She Don't Believe
© Gom Jabbar 2002

I don't believe in miracles
and I've never seen the light
time after time I get by
but it doesn't mean I'm right
it's not that I assume
that believers have more fun
it's just that I sometimes
get bored with seeing the sun
it only takes a bit of imagination
to remove the sky
but it helps when she's around
cause then i don't even have to try

R:
dear
never thought that angels are so near
for everyone to see
she's floating through the air
as if she don't believe in gravity I fear
that she's never gonna land on me

never thought that heaven is so near
never thought that heaven is so near

often I have thought that each day
brings more of the same
and the scientists tell me
there's mostly water in the rain
but I don't take everything
for granted when I do
and just because I think of
something doesn't mean it's true
can't you see i'm in pain
can't you see i'm insane I ain't
I ain't small enough to be contained
and I spill over into you
and I spill over into her
I know I can be a sentiment
I know I can be absurd

R:
dear
never thought that angels are so near
for everyone to see
she's floating through the air
as if she don't believe in gravity I fear
that she's never gonna land on me

(repeated)

never gonna land on me
never gonna land on me...


Bury a Dream
© Gom Jabbar 2005

I've seen
a struggling writer
set his book on fire
I've seen
a gifted guitarist
kiss the strings goodbye
the sidewalks
are cluttered with stars
it may never happen for you
but if you do it
for a fix of fame then
either way it will destroy you
the glitter blinds you
to what's inside you
sometimes you

R:
have to bury a dream
just to find out who you are

I have been
sacking this world
for the grains that will inspire
and as long as I can
utter a word
this lust will not expire
sometimes I can't
carry a tune
but it carries me instead
and we may never travel
past the moon but
it will be all that we've said
tread wildly
it's inside me
sometimes we

R:
have to bury a dream
just to find out who we are
we need to bury our dream
just to find out where we are
just to find out who we are
our dream
dream


Let Me Save the World
© Gom Jabbar 2006

i was a
brisk and dreamy child
fencing monsters in the mist
craving every treetop
but now my
every dream is filed
by some trite illusionist
selling it back to me
piece by piece

let me save the world
the way i did
in 1989
with just a bow and arrow



history
is orphaning us all
pocket knives and magic staves
there's no such war as
the one we're ready for
but don't despair
cause when our story's told
the dross disintegrates
and we'll shine as if the
sun and the moon's
on our plate


Thanks For Wearing Me (Out)
© Gom Jabbar 2005

you smell of peaches on the way back home
I'm trying not to get ideas
we never shine in the dark anymore
only when your friends can see us
inertia slithers into the room at night
smothering the day's excitement
and I say just before you turn the light off

thanks for wearing me
(out) thanks for wearing me
(out) thanks for wearing me

wake up tired sip the coffee cold
your face is a plastic orchid
my words will not console
any more than you can iron your forehead
aphasia scoots into the back seat a child
smearing all the colors of traffic
and I say as we stare into the red light

thanks for wearing me  
(out) thanks for wearing me
(out) so gracefully
(out) so tastefully
(out) so graciously
(out) like the sliding sea
(out) so practically
(out) of fashion though I may be
(out) so faithfully
(out) so hatefully

one more time
thank you for wearing me out
thanks for wearing me


It Hurts But
© Gom Jabbar 2005

this town of whispering haunts
has nestled in my eyes
its river washes nothing at all
just takes it all in stride

seasons change
seasons block the view
too many leaves have fallen
will it rain
with any certitude
a favor I can call in

it hurts but
i can't look away
yes it burns but
i can't turn away
away
always ends up here

how to explain this tree
knows everything
of many you's I've courted
it's okay except I'm
here with you
and the film of now's distorted

I phase between what maybe
was and maybe is
your voice will have to guide me
what all I've seen
I will forget
and bear my burden lightly

it hurts but
i can't move away
it burns but
i can't run away
oh yes it hurts but
i can't turn away (no no)
and it burns but
i can't run away
away
always ends up here


Nicotine
© Gom Jabbar 2002

remember when we met at the club that night
you looked trapped in the laser light
I walked over to set you free
little did I know that the prey was me
you never called me back not once
a cat doesn’t eat every mouse it hunts
hanging outside your favorite bar
fools with a crush never wander far
are you gonna come to my place tonight
am I gonna see you in broad daylight

I can see that you don’t want to talk
wrapped in a shroud of cigarette smoke

R:
encased in a nicotine taste
enwrapped in a nicotine draft
entombed in a nicotine doom
I’m gliding...

was I ever more than a thrill
which you left when you had your fill
I never knew it could be so sweet
to be ripped by your sharpened teeth
now you know why I just can’t leave
you’ve got another bitter heart to reave
because I’m too far gone to care
I’m a mote in your smoke-filled hair
what’s it gonna take for you to come with me
you should kill me if you’re done with me
isn’t this the way that the predators walk
through a jungle of cigarette smoke

R:
encased in a nicotine taste
enwrapped in a nicotine draft
entombed in a nicotine doom
I’m riding...


