8 July 2011

Gajamay - For Good

As teenages we idolised uniqueness, everything has to be cool and wicked. Growing up in a boarding school meant we had to learn quickly, master interpersonal skills early and treasure each other's company. We made up secret languages, turned some insignificant streets into regular hang outs, made up code names and abbreviations. One day, someone said that "gajamay" is a word used in Africa for "we are friends", of course we adopted it straightaway, only close friends had the honour to be greeted with gajamay. I never found out the truth about the word but ten years on, when these close friends are now all scattered around the world. Keeping gajamay helps to remind me of this closeness we once had.

Wicked - For Good
I'm limited
Just look at me - I'm limited
And just look at you
You can do all I couldn't do, Glinda
So now it's up to you
For both of us - now it's up to you...

I've heard it said
That people come into our lives for a reason
Bringing something we must learn
And we are led

To those who help us most to grow
If we let them
And we help them in return
Well, I don't know if I believe that's true
But I know I'm who I am today
Because I knew you...

Like a comet pulled from orbit
As it passes a sun
Like a stream that meets a boulder
Halfway through the wood
Who can say if I've been changed for the better?
But because I knew you
I have been changed for good

It well may be
That we will never meet again
In this lifetime
So let me say before we part
So much of me
Is made of what I learned from you
You'll be with me
Like a handprint on my heart
And now whatever way our stories end
I know you have re-written mine
By being my friend...

Like a ship blown from its mooring
By a wind off the sea
Like a seed dropped by a skybird
In a distant wood

Who can say if I've been changed for the better?
But because I knew you

Because I knew you
I have been changed for good

And just to clear the air
I ask forgiveness
For the things I've done you blame me for

But then, I guess we know
There's blame to share
And none of it seems to matter anymore

Like a comet pulled from orbit (Like a ship blown from its mooring)
As it passes a sun (By a wind off the sea)
Like a stream that meets a boulder (Like a seed dropped by a skybird)
Halfway through the wood (In a distant wood)

Who can say if I've been
Changed for the better?
I do believe I have been
Changed for the better

And because I knew you...
Because I knew you...
Because I knew you...
I have been changed for good...

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