I write jazz songs for myself - four of the below will soon appear on my next CD - but they are here for anyone who'd like to sing them! As a reader and writer of poetry and student of literature, I primarily consider myself a lyricist, and solid, good, intelligent lyrics are what draw me to a song.

Click on a title for the lyrics. Click on "Lead Sheet" to open or download the lead sheet as a PDF (you'll need Acrobat or Acrobat Reader to read it, of course) and on "Demo" to hear or download a demo MP3. Not all lead sheets and demos are up yet, but they will be soon. If you need another key, contact me and I can transcribe it.

If you perform the song, have the courtesy to cite my name. For a mechanical (recording) license, please send me an email.

All songs are protected by copyright and registered with ASCAP.

Between the Lines: Medium Bossa
(Music by Christopher Morse: Now Standards Music)

NO TIME FOR THE BLUES
Music and Lyrics © 2007 by Faith Gibson

Phone is ringin’, day in and day out,
From the backyard, the kids always shout,
People always wantin’ something, got no time to lose.
That’s why I ain’t got no time for the blues.

Seems all my life, love just passed me by,
There’s times I just want to lay down and cry,
Then someone comes a-knockin’, the baby needs new shoes,
And most times, there’s just no time for the blues.

Bridge:
Some nights I spend just beaten by the sadness,
Don’t even have the strength to say a prayer,
But, I can’t climb down the dark staircase to anguish;
I’m too busy dealing with despair.

When I think I’m at the end of my rope,
The moon appears like a herald of hope.
The ache that lives inside me I know I can’t refuse,
Yet, the beauty leaves me no time for the blues.

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WHAT WOMEN WANT
Music and Lyrics © 2008 by Faith Gibson

Verse:
I don’t play hard to get.
I’m always there for you,
But if I turned my back
What would you do?
Would you shrug and carry on,
Believe our fate foregone,
Or would you try to win me anew?

I’m waiting for a man to pursue me,
Who will woo me
Come what may,
For whom my fascination
Quells every reservation,
Who’d follow me into the fray.

I’m longing for the man who will court me,
Who would escort me,
Who says that I
Am the one that he will spar for,
Will go and catch a star for
In the furthest reaches of the sky

Bridge:
Too afraid I might lose you,
I never put you to the test.
How much stronger could I love you
If you’d place me high above you.

I’ve never had a man who’s adored me,
Humbly implored me
To gauge his worth,
Who’d write for me a song,
Would follow me headlong
To the very ends of the earth.

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BETWEEN THE LINES
Music © 2008 by Christopher Morse; Lyrics © 2008 by Faith Gibson

The lines we write are waves on a painted sea,
Countless horizons between you and me,
The staff of a song we’ll never complete;
Parallel, endless, never to meet.

Misunderstood, misspelled, misspent;
Lines we can’t cross in letters unsent,
Riddled with unspoken pauses and sighs.
Longing to read the truth in your eyes.

Bridge:
Between the lines our longing sleeps imprisoned,
Bound by iron bars of circumstance.
Between the lines my lonely heart is destined
To never know what might have been romance,

The lines we write are waves on a painted sea,
Countless horizons between you and me,
The staff of a song we’ll never complete;
Parallel, endless, never to meet.

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LET ME SING!
Music and lyrics © 2008 by Faith Gibson

Let me sing! I don’t think I’ll disappoint you.
Let me sing some old-time melody,
Or I’ll take a brand new song,
Make you want to sing along.
All you gotta do is let me sing!

Let me sing! Get a big band or a trio.
Let me sing! Doesn’t matter where they are,
Copenhagen or Osaka,
Kansas City or Managua,
I can get there if you’ll let me sing.

Bridge 1:
Ideal for any venue, for your plain or fancy menu
I’ll fit right in your seedy joint or Carnegie Hall.
Your jazz fans and your blues cats, the ladies and the rug rats,
A hundred percent guaranteed to please them all!

(Instrumental repeat of A)

Bridge 2:
If you’re angry at the plumber and your day has been a bummer
The tunes that I’ll be crooning will make your heart dance.
You’ll feel like blowing bubbles at your economic troubles.
The pretty girl across the room will melt at your glance.

Let me sing! I am here to entertain you.
Let me sing! It’s what I was born to do.
I don’t care much for fame
But, you won’t forget my name
All I ask is that you let me sing!

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BE A MAN, BABY
Music and lyrics © 2008 by Faith Gibson

I don’t need another clown takin’ up my time,
I don’t need another lush drinkin' all my wine,
Don’t need another chump who’s gonna need to be fed.
Be a man, baby, give me breakfast in bed.

I don’t need a fool to tell my how to live my life,
Don’t need that overrated title they call “wife,”
I’m all grown up and I got some sense.
Be a man, baby, burn your picket fence.

Bridge 1:
I'm a sympathetic woman with a heart of gold,
And a pleasant conversation never leaves me cold.
But if we sit here for hours and just talk about you,
Honey, I got more important things to do!

If you’re just another sap who needs a loving nurse,
If you’re thinking you can slip your fingers in my purse,
I’ve had it up to here with boys who never grew up.
Be a man, baby, sign the pre-nup.

Now I sure wouldn’t mind a strong hand to hold,
But I don’t want to sit and watch you grow old.
I don’t need another knight who wants his ego shined,
But since I’m a woman I can change my mind.

Bridge 2:
We all have baggage that we lug around,
We’ve all had love on the rebound.
Don’t want to be your soul mate or your better half.
All I need’s a lover who can make me laugh.

I’m sick and tired of songs about Night and Day,
Won’t take My Foolish Heart and throw it away,
‘Til a man comes along who knows what I need,
Man enough to love a woman built for speed.

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