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4:11 | 
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from Nanci Griffith - The Dustbowl Symphony (1999)
(Nanci Griffith)
Oh, it sat in this corner for many a year Through fireside parties, of tears and cheers The hands of James Hooker flew over its keys And God know who who else 'fore it came to me When I was alone I could be Julie Gold It rang her "From A Distance" just like it was my own I'd pretend I've the voice of Beth Nielsen Chapman I wrote "Late Night Grande (Hotel)" With just my right hand happenin' Chorus Now its keys rent the air in its new place to stand A gift for the children who'll play right and left hand Just a 1937 pre-war Kimball Oh, the grace of that three-quarter grand Oh, the grace of that three-quarter grand Oh, the grace of that three-quarter grand Oh, it's lonesome in this corner at five am I'd called Harlan Howard, only he'd understand All of those melodies that came to be Mornings in that corner ... that piano and me I wish for a left hand like Glen D. Hardin I could play Jimmy Webb or perhaps Randy Newman Ah, it's a blessing it never met Jerry Lee's feet Just the hands of those children Is all this Kimball needs I've let it go ... let it go That piano I bought from Al Jones long ago I've let it go, I've let it go I smiled as it rolled out the door The songs that we wrote, ah, not for note That piano will always know Chorus And God bless the child Who's got a song Who's got a song Who's got a song |
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3:04 |
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from Nanci Griffith - The Loving Kind (2009)
I've heard enough from pundits, I've heard our leaders speak
I tell you now I'd rather talk to the people in the streets 'Cause you don't know someone until you've looked them in the eye And that gave me a purpose and every reason why I drove myself across America from sea to shining sea From the rocky coast of Maine to the mighty redwood trees From the plains of North Dakota to the Gulf of Mexico It's good to know that hope's alive again across America I spoke to folks in New Orleans with hammers in their hands There's a waitress in Missouri who wants her own health plan And to the workers up in Michigan in all the auto plants There were working men and women saying yes, we can Your checks and stocks and banks can't take our hope away You can't foreclose on hope, nobody has to pay I drove myself across America from sea to shining sea From the rocky coast of Maine to the mighty redwood trees From the plains of North Dakota to the Gulf of Mexico It's good to know that hope's alive again across America It's good to know that hope's alive again across America |
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3:57 |
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from Nanci Griffith - Other Voices, Other Rooms (1993)
I've been walkin' in my sleep
Countin' troubles 'stead of countin' sheep Where the years went I can't say I just turned around and they've gone away I've been siftin' through the layers Of dusty books and d papers They tell a story I used to know And it was one that happened so long ago : It's gone away in yesterday Now I find myself on the moutainside Where the rivers change direction Across the Great Divide Now, I hear the owl a-callin' Softly as the night was fallin' With a question and I replied But he's gone across the borderline The finest hour that I have seen Is the one that comes between The edge of night and the break of day It's when the darkness rolls away Twice |
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from Nanci Griffith - There`S A Light Beyond These Woods (2002)
(Nanci Griffith - Maggie Graham)
Southern man, you sure are pretty, Got a smile to still the city And Lord, you know, you got those sleepy eyes Alabama sweet-talking baby Calmed the heart of a lonely lady You kept me flying high And the leaving easy And it's Dallas in the rain And I was dreaming. October winds still blowing, Lord You know the song were flowing From a broken-hearted lady by the wayside Listen to my song You kept it ringing clean and strong You held me like an angel to confide in And I tried to make you home But I was dreaming. Lord, I guess you just ain't home That damned old telephone Is trying hard to help me find the lines here Wish that you could understand Why I love the other man He gives me truth and reason, I believe in. Alabama soft-spoken blues again Alabama soft-spoken blues again, Early morning fog is rolling in, Time for leaving. Alabama soft-spoken blues. |
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from Nanci Griffith - There`S A Light Beyond These Woods (2002)
(Nanci Griffith - Maggie Graham)
Southern man, you sure are pretty, Got a smile to still the city And Lord, you know, you got those sleepy eyes Alabama sweet-talking baby Calmed the heart of a lonely lady You kept me flying high And the leaving easy And it's Dallas in the rain And I was dreaming. October winds still blowing, Lord You know the song were flowing From a broken-hearted lady by the wayside Listen to my song You kept it ringing clean and strong You held me like an angel to confide in And I tried to make you home But I was dreaming. Lord, I guess you just ain't home That damned old telephone Is trying hard to help me find the lines here Wish that you could understand Why I love the other man He gives me truth and reason, I believe in. Alabama soft-spoken blues again Alabama soft-spoken blues again, Early morning fog is rolling in, Time for leaving. Alabama soft-spoken blues. |
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from Nanci Griffith - Flyer (1994)
I saw you on the avenue
You looked so tired and a little blue You were in your Sunday best Your father's tie upon your chest Hey, you always stood me still Hey, you always will In the corridor of one hotel We once crossed paths I recall it well Voices in an empty hall Slamming doors to hearts that fall Hey, you always stood me still Hey, you always will Always will Always will Hey Always will Always will Hey Love has been my passer by I stood too still to catch your eye But there out on the avenue In your father's tie I'll remember you Hey, you always stood me still Hey, you always will Hey, you always stood me still Hey, you always will Hey, you always will |
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2:53 |
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from Nanci Griffith - The Dustbowl Symphony (1999)
I saw you on the avenue
You looked so tired and a little blue You were in your Sunday best Your father's tie upon your chest Hey, you always stood me still Hey, you always will In the corridor of one hotel We once crossed paths I recall it well Voices in an empty hall Slamming doors to hearts that fall Hey, you always stood me still Hey, you always will Always will Always will Hey Always will Always will Hey Love has been my passer by I stood too still to catch your eye But there out on the avenue In your father's tie I'll remember you Hey, you always stood me still Hey, you always will Hey, you always stood me still Hey, you always will Hey, you always will |
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4:34 |
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from Nanci Griffith - Hearts In Mind (2005)
The touch of your hand will let me know
You take me in and let me go If not for love why would we meet How is it done two into one so easily We're lifted up by angels Higher than the world Strong enough to leave it Bound to learn the secrets Angels never heard Close enough to heaven Above the rain Darkness cannot reach us Let the angels teach us Only love remains We're lifted up by angels You understand yet never say How every plan would fade away If not for love where would you be Ashes to dust water to rust away from me We're lifted up by angels Higher than the world Strong enough to leave it Bound to learn the secrets Angels never heard Close enough to heaven Above the rain Darkness cannot reach us Let the angels teach us Only love remains We're lifted up by angels We're lifted up by angels Given wings to fly Leave the night behind us Trust the light to find us Even as we rise We're lifted up by angels Close enough to heaven Above the rain Darkness cannot reach us Let the angels teach us Only love remains We're lifted up by angels Higher than the world Strong enough to leave it Bound to learn the secrets Angels never heard We're lifted up by angels |
