Gifts of Poetry

Gifts of Poetry

by Jesse Schmitt

So I’ve recently come across this European singer, Roesy, and I wrote an article about his 2006 release “Colour Me Colourful;” a great record and one I hope they will release stateside soon. If you have a hard time finding his stuff then you should definitely make your way to an indie record store in your area or even virgin.com, cdbaby.com, or something like that to try and locate an international copy. Apple doesn’t seem to care that some of the best music I’ve heard in years is being made outside of the US.

World Wide Web. Humph.

Anyway, I was able to find some info on this guy from his myspace profile (note the spelling; not: Rosey – ROESY) and while Wikipedia wasn’t really much help, Google did get me to this section of his webpage www.roesy.net/music.php – It looks like http://www.roesy.net/ is under construction and should be in place in due course, but the above listed URL will get you a little more info.

As I cruised and perused the Roesy myspace profile, I was thrilled to hear more music. As I said, “Colour Me Colourful,” was from 2006 so when I heard this one tune, “Sober Clown,” I figured that this had to be new music; the production values were great (for myspace) the sound was mature, the lyrics, brilliant. So imagine my shock and awe when I came to find that this was an even EARLIER recorded song!

In 2004, on the record “Only Love is Real,” comes this masterpiece. Beginning with a simple, ambling piano introduction, joined in time by a strong guitar strum, “Sober Clown” sounds like Sunday morning and all the rebirth and weekly catharsis inherent in that day. From his opening lines, this is obviously a song about loss, change, the end of something that was great, and the start of something uncertain.

“I’m glad you’re happy now; I know you did what you had to do.
It’s just that my road is clear of traffic, I’m going walking; but I wish to God I was walking with you.”

It is with those lines that we are taken on this journey of self-aware self-actualization. At first the lonely soul seems drowned in his own sorrows;

“I been spending too much time alone I’ve gripped the fact now that I’m on my own. Brooding too much on memories and I’ll admit that I was kind of bitter to the bone.”

As though there were any other way to be; the evocative nature of a phrase like “kind of bitter to the bone,” shows the depth and intensity of the relationship between the scorned and the heart-sick.

There is a certain blind invincibility one feels when they are living with the one that they love and on high. Naturally, then, there is a certain exposed feeling which is very apparent when that blanket is gone. The character in the Roesy tune, they know it too:

“Sun up and down and then the moon’s around
And all the while they’re watching us we’re in different towns”

Not only is the love lost victim feeling the loss of their partner, they are also feeling the grating glares of everyone who sees him now alone. Even though most of them probably don’t even know who he is, it can still be a shameful perp-walk many people feel that they must take when they are cast asunder.

There is more beautiful imagery in this song; more heart sick cries and so much emotion in this poor soul’s voice that you feel as though you were in his shoes; taking the walk with him. This is one of the true gifts of truly gifted artists; that they can make their audience “feel” right along with them, with their gifted gift of poetry.