Goodbye Gabriela

I first posted this in February 2010. I revised it a little. Converted a B section to a chorus, and changed some lyrics in the 2nd half of verse 2. I’ve been wanting to write a song that had a sense of place.

Goodbye Gabriela
by Rob Roper 4th Draft March 29, 2011

Gabriela was pretty
though she always looked down
She was like Tucson
a grown-up little town
I should have left them
ten years ago
But the saguaros and the Catalinas
just won’t let me go.

On 4th Avenue
College girls drink
Spending daddy’s money
with fake I.D.’s
But Gabriela won’t be there
Her dad works in the mines
And she lives on the southside
where they drink beer, not wine

Chorus:
I should rent a truck
and pack up my stuff
Goodbye Gabriela
Goodbye Catalinas
But the sun is too hot
in Tucson today
so I’m just looking for some shade.

Out in the desert
Snowbirds play golf
The winter’s too nice here
It’s making me soft
Oh give me four seasons
Winter snow and all
Where the trees
are pretty in the fall

(Chorus)

Gabriela, my dear
Summer’s almost here
The Palo Verdes
have lost their yellow leaves
Oh you’ll probably call me
sometime in June
Then you’ll disappear
like a summer monsoon.

(Chorus)

Oh, the sun is too hot
in Tucson today
and I’m just looking for some shade.

2 thoughts on “Goodbye Gabriela

  1. Hi there,

    I found your blog randomly! I enjoyed your song “Goodbye Gabriela”.

    I suppose there’s two ways to look at the desert, a place to be trapped in a desperate situation or a place that will burn away the things holding you back.

    But, I agree with your song, sometimes you just have to go and sometimes you just can’t. Sometimes they’re for the same reason.

    All the best!

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