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Be The Wheel

by Theo Katzman

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sherlocks_mom
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sherlocks_mom Every lazyday should start like this, sweet and thoughtful. Makes me want to stay in bed 💕 Favorite track: That's the Life.
smv_
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smv_ While HBH was full of bangers, it didn't resonate with me. This one did. The themes of feeling isolated, of being sick of the polarization, of wanting human connection. This is a guy who grew up on Paul Simon and Billy Joel, just like I did, and you can hear it in the timbre and the poetry. The sort of humble introspective quality and the determination to find something better. Easily my album of the year, I'll be surprised if anything tops it for me. Favorite track: That's the Life.
fataldiz
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fataldiz fresh 'n gorgeous
Johnny K
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Johnny K OMG, so strong piece of art! "A heart that's open Is a heart that's broke"- so TRUE! Bravo Theo! The Best author of my generation! Favorite track: That's the Life.
tommyvio
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tommyvio Theo Has Some Voice!
Guillaume Petetin
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Guillaume Petetin 10 good songs indeed. No song in itself is perfect - and Theo Katzman has crafted at least one of these before - but they are all executed with irresistible groove and human touch, and are full of charm.

Aside from being a consumate songwriter, Theo is as usual being an absolutely incredible singer.
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1.
Be The Wheel 03:47
Knock on the door Open the invitation Lookin' out for A lemonade situation Hold out your hand It's a lemonade stand You see? Thousands of years Stuck to the ocean bottom Out of the blue Dayton, Ohio's callin' Next thing we knew Man on the moon You see? Here comes the hurricane It's blowin', babe And there goes the automobile Don't be the horse and buggy Be the wheel Watch the old ways Fight for survival under Solemnly sworn Hands on the Bible, while the Continents dance Over the sands of time Back at the ranch Look for the Golden Teacher Lie in the grass Next to the water feature Listen in close Maybe take notes? Just sayin... I'm just sayin... Here comes the hurricane It's blowin', babe And there goes the automobile Don't be the horse and buggy Don't be the horse and buggy Don't be the next best somethin' Don't be the second comin' Just be that holy one thing: Be the wheel
2.
Six feet of flesh and bones And sex and clothes and Toes and legs and breasts and eggs And toast and coffee Black and tan, this woman, man My heart is in the throes It falls so fast into the trash And there she goes There she goes There she goes Put down the pistol Pick up the bow and arrow, my friend Put down your fist You can't just hit yourself in the head You have to hit the target instead Six years of bouncing 'round the room for patience Wanes and waxes, likes and follow-backs just ain't the same as Guts and glory Songs and stories by the flame The time is up, the blood is boiling in my veins In my veins In my veins
3.
At the corn ranch We forget more than we know But we know more than we think If we only learn to listen To the song that's in our hearts Not the voice that's in our heads Cuz the corn is where it starts And the corn is where it ends And the corn does grow And the corn does grow And if you didn't, now you know That the corn does grow At the corn ranch It's alright if we don't see Eye to eye on everything We don't have to share a vision Cuz the water's gonna flow You and I may disagree Where the water wants to go Que sera, sera, baby I'm betting on the Sun to shine tomorrow I'm betting on the rain to fall Giving my paycheck Back to mother nature To sort through it all At the corn ranch We don't have no flag to wave We don't have no face to save We don't have no ammunition We just row our little boat Ever gently down the stream If the truth is gonna float Then the lie is gonna sink
4.
I had a feeling I couldn't help it Kept it a secret Too scared to tell it Tried to suppress it, I got desperate Ten years of friendship flushed down the toilet Click of a button And now we're fighting a war Each on an island, totally silent But oh, the feeling When we fall off of the high horse, baby Onto the track Face down the high road, baby There's no turning back This is the only chance we have Here come the headlines Keeping it simple Like cops and robbеrs Like good and evil As if the dеvil ain't in the details It took a village to raise the children Click of a button To leave the children behind To hate their neighbors The ones that raised them But oh, the feeling Oh, the healing When we fall off of the high horse, baby Onto the track Face down the high road, baby There's no turning back This is the only, the only chance we have The only chance we have The only chance we have Off of the high horse, baby Onto the track Face down the high road, baby There's no turning back This is the only, the only chance we have
