Portrait

Music and Lyric by David W. Jacobsen
Copyright 2000. All Rights Reserved.

The play ended and the curtain fell
The actress, she strained to hear the noise
Of faint applause in half empty halls

She's played this part for countless nights
And every show, she's further from
Just what it was she came looking for
Back when she was too naive
She used to feel so alive
Now it seems her faith has died


The painter, he adds the final touch
His canvass is put up on display
The figures he forms through shadows and light

The people, they pass and few will see
Enigmas intrigue if understood
But they race by too caught up with lives
Made up of such everyday things
No time to think what they mean
His work will remain unseen

Nobody wants a failure
Nobody needs a failure
Nobody loves a failure

The dancer, she ends and then she bows
Her movements were flawed and out of time
Her chance to prevail, and she just collapsed

She steps to the stage to try again
But there's no chance to make amends
The verdict is in, the jury has gone
They've left her alone with defeat
There was no chance to reply
Her moment just passed her right by

Nobody wants a failure
Nobody needs a failure
Nobody loves a failure

The last note was played, the cadence came
The singer had made his sermon through
A room of neglect that punctured his stance

A melody that somehow he knows
Could never mean what it does to them
Isolation, in a crowded room
They never look up from their tea
As he's chanting every verse
The silence feels just like a curse


The last paragraph he finally wrote
The writer relaxed and felt relieved
The birth of a tale that no one will read

And all of those nights, and all his toil
Spent so that he could be ignored
His words merged to bring a hero to life
In worlds where nobody will go
A bridge that will never be crossed
A whole universe will be lost

Nobody wants a failure
Nobody needs a failure
Nobody loves a failure