Oh Paul!

Lyrics

I wrote you a letter You turned to confetti And as you tore it into something new All of its secrets became clear to you The words on the paper Came sputtering along Things you could never ignore They honked on the horn And announced themselves at the door So, no, it's not your fault But it is your gift, yes To be able to talk like you do I'm hoping one day that I'll understand you too The world is an oyster Tight and unkind But eventually it ends up comin round You've gotta learn to swim deep if you want to hear something profound You taught me those things That you didn't even know That you didn't even ever care to ever know You only knew to do the things you knew But we still keep falling for you Your hair is still perfect And those letters that you wrote All spoke to everybody in the room Your words are forever, but you know you're just passing through Now you're leaking and rusted And you're covered in dust You can't sleep but you can't help but dream You recall all the nights when you knew how to make them all scream Oh Paul!

Notes

This song was heavily inspired by my true friend and brother, Paul Barman, aka MC Paul Barman. He has a song called “Old Paul” that he wrote from the perspective of his future older self, so the title was a nod to that, as well as the last verse. Paul is one of the most influential artists I’ve ever known – his brilliant writing and wordplay have the kind of depth that requires repeated listens and reads to really grasp what he’s getting at. I learned so much from working with him and touring with him as his guitarist and DJ. He kept trying to get me to listen to Bob Dylan in my early 20s and it did not click for me. It was only about a decade later that I began to understand the appeal of Bob’s songs, and that ended up having a huge influence on me too.

Paul continues to produce music and art that is singularly brilliant.

Lyrics

Notes

Appears On