Jazz Vocalist, Songwriter, Composer, Lyricist, Trombonist, Educator

Here are some lyrics that I've written.

Welcome

Cafe Du Monde

Lyric & Music by Gary Brocks,

Verse 1

Clouds, the sky was filled with clouds,
that billowed in the air.
Air that hung in stillness,
as I passed you sitting there,
in the Cafe Du Monde
on a Novembers day
our eyes met for a moment,
then we found some words to say.

Verse 2

We walked along the levee,
to pass the afternoon.
Later on, you took my hand,
beneath a crescent moon,
I held you in my arms,
and for a moment there,
we kissed beneath a street lamp,
then I followed you upstairs.
Then, the rain came,
and in the lightenings light,
the lovers shadows flickered on a wall,
and faded with the night.

Verse 3

Two people met, at first as strangers,
we parted much the same.
Time and life continued on,
these images remain,
of the Cafe Du Monde,
and of an autumn day,
when we were trembling
hardly knowing what to do or say.
Then, the rain came,
painting a midnight breeze,
and for a moment all that mattered
was what lovers see


A sudden rain...
The flick'ring light...
A delta breeze...
The starry night...

A sudden rain...
The flick'ring light...
A delta breeze...
The starry night...

The starry night.

The Garden Of Time

Lyric by Gary Brocks, Music by Jesse Elder
 
Verse 1
 
Why do I have this haunted feeling?
Something is moving in the shadows.
Working secretly tides flow,
as night steals past the day.
A voice is singing to  silence,
a thousand petals falling windblown,
the still earth will lie strange, unknown,
a tolling bell brings on the night.
 
In the fullness of a falling tear,
In the garden of remembered time,
In the silence sung before the song,
Life will find you there,
Life will find you there.
 
Verse 2
 
What moves the fallen leaves to swirling?
Couples are speaking words of love songs.
In the hour of the dawns glow 
a rose will scent the night. 
Moonbeams will stir the  waving waters,
while feathered wings caress the breezes,
and your heart sings to kiss the dark,
a falling star has shed it’s light...
 
In the fullness of a falling tear,
In the garden of remembered time,
In the silence sung before the song,
Life will find you there.
 
With the turning of the heaven's sky,
With the dancing of the seasons by,
With the yielding of your lover's sigh,
Life will find you there,
Life will find you there.

Jay Jay's Pennies

Excerpt of lyric by Gary Brocks
for J.J. Johnson's head on
Pennies From Heaven
(Blue Note recording
"The Eminent Jay Jay Johnson, Vol. 2")
 
I thought I heard thunder
and then it started to rain,
but, each day is a wonder
come rain or shine, all the same.
Have you ever thought that the birds in the trees
are singing a song just to have a song sung on a breeze?
Each clap of thunder that brings on the rain
will drum for their song a rhythmic refrain.
Don't run from the thunder,
don't go and hide from the rain.
A cloud you may be under
but the weather will change.
Feel the rain fall. Let the drops call.
Anytime you hear the rolling of thunder boom,
it's just a refrain, don't fear the rain when it calls;
like change from the sky it will fall.

Guest at Mark Murphy's gig at Sweet Rhythm, New York NY