We’ve updated our Terms of Use to reflect our new entity name and address. You can review the changes here.
We’ve updated our Terms of Use. You can review the changes here.

The Best of​.​.​.​.​.​.​.​Hard Rockers

by Walter Ehresman

/
1.
Greed is the Disease (© 1998 Walter Ehresman) You got it all, but you just want more; You can't remember what you wanted it for; You got a 100 like it out in the shed, but you'll pull it to you with your last dying breath. It ain't a thing you gotta think much about; The reinforcement is within and without; You're just embracing what you see every day-- You got excuses how you wound up this way. Your thoughts ain't plural each time push comes to shove, Greed is the disease I'm speaking of. Been generations since you even looked back-- It can't occur to you you're on the wrong track; You're like that monkey with the button and the jones-- You've got this feelin' runnin' straight through your bones. There ain't a thing that modern medicine can do, to rid the world of all the bastards like you. You've got a special brand of Christianity-- accumulation as the "Great Mystery." You're foolin' no one once the hawk eats the dove-- Greed is the disease I'm speaking of. [break] How come the poison always rises to the top? Guess self-awareness is just too much to ask; You can't imagine why you'd wanna do that-- the mirror only serves to show what you got, your proper place within the haves and have-nots. If you could see the damage, what would you do-- an ugly moment of what's right and what's true? Full speed ahead and never slip through the cracks; The social contract is just something you lack. I've seen the future, and it looks kinda tough; Greed is the disease I'm speaking of.
2.
Nocturnal (© 2008 Walter Ehresman) Bone-creeper, alligator with a special eyeball right on you; Root-slipper, stone tripper, and there really ain't that much you can do. Night's fallin', and you're stallin', but you know you got to step 'cross that line; Knees shakin', but you're makin' some decisions that could change that in time. [chorus] Nocturnal--a creature of the night; They call me nocturnal--you cannot use those things you bring from the light. All the places that you roam in the day ain't the same when Amun drops from the sky, and all the pathways that your feet like to walk will not lead you to the same lullaby. Heresy, but I think you'll agree, when your vision starts to warmly grow-- that bat time leaves you feelin' so fine, and you'll come to fear that Eastern glow. [chorus]
3.
Your Bullshit's Got No Legs No More (©2009 Walter Ehresman) Bet you thought I'd gone to ground; Pitchforks running me from town; An angry mob riled up by you, with the tar and the feathers coverin' up the truth. But a full moon's comin' from behind the clouds, and a bright yellow light puts the kibosh on your crowd. Your possie's gettin' all worn down; The trail's gone cold and there's no comfort to be found; You burned my name into the noose, but your cute little daughter came and cut me loose; And the townsfolk seem to have a change of heart, and they're lookin' real hard at where the whole thing started. [chorus] Your bullshit's got no legs no more; Your bullshit's just walked out the door; Now we got the truth filter strapped around your brain, and we can't help but notice that you got nothin' left to say. You blew your whistle to call up your troops; but the barracks are empty, and the coop--it done flew; And the buzz out on the street is that the whole thing stinks, with a great deal of shrinkage of who cares what you think. They say "karma's a bitch," and now they know you are too, And a full load of justice has just dropped on you.
4.
Jaleos, Aturuxo, Rev. Killjoy! (© 2002 Walter Ehresman)
5.
Now We’re Through (© 2000 Walter Ehresman) You said I had it coming, and you probably were right; But at this point in the battle I know the truth is outta sight; And I know you gotta know, babe, that the mud sure sticks to you; But the times they are a’changin’, and I’m thinkin’ now we’re through. [chorus] Now we’re through to the other side; No concrete bunkers--got nothing to hide; Rip your spleen right outta your side; Save it in a bottle of formaldehyde; And it’s true.....it might effect your health-- all those years keeping things to yourself; Conquer by force and conquer by stealth; A million mean triumphs as a measure of wealth; And I know......it ain’t nothing new-- all the ugly things that we put each other through; You’re aiming at me while I’m aiming at you; A million tortured souls.......but now we’re through. I said that this aggression may be passive but it’s strong; And just because you’re quiet, girl, doesn’t mean that you’re not wrong; And I know that my frustration’s got me doin’ bad things too; This boil, its got to bust, babe, and I’m thinkin’ now we’re through. [chorus]
6.