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2:40 |
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from Nanci Griffith - The Complete Mca Studio Recordings (2006)
You can cuss the daylights out of this pale winter moon
And we can ponder every reason why your true love was untrue You can cry your eyes out, I've got a shoulder here for you And every day your broken heart's gonna turn a lighter shade of blue [Chorus:] Cause anyone can be somebody's fool Oh look at me, I once was a fool for you So you know it's true Anyone can be somebody's fool Down in this lonely town there's a lovely silver frost So we can stop and have another round for the true love that you've lost It's gonna take a little time before your emptiness grows old And underneath that silver frost you've still got a heart of gold Maybe when this winter's over You're gonna walk knee deep in clover And your heartache around the corner You're gonna feel brand new |
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from Nanci Griffith - Flyer (1994)
Let me say this one more time
Just in case you didn't hear it right I'd put it in my own words So I'll know it's understood You sent me out on a limb You brought me home... Sent me back again ...Out on that limb one too many times You should've known I'd learn to fly You can have anything on earth you need Anything that breathes you can surely still its wings You can have everything on earth you see Anything on earth you need but me You can have anything you need but me now Anything on earth you need but me Well I'm shattered as the broken glass Around the wreck out on the tracks You had the very heart of me in your hands with honesty You rolled it up within your sleeve like a beacon Then you left it out In the cold and the rain I've picked it up and brought it home again You can have anything on earth you need Anything that breathes you can surely still its wings You can have everything on earth you see Anything on earth you need but me You can have anything you need but me now Anything on earth you need but me Well it's time to move the lights are green After all it's love we need And if it doesn't dance and breathe Then it doesn't grow it seems My headlights catch you with my love upon your sleeve You're standin' still in the middle of this road It's time to pass you by and go You can have anything on earth you need Anything that breathes you can surely still its wings You can have everything on earth you see Anything on earth you need but me You can have anything you need but me now Anything on earth you need but me You can have anything you need but me now Anything on earth you need but me Anything on earth you need but me |
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3:11 |
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from Nanci Griffith - Other Voices, Other Rooms (1993)
(G. P. Cook - Ralph Roland)
Are you tired of me my darling? Did you mean those words you said? That have made me yours forever Since the day when we were wed Chorus Tell me, would you live life over Could you make another wife? Are you tired of me my darling? Answer only with your eyes Do you ever rue the springtime When we first each other met? How we spoke in warm affection Words my heart can ne'er forget Chorus Do you think the blooms departed From the cheeks you thought so fair? Do you think I've grown cold hearted Beneath the load of woman's cares? |
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3:32 |
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from Nanci Griffith - Clock Without Hands (2001)
(John Stewart)
Black boy in Chicago Playing in the street Not near enough to wear Not near enough to eat Don't you know he saw it He saw a man named Armstrong Walk upon the moon Young girl in Calcutta Barely eight years old The flies that swarm the market place Will see she don't get old Don't you know she heard it On that July afternoon She heard a man named Armstrong Had walked upon the moon He heard a man named Armstrong Had walked upon the moon The rivers are getting dirty The wind is getting bad Wars and hate are killing off The only earth we have But the world all stopped to watch it On that July afternoon To watch a man named Armstrong Walk upon the moon To watch a man named Armstrong Walk upon the moon To watch a man named Armstrong Walk upon the moon And I wonder if a long time ago Somewhere in the universe They watched a man named Adam Walk upon the earth |
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4:15 |
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from Nanci Griffith - Hearts In Mind (2005)
They both wrote poetry
In fact, that was how they met He was a Yorkshire man in Cambridge She was from Massachusetts They spoke and they fell in love They kissed and picked daffodils She came across the ocean Just to bid her heart goodbye The hawk next to his goddess They were glorious to see Back when Ted loved Sylvia Close friends disapproved Said they ought to wait They did not care with all that said And married none the less They traveled and they taught A life of academia Typewriters and cocktails Angry verses and sad pleas Dutiful wife and mother The poet behind her man Back when Ted loved Sylvia The tempests that were howling And tearing them apart Were forces that had been in place To wreck them from the start So she stayed home with the kids Collecting poems in a jar He had his lectures and soon a mistress And left her all alone Why did she end it all? Was he just to blame? There's only two that know for sure And neither one remain I don't need an answer I prefer to read between the lines Back when Ted loved Sylvia Back when Ted loved Sylvia |
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from Nanci Griffith - Once In A Very Blue Moon (2002)
Mamma's in the kitchen rattlin' pans and the baby cries,
on the TV news, somebody died He was a crazy biker in a motorcycle ridin' daredevil show, in Merry England, oh, ... twenty seven years old He was tryin' to break the record, for jumpin' over cars, he was the champ He fell a little bit short ... oh, hit the ramp This is the story, sad and it's gory of Robin Winter-Smith He was a very brave man if you get my drift 'Cause he waved to the crowd, headed down the runway like a man possessed, Robin Winter-Smith ... I guess he did his best I make a livin' a-playin' these songs and I hang out in bars I play my guitar ... oh, but honey, I don't jump over cars Mamma's in the kitchen rattlin' pans and the baby cries, on the TV news ... somebody died He was a crazy biker in a motorcycle ridin' daredevil show, in Merry England, oh, ... twenty seven years old |
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from Nanci Griffith - The Last Of The True Believers (2002)
I'm goin' back where my garden blooms all year
Where the wintertime speaks softly in the fallin' rain I'm goin' back to my green eyed lover there and we will dance along the banks of old Lake Pontchartrain Oh, I've grown pale beneath the streets of Montreal Where the voices ring like bells in French-Canadian And the rivers stand imprisoned till the thaws I am alone at night and dream of my own Pontchartrain Chorus: Take me to the station... I am late to catch my southbound train Oh, I'm gonna call my cousin Libby she will be waiting by the tracks when I roll in I'm gonna roll across America just to stand beside my Pontchartrain again These old rails shake like thunder through the night Soon I'll have my green eyed lover's arms to comfort me Oh, I can see my cousin Libby by his side her hair will flow in waves like on Lake Pontchartrain (Repeat chorus) I'm goin' back where my garden blooms all year Where the wintertime speaks softly in the fallin' rain I'm goin' back to my green eyed lover there and we will dance along the banks of old Lake Pontchartrain yes, we will dance along the banks of old Lake Pontchartrain we will dance along the banks of old Lake Pontchartrain and here comes the train |
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2:52 |
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from Nanci Griffith - The Complete Mca Studio Recordings (2006)
