⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ UK Songwriting Contest Commended 

Nightmares Always Win by Tony Gibbs
All rights reserved © ℗ 2025 Tony Gibbs

Late at night when the shadows breathe,
Something’s creeping at the edge of the screen.
Could be a film I watched at half-past two,
Or the ghosts of things I thought I outgrew.

Close my eyes and I’m falling fast,
Into stories where the danger lasts.
But the curtain lifts when the light breaks in—
Still I swear that I felt cold hands on my skin…

But every fear is only borrowed,
Gone by sunrise, gone tomorrow.
Still they chase me, whispering,
“Try to run… Nightmares always win!”

Nightmares always win—
Till I turn the lights on.
Till I face the monsters
And I prove that they’re wrong.
Nightmares always win—
Till the morning breaks through.
But they fade like smoke
When I stand and push back at the truth.
Nightmares always win…
Until I win too.

Walking streets I thought I knew,
But the daylight flickers—now the sky’s gone blue.
What if dreams became real everywhere?
What if all my fears decided to play out there?

I’m wide awake but the shadows grow,
Faces rising from the undergrowth.
Every heartbeat’s pounding like a drum within—
Feels like midnight found a way to pull me back in…

But every fear is only borrowed,
Gone by sunrise, gone tomorrow.
Still they chase me, whispering,
“Try to run… Nightmares always win!”

Nightmares always win—
Till I turn the lights on.
Till I face the monsters
And I prove that they’re wrong.
Nightmares always win—
Till the morning breaks through.
But they fade like smoke
When I stand and push back at the truth.
Nightmares always win…
Until I win too.

You hear that?
Footsteps limping up the hall…
Shadows scratching on the wall…
But fear’s a trick, a midnight sin —
And nightmares only win
If you let them in.

Nightmares always win—
Till I turn the lights on.
Every demon falters
When the fear is long gone.
Nightmares always win—
Till the morning breaks through.
Nightmares always win…
Until I win too.

They vanish with the dawn,
Yeah, they vanish with the dawn…
Nightmares always win—
Until I switch the light back on.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Nightmares Always Win

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ UK Songwriting Contest Highly Commended (Love Songs category)

This is Not Love by Tony Gibbs
All rights reserved © ℗ 2025 Tony Gibbs

It’s midnight in the kitchen, and the coffee’s gone cold,
Your coat’s on the back of the chair like a story we never told.
I’m staring at the floor where our shadows used to fall,
Wondering when the space between us
Turned into a wall.

Your silence fills the room like a radio out of tune,
I keep trying to fix the static,
But the song just won’t resume.

’Cause this is not love—
It’s a habit we kept holding.
Two hands on a rope that’s slowly unfolding.
You call it forever, but we barely show up.
If this is all we’ve got,
Then this is not love.

Streetlights paint the curtains with the colour of our doubt,
We talk in measured moments, terrified to shout.
I used to think your needing me meant I was enough—
But being needed isn’t being wanted,
And that truth is tough.

I whisper to the mirror, “You can let this go,”
’Cause staying for the memories
Is the hardest “no” I know.

’Cause this is not love—
It’s a promise we keep faking.
Two hearts in a bed that’s always shaking.
You call it forever, but we barely show up.
If this is all we’ve got,
Then this is not love.

I stayed because the quiet scared me more than the pain,
I thought passion was the thunder
Hidden inside the rain.
But now I see the sunrise on the cases by the door—
I’m walking out to find a heart
That won’t make me feel unsure.

’Cause this is not love—
And I’m done pretending.
I’m choosing the truth, even if it’s an ending.
You call it forever, but we never showed up.
’Cause this is not love.
No, this is not love.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ This is Not Love

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ UK Songwriting Contest Highly Commended 

Unbreakable Pulse by Tony Gibbs
All rights reserved © ℗ 2025 Tony Gibbs

Unbreakable Pulse

I was quiet for too long,
Played it safe, bit my tongue,
Now the mirror shows a stranger
Who’s tired of playing dumb.
You tried to write my story
In invisible ink,
But I learned how to see
What you hoped I wouldn’t think.

Now my heart’s in stereo,
Beating louder than the fear,
I’m done with fading slow —
The future starts right here.

 I’ve got that unbreakable pulse,
Running wild through the cracks and walls.
Every scar’s just proof I’m alive —
You can’t dim what refuses to fall.
Unbreakable pulse, unbreakable pulse.