Saying No to the Question Unasked (©1999 Walter Ehresman) [chorus] Don't want adventure; Don't want adventure; You don't want adventure, saying "no" to the question unasked. There's too many choices in the world today-- don't want to look up to the left or the right; I got no time for the different or the new, I gotta gather up the family and protect them from the voices in the night; [break] Oooooh, something's grabbin' hold of me; Oooooh, something's got a'hold of my toe; Oooooh, baby, there's a stranger knockin' at my door, tryin' to tell me things that I don't want to know. I don't like to call it "conservatism"; Don't like to call it anything at all; There's a portion of my brain that I don't want infected with the sound of the tree in the forest, ooooh baby did it fall? [break] [chorus]
7.
Sunday Disease (© 1996 Walter Ehresman) I get so weary on a Sunday; looking forward 'well as feeling back; Five more days of degradation makes the seventh seem oh so black. Suffer fools, suffer fools; I ain't no Christian, you got to know; What's a young man got to do these days to try and keep a little bit of soul? (But you know....) [chorus] Everybody's needs a little extra protection-- but the cost is much too high; and if you buy into heavenly glory then you might as well just lay down and die; and if you become a political man (or latch onto one as close as you can), can you still look in the mirror every night, as a cog in that kind of clan? Spending all my time with bad men, without a scrap of morality. Trying to do the right thing while the wrong guys try to find some other place for me to be. It can make a man so tired, it can make a man get mean; But I can't let this Sunday disease make me one of the unclean.
8.
I Saw Death at the ATM (© 2016 Walter Ehresman) I saw Death at the ATM, starin’ up at me with that rictus grin; I swear it made my blood run thin, ‘cause when you’re gone ain’t comin’ back again. I saw Death at the ice cream store— he wasn’t near as happy as he was before; Every drippin’ spoonful ended up on the floor— and Death was howlin. I saw Death in a police car; I kinda got the notion that I wouldn’t get far; He pulled out his pistol and he lit a big cigar, and Death was howlin’.
9.
Ain't That Time (© 2001 Walter Ehresman) Ain't that time....................takes more days to feel ok; Ain't that time....................a few more grey hairs today; Ain't that time....................and all these kids with their tribal scars Ain't that time....................think that I came from a police car, and [chorus] Oh, Bobby asked his momma if this really could be the end; Between their rehab and their Jesus and their kids, you know there's been an attrition of friends; and oh, there's nothing like divorce to make you wonder if you can start again; Shooting headfirst down the barrel of the wrong side of the curve, I'm just a salmon in a youthful trend. Ain't that time....................stagnation in my salary; Ain't that time....................my home ain't what it used to be; Ain't that time....................standard of living is slippin' down-- Ain't that time....................three flights of stairs in a funky part of town, and [chorus]
10.
Desperate Stupidity (© 1997 Walter Ehresman) Dogs' fire, troops roll in, flames burn high in a midnight well; String the wire, spread the lime, you don't blink as they fall in; The witnesses are all let go--doesn't matter if they tell a world that's waiting for the game, for the show, and for the skin. Close the schools, turn out the lights, to the teeth and to the bone; Machete dead-eyed anarchy; you will sink before you swim. The transformation is complete--a self-destructive chromosome; You cannot sit this one out, the demon calls you from within. [chorus] Your gears were stripped to neutral, babe, by your infancy; It happened to your parents, too, so this was meant to be. Pavlov's dogs can all go home--it's in the family tree. The arrow has now left the bow in desperate, oh desperate stupidity. At 2 a.m. we stormed the gate of the mansion on the hill (They let us keep machine guns, with a license to conceal); The Senator can't understand where we ever found the will; We found him in the closet, using his children as a shield. (he said) "We gave you Friday night TV, we gave you groups to blame-- all aimed at the lowest ones of you, so you wouldn't have to use your brain; It's supposed to make you happy, it's supposed to keep you tame!" Now the animal's slipped its leash--idiots rule today!
11.
Die Like Trotsky (Iceaxe to the Skull) (© 2004 Walter Ehresman) To those who would foul the water; To those who would foul the air; To those who build prisons for “the unborn” who never should have been there. To those of you who smile while lying; To those of you who must deny; To those of you who bring slow death to children from your gentry box in the sky. [chorus] Die like Trotsky! Die like Trotsky! To those who spew all their poisons with a sneer but never a blink; To rich old men and their hateful spawn who have taken us all to the brink. And you who look to the heavens–condemning those down below; And you in your palace with your big golden hat, stuffing guilt into the sausage of soul. And you with your need for believing, but no backbone to do it alone; And your bovine mind chews its cowardice cud, so the rest have a choice between one. [chorus] [solo] To those of you I won’t remember; To those of you I can’t forget; To those that we should have axed long ago, and to the users who aren’t born yet!-- [chorus, twice]
