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Wife Material

by Scott Gesser

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1.
Leftovers 03:48
You were a summer, I was a winter It’s fine but it isn’t What a way to be, somebody’s leftovers All-consumed flame brought down to a smolder I never knew it would be so benign Learning the moves to enact them in time So I parked the car on top of the hill And we got out and looked at the stars Free from the yellow covering the city But I solemnly got back in the car I dreamed I ran into you at a party in the sixties It was all that I could do To pray to god you weren’t there with me And I bolted upright with a gasp And drank and drank again What a way to be, somebody’s leftovers Conscious of even the coldest of shoulders The lines we took turns plotting out in the sand While stomping on each one was part of the plan I thought I missed your pale and angular face But it turns out like just about everything else I was caught up in yet another mistake You called me a typical Scorpio I responded that you were a Cancer You said you were born in May And I said I wasn’t talking about your birthday Your iPhone sailed across the room And shattered like a toppled statue So long, farewell, I guess I’ll see you in hell When it’s a hot one, you can catch me riding shotgun Maybe I didn’t appreciate all the time You spent learning to put up with my thoughts Maybe I undervalued the lessons That you wish you’d never taught Going out of your mind When you’re the leftovers this time
2.
If you were a conduit A channel for living things so slowly If you could not take the hint A battering ram, my one and only I can’t deal with this scorpion inspection I just want to shake your hand and be gone But you fell victim to every little slight And made a home out of the hill you’d die on If you would thrash and not shout The hex you had gambled for might dry up You can’t dial nine to get out But you’ll keep on trying ‘til you wise up How am I supposed to compete with you? You stack your room with awards That you win when you’re bored Grinning in a manner that’d put off the Cheshire Cat That’s your whole thing, you flex and you sting, oh
3.
Drip Drip 03:32
Eight in the evening, you’re aching to leave But I’m still getting ready, oh I must have woken from a horrible dream My accounts were all empty, oh And all of our hands drip down through the sand The hours slide faster than anyone planned I don’t if I can learn to be a man again I upcycled the old rocking chair And you didn’t really notice, oh The paint is different but the memory’s there All etched in just like a votive, oh Pay the rent or get evicted Pay the rent and get evicted anyway Unsold confusion taking up real estate, I cannot relate to it Your disillusion is the bulk of your craft It’s making me laugh again And the drip, it won’t stop You can’t turn back the hands of the clock And the drip it won’t stop, it won’t stop It won’t stop ‘til we’re gone A loose thread on the hem of my shirt I will never quit picking, oh A testament to all the people I’ve hurt Yet I must play the victim, oh
4.
When life has built us up and we’re apt to celebrate But all the local flora will not draw us into fate The life of luxury could be sat in our lap Just grab hold of an errant dart and aim it at the map Airport the airport And we’ll airplane the airplane ‘Til we city the city And we’ll see what’s left for you and me now When life has brought us down and the stars align all wrong The daily grind cannot command us with its siren song You and I both know the way to beat the rush We’ll hop a cab and search for hidden gems awaiting us And somewhere far away we triumphantly kiss Darling, you’re the only one I need to travel with
5.
Ten o’clock on the dot and the doctors surround To report what they’ve found in you Guess we’re in quite a spot with the sores from the bed And the beat in your head now We lie in wait for the call to come in Taking life on the chin Imprecise dates litter calendar walls Voices echo through halls Everybody’s in a hurry, my love Soon the morphine erupts And the whites of your eyes shrink to half of their size Tonight we can be just for us Not a footprint to spare, curling up in a chair now We’ll get through this with the pills on the shelf It’s just like anything else The spots they’ve missed leave you feeling too warm Look at you in good form The manual we were given as kids didn’t prepare us for this We’ve paid in full with the brunt of the cost funneled into a loss Please slow down, please slow it down
6.
Red 03:47
Built up a life full of odds and ends The sounds churned out at breakneck speed It’s a modest life and I like it fine Yet modesty is not what you need A line forms for the brand new breakout Much like ten years before The glimmer fades, sarcasm lingers In a pool on the kitchen floor I don’t take the drugs you want me to take As I curl up in my own bed I think it would only be a mistake If I bailed on this to make Red My bangs used to be so crooked The arthouse foolery made you wince In 2015 I leaned into baldness Haven’t paid for a haircut since It’s not the art of attraction Keeps you lapping up all your nerves But we both know that you could do better Every time your attention swerves You’re not sure about this place All the patrons flash their golden grins I just plug in to make ends meet, yeah And you get to watch so everyone wins You see her laughing on the TV Her arm around him at a sporting event You point and you say that could’ve been me But I’m not sure which one you meant
