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Promise

by Eliot Wilder

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1.
Ozymandias 04:01
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Not so long ago and not so far away In a kingdom down the block A big ol’ dude well he held sway He says, It’s my way or the highway Ozymandias King of kings Ozymandias Look on my works and despair The big ol’ dude built his world out of sand His self-belief as tough as any Ayn Rand He says, I gotta know right where you stand He had his own enforcers Who preyed upon the weak Their modus operandi Was not all that unique Kingdoms rise and kingdoms fall Everything has its prime But the big ol’ dude he did not know That he’d run out of time The big ol’ dude He only wanted more and more Nothing was enough To satisfy his need to score He says, “Do what I say Or I’ll stab you like a matador”
2.
Weeds 04:20
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A garden needs water to grow And tender loving care Or it’ll be a plot of land stripped bare Mother Earth can't go it alone It needs someone to cherish Otherwise it will wither and perish Till this land and spread your seeds If you don’t it’ll wind up weeds Drill though the soil like centipedes If you don’t it’ll wind up weeds Give your garden your love Give it your attention And it’ll give back beyond comprehension Take some time from your day Make it your mission Make it a special act of volition Bring along a hoe And bring along a rake And bring a little something For your backache If you put in the time Your land will be restored And in the end You will reap a reward
3.
I Knew You When 04:17
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When I think about my childhood And all the kids that I knew I remember names and I remember faces A lot of memories accrue You and me we both loved music And so we went and started a band I wanted us to be like the Beatles To live that life firsthand We thought that we would really make it I can't say that I know you Or know just where you been But I can I say that I knew you I knew you when We moved out to New York City And we practiced nearly every day We saw eye to eye On almost every little thing We knew what each other would say Well people they sort of dug us Would come a ways to see our shows We played our freaking hearts out To the kids in the very last rows We thought that we would really make it Why oh why didn't we Why oh why didn't we Why oh why didn't we Why oh why didn't we fly One day I got myself a new girlfriend And you got a job selling cars We didn't have the time to write our songs Or sing to people in seedy bars Now I am pushing on 60 And you are right up there too Don't expect that you will ever think about me And I don't know what to think of you We thought that we would really make it
4.
Tension and Release 04:47
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An arm reaches out to pull you in You fight back Against your next of kin Why must we always go so far astray Why can't we meet each other halfway Some men go to war And some men make peace It's the push and the tug Between tension and release Look at what a stinkin' bloody mess we've made No one to blame We wound up in the stockade If only we hadn't been dumb enough To get caught But then again why do we bother To fight what we've fought I am on an island Somewhere out in the south seas I am on an island Sitting here under cocoanut trees What will make you happiest of all Keep in mind We're thinking of the long haul And what in heaven's name Do you say to your kid How will you explain All of the bad things that you did
5.
Invincible Summer 05:22
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I could feel the cold was coming on Don't know why I was so surprised It's not like winter was new to me It came as advertised With every beat of my heart I could hear the sound of a distant drummer In the depths of winter I found in me An invincible summer I curled myself into a tiny ball So small I could go undetected Still I hoped that you would find me there Heal the wounds that have grown so infected I turned to God for my strength But he must've been busy I turned to my family But they abandoned me long ago I turned to all the things I'd built But they were objects without feeling So I turned away from all that And I turned back to the person that I could know I buried myself under a pile of blankets I planned to sleep at least until spring It was very my own way of hibernating I didn't need a single thing
6.
The Wishing Chair 03:38
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Oh the days, oh the days They are reflected in my face I had turned another the page And I found I'd lost my place I had dreamed, I had dreamed But now I've got no vision In my hand I hold a mace And with my voice I stir derision Oh the times, oh the times How can a man go on and live I'm about to turn to dust And scrape right by the sieve Oh my head, oh my head It's a heavy lot to bear Still I climb up ever higher Don't wanna fall down there Sit me down, sit me down Sit me down in the wishing chair Knew a king, knew a king He said name was Jimmy Christ He swung his door open wide Or that would be his biggest heist "Come with me, come with me And I will make your pain all stop" I became his supplicant But then heard a shoe drop
7.
Promise 05:21
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It was late at night in a cabin in the woods Where we swore an oath to each other Yeah, we were two kids but we were in love It was there we vowed There would never be another I said I do, you said you do too We sealed it in blood like a blood brother You broke your promise to me We made our way back Back to the mean old world The mean old world And all its temptation When we were apart I only thought about you You were my star You were my salvation Don't know what went on inside your old head But I guess all you desired was sensation You married some guy His name is Tom He came to your rescue, he came to your aid He is a teacher and you are a shrink He drinks his whisky in his lemonade I still think about you and about that night And I wonder about the promise we made