Used to dance around the fire,
Just to feel a bit of heat,
Now I’m walking through the flames
Like they’re cobblestones beneath my feet.
Every “no” became a spark,
Every doubt — a neon sign,
I’m the thunder in the dark
That says the storm is mine.

No more shadows at my back,
I’m electric in my skin,
I’m the comeback you can’t track —
Watch the revolution begin.

I’ve got that unbreakable pulse,
Running wild through the wires and walls.
Every scar’s just proof I’m alive —
You can’t dim what refuses to fall.
Unbreakable pulse, unbreakable pulse.

You said I’d fade out quietly,
But you tuned into my frequency —
Every beat’s a battle cry
For the girl who refused to die.

I’ve got that unbreakable pulse,
Feel it rise as the lights explode.
Every scar’s a crown that I wear —
You can’t break what’s stronger than hope.
Unbreakable pulse… unbreakable pulse!

Keep it beating, beating slow —
Unbreakable… pulse.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Unbreakable Pulse

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ UK Songwriting Contest Commended 

Happy Funday by Tony Gibbs
All rights reserved © ℗ 2025 Tony Gibbs

Yeah… roll out the bed, boots on the ground,
Rushden to Eton — best crew in town.
Come on then… let’s get buzzing.

Stumble out the door with a half-awake grin,
Need a little kick just to get my day in.
Follow that smell down the high street side,
Happy Funday's brewin’ up the morning pride.

Cup in my hand, and the world feels right,
Steam in the air like a neon light.
Rushden buzz with an Eton beat —
Feels like the weekend every day of the week.

“Start your day the Happy Funday way…”

Wake up, shake up, coffee in your hand,
Happy Funday's crew are like nobody in the land,
Rushden buzz, Eaton vibe on repeat,
Find your Happy Funday on any day of the week!

Got a double-shot smile and a baggy-beat bounce,
Life gets brighter with every ounce.
People in the queue say “morning, mate,”
Feels like a rave in a walking state.

From the first hot sip to the last cool drip,
Got the whole town vibin’ on a caffeine trip.
No need for Friday when the groove’s this sweet —
We’ve got Funday magic every day on the street.

Start your day the Happy Funday way…

Wake up, shake up, coffee in your hand,
Happy Fundays crew are like nobody in the land.
Rushden buzz, Eton vibe on repeat,
Find your Happy Funday on any day of the week!

Go on then — get in line, make your day…
proper Happy.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Happy Funday

Strangely Hopeful by Tony Gibbs
All rights reserved © ℗ 2025 Tony Gibbs

I’ve been walking round the edges
Of the pieces left behind
All the letters I never posted
Still flicker in my mind
But tonight the sky is glowing
In a colour I can’t name
And your voice cuts through the twilight
Like it somehow knows my name

I don’t know why the fear is lighter
When you’re standing next to me
But the hurt I held for ages
Starts to loosen, starts to leave

And I’m strangely hopeful
Like the sun broke through too soon
Like a story that I thought was done
Found another truth
Yeah, I’m strangely hopeful
Didn’t think I’d feel this way
But you’re lighting up the quiet parts
I’d forgotten were awake

I was learning how to listen
To the echoes in my chest
Every promise felt like thunder
Rolling far beyond my breath
But you caught me when I stumbled
On a thought I’d tried to hide
And your patience felt like summer
In the middle of July

I don’t know why the night feels softer
When you’re breathing close to me
But the shadows I’ve been sheltering
Start to loosen, start to leave

And I’m strangely hopeful
Like the sun broke through too soon
Like a story that I thought was done
Found another truth
Yeah, I’m strangely hopeful
Didn’t think I’d feel this way
But you’re lighting up the quiet parts
I’d forgotten were awake

Maybe love is just returning
To the room we left behind
Maybe healing is a doorway
Only crossed when we feel blind
But we’re stepping into something
That feels fragile, brave, and new—
And I’m suddenly believing
What I never thought was true

Yeah, I’m strangely hopeful
Like a window opened wide
Like the night gave up its bitterness
For one soft moment of light
Oh, I’m strangely hopeful
Didn’t think I’d feel this way
But with you I see the silver thread
Running through the darkest days

I’m strangely hopeful
Strangely hopeful
And I think I’ll stay

Strangely Hopeful

First Day Back by Tony Gibbs
All rights reserved © ℗ 2025 Tony Gibbs

Coffee steaming in my hand,
Same old street yet something new.
I’m walking slower than I planned,
Letting daylight filter through.
The world kept spinning smoothly
While I learned to breathe again—
Now I’m stepping through the doorway
Like I’m meeting an old friend.