Gonna wake up crazy to the cry of the trains on Beacon Street
So far from home, so far from love, so far from a friend in need And all I need is a heart to hold and a good night's sleep And all I have is the cry of the trains as they bid farewell on Beacon Street [Chorus:] And here I am again I'm in the company of strangers It's a cold winter wind that sings a song You say your love is lost I'm not the kind who lingers on So it's farewell to your heart Cause when the love is gone, it's gone. I never did feel lonely till I looked in the mirror and all I could see Was a little bit of you in the corner of an eye in need of a good night's sleep And all I need is to close my eyes to find my dreams And all I had was the cry of the trains as we bid farewell on Beacon Street [Chorus] Gonna wake up crazy to the cry of the trains on Beacon Street So far from home, so far from love, so far from a friend in need And all I need is a heart to hold and a good night's sleep And all I have is the cry of the trains as they bid farewell on Beacon Street And all I had was the cry of the trains as we bid farewell on Beacon Street And all I had was the cry of the trains as we bid farewell on Beacon Street Bid farewell to a lonely heart on Beacon Street |
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4:10 |
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from Nanci Griffith - Hearts In Mind (2005)
Here's a photograph of you in Woody Hermann's band
It was 1952, you were such a handsome man One of you at a memorial with all of Hoagy's clan And then you and my mother, walking hand in hand And she was beautiful and you played the piano You were beautiful upon the keys The world was beautiful when the two of you were dancing Beautiful to me You took a photograph of us, your ladies liberty My hair was in the breeze then I played Carnegie Grandmother read the sonnet of Emma Lazarus She's only halfway in this picture, you took of all of us And she was beautiful and you played the piano You were beautiful upon the keys The world was beautiful when the two of you were dancing Beautiful to me You were a father to this lonely child though we are not related You taught me how to write these notes upon a page You were a soldier for your country in two of our wars You played piano all your life and you are beautiful And she was beautiful and you played the piano You were beautiful upon the keys The world was beautiful when the two of you were dancing Beautiful to me And you are beautiful to me Beautiful Beautiful Beautiful ... |
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2:43 |
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from Nanci Griffith - Hearts In Mind (2005)
I dreamed of Louisiana
And a night in Lafayette We had breakfast with Susanna We were young and wild and left What's different here Than in that dream and in reality Is we weren't afraid to fail in love And we all believed in the dream Before, before I dreamed of Manhattan In a time before this war It was snowing down on Bleeker Street It was before you were a star What's different here Than in that dream and in reality Is we weren't afraid to fail in love And we all believed in the dream Before, before Now everything is twilight It's a time too dark to see It's fear of being what we were And pondering the dream Then I dreamed of Texas And the Gulf Coast shores I dreamed of who we used to be And the hope we had before What's different here Than in that dream and in reality Is we weren't afraid to fail in love And we all believed in the dream Before, before |
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4:03 |
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from Nanci Griffith - Hearts In Mind (2005)
In 1914, this ball was at war
It went from Belgium on through Ireland The Congo, then back home This big blue ball of war spun on it's own Spinning history in lines of blood When many souls fell off And we all ride on, this big blue ball of war Souls with tickets through the veil, we all ride on And we all ride on, this big blue ball of war We choose to spin around and ride This big blue ball of war Almost a century the blood has flowed We've killed our men of peace around this ball And refused to hear their ghosts We spend our destinies in deeds of hate Humanity upon this ball Is just a bloody fall from grace And we all ride on (We all ride) This big blue ball of war Souls with tickets through the veil We all ride on, and we all ride on (We all ride) This big blue ball of war We choose to spin around and ride This big blue ball of war A reformation just might save us all A voice of harmony and open heart Where the women teach the song These men of evil deed can be proven wrong If we join hand to hand with Abraham So not a soul falls off And we'll all ride on (We all ride) This big blue ball of war Souls with tickets through the veil We'll all ride on, and we'll all ride on (We all ride) This big blue ball of war We'll choose to spin around and ride This big blue ball of war We'll choose to spin around and ride This big blue ball of war |
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5:18 |
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from Nanci Griffith - Other Voices, Other Rooms (1993)
Oh I'm sailing away, my own true love
I'm sailing away in the morning Is there something I can send you from across the sea? From the place where I'll be landing? There's nothing you can send me, my own true love There's nothing I'm wishing to be owning Just carry yourself back to me unspoiled From across that lonesome ocean Oh, but I just thought you might want something fine Maybe silver or of golden Either from the mountains of Madrid Or from the coast of Barcelona If I had the stars of the darkest night And the diamonds from the deepest ocean I'd forsake them all for your sweet kiss That's all I wish to be owning Oh, I might be gone a long ol' time And it's only that I'm asking Is there something I can send you to remember me by? To make your time more easy passing? How can, how can you ask me again? Well it only brings me sorrow Oh, the same thing I would want today I would want again tomorrow Oh, I got a letter on a lonesome day It was from his ship a-sailing Saying, I don't know when I'll be coming back again It depends on how I'm feeling If you, my love, must think that away I'm sure your mind is a-roaming I'm sure your thoughts are not with me But with the country where you're going So take heed, take heed of the western wind Take heed of stormy weather And yes, there is something you can send back to me Spanish boots of Spanish leather |
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from Nanci Griffith - Winter Marquee (2005)
Oh I'm sailing away, my own true love
I'm sailing away in the morning Is there something I can send you from across the sea? From the place where I'll be landing? There's nothing you can send me, my own true love There's nothing I'm wishing to be owning Just carry yourself back to me unspoiled From across that lonesome ocean Oh, but I just thought you might want something fine Maybe silver or of golden Either from the mountains of Madrid Or from the coast of Barcelona If I had the stars of the darkest night And the diamonds from the deepest ocean I'd forsake them all for your sweet kiss That's all I wish to be owning Oh, I might be gone a long ol' time And it's only that I'm asking Is there something I can send you to remember me by? To make your time more easy passing? How can, how can you ask me again? Well it only brings me sorrow Oh, the same thing I would want today I would want again tomorrow Oh, I got a letter on a lonesome day It was from his ship a-sailing Saying, I don't know when I'll be coming back again It depends on how I'm feeling If you, my love, must think that away I'm sure your mind is a-roaming I'm sure your thoughts are not with me But with the country where you're going So take heed, take heed of the western wind Take heed of stormy weather And yes, there is something you can send back to me Spanish boots of Spanish leather |
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3:19 |
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from Nanci Griffith - The Complete Mca Studio Recordings (2006)
Where are you going there?
