The Rose

WOW- Met these guys in Orlando, Michael told me this was his favorite song, I didnt know the lyrics until I bought the album at Bombshells that night. Holy shit this song is deep, filled with a story so fucked up you have to love the balls of J.Loren and Michael Roberts. Totally kick ass song, even if you dont know the words, but if you do, it just comes to life with an audacity that most wouldnt dare venture too.

The more complete/correct lyrics: He brought a rose in his hand (He brought a rose in his hand) 'n said "Boy, I'll make you a man” Said , "Boy I'll have you know that Nobody will believe

(or) Figure it out Figure it out" He fingered me out ( yeah) Nobody hears to speak

You'll figure it out He fingers me out I'm figurin' out that I'm just a brick in his wall

Yeah, when the finger you point at me can finally find you Yeah, then the finger you've flown in me will find the pilot With violence But I'd find that... Hating you was easy 'cause "your bud " was growing

Back home in the room I'd find me a 12 gauge brother With the power over you

I start to think that (if) Nobody seems to care (cuz) Nobody else was there Then no one will think it’s me Cause the secret was something that "us friends" could keep

But then I'd built up my wall Thinkin'

Yeah, well that the finger you'd point in me will finally find you Yeah, cuz where you'd planted your seed you'll see you'll find your harvest

Oh, don’t do this to me Oh, cuz there is no need Oh, don't do this to me, oh Oh, cuz there is no need

For violence With silence

So when the lights went out in Texas You arose from how it turned you on for one last time To bite your lip and bring up the rose to his room (The incense sweet would make complete memories of you) (But you 'd find)

You'd have to turn up his face when you did this But when you made him eat from the bleeding where you tear at him He'd make his plan and try to stare up at the moon

His vengeance sweet must be completely made by you (But he'd find)

To kill you then was too difficult So he would take on a job with that prison down in Huntington The foster kid Had found him a friend and a room

All circuits need be complete, this one waits for you

So when the lights go down in Texas Well, you can say the rose has turned you on for one last time Just bite your lip And close your eyes in his room The incense sweet will make complete memories of you

(And you'll find)

You'll have to burn off his face to forget this And just to make amends with the demons that still tear at him Calytus is his offering to the moon A bitter-sweet Meat-potpourri memory of you

So this is just what I think it's about. Before I get into what I think it's about a cool little fact: J (the singer/lyricist) said in an interview that while this song was in the making he would play it in front of friends and family and everyone who heard it would have mental breakdowns and him and Michael Roberts (guitar) had to keep stopping the recording process in the studio because it was hard to get through. I personally think the song is about J being molested by his biological father. The Rose might symbolize a gift or "hush-money." We know it's about his father because he says "hating you was easy cuz 'your bud' was growing." Father's tend to call their kids "bud" all the time and J was growing up (J is the 'bud') and started realizing what was happening was wrong. We know he's being molested because he says "So when the lights go out in Texas...." When the lights went out in Texas is when he was molested "you arose from how it turned you on for one last time" (meaning he was gonna rape him). And his father clearly though he'd get away with it because he says "nobody cares to speak" (telling J there's no use in telling anybody because no one would care) "or figure it out." His dad thought no one would ever know. He puts "us friends" in parentheses because his father probably said to him "we're friends right? And friends keep secrets. So we can keep this a secret." (The secret being the molestation of course) When he says "12 gauge brother that has power over you" he means that he'd fight off his father with a shotgun (Everytime his father would return home J would have to get his shotgun and threaten to kill his dad). That also goes hand-in-hand with the lyrics "to kill you then was too difficult" because he couldn't bring himself to kill his dad after he'd done. "Don't do this to me cuz there is no need" it should be obvious what that means. "So he would take on a job with that prison down in Huntington." His father is the subject here and the "job" really means he was found molesting J and went to prison. J was also put into foster care he reveals with the lines "the foster kid had found a friend and a room" J is the foster kid because his dad went to jail and J went into foster care. "You'll have to burn off his face to forget this" could either mean 1. His dad would have to "burn off" J's face to forget the guilt (which is more like he means this bc the previous lines talk about his dad) or 2. J would have to burn off his father's face to forget being molested. "A bittersweet meat pot-pourri memory of you" (if even that's what he's saying) might mean that his memory of his father is just a bittersweet meat pot-pourri. That's just what I think it's about (and I probably got the point of view wrong for certain parts). And maybe J wasn't the one molested; it could've been someone he knew or just about molestation in general because it is a problem in the world. That is just my interpretation of it though. J is a great poet and singer and I didn't want to post on here just to get the meaning wrong but I felt like this needed to be shared. And I didn't even go through all the lyrics, there are more layers to be uncovered here but I have no idea what the "calytus" symbolizes. Thanks for taking the time to read my interpretation of such a masterpiece.