8.
Gang's All Here 04:48
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Well I had a party in my dreams And all the old gang was there There was Daphne doing shots of whiskey And Danny with his real cool hair Well Bob he put on old his Fender And Tom was over on his kit And Jeffrey he picked up his Rickenbacker bass And mom and dad they pitched a fit They pitched a fit Yeah, yeah Yeah, yeah The gang's all here Yeah, yeah Yeah, yeah The gang's all here Bring the good cheer Well the party went for days and days And everyone got real stoned The house it spun like a crazy carousel Till the neighbors said the cops were phoned But that just made Bob play louder And Tom banged harder on his snare And Jeff he churned out a mean bass line What the fuck did we give a care We didn't care We really dug each other We were partners in crime Yeah we really dug each other We had a killer good time Well this party it came to end And we all felt pretty wasted We reveled in our debauchery And all the good times that we had tasted Well Bob packed up his trusty Fender And Tom took down his old drums And Jeff unplugged his bass guitar Yeah that dream for me it still hums It still hums
9.
The Cool Wind of Hope Blows Eternal 05:44
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Every so often someone comes along And restores your faith in mankind Every so often someone seems so right And then they rob you blind Now and then a dream comes true Makes you want to wish for more A door opens, a finger beckons Then you see just what you fell for The cool wind of hope blows eternal As if to keep us on our toes Maybe there'll be a brighter day tomorrow So pack up all of your woes Once in a while you catch a break From all your worries and distress But just when things start going well They collapse in a mess Comes a time you settle down The clouds part and it's blue sky blue But just when you stand yourself upright The rug gets yanked from under you
10.
The Pleasure Is Mine 04:27
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My kid and I got off of the subway And we started to cross the street When suddenly a car came plowing through And nearly knocked us right off our feet The driver was on her cellphone And she flew right on by I screamed, “Hey watch where you're going” And she gave me the evil eye Well my kid took me by the hand Said I'm here and I understand And everything is gonna work out fine And I believed her with all my heart And all my anger well it fell apart And I said, hey the pleasure is mine Well the woman she drove on her way When I heard a man clearly out of his tree He said, hey you get out of the street And I realized he shouting at me Right then and there I sort of lost it I wanted to tear him limb from limb But my kid she looked me square In the eye and said, “I’m really glad that you're not him” She said walk away She said walk away from here Don't give him what he wants Well I stood there and shook my head And I said, You just can't win for losing My kid said, “That may be so It all depends on the path That you are choosing”
11.
Fontainebleau 04:12
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When I look at you What do I see Who is that person I imagine you to be I can only know you From what you care to share So what I know is a sliver of a degree How can I get through When you won't take me in You got some good reasons not to But if you'd just give me A single second thought Maybe you'd think you ought to What would I give up to get next to you How far would I be willing to go How much do I want you I want you more than Tom can tell In the lone brakes of Fontainebleau When I look at you What do I see I see everything I've ever think I've wanted I see all the people Who populate my dreams But somehow it don't feel haunted I wish you could touch you And you could touch me back But we both know that that's verboten We could have some laughs And we could have some fights And we'd keep our boat a-floatin' Here we go, here we go, Fontainebleau When I look at you What do I see I see all my dreams rolled up into one You got the heart You got the soul You got everything under the sun There's got to be a way You can let me in They say that love can conquer all If you have the will I will say I will And the rest is merely folderol
12.
While You Could 05:24
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It’s not the end It might surprise you A little time will tell My heavy head has taken over With everything you’ve said Whenever the memory Hits you in the heart Whenever the walls come down Somewhere inside you Find a piece of me While you could While you could I’m disappointed But I'm not sad and done Even if I’m broken My heavy heart has taken over With everything I've lost Whenever the memory Hits you in the heart Whenever the walls come down Somewhere inside you Regrets you didn’t love me While you could While you could Whenever the walls come down Somewhere inside you Find a piece of me Find a piece of me Somewhere inside you Find a piece of me Regrets you didn’t love me While you could Regrets you didn’t love me While you could

about

With every beat of my heart
I could hear the sound
Of a distant drummer
In the depths of winter
I found in me
An invincible summer

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released November 20, 2025

Cover "Promise" by Eliot Wilder

Songs written and performed by Eliot Wilder

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Eliot Wilder Boston, Massachusetts

“Keep ravens and they will tear your eyes out.”

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