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Not Waving but Drowning

Music and Lyric by David W. Jacobsen
Copyright 2021 - 2022. All Rights Reserved.

You think someone doesn't need saving
You never knew I wasn't waving

You never saw my confidence caving
You never knew I wasn't waving

Further out than you thought
Where dreams sometimes they just rot
I tried to make it known

But I could never tell you
The things inside that I would crave to show
The places in the dark where I would go

And all that time I needed saving
If only you knew I wasn't waving

To false g-ds we're all slaving
If only you knew I wasn't waving

And through all my larking
I hid my slow embarking
From where I'd not return

The soft and faintly moaning
All that time atoning I would feign
I never could erase a hidden stain

If only you knew I wasn't waving
You never knew I wasn't waving?

I stayed in dark and shadows
Afraid the light might expose
A weakness there inside

The world seemed cold and vacant
I never found a home I could confide
Though all my life I sought a leading guide

The things inside that I would crave to show
The places in the dark where I would go
All that time atoning I would feign
I never could erase a hidden stain

Validation we're all craving
So we hide when we're not waving

Do good things come if you're behaving?
Playing the role, pretend you're waving

You think someone doesn't need saving
You never knew I wasn't waving

Notes:

This was inspired by the unexpected suicide of an acquaintance who seemed to have his life in order. It is often the ones who seem together that are really falling apart. The people who won't ask for help sometimes need it the most. The song is losely based on a poem by Stevie Smith.

From the album Imprint
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