5.
5-Watt Rock 03:14
The 5-watt rock, it ain't too loud It ain't too tough, it ain't too proud It won't reach the back of a stadium If you wanna do that, you need a bigger kick drum The 5-watt rock can still get down Wake up the block and draw a little crowd And in that crowd, there's a special gal Who thinks I'm alright 'cuz I sing so well All that I got, all that I need All the way up, let it bleed It's all that I know, 1, 2, 3 Five watts to make you my baby The 5-watt rock has got that sound And the neighbors won't cry "turn it down" Instead, they'll invite you to their house With a case of Bud Light and your five watts out And nobody tries to kill the buzz File a complaint or call the fuzz Cuz no one denies when you're drive it home Gettin’ all of that meat off the five-watt bone All that I got, all that I need All the way up, let it bleed It's all that I know, 1, 2, 3 Five watts to make you my baby Five watts to set you free Five watts to shoot you straight Out of the mystery Onto the master tape Back to the potter’s wheel Into the mirror's gaze That's where the tree falls down You know the sound it makes Remember that gal back in verse one (yeah!) Would you believe we fell in love? We had a kid and the kid's a champ And it's all thanks to my little five-watt amp
6.
Are you my lover Are you my friend Where does one start and The other end? We take our clothes off And we lay down I kiss your forehead I kiss your mouth You gotta go through me You gotta go through me I am the distance From A to B I am the doorway But you've got the key You wanna step into the light, babe? You gotta go through me We filled a page up In a book The bed we made of The chance we took And if it's a story Worth being told A heart that's open Is a heart that's broke You gotta go through me You gotta go through me I am the distance From A to B I am the doorway But you are the key You wanna step into the light, babe? You gotta go through me You're gonna get to the light, babe But first, you gotta go through me
7.
She's in my heart She's in my brain She's in the clouds She's in the rain The windows down Radio's on And on every station She's in the song There's a lion in the lion's den There's a fountain flowing from my pen There's a road that I walk And she's walking it with me, too She's in my shoe I tell myself This could be worse This could be a blessing, baby Dressed as a curse The samurai Keeps an open wound Now I know why I’ve got one too I know that time Will do its thing My winter heart Will warm with spring And when it thaws And floods my eyes I will sail her lifeboat To the other side There's a lion in the lion's den There's a fountain flowing from my pen There's a road that I walk And she's walking it with me, too She's in my shoe
8.
Before the sun has risen in the morning While lanterns are still glowing on the street Before that faithful rooster starts his crowing And hours have passed since you last brushed your teeth Ages till your eyes have opened Long before your lips have spoken Softly as you sip your cup of tea That's when I will kiss you In the middle of the night So I can see you smiling in your sleep Before the workday's journey starts a-knocking And phone calls not so gently tumble in Before that damned alarm clock does its clocking And all your worldly worries start to spin Before you're forced to lift your head up From the right side of the bed And slide your slippers underneath your feet That's when I will kiss you In the middle of the night So I can see you smiling in your sleep When all the world is slipping by While the stars all shooting arrows ‘cross the sky I’ll fight the urge to float upstream Cuz nothing I could ever dream Would make me feel the way that I do Lying wide awake beside you After the workday's journey is completed After we've cooked up something good to eat After we've made love long into the evening And after we've tucked underneath the sheets I'll wait until you've closed your eyes And drifted off into the night Surrounded by the comfort of a dream For if the lord should take me from you before I awake I want to make this be my final memory And that's why I will kiss you In the middle of the night So I can see you smiling in your sleep
9.