Mystress
© Gom Jabbar 2004

she's got a shifty tongue
and a fancy reading list
but has no clue how
beautiful she is
pours herself a glass of wine
and my mind gets
drenched in mist
so real that
she must exist

in solitude
she's that kind of girl
and in the nude
she's that kind of girl

R:
I need a mystress
to wrap my mind around
or else I'm useless
first storm will tear me down

oh she can run like the moon
across a lake  
her talents take control
before she wakes
love that hasn't burned
will never end
imagination
is a bitter friend

R: repeated

need a mystress
need the mystery
need a mystress
to wrap my mind around
need a mystress
first storm will tear me down

in solitude
she's that kind of girl


Fly in Stone
© Gom Jabbar 2005

guess I willed it so
to be haunted but never had
you contained me so much I
had to make myself feel bad
certain colors I don’t see
there’s no telling which they are
unawakened or too complete
most intimate but mostly far
if it takes a different person every time
you wonder if it’s worth it
ran out of strength to redraw the lines
the playground’s deserted
well you know

in the highest tide we sink alone
travel though we might in two
you and I could fly even set in stone
sadly that’s no longer true

guess I dreamt it so
often I’ll never stand to watch it unfold
it’s way too beautiful and then some
tales are only good untold
you can hate me as best you can
that’s the formula you seek
it’s just that lately I’m caving in
would you like to have me weak?
if it takes a different person every time
well it’s got to be worth it
cause you know

in the highest tide we’re sailing home
travel as we do in twos
you and I could fly even set in stone
try now to believe it’s true

in the highest of tides we’re sailing home
travel as we do in twos
you and I can fly even set in stone
try now to believe it’s true


Give Me (Not Yet)
© Gom Jabbar 2005
 
you call my lifestyle a mistake
cause you crashed your car
some years ago
and regretted every dent
you believe I'll never break
if I didn't do any of the things
you did to end up spent
but maybe a wasted mind
is life as usual
and maybe a shattered heart
is the only heart to be had
so let me shed my own skins
let me earn my own blues
yes it's true I'm confused
but all I ask of you is
 
R:
give me chastity
unbroken clarity
a smooth reality
enchanted sanity
but don't give them now
I don't need them yet
but don't give them now
I don't need them yet
 
and to think I was afraid that
it'll never be my turn
as if you can contain
the baby in a cradle
and the ashes in an urn
maybe no control
is just life as usual
maybe an endless fall
is the same as flying high
so let me wear my own shoes
and commit my own sins
yes it's true I'm confused
but all I ask of you is

R: repeated

don't be so unforgiving

R: repeated


Doubled Over Half Alive
© Gom Jabbar 2006

he takes another hit
his green eyes simmer down
says it's like skiing in the foam
says it's like having found
outside the world begins
in its several thrills
but he's the bobbing needle
he's the quiet kill

there's no hunger he said
no other lover he said
doubled over
half alive

she strokes her mantelpiece
and finds a speck of dust
says it's an unrelenting war
she's always known she must
her family has fled
noone's clean enough
she's the mopping willow
she's the lashing dove

there's no hunger she said
no other lover she said
doubled over
half alive

it takes you
it fills you
it makes you
warm inside
consumes you
and leaves you
it makes you
want to die
 
they circle back to bed
two bees in an apple bud
said it's like braking in snow
said it's like drawing blood
the muted sounds of spring
peel off their fading skins
they're the crossing sickles
they're the naked sins

there's no hunger he said
no other lover she said
doubled over
half alive


Curse the Belated
© Gom Jabbar 2004

i had a girl once more and once more I lost
you can say we were doomed from the head start
what started out a droll ended up a dross
looks like I've trampled my next heart
it's always easy to predict what lies ahead
all you have to do is stop pretending
but if it seems I've read it all somewhere
why couldn't I rewrite this ending?

R:
you learn before they can
tell you why
curse the belated
understanding
you teach
your most comfortable lie
so try not to sound too
condescending
 
I've read this page before but with a different heart
had another proud vessel to sail in
and I've been told the score but then I had no part
it's not the same when you're doing the failing
it's always hard to tell what lies behind
like a fairytale it seems invented
and it's impossible to reach a younger mind
to tell them how their story ended

R: repeated

Brighter Shade
© Gom Jabbar 2005

she woos a passerby
for the futures at
his fingertips
he thinks his brief delight
will always dwell
her ginger hips

she tells him
you’re my sensational first
he tells her
you’re my insatiable thirst
they fall in-
debted to each other’s lies
soap bubbles on the rise