With your suitcase by the back porch stairs With my heart in your hand In this cold December wind again The cafes and bars are closed The Christmas lights are veiled in snow Tell me, where are you going? My brave companion of the road [Chorus:] It seems to me that you are lonelier Than I've ever seen you be Oh, it's plain to see That you've gone crazier Than you ever thought you'd be When the lights go down And the dance floor is empty And the crowd is going home I will be waiting For my brave companion of the road Some days come up roses Some days just come and go Some nights are so ruthless That you can't recall the day before This love has seen better days Than home for these holidays Cause this love has miles for sense of place Oh, my brave companion of the road [Chorus] Tell me, where are you going? My brave companion of the road |
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3:16 |
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from Nanci Griffith - Other Voices, Other Rooms (1993)
(Tom Paxton)
It's a long and dusty road It's a hot and heavy load And the folks I meet ain't always kind Some are bad and some are good Some have done the best they could Some have tried to ease my trouble in mind Chorus And I can't help but wonder where I'm bound Where I'm bound I can't help but wonder where I'm bound I've been wandering through this land Just doin' the best I can Tryin' to find what I was meant to do And the people that I see Look as worried as can be And it looks like they are wonderin',too Chorus And I had me a buddy back home But he started out to roam And I hear he's out by Frisco Bay And, sometimes, when I've had a few His old voice comes ringin' through And I'm goin' out to see him some old day If you see me passin' by And you sit and wonder why And you wish that you were a rambler,too Nail your shoes to the kitchen floor Lace 'em up and bar the door Thank the stars for the roof that's over you |
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from Nanci Griffith - Poet In My Window (1982)
He is from the work of a Southern writer
Where everyman's a fighter Where the strong survive And the weak move north to rest He had lines of silver and hands that delivered Me down the river To drift away alone I will never understand the heart of a lonely man And why my own wheels are gonna carry me Far from his gentle hands Baby, I can't come home I've been away now just too damn long Oh, and I can't love wrong No I can't love wrong late night when the bars are empty And my liquor's been plenty And the fiction read Rests heavy on my tongue I miss the sound of his dreaming I can't believe I am leaving All that I ever wanted Because I can't love wrong |
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3:00 |
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from Nanci Griffith - Other Voices Too (1998)
(Tom Russell)
In the hills of Montana There's a timber wolf howlin' The rangers are prowlin' For a woman alone She'd run away from an Indian lover He'll never recover She turned him to stone Chorus She drank Canadian whiskey Pure blended whiskey She drank it like wine Her eyes were the color of Canadian whiskey Pure blended whiskey So light brown and fine Twenty years later I heard of a woman She's living alone Up by Yellowstone Creek And old Trapper John Brings her cases of whiskey Canadian whiskey He says she never will speak Chorus (Twice) |
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3:43 |
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from Nanci Griffith - Clock Without Hands (2001)
(Nanci Griffith)
I am a clock without hands I'm walking through the midnights Counting all the moments Of the loves I've left behind Crying on the shoulders of the days I've not forgotten now I am frozen in time Like the battles of the soldiers Left displaced of time Where their tears still fall Loves that wreck out on the track Far beyond my looking back to recall I'm just a clock upon the shelf Without hands to give the time of day For love at all Chorus I am a clock without hands No one understands this That when the autumn comes I see no reason for a fall Spring can fail to move me With its tulips and its clover Now the time for love is over I am a clock without hands I'm just tickin' and that's all I recall a time When love still had the power To reach inside this clock Where my hands held a dream The innocence of passion And the words of Saint Teresa chiming in And I recall the faith Of the love of my life And the loosing of my hands Which he took with him when he died I'm crying on the shoulders of his love That I'm remembering now It's been ages since this heart has ticked a beat of love So I've forgotten how Chorus |
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2:42 |
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from Nanci Griffith - The Complete Mca Studio Recordings (2006)
My bags are waiting in a cab downstairs
I've got a ticket in my pocket says I'll make it out of here And I came by here just to tell you good-by I can see it in your face, you don't want to know why I made up my mind late last night That I would leave your city behind Oh, and love is not in question When you're holding the answer In your cold heart and your closed mind You've got a cold heart and a closed mind Out in these streets these people are angry Well, they push and shove one another aside Well, I worked from the heart and you worked for the money But I paid the price for your will to survive I made up my mind late last night That I would leave your city behind Oh, and love is not in question When you're holding the answer In your cold heart and your closed mind You've got a cold heart and a closed mind Chicago roars like a midwest hurricane I see that storm in your eyes One of these mornings when you're making your way Just gonna wash you out with the tide My bags are waiting in a cab downstairs I've got a ticket in my pocket says I'll make it out of here And I came by here just to tell you good-by I can see it in your face, you don't want to know why I made up my mind late last night That I would leave your city behind Oh, and love is not in question When you're holding the answer In your cold heart and your closed mind You've got a cold heart and a closed mind |
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3:45 |
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from Nanci Griffith - Other Voices, Other Rooms (1993)
Flipped into the wind
Like the ashes of her cigarette He got scattered thrown on the breeze As he tried to forget He lost all his heat And his heart never will be the same He got lighter than air But he'll only come down in the rain Strung out and hung out to dry Laughin' under the line It's not such a dignified place But he really don't mind He says with his feet on the ground He'd have nothin' to say Claims he likes it up there And he'll only come down in the rain Chorus: Comin' down in the rain Washin' outta the sky Loaded down with the pain There just ain't no way to fly You can read him as clear As the wall where he once wrote his name It was right next to hers But it'll only come down in the rain Burnin' himself out on a limb Like a leaf in the fall He blazed for awhile Now he's feelin' all dried up and small The colors all gone Disappeared, near as quick as it came He says he can't stay up But, he'll only come down in the rain (Repeat chorus) You can read him as clear as the wall Where he once wrote his name It was right next to hers But he'll only come down in the rain |
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2:42 |
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from Nanci Griffith - Clock Without Hands (2001)
If I came back to the land of cotton,
Would you love just me? Old loves lost are ne'er forgotten: That's the way it's supposed to be. Are you short or are you long? Are you easy to see? Are you weak or are you strong? Makes no never to me. All the ballerina sees when her world's on fire, Is where she puts her feet. If she burns her toes, she'll just jump higher, Never skip a beat. I've been good most of the time, Since you last saw me. You come 'cross my mind from time to time, Now look at me. I'm standing at your door with my heart in your hands. Ain't you gonna ask me in? If you say: "No", I'll understand, dear, And never come south again. If I came back to the land of cotton, Would you love just me? Old loves lost are ne'er forgotten: That's the way it's s'posed to be. |
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3:28 |
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from Nanci Griffith - The Loving Kind (2009)
If I came back to the land of cotton,
Would you love just me? Old loves lost are ne'er forgotten: That's the way it's supposed to be. Are you short or are you long? Are you easy to see? Are you weak or are you strong? Makes no never to me. All the ballerina sees when her world's on fire, Is where she puts her feet. If she burns her toes, she'll just jump higher, Never skip a beat. I've been good most of the time, Since you last saw me. You come 'cross my mind from time to time, Now look at me. I'm standing at your door with my heart in your hands. Ain't you gonna ask me in? If you say: "No", I'll understand, dear, And never come south again. If I came back to the land of cotton, Would you love just me? Old loves lost are ne'er forgotten: That's the way it's s'posed to be. |
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from Nanci Griffith - Once In A Very Blue Moon (2002)
Oh, I used to wish I was a hard line taker ... and they'd say,
