Rosemary Leaves
Part III in the trilogy is clearly the most interesting. Here we learn more about Rosemary and her tragic appeal, and eventually, her triumph. The song starts with spoken piece set to a quiet eerie musical backdrop. The reading is a downcast, depressing tale of a warm, loving person that has one too many emotional problems and is the victim of abuse both from herself and her partner.
The song ends with a release of rage, restrained from the previous portions. Only here does the storyteller also reveal that his dissatisfiction with Rosemary derives from his own everyday failures.
Recorded in four seperate takes, Part III required the most production from Maddox.
"This song was actually quite easy to complete. After 'Crushed Rosemary' my vision for this song was clear. It's a song where the person speaking finally tells all that he wants to say. Is there a real Rosemary? Yes and no. In some ways there are several Rosemarys. It's a compilation of many women I've met over the years. I think I can single out someone in particular that was the main source of inspiration, but her saga, or our saga, doesn't match up entirely to the lyrics."-NNMaddox
She keeps a picture of me and her closeby
She lets her hair down
And now I know why
She's a girl that doesn't need a mask
And she's not afraid to ask a question
Or suggest another path of misdirection
And she takes me sometimes behind the door
And shows me what God made her for
Her red hair bleeding
Like candy canes
But the pills she took to kill the pain
Remained in tact, for this and that
But she never did get her dignity back
And all those time, no matter how sweet
Could she explain how indiscreet
Her actions in the bathroom made me feel like a distraction
And she had not one person tricked
When she went out for a fix
Swallowing until she choked
I sat with her while she smoked
and no no hunny dont you give me that
no no hunny dont go giving me that
And all the colors you wore that night
Like a drunken man in a prizefight
ceased, desisted, ran away
and she and i went on our way
And the afternoon turned into night
Everything that was wrong
was suddenly right
but oh, hunny, there's more to it than that
And the street musicians
playing jazz and blues
made you an offer you couldnt refuse
but oh, hunny, i thought you were better than that
Sometimes i think i'm the chosen one
and sometimes i can't get a fucking thing done
And sometimes i just wanna give it back
And it crushed rosemary like you wouldn't believe
But this time
Rosemary gets up and leaves
and says no no hunny, there's no looking back
Email: nnmaddox2000@yahoo.com