R:
But I
still hope to find a
brighter shade of love
And I
still hope to find a
brighter shade a
lighter shade of love

she thinks he’s
traded in his
kingdom for the couch
he barely
feels her lips
sliding down his pouch

she’s been taught to
fear divorce
he’s been taught to
drown remorse
they have seven children
in the name of God
for lack of any other name

R:
But I
still hope to find a
brighter shade of love
Though I
don’t know what else to
make the damned thing
make the damned thing of

let’s not settle
for the comfort zone
the jagged rock’s
just beneath
I heard it in your
monotone
we’ll both win if we
admit defeat
honestly

she told me
you’re my sensational first
I told her
you’re my insatiable thirst
we fell en-
amoured of each other’s tales
it only hurts when it fails

R: repeated


Baby Burn
© Gom Jabbar 2004

I have a friend says she must
believe we're more than dust
she's travelled far braved the rain
could not have been in vain
but late at night
she shivers in her bones
still a child
in a world of sticks and stones

R:
baby burn it's a phase
that can a lifetime easy
I'm not so sure we ever grow
you can learn to embrace it
but it won't be easy
there's always something you don't know
baby burn

there are those who will tell you
the truth is in their jars
and then charge a pretty penny
to run you through their farce
so stay alert
and take your own advice
we're all dirt
but there is fire in our eyes

R:
baby burn it's a race
that will last a lifetime easy
I'm not so sure we ever won
you will learn to give a chase
it but it won't come easy
there's always something left to own

and so you've come out of nothing
but the starlit sky
you'll defeat all your windmills
and forget to ask why

R:
baby burn it's a blaze
that'll last a lifetime easy
though I'm not sure we ever glow
you see through the haze
but it won't be easy
there's way too much you need to know
you can learn to embrace it
but it won't be easy
there's precious little here to know


Cheap Chardonnay
© Gom Jabbar 2004

little Ms. Metaphor is having a blast
my education serves me at last
entangled yourself in stage fright
colossal waste of candle light
I’ve no use for you as a friend
you’re too bitter sweet
no use for you as a friend
I’m tired of being discrete

R:
I have no patience for
cheap chardonnay
come on and take me home tonight
no inclination for
friendly decay
so don’t let me out of your sight

this cynical vaudeville is now closed
don’t call or write until I’m your most
regardless of what you think
is the issue with me
you can’t be part of the cure
so stop trying to be
I’ve no use for you as a friend
you’re too bitter sweet
no use for you as a friend
I’ve no more passion to bleed

R: repeated

I have no patience for
cheap chardonnay
come on and make me
at home in your mind
no inclination for
friendly decay
so don’t leave me
crippled and blind


Nalei Mi
© Gom Jabbar 2004

Nalei mi ruino vino da piina
Che si mi na surceto legnala

Pei pile iarko
pei
Lei bile zharko
lei


Cold (I Had You)
© Gom Jabbar 2002

days
crawling under a broken sun
I am dazed
by the stroke of the pendulum
I lost faith
that I’ll ever fall in love again
the colors fade
washed away by the crimson rain
time
was never a friend of mine
it’s a crime
the way it robs me blind
and now my mind
is frozen as blackest ice
I need to find
a safer way to cast the dice

R:
(cold) can’t find a place to
rest my head no more
(cold) I can’t find a trace
of the love I’m looking for
(cold) can’t find a place to
warm my heart no more
(cold) can’t find the kind of peace
that I had before
I had you

love
is like a thief at night
it walks off
with the coming of daylight
and I knew
that you were going to leave me
it was you
who always gave in completely
so I lost
for having played too well
and the most I can hope for
is to fry in hell

R: repeated


Nothing But Time
© Gom Jabbar 2004

drivin' around on my own
a bit knackered and oh so alone
got a suitcase packed in the back
just in case I decide to never get home

slow down
I’m going too fast
at this speed
it's not gonna last
all the streets
are not long enough
what I need
is to run over love

R:
and the road glistens
in the night-time rain
yes I chose this and
I've got no-one to blame
had it all for the season
when you were all mine
but in this swift sudden winter
I’ve got nothing but time
I’ve got time

to get over your eyes
I just have to remember your lies
I’ve undone the ties
and hammered all my dreams
down to size
see me doing my best to let go
with Sondre Lerche
on the stereo

I should have known to
sever my heart
when you told me this story was
bound to get old

but I couldn’t slow down
I was going too fast
at this speed
I knew it won’t last
and the street
was not long enough
at this speed
I crashed into love

R:
the road glistens
in the nighttime rain
yes I chose this and
I’ve got nothing to gain
gave it all for the season
when you were all mine
now it's gone in the breeze and
I’ve got nothing but time
I’ve got time

all I need is to
run over love

R:
and the road glistens
in the night-time rain
I foresaw this and
I’ve got no-one to blame
drive away from the quiet house
where you were all mine
in this swift sudden winter
I’ve got nothing but time
I’ve got time