"Six to one a half dozen'll break her", 'till I fell in love with a young man who sang the blues Oh, bless my daddy, he warned me well He'd whisper in my ear and say, "Now look out, gal ... there's always a ne'er do well gonna call you the fool" He said, "you'll never learn to fish on a borrowed line you'll never learn to write if you're walkin' 'round cryin' and it's a pity that you're lover died young, but ... you'll never get tired of livin' alone". So, now I dream of the lover that I don't know It's safer this way 'cuz I don't have to go ... oh, and he won't come ... so nobody goes away Sometimes I wish for the warmth of his hand take a look in these eyes and understand I'm just a little too old to be a-learnin' the rules of the game He said, "you'll never learn to fish on a borrowed line you'll never learn to write if you're walkin' 'round cryin' and it's a pity that you're lover died young, but ... you'll never get tired of livin' alone". Oh, maybe I could take him to Mexico We'd kick our heels in the warm cloudy gulf He'd sing a song about the weather in the Poconos; this lover that I don't know Then two hearts would pound 'stead of one in the night I'd learn to fish with my own line catch my dream and hope that line would hold He said, "you'll never learn to fish on a borrowed line you'll never learn to write if you're walkin' 'round cryin' and it's a pity that you're lover died young, but ... you'll never get tired of livin' alone". No, I never get tired of livin' alone Sometimes my feet get cold ... when I'm livin' alone .. |
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2:33 |
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from Nanci Griffith - Other Voices Too (1998)
(Tom Campbell - Steve Gillette)
Where the Walker runs down into the Carson Valley plain There lived a young maiden Darcy Farrow was her name The daughter of old Dundee and a fair one was she The sweetest flower that bloomed o'er the range She was courted by young Vandermeer And quite handsome was he I am to hear He brought her silver rings and lacy things And they promised to marry before the snows came that year But her pony did stumble and she did fall Her dyin' touched the hearts of us, one and all Young Vandy in his pain put a bullet in his brain And we buried them together as the snows began to fall They sing of Darcy Farrow where the Truckee runs through They sing of her beautyin Virginia City too At dusty sundown to her name they drink a round And to young Vandy whose love was true Where the Walker runs down into the Carson Valley plain There lived a young maiden Darcy Farrow was her name The daughter of old Dundee and a fair one was she The sweetest flower that bloomed o'er the range |
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from Nanci Griffith - The Mca Years: A Retrospective (2004)
Well, the good times scratched a laugh
from the lungs of the young men In a Deadwood saloon, South Dakota afternoon And the old ones by the door with their heads on their chests, they told lies about whiskey on a womans breath Yes, and some tell the story of young Mickey Free Who lost an eye to a buck deer in the Tongue River Valley Oh and some tell the story of California Joe Who sent word through the Black Hills there was a mountain of gold And the gold she lay cold in their pockets And the sun she sets down on the trees And they thank the Lord for the land that they live in Where the white man does as he pleases Some flat-shoed fool from the East comes a-runnin' With some news that he'd read in some St. Joseph paper And it was "Drinks all around" cause the news he was tellin' was the one they called Crazy has been caught and been dealt with And the Easterner he read the news from the paper And the old ones moved closer so's they could hear better "Well it says here that Crazy Horse was killed while trying to escape, and that was some time last September, it don't give the exact date" And the gold she lay cold in their pockets And the sun she sets down on the trees And they thank the Lord for the land that they live in Where the white man does as he pleases Where the white man does as he pleases Then the talk turned back to whiskey and women And cold nights on the plains, Lord and fightin' them indians And the Easterner he says he'll have one more 'fore he goes He gives the paper to the Crow boy who sweeps up the floor And the gold she lay cold in their pockets And the sun she sets down on the trees And they thank the Lord for the land that they live in Where the white man does as he pleases Where the white man does as he pleases Where the white man does as he pleases As he wants to, as he pleases |
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from Nanci Griffith - Other Voices Too (1998)
(Guy Clark)
And I'd play the red river valley And he'd sit in the kitchen and he'd cry And run his fingers Through seventy years of living And wonder, Lord, has every well I've drilled gone dry We were friends me and this old man Like desperadoes waiting for a train Like desperadoes waiting for a train Well he's a drifter and a driller of oil wells And an old school man of the world He taught me how to drive his car When he's too drunk to And he'd wink and give me money for the girld And our lives were like some old western movie Like desperadoes waiting for a train Like desperadoes waiting for a train From the time that I could walk He'd take me with him To a bar called the green frog cafe There was old men with beer guts and dominoes Lying about their lives while they played And I was just a kid They all called me sidekick Like desperadoes waiting for a train Like desperadoes waiting for a train One day I looked up and He was pushing eighty And there was brown tobacco stains All down his chin To me he was one of the heroes Of this country So why's he all dressed up like them old men Drinking beer amd playing moon and forty-two Like desperadoes waiting for a train Like desperadoes waiting for a train And then the day before he died I went to see him And I was grown and he was almost gone So we just closed our eyes and dreamed us up a kitchen And sang another verse to that old song Come on, jack, the son-of-a-bitch is coming We're like desperadoes waiting for a train Like desperadoes waiting for a train (4 times) |
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2:52 |
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from Nanci Griffith - Other Voices, Other Rooms (1993)
well thousands of folks back east they say
are leaving home most everyday they're beatin the hot old dusty way to the california line across the desert sands they roll gettin' outta that old dust bowl they think they're going to a sugar bowl but here is what they find oh the police at the port of entrance say |
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from Nanci Griffith - There`S A Light Beyond These Woods (2002)
Ronnie stood beneath the movie marquee
His memories all curled up inside He was trying to remember was it August or September He'd seen her for the last time He'd heard that she'd become an actress Lord, she always had the prettiest face And he stood with his hands in his pockets and waited For the dollar matinee Lord, she's bigger than life on the screen There's a laugh from the balcony, good Lord And the sun will burn you and blind you When you step back into the street The theater, she smelled so familiar She was a smokey old velvet delight Yes, and he sat down front just like he'd always done With his feet hanging out in the aisles And he watched her with eyes disbelieving Felt something like time on his brain And he told himself don't you remember it's only Just a part that she's playing Lord, she's bigger than life on the screen There's a laugh from the balcony, good Lord And the sun will burn you and blind you When you step back into the street She stood by some window in Paris While the captions translated the scene Oh, and Ronnie stared back at her body and breathed "Christ, that's the first time I've seen it!" Behind him the people were leaving Well, the busses, they were humming outside But old Ronnie never went to the movies unless He could stay and see it twice Lord, she's bigger than life on the screen There's a laugh from the balcony, good Lord And the sun will burn you and blind you When you step back into the street |
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from Nanci Griffith - There`S A Light Beyond These Woods (2002)
Ronnie stood beneath the movie marquee
His memories all curled up inside He was trying to remember was it August or September He'd seen her for the last time He'd heard that she'd become an actress Lord, she always had the prettiest face And he stood with his hands in his pockets and waited For the dollar matinee Lord, she's bigger than life on the screen There's a laugh from the balcony, good Lord And the sun will burn you and blind you When you step back into the street The theater, she smelled so familiar She was a smokey old velvet delight Yes, and he sat down front just like he'd always done With his feet hanging out in the aisles And he watched her with eyes disbelieving Felt something like time on his brain And he told himself don't you remember it's only Just a part that she's playing Lord, she's bigger than life on the screen There's a laugh from the balcony, good Lord And the sun will burn you and blind you When you step back into the street She stood by some window in Paris While the captions translated the scene Oh, and Ronnie stared back at her body and breathed "Christ, that's the first time I've seen it!" Behind him the people were leaving Well, the busses, they were humming outside But old Ronnie never went to the movies unless He could stay and see it twice Lord, she's bigger than life on the screen There's a laugh from the balcony, good Lord And the sun will burn you and blind you When you step back into the street |
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from Nanci Griffith - Flyer (1994)
I can't be your weather
Cuz if it rains then it rains I can't be your lover Cuz the feelings would change I can't be the wind Cuz the wind blows too free But if you want a true companion Don't forget about me Don't forget about me When your heart's in the shade When there's no one to hold you And you've fallen from grace When the spotlights come blind you And you can no longer see I'll be right there beside you Don't forget about me Friends never leave you They're a two way street They'll always believe in you When you've ceased to believe And I'll still feel the same If you're a friend in need Cuz, I'll always love you Don't forget about me Don't forget about me When your heart's in the shade When there's no one to hold you And you've fallen from grace When the spotlights come blind you And you can no longer see I'll be right there beside you Don't forget about me Don't forget about me When your heart's in the shade When there's no one to hold you And you've fallen from grace When the spotlights come blind you And you can no longer see I'll be right there beside you Don't forget about me Don't forget about me |
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from Nanci Griffith - The Complete Mca Studio Recordings (2006)
I once was a lot like you
We share a dream I couldn't make come true I was a child who wrote my name Across a frosted window pane And there are jobs that I might hold If they'd just let me through the door Without a shower and new clothes That I can ill afford [Chorus:] Can you spare the time? Can you spare a dime? Can you look me in the eye? I'm down 'n' out And I am lonely Do you ever think of me on Sunday? No. I don't live Across the water Hey, I live right here On this corner Just a bank account away from America I won't hurt your family I don't want a house there on your street And I know you think that I'm As lazy as a hobo's sigh Now, you call me down 'n' outer If there's a way out I've not found 'er I only want to earn my piece of America [Chorus] I'm just a bank account away from America |
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from Nanci Griffith - Other Voices Too (1998)
(John Grimaudo - Saylor White)
And she has a dress of laces It's worn in many places The shoulder hangs upon her by a thread And she has a need for ahrin' For someone warm and carin' And no one sees a heart that's underfed Chorus Young girl in love Young girl in tears She hasn't seen the man she loves in years And her mother is a waitress At the harbour bar, good graces Where the seamen come a fishin' with their lines And it was one of them that caught her And left her with a daughter Who lives with hate and loving him in mind Chorus So the young girl goes to the water And she calls out for her father But she ain't seen the old man in some time Yes, and he was always boastin' Just a drinkin' and a toastin' And one day he left his family behind Chorus So the mother comes home a drinkin' With a sailor who's a tinkin' out loud That he might stay with them awhile So she loads her mother's pistol And she shoots him as he whistles A song about a sailor's life in style Young girl in love Young girl in tears She kills the only man she's loved in years And with him dies her hopes, her dreams, her fears Repeat First Verse And no one sees a heart that's underfed |
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from Nanci Griffith - The Mca Years: A Retrospective (2004)
Sister had a crystal voice
She played a Silverstone from Montgomery Ward Baez songs and Monroe hair She sure could turn the boys heads to stare Swimwear saunter, tan and haunt them Was all she learned in school Books were for the other girls And the other girls were fools Texas back in '69 was drive in movies and dashboard lights Father waltzed her down the aisle Cause college didn't suit her style The sad truth was she could barely read But if you told dear father, well he wouldn't believe you The telephone rang and drove mother insane From all the hearts left on the shelf Sisters gone and she won't be home Cause she didn't take care of herself Texas back in '69 was drive in movies and dashboard lights Where is she now The backseat queen of fraternity Where is she now She's heavy on thigh And light on integrity Someone should have told her When beauty's all you offer How soon the world discovers That your beauty's gone Its gone Mother can't you hear your daughter crying Father wake up her youth is dying The kids are gone Husbands gone away And its a shame cause she had such a lovely face Can't you see she needed more than "Oh what a pretty child" You never taught her truth from lie All you told her was to smile Texas back in '69 was drive in movies and dashboard lights Where is she now The backseat queen of fraternity Where is she now She's heavy on thigh And light on integrity Someone should have told her When beauty's all you offer How soon the world discovers That your beauty's gone Its gone Texas back in '69 was drive in movies and dashboard lights. |
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from Nanci Griffith - The Complete Mca Studio Recordings (2006)
Sister had a crystal voice
She played a Silverstone from Montgomery Ward Baez songs and Monroe hair She sure could turn the boys heads to stare Swimwear saunter, tan and haunt them Was all she learned in school Books were for the other girls And the other girls were fools Texas back in '69 was drive in movies and dashboard lights Father waltzed her down the aisle Cause college didn't suit her style The sad truth was she could barely read But if you told dear father, well he wouldn't believe you The telephone rang and drove mother insane From all the hearts left on the shelf Sisters gone and she won't be home Cause she didn't take care of herself Texas back in '69 was drive in movies and dashboard lights Where is she now The backseat queen of fraternity Where is she now She's heavy on thigh And light on integrity Someone should have told her When beauty's all you offer How soon the world discovers That your beauty's gone Its gone Mother can't you hear your daughter crying Father wake up her youth is dying The kids are gone Husbands gone away And its a shame cause she had such a lovely face Can't you see she needed more than "Oh what a pretty child" You never taught her truth from lie All you told her was to smile Texas back in '69 was drive in movies and dashboard lights Where is she now The backseat queen of fraternity Where is she now She's heavy on thigh And light on integrity Someone should have told her When beauty's all you offer How soon the world discovers That your beauty's gone Its gone Texas back in '69 was drive in movies and dashboard lights. |
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| from Nanci Griffith - The Dustbowl Symphony (1999) | |||||
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from Nanci Griffith - Blue Roses From The Moons (1997)
(Nanci Griffith - Matthew Ryan)
This life is filled with wonder This life is full of days not spent Oh I cannot help but ponder What relevance that lends Chorus Oh but everything is comin' up roses And when I'm pushing daisies ... They'll want roses anyway Oh and everything's comin' up roses It's comin' up roses every day I've got a heart bent on confusion I'm punch drunk straight half the time I'm feeling watered down and diluted Still the weather's holdin' fine Chorus There's a piece of land in Kentucky My grandfather worked one long hot day Now it's a flatland blacktop strip mall Still, I remember what he'd say Chorus twice Everyday ... everyday ... buy the dozen ... everyday |
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from Nanci Griffith - The Complete Mca Studio Recordings (2006)
I am fragile in the morning
I grow stronger in the day I can sprint like a new spring doe By the fall of the night Love has chased me down Through the cities and the towns Until I stood beside the road And let it pass me by Like a fool I've missed the rain Cause I was crying [Chorus:] Then you are calling Call my heart awake from years of slumber And then I'm falling Like a child head over heel In fields of summer Can you hold me? Though I am inclined to Leave my home and wander Can you keep me, Like a child head over heel In fields of summer? Fields of summer Fields of summer I am falling Like a child head over heel In fields of summer Now that you have caught me Are you sure you really want me? Though I'm fragile as December On your shoulder in the dawn And when the day has made me stronger, Can you satisfy my hunger? When the night has come and I would race the moon Across the sky, Would you chase me through Those open fields of summer [Chorus] Can you hold me? Hold me? Hold me? Because I'm falling, Like a child head over heel In fields of summer |
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from Nanci Griffith - The Mca Years: A Retrospective (2004)
She drove west from Salt Lake City to the California coastline.
She hit the San Diego Freeway doing sixty miles an hour. She had a husband on her bumper, she had five restless children. And she was singing as sweet as a mockingbird in that Ford Econoline. And she's the salt of the earth, Straight from the bosom of the Mormon church, With a voice like wine, Cruising along in that Ford Econoline. Her husband was a gambler, he was a Salt Lake City rambler, And he built a golden cage around his silver-throated wife. So many nights he left her crying with his cheating and his lying, But his big mistake was in buying her that Ford Econoline. She's the salt of the earth, Straight from the bosom of the Mormon church, With a voice like wine, Cruising along in that Ford Econoline. She's the salt of the earth, Straight from the bosom of the Mormon church, With a voice like wine, Cruising along in that Ford Econoline. Now she sings her songs around this country from Seattle to Montgomery, Those kids are grown and that rounder knows you cannot cage your wife. Along the back roads of our nation, she's become a living legend, She drives a Coupe De Ville but her heart rides still in that Ford Econoline. She drives a Coupe De Ville but her heart rides still in that Ford Econoline |
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from Nanci Griffith - The Complete Mca Studio Recordings (2006)
She drove west from Salt Lake City to the California coastline.
She hit the San Diego Freeway doing sixty miles an hour. She had a husband on her bumper, she had five restless children. And she was singing as sweet as a mockingbird in that Ford Econoline. And she's the salt of the earth, Straight from the bosom of the Mormon church, With a voice like wine, Cruising along in that Ford Econoline. Her husband was a gambler, he was a Salt Lake City rambler, And he built a golden cage around his silver-throated wife. So many nights he left her crying with his cheating and his lying, But his big mistake was in buying her that Ford Econoline. She's the salt of the earth, Straight from the bosom of the Mormon church, With a voice like wine, Cruising along in that Ford Econoline. She's the salt of the earth, Straight from the bosom of the Mormon church, With a voice like wine, Cruising along in that Ford Econoline. Now she sings her songs around this country from Seattle to Montgomery, Those kids are grown and that rounder knows you cannot cage your wife. Along the back roads of our nation, she's become a living legend, She drives a Coupe De Ville but her heart rides still in that Ford Econoline. She drives a Coupe De Ville but her heart rides still in that Ford Econoline |
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from Nanci Griffith - Flyer (1994)
I look out on these shields of heather
Across this countryside I wonder how they've grown together While people live such separate lives I think I'll stay inside for the winter Cuz the weather's in my bones And the wind could shatter bone to splinter Then howl me back home I'm fragile as the lady of the harbor As fragile as her torch that glows As fragile as the gulf stream waters To the Texas coast... to the Texas coast I stared up at the faces in the mountain Just a year ago Laughin' in the spirit of America And singin' in the snow Now I wish I felt as strong as that mountain Just carved in stone I wish I was the gulf stream water And I could sail you home I'm fragile as the lady of the harbor As fragile as her torch that glows As fragile as the gulf stream waters To the Texas coast... to the Texas coast I would give you all that's in me Though part of me is gone If I could have that day upon the mountain For the snow and the song But here's to love and all that it changes When you're alone out in the storm If I'd had a shield of heather I'd have never loved at all I'm fragile as the lady of the harbor As fragile as her torch that glows As fragile as the gulf stream waters To the Texas coast... to the Texas coast I would sail you home To the Texas coast I would sail you home To the Texas coast |
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from Nanci Griffith - Once In A Very Blue Moon (2002)
I am not a child, though you'll treat me as you've always seen me
You never saw the changes in a heart grown old and wise Hey, it's good to see you smile, it's been so long between the pages ... wheels out on the highway seem to laugh between my lines Do you still want to know? Where does the love go when it dies? Hey, I want you to know ... love never dies ... it is sheltered here very safe inside and it's left you with a friend out in the madness And you say you love me still ... How your soul does change and your heart still ponders ... how I could grow fonder ... of a life out on my own I still sing the harmony I'll have another wine and toast this madness I'll howl at your moon ... on my way home alone Do you still want to know? Where does the love go when it dies? Hey, I want you to know ... love never dies ... it is sheltered here very safe inside and it's left you with a friend out in the madness Do you still want to know? Where does the love go when it dies? Hey, I want you to know ... love never dies ... it is sheltered here very safe inside and it's left you with a friend out in the madness |
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from Nanci Griffith - The Mca Years: A Retrospective (2004)
From a distance the world looks blue and green
And the snow-capped mountains white From a distance the ocean meets the stream And the eagle takes to flight From a distance there is harmony And it echoes through the land It's the voice of hope, it's the voice of peace It's the voice of every man From a distance we all have enough And no one is in need There are no guns, no bombs, no diseases No hungry mouths to feed From a distance we are instruments Marching in a common band Playing songs of home, playing songs of peace They're the songs of every man God is watching us, God is watching us God is watching us from a distance From a distance you look like my friend Even though we are at war From a distance I can't comprehend What all this war is for From a distance there is harmony And it echoes through the land It's the hope of hopes, it's the love of loves It's the heart of every man It's the hope of hopes, It's the love of loves It's the song of every man |
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from Nanci Griffith - The Complete Mca Studio Recordings (2006)
From a distance the world looks blue and green
And the snow-capped mountains white From a distance the ocean meets the stream And the eagle takes to flight From a distance there is harmony And it echoes through the land It's the voice of hope, it's the voice of peace It's the voice of every man From a distance we all have enough And no one is in need There are no guns, no bombs, no diseases No hungry mouths to feed From a distance we are instruments Marching in a common band Playing songs of home, playing songs of peace They're the songs of every man God is watching us, God is watching us God is watching us from a distance From a distance you look like my friend Even though we are at war From a distance I can't comprehend What all this war is for From a distance there is harmony And it echoes through the land It's the hope of hopes, it's the love of loves It's the heart of every man It's the hope of hopes, It's the love of loves It's the song of every man |
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5:11 |
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from Nanci Griffith - Other Voices, Other Rooms (1993)
(Ralph McTell) (Craic or crack is a term for fun, entertainment, and enjoyable conversation, particularly prominent in Ireland.[1][2] It is often used with the definite article ? the craic. Some linguistic historians assert that craic was borrowed into Irish from the English language expression crack in the mid-20th century, and the Irish spelling was then reborrowed into English.)