12.
13.
Sharpened to Bits (© 1987 Walter Ehresman) Got to pick that proper station-- don't get caught messin' 'round. Cultivate the look that says "I gave it no attention"; 'long as it seems that you don't care; Get that funky stuff out of your hair. Conversation on the latest thing-- all the people see you scoff. Look into your window and I see you watch Madonna, I don't know if it makes no difference the sound is off [chorus] ('cause you) gotta keep that image sharp, Sharpened to bits. See a trend--say "Fuck it; I got no need to know." It's a full time job ignoring all the shit that goin' down; You won't see that shit on me; Me's the only thing I's got to see see see! To tell you the truth, I've got my personal own trend; You may see that once, but you will see me again. [chorus]
14.
Aqua Girl 04:15
Aqua Girl (© 2010 Walter Ehresman) Hurricane with no pressure drop, and flash flood with no rain that's falling; Monsoon in my heart when I thought symmetry was all our mornings. Champagne is diluted, and my left finger is naked, and our first dance of the evening is an empty spot out on the floor. [chorus] Here comes Aqua Girl; She turns her love off like a faucet; You think you're swimming, then you've lost your buoyancy; Only Aqua Girl; She let's you drown into her blue eyes; The water's fine, and then you're in the Aral Sea. Her theme song has no warning, and the elements are just fickle, and we fell apart in a moment when I thought our love would last forever; Now I sit in the rubble, and I am my own super-hero, 'cause I control the flood of the waters from my eyes—it drowns the bitter laughter. [chorus]
15.
How Can You Believe (© 2004 Walter Ehresman) The words we had flew through the air like acid darts of blame; It seems I couldn't help myself, now things can't be the same. For you to cling so deeply to those ideas dark and wrong-- I don't know if you are the one I thought I knew so long. You know you are my friend, my friend--I value who you are; But tell me how to reconcile the lucid with the snarl. I'd thought of you as much too smart to fall into that trap-- and seeing that hurts more than hearing your propagandized rap (and then you go). [break] The world today is up for sale--a thing you can't deny; One thing I know is that I've never seen the stakes so high; With freedom in the balance and their thumb upon the scale, our friendship cannot be the spear on which the truth impales (and so I go).
16.
One Shove (© 1998 Walter Ehresman) One shove......is better..... better than the fall; Returning--does it feel so strange to be so tall? Where did you go?, who did you know?, what price.... what price the show? We'd gone to ground to bring you down, to bring you back to the fold. You'd wandered....strayed so far from yourself; The vampires....try to grind your weary soul, leave a shell. It's hard to do, it's true, but me and you must rise above; A higher ground, I've found, begins with just one shove.
17.
The Alien Nematode (© 1995 Walter Ehresman) Well an ugly thing it happened, last November 'round this block: the soundbyte worked its miracle, and we took it in the jock. And the men who smile when others sweat would surely do it without pay; to strut the halls and pull the strings and make us look the other way. [chorus] "A petition comes before us now" The ecology will explode! "But I think we're gonna have to let in the alien nematode." "At 70 years old, I feel, that my company and me only need 8 years, no more than 10, to ensure my pedigree." "And when my snout raise from the trough, and the spacious skies are gone-- I will sing 'My Country Tis of Thee' and leave you to the things I've done." [chorus] The experts say it shouldn't come in: parasitical overload! "But I think we're gonna choose to let in the alien nematode." It seems like its been centuries since 2 and 2 made 4; decision-maker kneepads crouch at the foot of the gilded whore. And if we can't distinguish what it is from what it seems, then we all deserve an iron lung on this orbiting latrine. [chorus] The fish, the Gulf, the boats will die; "But the check is in escrow." So I think we better learn to love the alien nematode. [break] Well I look for spark behind their eyes, humanity or guilt or soul; But their lizard lids, they do not blink--just two quicksand vacant holes. Well, the critters they are here now, and it seems that we'll adjust: to play the gracious hosts for them as we sit at the back of the bus; And the Chairman and the nematodes have no regrets, you see--they've formed a symbiosis, and are steaming for the China Sea. [chorus] The creatures swam right up inside and made a comfy home; Of the two of them, I pity most the alien nematode.