It’s my first day back,
And the sky feels wider.
Footstep’s lighter,
Finding my pace.
And if the past feels heavy,
I won’t let it track—
I’m here, I’m steady,
It’s my first day back.

I’m not the same as when I left—
And maybe that’s the point.

It’s my first day back,
And the sky feels wider.
Footstep’s lighter,
Finding my pace.
And if the past feels heavy,
I won’t let it track—
I’m here, I’m steady,
It’s my first day back.


First Day Back

Open Water by Tony Gibbs
All rights reserved © ℗ 2025 Tony Gibbs

Sitting in a waiting room
With anxiety in my throat,
Words I never dared to speak
Tremble inside my coat.
But healing starts in whispers,
Not in loud dramatic scenes—
Sometimes bravery is quieter
Than anyone believes.

And I feel like open water,
Still but getting clearer.
Seeing my reflection
Start to look like someone stronger.
I’m learning I deserve the space
To feel and breathe and face the fear—
I’m stepping into open water here.

I sit with all my questions,
Let them settle where they land.
Some rise like restless sparrows,
Some feel heavy in my hands.
But every truth I’m learning
Comes in fragments, soft and small—
And maybe healing isn’t sudden—
Maybe it’s a gentle call.

And I feel like open water,
Still but getting clearer.
Seeing my reflection
Start to look like someone stronger.
I’m learning I deserve the space
To feel and breathe and face the fear—
I’m stepping into open water here.

Step by step,
I’m letting go of all the old unspoken rules.
Breath by breath,
I’m learning how
To give myself some room.
I’m not fixed,
But I’m not broken—
I’m unfolding like the tide.


I feel like open water,
Wider than I was before.
Every truth I dare to name
Becomes an unlocked door.
And though the waves are rough sometimes,
The shore is drawing nearer—
I’m learning how to love my life—
In open water, clearer.

Open Water

Phantom Fading by Tony Gibbs
All rights reserved © ℗ 2025 Tony Gibbs

Flicker of lights on a hollow stage
Fading screams from a younger age
The ghosts of his glory still haunt the air
Now no one remembers or pretends to care

Once a king in white hot flame
What remains is a fading name

A ghost stumbling through his own ruins
Once golden he's now lost in illusion
He was bright, now burning fast
He won’t make it, he won’t last
A phantom fading in his own past.

Whispers of awe turned to weary sighs
The world is tired of his empty cries
“He won’t make it to thirty" they coldly say
While he destroys another day

Both ends lit
The candle bends
No beginning no amends

A ghost stumbling through his own ruins
Once golden he's now lost in illusion
He was bright, now burning fast
He won’t make it, he won’t last
A phantom fading in his own past.

Phantom Fading

Light on the Pavement by Tony Gibbs
All rights reserved © ℗ 2025 Tony Gibbs

I take the long way home again,
Past the windows glowing gold.
People laugh in little rooms,
And I feel half young, half old.
Your memory’s still beside me,
Like a coat I used to wear—
I hang it on the evening
And pretend it isn’t there.

But the air feels lighter
Than it did this time last year,
And every streetlamp flicker
Says I’m still standing here.

So I walk on,
Light on the pavement,
Heart rearrangin’
The shape of your name.
And I breathe in
All that I’m savin’,
Losing you slowly,
Finding myself again.
I’m not broken—
Just a little changed.

I thought the nights would drown me
In the remains of goodbye,
But silence grew around me
Like a clearing open sky.
You were all my constellations—
Now the stars feel wide and new.
Funny how the quiet
Teaches things I never knew.

And the world moves faster
Than the weight you left behind,
But every step gets softer
When I choose to make it mine.

So I walk on,
Light on the pavement,
Heart rearrangin’
The shape of your name.
And I breathe in
All that I’m savin’,
Losing you slowly,
Finding myself again.
I’m not broken—
Just a little changed.

Maybe love is something
That the leaving clarifies—
I can miss you in the morning
And still meet the sunrise.

