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Springtime Child Album: Make Me Believe © 2015 Robert Letters A7 I went round to see my woman D7 No light on outside my door A7 E7 A7 I don’t know where she’s gone, what she’s looking for I work in the fields all day I’m bone tired at night But when the light’s not on, and the house is dark and cold, it’s not right D7 She says that my hands are dirty A7 She says my clothes they’re stinking wet B7 E7 But you know I’m just doing what I’m able to pay her bills and debts She used to be a springtime child A flower in the sun But the sun’s gone down and springtime’s on the run INSTRUMENTAL BREAK She used to be a springtime child A flower in the sun Now the sun’s gone down and springtime’s on the run Make Me Believe by Robert Letters Released 11.19.15 Hondo Mesa Records BUY ALBUM

Eight Foot Woman Album: Make Me Believe © 2015 Robert Letters E7 I got a woman eight foot tall A7 B7 E7 I want to say that woman makes me feel so small E7 She picks me up takes me for a ride A7 B7 E7 When I get back home I feel unsatisfied Instrumental Break A7 / E7 / B7 A7 / E7 (2X) A woman’s touch is a mighty fine thing Make a poor man feel like a rich man’s king That woman’s touch is all I need I need an eight foot woman make me beg and plead The sun is shining when I awake That eight foot woman is a habit I can’t break The moon is shining when I lay down Eight foot woman makes my little world go round. I got a woman eight foot tall I want to say that woman makes me feel so small She picks me up she drops me down When I get home I’m right back in this same old town Make Me Believe by Robert Letters Released 11.19.15 Hondo Mesa Records BUY ALBUM

Beth's Song Album: Make Me Believe © 2015 Robert Letters CHORUS C G Honey, you know it’s winter outside C (B A G) F We better close the window down C It’s just you and me G And whatever it will be F C We’ll be sitting here when the spring rolls around F C I don’t mind the ice on the river F C I don’t mind the snow on the ground F C (B A G) But I’d rather be here inside with you F G When there’s no one else around F C You won’t need your sweater F C I could throw another log on the fire F C (B A G) We could stay up all night if we want to honey F C Don’t think we’ll get too tired CHORUS It don’t matter how cold it gets We always find something to do I don’t care if I never move again Long as I’m in the same place with you We could cook ourselves up a little something We could open up a bottle of wine Maybe we should have a couple of kids I think that would suit us fine CHORUS Make Me Believe by Robert Letters Released 11.19.15 Hondo Mesa Records BUY ALBUM

About Robert Letters was my great grandfather. He ran away to sea from County Antrim in Ireland when he was 14 years old. He settled in Pittsburgh’s Strip District, where he worked as a puddler in an iron foundry, a civil servant, and a teamster (a horse bit off one of his fingers and swallowed it.) He was fond of pipe and banjo. My father and I were both named after him. ​ I have held many jobs, including shining shoes, sweeping floors, loading trailers, fixing roads, coding, and teaching. Alongside those jobs, many years of work, songs and poems steadily accumulated. Where does the lifelong drive to make these things come from? I was first introduced to song as a child when my father taught me 1-4-5 on an old upright piano and told me those three chords were all I needed to play most songs. But his favorite song was Yankee Doodle, which threw in a 2, 2-minor, 2-seventh, and 6-seventh. ​ In high school I played keyboard for two rock and roll bands. I had a good friend then, still my best friend, who was the first person I knew who actually wrote songs and poems. He made me believe that maybe I could write songs and poems too. ​ I taught myself to play 1-4-5 on the guitar during a long bus ride that took me away from everything I knew. I fingered the chords silently in the back of the bus, and when I arrived in my next life, I started to play out loud. ​ I taught my little brother three chords, and he soon played, sang, and wrote songs far better than I ever could. Then I learned from him. ​ In college at the Wharton School an English professor read “Out of the Cradle Endlessly Rocking” out loud to the class. I changed my major that day to English Literature and started to write poems. ​ My roommate in those days awakened me to the spirit and art of Asia. All my poems have had the scent of Asian forms in them, and lately I have gone back to the source, focusing on simple haiku and tanka. ​ The seeds of my work were sown by those five people: father, best friend, brother, professor, roommate.

1968 Album: Make Me Believe © 2015 Robert Letters C Fires were burning F7 In our bodies and in our towns Am Bombs were falling D7 But we could not hear the sound C G F I remember a girl, we used to stay out so late Am G F She made me smile the way she touched my face Am G F C I haven’t felt that way since 1968 Am G F C I haven’t felt that way since 1968 Am G F C I haven’t felt that way since 1968 They took my brother away And he didn’t want to go They took my brother Across the ocean And we all drove down to San Diego just to wave him goodbye We stood on the shoreline while his ship sailed away We waved for an hour with the sun in our eyes We waved and we waved with the sun in our eyes Oh Lord how we waved with the sun in our eyes Fires are burning In the desert towns Bombs are rising up But we still can’t hear the sound When I look in your eyes I know that some things never change And I know that I still have some promises to make I haven’t felt that way since 1968 I haven’t felt that way since 1968 I haven’t felt that way since 1968 Make Me Believe by Robert Letters Released 11.19.15 Hondo Mesa Records BUY ALBUM