about

2017 marks 30 years of recording his songs for release out into the world and, to celebrate this milestone, Walter Ehresman is releasing a series of "Best of......" compilations throughout the year, organized by style and mood. They draw from the over 200 songs he has written and released, across 16 solo and four band albums, between 1987 and 2017. No song will be repeated across any of the collections.

As those of you familiar with his prodigious output know, Ehresman tends to jump genres on pretty much every song on any given release. As he said in February of 2017, "....This is because I take the musical inspiration as it comes, and also have just never wanted to release an entire album of songs all in the same genre, with the exception of 2007’s experimental dark ambient album “The A.D.G. Project” (written for use with a large art installation at Burning Man that year).......Like many musicians, I rarely think of genre at all when I write and record.....I just pursue the idea wherever it leads, and in the end it 'is what it is,' as they say.

"I never have a good answer when asked by people: 'Oh, you’re a songwriter…..what kind of songs do you write?'....... Some songs are in recognizable styles, and some I frankly don’t what genre you’d put them in. But given all that, I think all my songs can be sorted out into a few general categories that have as much to do with mood as with a recognizable genre."

Nine compilations are planned, and this fourth one covers the heavy rock songs scattered throughout Ehresman's catalogue. As he recalls "I went to high school in late '70s in San Antonio, Texas, which was a mecca for hard rock touring acts. I saw a lot of those shows, like Van Halen opening up for Back Sabbath in 1980, and have ever since had a love for good, heavy music. I've tried my hand at writing and recording this kind of material from time to time, on my solo and band albums, and this volume collects all the heaviest stuff in one place. Crank it up!"

credits

released May 1, 2017

--produced and compiled by Walter Ehresman.

--photography and photo treatment by James Rader.

p. 2017. Snipe Bog Records. All rights reserved.
© as indicated at each work.

Discography
--solo albums: "Honor in the Swine?" ('89); "In the Path of the Cat Chasers" ('90); "Split Brain Theory" ('91); "The Blue Shoat Special" ('96); the spoken-word "The Rants" ('97); "Handwedge from the Trap" ('99); “Le Cafard“ (’01); "The Feral Rugby Team Must GO!" ('03); "No Unifying Theme" ('04); "March, Scream or Cry" ('07); "The ADG Project" ('07); "Monkey Paw Situation" ('09); “Well…..Let‘s Look at Your Track Record, Shall We?” (’10); “Life Outside the Tent“ (’12); “Blue-Eyed Devils” (’14); “Pinches Topes” (’16); "The Best of.......Singer/Songwriter" ('17); "The Best of........World Music" ('17); "The Best of.......Party Mix" ('17); and "The Best of......Hard Rockers" ('17).

--with Snipe Hunt: "We'll Be Right Back!" ('99); "Dirty Ditties and Cover Tunes" ('00); and "I Saw the Future (But the Damn Train Hit Me Just the Same)" ('02).

--with Los Platos: “Oh, No” EP (’08).

--with Delphi Rising: “For Granted” (‘10)

--compilations (various artists):
(with Swine Patrol) “The Austin Cassette Compendium” (‘86);
(solo) "Monkey Boy Sampler" ('01, '05); and "Several Famous Orchestras" ('03).

license

all rights reserved

tags

about

Walter Ehresman San Miguel De Allende, Mexico

Called "the quintessential Austin DIY artist" by famed local disc jockey Charlie Martin , Walter Ehresman was an eccentric presence in the Austin music scene from the '80s until his 2015 move to Mexico. A prolific songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and recording artist...and a restless musical spirit, always looking for something new, expressed with fearlessly honest, socially-conscious lyrics. ... more

contact / help

Contact Walter Ehresman

Streaming and
Download help

Redeem code

Report this album or account

If you like Walter Ehresman, you may also like: