1. |
Broken Necks
02:46
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when i had a million arms
i would wrap them around all your body parts
try to keep away all that could do you harm,
try to keep out sickness keep you warm.
but every time the going got tough
one by one they were falling off
while you were breaking your neck trying to keep your head up,
i was breaking my neck just to stick it out for you
while you were breaking your neck trying to keep your head up,
i was breaking my neck just to stick it out for you
while you were breaking your neck trying to keep your head up,
i was breaking my neck just to stick it out for you
while you were breaking your neck trying to keep your head up,
i was breaking my neck just to stick it out for you
and i know that we'd hang out every day
if i wasn't 100 miles away
from our tadpoles gathering in the creek
and our baby birds learning how to shriek
all the eagles i still haven't seen
and the trees proudly alive and green
i could swear they are there just for you and me
whether friends or in love there's an indisputable beauty
but you were breaking your neck trying to keep your head up,
and i was breaking my neck just to stick it out for you
while you were breaking your neck trying to keep your head up,
i was breaking my neck just to stick it out for you
while you were breaking your neck trying to keep your head up,
i was breaking my neck just to stick it out for you
while you were breaking your neck trying to keep your head up,
i was breaking my neck just to stick it out for you
if the distance between us becomes too strong
i will saturate silence with your songs
'cause you'd rub my back 'til my skin smoothed out
smoother than the glass that the sea spits out
don't forget to take your shirt off, run into the water,
the birds are singing louder and the days are getting longer,
open up your hands and accept that this is ending,
nothing in this world is holier than friendship
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2. |
Quickly Forgotten
05:23
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when you were so close
your eyes looked like dinner plates
blue as the atlantic
and harsh as an earthquake
and you didn't smell good
but you didn't smell bad
but boy, did i ever feel like i had to
take care of you
take care of you
when we were so lost
the road felt like home to me
our souls on the asphalt
and feet stretched in front of me
and it didn't feel good
but it didn't feel bad
and boy, did i ever feel like i had to
take care of you
take care of you
take care of you
take care of you
and with my hands
dancing on those keys
i could feel your beat
pulsing right through me
and with your hot hands
on my red cheeks
you would scream and scream
saying "you're not free"
and it didn't feel good
but it didn't feel bad
and boy, did i ever feel like i had to
take care of you
take care of you
take care of you
take care of you
take care of you
take care of you
take care of you
take care of you
take care of you
take care of you
take care of you
take care of you
take care of you
(and my thought stick like dust
to you wandering sugar fingers
and my thoughts bruise and buckle
like a side full of stingers
and your song of death
is a minuet
your lighthearted tone
speaks of exposed bone
where the skin is peeling and rotted
and if we could go home
we would know this is dumb
and these thoughts would be quickly forgotten)
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3. |
Everything You Love
05:13
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your little nails, bitten back and snarling
speak volumes upon volumes, my little darling
out of reach of the light of day
in a veil of dirty lace
with a heart made of wood and a bruise on your face
when you were given a choice between fire and ice
i can see you now, clear as a bell
with your arms full of thorns and your heart like a well
holding your arms steadfast to your chest
a song in your throat and a tongue at rest
your eyes are searching boldly
for a stronger one to hold you
for a softer bed to warm you
for every man to swarm you
but if you could just wait patiently
i can see him standing in front of me
so hold your arms steadfast to your chest
a song in your throat and a tongue at rest
but everything you love will leave at best
for until you're alone you will know no rest
i still see you standing so solemn and cold
in a white dress and blindfold, knee-deep in the snow
with the birch trees just like swords
touching the sky in a silent horde
just like an army of your past strifes
frozen for a lifetime
i can see you now, clear as a bell
with your arms full of thorns and your heart like a well
holding your hands clenched to your chest
everything you love will leave at best
everything you love will leave at best
for until you're alone you'll know no rest
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4. |
I Admit I'm Scared
05:06
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i admit i'm scared
of a warm side of our bed
i tremble in the face
of your loneliness
and everything i think
should be buried in the ground
should be kept inside my head
but it's knit into your brow
i live inside your room
and if i reach out with my hand
the disturbance sends our things
crashing down upon my head
and everything i think
should be buried in the ground
should be kept inside my head
but it's knit into your brow
and everything i said
spewed like sparklers from my mouth
and everything i said
spewed like sparklers from my mouth
they looked pretty as they flew
but now they're useless and burnt out
and everything i think
should be buried in the ground
should be kept inside my head
but it's knit into your brow
and if i had a dime for every time i'm freaking out
we could fly around the world
or just get out of your parents' house
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5. |
Siren or Providence?
03:35
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walking toward a sunset
the sun walking toward the night
and i'm walking toward certain death
and a polluted sky full of neon light
what an intoxicating pink
and i don't even have time to think
why don't i want you?
and in a day it will be the same thing
again and again and again and again
and in a year it will be the same thing
i will wash again my soiled hands
what a ridiculous thing
and i don't even have time to think
why don't i want you?
and the train skipped all its stations
said "you've got to get out of this relationship
if you're being honest then i must
hold you to your biting lip
did you think you could say all that
and suffer no consequence?
now philadelphia is calling
is it siren or providence?
do you run away to freedom or bind your own hands?