Music Make Me Believe Eight Foot Woman Springtime Child Make Me Believe Don’t Need No One Now My Woman Belongs to No One Nothing the Same High on a Hillside A Better Day Beth’s Song 1968 Available on Spotify Many years ago, after a drunken and raucous rendition of Yankee Doodle by family members gathered around the kitchen table, one cousin offered an apology that my father quickly retracted: “Our most humble apologies to the composer of that song.” “We have no apologies to offer to the composer, and I’ll tell you why – the composer of that song meant it to be a song that people could lift up their voices and sing, and he didn’t care how it sounded.”

High on a Hillside Album: Make Me Believe © 2015 Robert Letters Am7 High on a hillside see my woman dressed in black Dm7 Am7 High on a hillside see my woman dressed in black Em7 But when I climb up on that hillside Dm7 Am7 I feel I must turn back High on a hillside see my woman dressed in white High on a hillside see my woman dressed in white But when I climb up on that hillside brown girl not in sight High on a hillside stand up and look around High on a hillside stand up and look around But when I look round for my woman my woman can’t be found INSTRUMENTAL BREAK High on a hillside I see that crossroad clear below High on a hillside I see that crossroad clear below But when I get down to the crossroad I don’t know which way to go High on a hillside stand up and look around High on a hillside stand up and look around But when I get down to my woman that woman can’t be found Make Me Believe by Robert Letters Released 11.19.15 Hondo Mesa Records BUY ALBUM

A Better Day Album: Make Me Believe © 2015 Robert Letters C Here come Helen she looking mighty good E7 Strutting on the street like a pretty woman should F D7 Woman like that don’t grow on a tree boy C A7 Lord, send a little more of that my way F G C I think I’m about to see a better day I run into Willie down on the corner He give me fifty dollar for the bus to Florida Money like that don’t grow on a tree boy Lord send a little more of that my way I think I’m about to see a better day CHORUS A7 Don’t matter what line you in D7 Color of your hair, the color your skin F G C You’ll be down some time don’t matter what you do or say A7 When that day come just get on the street D7 Start singing with your lips and dancing with your feet F G C You’re bound to see a better day INSTRUMENTAL BREAK CHORUS Here come Helen she looking mighty good Strutting on the street like a pretty woman should Woman like that don’t grow on a tree boy Lord, send a little more of that my way I think I’m about to see a better day Make Me Believe by Robert Letters Released 11.19.15 Hondo Mesa Records BUY ALBUM

Poetry Dry Grass New Release: These poems explore passion, memory, and mystery in an extended meditation on a long, evolving relationship in a concise Tanka format. Buy on Amazon Choking The Moon New Release: This collection is true to the traditional Japanese form, yet pushes English language haiku and senryu into new and unexplored territory. Available on Amazon. Buy on Amazon talking with you in the dark In another haunting collection of lyrics that first appeared on social media, Robert Letters narrates four sequences of conversation. But these conversations are curiously one-sided, and the reader must decide who is speaking, and who, if anyone, is listening. Each short poem is an independent work, but also an integrated component in a set of mysterious patterns. Buy on Amazon Recipe for Garum Garum was a pungent fish sauce made in Roman times from the leftover parts of many different kinds of fish. These poems embody the pungent quality of garum in three sections: a series of lyrics that investigate domestic life; a long narrative poem, Canal; and a sequence of short poems, mostly haiku and tanka, that chronicles a year of a domestic life. Buy on Amazon Help Keep Out Project On February 16, 2015, I started posting a short poem every day on Twitter. Often the poems used Asian forms, or were derived from Asian forms. The title of the sequence is Help Keep Out Volumes 1-5. This project continued until October 22, 2019 resulting in a 1,700 peom series. Buy on Amazon Buy on Amazon Buy on Amazon Buy on Amazon Buy on Amazon Check out more information about the poetry of Robert Letters as well as other authors at Paucus Publishing Paucus Publishing

Nothing the Same Album: Make Me Believe © 2015 Robert Letters Em7 My daddy used to say that when tomorrow came Em7 Everything be different Nothing the same Em7 You can buy a new house you can change your name Em7 Everything be different Nothing the same CHORUS A7 (Nothing the same) You wake up in the morning E7 (Nothing the same) Mirror knows your face A7 (Nothing the same) It comes without a warning B7 You’re gonna wake up in {a brand new / the same old} place You can take a little pill speed up your brain Everything be different Nothing the same You can find a new woman fan your flame Everything be different Nothing the same CHORUS You can be a character in a video game Everything be different Nothing the same You won’t have to look at that thing you became Everything be different Nothing the same CHORUS INSTRUMENTAL BREAK CHORUS Make Me Believe by Robert Letters Released 11.19.15 Hondo Mesa Records BUY ALBUM

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