I wanna be from somewhere I wanna stand for something The price of my freedom You couldn’t pay me nothin I wanna die an old man In the presence of loved ones With a special someone Sitting right next to me When I go to the cafe For to get my coffee They know exactly what I want They don't even ask me And if I keep up the good work Make a visit to the tip jar Well, every couple days, now They forget to charge me I say howdy to my neighbor When I'm takin out the trash can And we talk about some bullshit In the early evening breeze And even though I am the new kid And he's been living on the old block We still ask each other how our day was And that's the way it oughta be Who's talkin bout a movement? Who's talkin bout money? It shouldn't take a revolution To get some milk and honey Who's talkin bout living A little closer to the bone, yeah Who's talkin bout the one thing I thought everybody wanted to be from somewhere... I wanna get off the outrage I wanna get on the same page I wanna ring in the new age I wanna get off the screen I wanna listen to the ancients Find the glitches in the matrix And get back to the basics I betcha we could all agree We wanna be from somewhere We wanna stand for something The price of my freedom I hope nobody could pay you nothin I wanna die an old man In the presence of loved ones With a special someone Sitting right next to me With a special someone That's the life of my dreams
10.
You took a selfie with Your dog, this morning, you said While you were sleeping in Smokin a spliff in your bed I’ve never felt so much From so little, so quick It seems to good to be true Which means it probably is You live in San Antone I’m in Los Angeles That ain’t exactly close But now that you mention it I saved some sick days up For a solo road trip trip And Texas is on my list Cuz when the big get weird The weird get high It’s when you dance with death that you know you're alive I’ve got some good mezcal and the will to survive Yes, these are desperate measures But these are desperate times I bought a camper van Off of a teenage kid Hail Mary to the Gods California Craigslist Cashed out my bank account Gave away all my shit Just to shake things up Just to scratch that itch I probably should not say Just how down I am To meet you in the bathroom of a gas station A thousand miles away From anywhere I’ve ever been Just to feel like a human again How many glasses of wine Over a 6 inch screen Before my will resigns And my judgement recedes Across these divided states Into a strangers arms Hail Mary, keep me, keep me from… Harm It’s when you dance with death that you know you’re alive I’ve got some good mezcal and the will to survive Yes, these are desperate measures Yes, these are desperate measures I'm taking desperate measures But these are desperate times
11.
There is a woman North of Santa Fe She lived in New York Back in the day Before the yuppies Took over Chelsea Before the Beatles Took over the states My first apartment A 9-month lease My food and water Provided for free I broke the door down And left her in pain But she forgave me And gave me my name Nobody loves you like your mother Nobody loves you like that girl Not your father, sister, or brother Nobody in this whole damn world Not every question has an answer But this is one I know for sure Nobody loves you like your mother Nobody loves you like that girl I came to know her In all of her grace Her words of wisdom The smile on her face I learned to listen Instead of just scream I heard the music inside her heartbeat And when she leaves me To go her own way I will be broken I won’t be ok But I’ll remember The gift that she gave Just like my father My father would say

credits

released March 13, 2023

Recorded live to tape by Phil Weinrobe at Cinnamon Ranch in the Michigan wilderness

Assisted by Nick Nagurka

Additional Recording by Phil Weinrobe at Sugar Mountain, Brooklyn, NY

Mixed by Phil Weinrobe

Mastered by Devin Kerr

Produced by James Henry Jr. and Theo Katzman for Ten Good Songs

Album Artwork by Sebastian White

Cover photograph by John Hanson

Back cover photograph by Dara Quilty


Theo Katzman
Vocals, Piano, Acoustic & Electric Guitars

Dave Mackay
Piano, Wurlitzer, Synthesizers, Organ

Joe Dart
MusicMan Bass

Jordan Rose
Drums & Percussion

Mike Shea
Percussion

James Henry Jr
Additional Guitars, Backing Vocals on "5-Watt Rock", Additional Keys

Seth Bernard
Backing Vocals on "5-Watt Rock"

Charlotte Greve
Alto Saxophone, Flute

Stuart Bogie
Baritone + Tenor Saxophones

Chelsea Coy
Food + Health + Wellness
with additional cooking by
Elon Cameron

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Theo Katzman Los Angeles, California

Big Heart.

High Voice.

Strong Song.

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