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6. |
Glory
04:54
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in your hospital bed
the papery sheets are rustling
and maybe until you're dead
they won't take you seriously
is it for the best?
is it for the best?
is it for the best?
is it for the best?
the entire outside world
is scratching at your door
whistling by your windows
blaring through your blinds
in glory, glory comes the morning
with our love cupped in her palms
we praise her fleeting presence
with a plethora of psalms
we pray she might not squeeze too tight
and leave us for the morrow
to hold our love limp in our arms
then toss it in the barrow
is it for the best
is it for the best
is it for the best
yes it is
yes it is
yes it is
yes it is
if i could have my way
i'd put a bubble around you
i hope someone is in your bed
with smiling arms around you
it is for the best
it is for the best
it is for the best
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7. |
You Will Live
01:04
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8. |
Pocket Full of Posies
03:30
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our secret has become a child on halloween
costume and a basket full of candy
it knows what being scared is
but not how to be scary
it knows what being scared is
but not how to be scary
are you the cowardly lion
or the little thief?
are you the dancing bear
or thunder and lightning?
you know what being scared is
but not how to be scary
you know what being scared is
but not how to be scary
you know what being scared is (do wrappers on the ground lead you right back to me?)
but not how to be scary (does the smell of backseats remind you of me?)
you know what being scared is (when you changed your clothes did you change out of me?)
but not how to be scary (pocket full of posies, fall down next to me)
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9. |
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all in all i've been trying to say
i'd do anything to contain you
will your body fail today
or painstakingly sustain you?
i am married to your death
so i keep my arms outstretched
i am so afraid you'll die
it's the thorn that's in my side
every day the wind blows, the pollen flies
the sunshine tries to sting you
soft and gentle are your voice and your eyes
and everything that comes from in you
i am married to your death
so i keep my arms outstretched
i am so afraid you'll die
it's the thorn that's in my side
you cannot kiss it and it's gone
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10. |
Bow Without an Arrow
03:48
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hunter with your open eyes
a sheath with no arrows and a bow at your side
you would loose them, watch them fly
follow their direction with a confident smile
what a heart you've turned out to be
a little glow in the room at the party
it's summer in the city you chose
so don't go living in the shadows
if you just chip at the bark
patience brings a point that is so fatal and so sharp
you could close your eyes and shoot in the dark
if you could trust the wind to bring a steady arc
what a fiery heart you've turned out to be
a little glow in the room at the party
it's summer in the city you chose
so don't go living in the shadows
hush now, little archer, you can quit your worrying
a bow without an arrow can be such a pretty thing
such a simple object, a curved stick and a string
but how it fills a man with such potential energy
you could close your eyes and shoot across the dark
if you could trust the wind to bring a steady arc
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11. |
Frostration
03:55
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the moment we came back home again
was when you became mad again
all the trust we came into
blossomed like an early bloom
opened up its eyes and then
succumbed to a frosty death
for me, a home is relative
it is just the place where my body is
what i find to be sacred
is the place where my heart rests
if i could peel back my skin
and let you crawl in
that's where your home could be
a safe place you could come and leave
you opened up your eyes and then
succumbed to the frost just when
it was inconvenient (i'd keep your things and secrets safe in me)
but summer is coming (we don't have to see eye to eye on everything)
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12. |
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o, how my heart can fly when your smile has good intentions
and "hi" can mean the world to me
i know singing makes you shy when it's in front of me and my friends
but your singing means the world to me
how i tried to keep my cool when we disappointed you
you waxen wing, you foolish thing
and o, how i can still taste your tongue tied stare upon my face
you dirty look, you burning bush
so here i sit, come to rest some weight upon your little chest
you free-for-all, you wrecking ball
so here i stand, next to your bed, to lay waste to your healthy head
you spiderweb, you dance of death
you could even be so cold and leave me wondering where you've gone
you prickly frost, you courage lost
you could even be so mad you'd shake me by the shoulders screaming
you coward, you hummingbird
I screamed out how'd it get this bad? And the thunder answered back if you know not what you lack then you must unturn your back Your inside is overcast you are tethered to your past and it must feel like fucking hell to be a patchwork of yourself, a bunch of scraps thrown and sewn around your bones and though you're alone it's holding you too tightly. But Who are you? From where do you come? What do you believe in? Whom do you love?
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13. |
Kiss Me, I'm Irish
03:32
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the words i think are wrenched from me
once my mouth is open
and though i speak so quietly
you take haunted steps away from me
so all i can do
is stare at you
all i can do
is stare at my shoes
and when i go to a show
i expect it to be terrible
but when i go to your show
i know i'll bob my head alone
and though it may be arrogant
i like to imagine
it laden with strings
and all the words you're singing
floating above everything
and all i can do
is listen to you
i can't talk to you
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14. |
Folly
02:22
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folly
i was falling
i was taller than i wanted to be
swallowed, hollow
i was following
you were faster than a gelding
in my mind you're a crow, a spirit animal
i am wont to know
but i don't want to be responsible
molding
i was folding
your clothing in some kind of dream
loving
i was hovering
i was flipping, fleeting, doving
in my dreams you're a bathtub running
you are warm and tender
and bubbling
o, you are cold and bristling and struggling
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Gabby's World New York, New York
Gabby's World is the songwriting and production project of Gabby Smith.
If you want
merch, go to gabbysworld.lol and click SHOP!
photo by Gabby Smith
artwork by Kirini O.K.
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