7.
Future 04:17
I’m not afraid of the future But the future, she’s afraid of me I’m not afraid of the future, she’s afraid of me I’m only trying to make it right But she hides away from the words I write The candles flying around As if their flames tickle the dark But we won’t know how to comfort them If we cannot find a spark I won’t give up on the future But the future, she’ll give up on me No, I won’t give up on the future, she gives up on me I’m praying not to pay the cost But she keeps on insisting that all is lost I’m lining up for the future and the future opens up to me Yes, I’m lining up for the future, she was made for me
8.
I made a deal with the devil And I think he got the raw end of the deal ‘Cause now he’s stuck watching my ass As I’m running like a hamster on a wheel And he’s spitting out hashtags and calling me blessed With my terrible body and miserable friends Don’t make me laugh Fourteen thousand six hundred Such a lot of days to fit in forty years Cringing with each passing moment He can’t stop the blood from pouring out his ears When I tried to tell god he wouldn’t listen to me ‘Cause I invoked his name with a lowercase G I made a deal with the devil And he drafted an amendment to the clause But I think that it’s kind of funny So I chuck the contract down his gaping maw As he begs for rescission and pulls up a chair And he kicks and he screams about how it’s not fair But I can’t live in fear of a pit of despair What’s the point of a hell when I’m already there?
9.
Full Moon 03:14
Binge watch the inside of your eyelids Flip flop between the damage I did Do I seem anxious now? If not, how do I seem? I don’t know what it means to you But I know how it works on me I laugh myself to sleep beneath the full moon Drinking in the antidote all night Like I’m allergic to the sound of passersby Who view my slumber as a means To keep from calling out their crimes Lilac, this comforting comforter Pitch black as though you’ve just been murdered I’m irresponsible, and unresponsive too I don’t know what it means to me But I know how it works on you Never once a need to be brave When you’ve got two feet in the grave And don’t it make you wish you were A million miles away from the ground I’m counting up and up, ascending through a dream I don’t know what you’re on But that shit doesn’t work on me
10.
Aqua Life 04:09
Sitting in the basket of the waves Feels like I’ve been treading now for days Peace upon my mind is all I ever care to find Resting eyes and soaking up the rays I can see the forest for the trees Goosebumps form amidst the summer breeze Far out from the land and the silky orange sand As relaxation crashes over me The hours all but fade in my one man parade I think I’ve got it made, this aqua life Clouds are giving way to all the birds As I fumble searching out my words Open up my mouth but I can’t produce a sound The rushing tide is all I ever heard I’m clinging to the coast and feeling like a ghost In this world that I love most, this aqua life This aqua life, I can’t survive but it’s all right One finger up, two fingers up Three fingers up, I’m going down Soon they’ll send the men out from the shore Swirling out across the ocean floor Trying to change my fate but it’s already too late I’ll never be stressed out anymore I’m sinking down alone, in my forever home And I just can’t condone this aqua life Oh no
11.
I can’t believe that I’m sitting where I’m at In sight but out of mind, desperate for air You’re spinning all around, I’m the apogee Blissfully unaware that I’m seeing you seeing me And I’m not afraid of going insane But I’m already late to memories I made up And I won’t behave, I know you’re the same But I hope you don’t fade the moment I wake up No screaming legions of fans to fight for space No X’s on my hands but I don’t need to drink I’m only taking in haunting melodies So desperate not to blink and cure myself of your disease I want you to sing to me forever I can’t get by without your magic voice I’m luckier than I could imagine In your living room for last night’s concert I don’t want to wake up
12.
Part 1a 03:27
The first moment I saw you is etched in my mind Now when you’re standing in front of me It’s still like that first time An infinity of things we’ve seen and done But the plans we’ve made have barely just begun Our story won’t build up to an end Every chapter and line repeats again And all our memories are just a flicker of a shade Because we’ve only hit part 1a The whole world could fit in the palm of your hand Each adventure is merely a grain in the Sierra sand We could stake a thousand lifetimes as our claim Still a myriad of room within our frame

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released November 17, 2023

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Scott Gesser Phoenix, Arizona

I'm the guy who records all of this.

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