goes the night
The wind roars
The clocks tick
Slow goes the night

12. LATER THAN NEVER

(Song Without Words)

Act Three: My First Farewell

13. I SING THIS SONG FOR YOU
Lyrics are thoughts
Music emotion
The world of song —
Rich as the ocean
Songs align your brain and your soul
Making them one to make you whole
It’s time I told those writers of song
Who’ve thrilled me and filled me my whole life long...

Today my debt comes due
I sing this song for you
I sing this song for you
Hey Bop
Doo-Wop
Ob-La-Di-Bla-Da
Doo-Wah, Doo-Wah
Surry

Songs are built on songs, it’s true
A pinch of the old mixed with something new
A feeling here
A memory there…
Presto! A new song is in the air
Then you work, and work is play
You’re one with the songsters who paved your way.

Today my debt comes due
I sing this song for you
I sing this song for you
Hey Bop
Doo-Wop
Ob-La-Di-Bla-Da
Doo-Wah, Doo-Wah
Surry.
Can you Surry?
Bop!

Music explains my life, you see
Take away song – it’s a mystery
Folk song, jazz, early rock and roll
Bossa Nova, Blues, Blue-eyed soul
From Mozart to Wonder
I’ve understood
Life can be grand when the music’s good

Today my debt comes due
I sing this song for you
I sing this song…
For you
You…

Dylan, Gershwin, Lennon and McCartney
Laura’s confessing and Joni’s Blue
Lennie, Carole, Junior Burke and Stevie —
I sing this song for you
This song for you

Jobim, Armstrong, Ellington and Arlen
Simon, Sondheim and Taylor, too
Newman, Holland Dozier and Holland —
I sing this song for you
Puente, Copland…
This song’s for you
Mingus, Miles…
This song’s for you.

Hey Bop
Doo-Wop
Ob-La-Di-Bla-Da
Doo-Wah, Doo-Wah
Surry
Hey Bop
Doo-Wop
Ob-La-Di-Bla-Da
Doo-Wah, Doo-Wah
Surry 

 14. WHAT ARE THE ODDS?
(Music by Louis Rosen, Lyric by Louis Rosen and Art Perlman)

Doctors are quite fond of numbers
Everything measured just so
They give a percent to the decimal point
But the point is, they don’t really know

Jill had been sick for a long time
Her future looked lousy and worse
She planned for the end down to every detail
Her plans were her comfort and curse

"What are the odds?”
She would ask me
“Is there a life after life on Earth?
“What is the point?”
She would grumble.
Then we’d play a hand of gin –
Which she always would win —
And we both let her questions go by
I did not know how to reply…

All of the Holy Books teach us
God has some infinite plan
His way is revealed if you follow his path
I’ve tried, but I don’t think I can

Doctors are quite fond of numbers
But they know there’s much more that goes on
On Thursday they thought Jill had weeks left to live
By Saturday night she was gone

"What are the odds?”
She would ask me
“Is there a life after life on Earth?
“I’d like to know!”
She would grumble
Then another hand of gin —
And of course, she would win —
As we both let her questions go by
I did not know how to reply…

Play another hand of gin —
And once more she would win —
As we both let her questions go by
I never knew how to reply…

15. IN THE HOUR OF HIS LEAVING
In the hour of his leaving
He’ll shake his head and wonder why he stayed in this forsaken place
For oh, so many years
There won’t be any fanfare
There won’t be any thunder
Just lines well etched upon a face
Without a trace of tears
In the hour of his leaving

In the hour of his leaving
No time for self-reflection
No denying luck that came his way
Or where his failures live
Some people and some places
He’ll think of with affection
He said the things he had to say
And gave what he could give —
In the hour of his leaving

Years conflate
Past and present are felt as one
Man’s estate —
Four score years, yet we feel
Not nearly done.

In the hour of his leaving
He’ll give his full attention to his love, who travels with him
And like him, travels blind
There’s hope in new perspective
Joy in reinvention
And he who’s busy living
Can embrace what he may find
In the hour of his leaving
In the hour of his leaving

Coda

16. MORNING SOUL 
I’ve got the time, if you’ve got the morning soul
To welcome in our day
You’ve got a grace about you keeping me sane and whole
And a kindness that sweeps me away

I built a wall, and you had the will to climb
It took a lot to break through
I played it hard to get — you could have left anytime
It’s patience that gave me to you

Oh, my resistance is undone
Leaving me no place to hide
My love, now that victory is won
We’ll let our winning streak ride

[Instrumental Break]

Oh, my resistance is undone
Leaving me no place to hide
My love, now that victory is won
We’ll let our winning streak ride

I’ve got the time, if you’ve got the morning soul
To welcome in our day
You’ve got a grace about you keeping me sane and whole
And a kindness that sweeps me away
A kindness that sweeps —
Like a promise that keeps —
A kindness that sweeps me away
 

All Songs © 2020 by Louis Rosen/Lullwater Music, ASCAP. All rights reserved.