So I walk on,
Light on the pavement,
Heart rearrangin’
The shape of your name.
And I breathe in
All that I’m savin’,
Losing you slowly,
Finding myself again.
I’m not broken—
Just a little changed.

Light on the Pavement

Silver Rain by Tony Gibbs
All rights reserved © ℗ 2025 Tony Gibbs

This is the time of silver rain,
That falls at dawn when the world is grey.
The sun has given up on us,
The grass no longer grows in mud.
A single flower bows its head,
Morning comes and we’re not yet dead.

After another fitful sleep
The cold of day makes proud men weep

But still we pray, for we believe,
One day we’ll learn again to dream,
We’ll dream a dream of silver rain,
A dawn chorus will be arranged,
In the ice cold silver rain.
We’ll wash our sins and tears away.
In the time of silver rain,
There will be peace and love again.

The silver rain falls down on us
It always has and always would
The silver rain stays the same
What we do is what needs to change

For still we pray and we believe
We’ll sleep one day and learn again to dream
We’ll dream a dream of silver rain
A dawn chorus will be arranged
In the time of silver rain 
I’ll wash my sins and tears away
In the time of silver rain
We’ll find peace and love again

Silver Rain

The Tide Takes Me Back by Tony Gibbs
All rights reserved © ℗ 2025 Tony Gibbs

You move like a storm on the water,
Quiet but pulling me under.
I swore I’d never drift back to your waves,
But here I am, shaking like thunder.

Your shadow moves slow on my skin,
A warning I never quite heed.
Every time I think I’m out of the deep,
You change the current I breathe.

I feel you rising, rising,
Like a ghost in the break of dawn.
I try to fight it, fight it—
But the pull is already strong.

And the tide takes me back to you,
Even when I swear I’m through.
You’re the ocean I keep falling into,
Blue and wild and cruel.
Oh, the tide takes me back to you—
What am I supposed to do?
You’re the storm I was never meant to out-run,
But I run straight to you.

I trace every truth in the salt air,
Promises drowned in the foam.
You’re danger dressed up in a whisper,
And somehow it feels like home.

I know how the story will end—
You leave me washed on the shore.
Still, I dive in again and again,
Hoping you’ll want something more.

I feel you rising, rising,
Like a secret I can’t let go.
Try to deny it, deny it—
But you already pull me below.

And the tide takes me back to you,
Even when I swear I’m through.
You’re the ocean I keep falling into,
Blue and wild and cruel.
Oh, the tide takes me back to you—
What am I supposed to do?
You’re the storm I was never meant to out-run,
But I run straight to you.

Maybe one day the waves will break
And leave me somewhere safe.
But tonight your voice is calling me—
And I go willingly,
Lost in your undertow.

’Cause the tide takes me back to you,
Pulling me like it always do.
I’m a sailor with no compass, no truth,
Just the ache of wanting you.
Oh, the tide takes me back to you—
Tell me, what am I supposed to do?
You’re the storm I was never meant to out-run,
But I run straight to you.


The Tide Takes Me Back

UK songwriter. Featured songs have been produced thanks to the talent of Cadence Road, Ryan Arthur, Donna Hazelton, Esther O'Connor, Tim O'Connor, Graeme Duffin, Sandy Jones, John Harley Weston, Kim Copeland, Erin Caldwell, Rachel Williams, Tim Buppert, Pete Dymond, Marcie Summers, Stuart Brayson, Buddy Hyatt, Jim Hyatt, Brian Fullen, Glen Duncan, Bob Britt, Wayne Killius, James Mitchell, Doug Grieves, and Ray Curtis. 

All music and lyrics © Tony Gibbs unless shown otherwise. 

2025 onwards: use of Artificial Intelligence -
Lyrics and creative direction: Tony Gibbs.

All creative work is developed through a human-led process where AI acts as a drafting partner, not a replacement. My role is to provide the emotional truth, lived experience and artistic direction. AI is used only to accelerate exploration, not to author the final point of view.

Some songs have been developed using an AI-assisted creative workflow. Every idea, story and emotional direction originates from my lived experience and/or my own imagination. AI helped me shape structure, phrasing and flow — the final voice, choices and meaning are entirely mine.

All intellectual property for the final lyrics remains with the human author.

The Tide Takes Me Back

Tony Gibbs

Related tracks