Four who shared this room and we caught up in the craic, Sleeping late on Sundays and we never got to Mass Chorus It's a long way from Clare to here It's a long way from Clare to here It's a long, long way It gets further by the day It's a long, long way from Clare to here When Friday comes around we're only into fighting My Ma would like a letter home but I'm too tired for writing Chorus It almost breaks my heart when I think of my family I told them I'd be coming home with my pockets full of green Chorus The only time I feel alright is when I'm into drinking It can sort of ease the pain of it and it levels out my thinking Chorus I sometimes hear the fiddles play, maybe it's just a notion I dream I see white horses dance upon that other ocean Chorus |
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from Nanci Griffith - Once In A Very Blue Moon (2002)
Down at the station the tracks are cold
the wheels of thunder, they roll no more and the heart of America cries for the souls who won't be rollin' home The dragon weeps with empty eyes, the whistle sighs no more in the night ... It rests in the lines, like a ghost in the music, the soul of America's pride Toil of our fathers with foreign hands, they laid the tracks and they opened the plains they fought the mountains and they merged our seas they set America free Tell me,...Where is the blaze of the hobo's caldron? The refuge for these poor and these fallen? It rests in the lines, like a ghost in the music, the soul of America's pride Foreign father ...American son, father see what your son has done He's torn up the mountains and reshaped the plains the dreams he dreams aren't the same To the fallen ones who may still be askin, "Who'd take time to stir these ashes, Who'll hear the lines of a ghost in the music and kindle America's pride?" Tell me,... Where is the blaze of the hobo's caldron? The refuge for these poor and these fallen? It rests in the lines, like a ghost in the music, the soul of America's pride. |
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from Nanci Griffith - Flyer (1994)
Oh the city snow makes your brown eyes shine
We've gotta look real hard to find a reason to cry New York, New York is a friend of the traveling kind And I'm coming around from years of hard times He's chased me down through the towns and the miles Once stilled by love he was bound to roll on by And if you feel my love won't leave you And if your sorrow has been your share If you are traveling back to Georgia Won't you take me with you there Well I'm long gone darlin', lonesome blue I been thinking of leavin', I been thinkin' of you But that big city singin', man, I like the way that it shines I was half a mile from Canada waitin' on a train Wonderin' and wishin' I could disappear again I been killed by love still it takes me to the end of the line And if you feel my love won't leave you And if your sorrow has been your share If you are traveling back to Georgia Won't you take me with you there Well I've been troubled by love untrue He's a fool who'll drown in his fountain of youth I can see that now as I'm walkin' and talkin' with you Well I been blinded by the sun, washed in the rain Scattered in America, I'm scatterin' again But if you're goin' south darlin' I guess I'm travelin' with you And if you feel my love won't leave you And if your sorrow has been your share If you are traveling back to Georgia Won't you take me with you there And if you feel my love won't leave you And if your sorrow has been your share If you are traveling back to Georgia Won't you take me with you there Take me with you Oh won't you take me home... |
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| from Nanci Griffith - The Last Of The True Believers (2002) | |||||
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from Nanci Griffith - Winter Marquee (2005)
My mother came to America
Sailed through the harbor of hopes and of dreams Back in the Thirties With the streets paved in gold And the sky laced with moonbeams Mothers and daughters, fathers and sons Here in the free world, we're the lucky ones All of my yearning All of my hunger Maybe I'm learning Sometimes I wonder Good night, New York Before the Kennedys Before the Beatles Before the Vietnam War Back to a time when anything was possible Having less meant knowing more Brothers and sisters, uncles and aunts Here in the free world, for that second chance All of my yearning All of my hunger Maybe I'm learning Sometimes I wonder Good night, New York My mother came to America Sailed through the harbor of hopes and of dreams And here in the future I hope I've not failed her Cause nothing's the way that it seems All of my yearning All of my hunger Maybe I'm learning Sometimes I wonder Good night, New York |
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| from Nanci Griffith - Flyer (1994) | |||||
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3:31 |
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from Nanci Griffith - Blue Roses From The Moons (1997)
(James Hooker - Nanci Griffith - Danny Flowers)
Gulf Coast Highway He worked the rails He worked the rice fields With their cool dark wells He worked the oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico The only thing we've ever owned Is this old house here by the road And when he dies he says he'll catch some blackbird's wing Then he will fly away to Heaven come some sweet blue bonnet spring She walked through springtime When I was home The days were sweet The nights were warm The seasons change the jobs would come the flowers fade This old house felt so alone When the work took me away And when she dies she says; she'll catch some blackbird's wing Then she will fly away to Heaven come some sweet blue bonnet spring Highway 90 The jobs are gone We tend our garden We set the sun This is the only place on earth blue bonnets grow Once a year they come and go At this old house here by the road And when we die we say we'll catch some blackbird's wing Then we will fly away to heaven come some sweet blue bonnet spring And when we die we'll catch some blackbird's wing We will fly away together come some sweet blue bonnet spring |
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from Nanci Griffith - The Mca Years: A Retrospective (2004)
(James Hooker - Nanci Griffith - Danny Flowers)
Gulf Coast Highway He worked the rails He worked the rice fields With their cool dark wells He worked the oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico The only thing we've ever owned Is this old house here by the road And when he dies he says he'll catch some blackbird's wing Then he will fly away to Heaven come some sweet blue bonnet spring She walked through springtime When I was home The days were sweet The nights were warm The seasons change the jobs would come the flowers fade This old house felt so alone When the work took me away And when she dies she says; she'll catch some blackbird's wing Then she will fly away to Heaven come some sweet blue bonnet spring Highway 90 The jobs are gone We tend our garden We set the sun This is the only place on earth blue bonnets grow Once a year they come and go At this old house here by the road And when we die we say we'll catch some blackbird's wing Then we will fly away to heaven come some sweet blue bonnet spring And when we die we'll catch some blackbird's wing We will fly away together come some sweet blue bonnet spring |
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from Nanci Griffith - Winter Marquee (2005)
(James Hooker - Nanci Griffith - Danny Flowers)
Gulf Coast Highway He worked the rails He worked the rice fields With their cool dark wells He worked the oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico The only thing we've ever owned Is this old house here by the road And when he dies he says he'll catch some blackbird's wing Then he will fly away to Heaven come some sweet blue bonnet spring She walked through springtime When I was home The days were sweet The nights were warm The seasons change the jobs would come the flowers fade This old house felt so alone When the work took me away And when she dies she says; she'll catch some blackbird's wing Then she will fly away to Heaven come some sweet blue bonnet spring Highway 90 The jobs are gone We tend our garden We set the sun This is the only place on earth blue bonnets grow Once a year they come and go At this old house here by the road And when we die we say we'll catch some blackbird's wing Then we will fly away to heaven come some sweet blue bonnet spring And when we die we'll catch some blackbird's wing We will fly away together come some sweet blue bonnet spring |
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3:07 |
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| from Nanci Griffith - The Complete Mca Studio Recordings (2006) | |||||
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5:47 |
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from Nanci Griffith - Other Voices Too (1998)
(Stephen Collins Foster)
Let us pause in life's pleasures and count its many tears While we all sup sorrow with the poor There's a song that will linger forever in our ears; Oh, hard times come again no more Chorus 'Tis the song, the sigh of the weary Hard times, hard times come again no more Many days you have lingered Around my cabin door Oh hard times come again no more While we seek mirth and beauty and music light and gay There are frail forms fainting at the door Though their voices are silent, their pleading looks will say; Oh, hard times come again no more Chorus There's a pale sorrowed maiden who toils her life away With a worn heart whose better days are o'er Though her voice would be merry, 'tis sighing all the day Oh, hard times come again no more Chorus 'Tis a sigh that is wafted across the troubled wave 'Tis a wail that is heard upon the shore 'Tis a dirge that is murmured around the lowly grave Oh, hard times come again no more Chorus |
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3:13 |
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from Nanci Griffith - Other Voices Too (1998)
(Traditional)
He was a friend of mine He was a friend of mine Never had no money To pay for his fine He was a friend of mine He never done no wrong He never done no wrong Thousand miles from home He never hurt no one He was a friend of mine He died on the road He died on the road Never had no money for to pay for sufficient clothes (He was a friend) He was a friend of mine (I stole) I stole away and cried (I stole) Never had no money and I can't be satisfied He was a friend of mine (He was)he was a friend of mine (He was) he was a friend of mine When I hear his name you know I just can't keep from cryin' (and) (He was) he was a friend of mine (He was) |
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from Nanci Griffith - Poet In My Window (1982)
Well, it's harvest time out on this Amarillo highway
Daydreamin' the South of France I could whistle you out waltzin' there Would you still say you can't? Heart of a miner here takin' her last chance Heart of a miner, kept her feelings buried deep Heart of a miner, could there be something she needs? Just a treasure that could hold her That's not fool's gold What could the miner do when her heart was made of crystal? She used to keep it on the shelf Now she dreams of you high up in your mountains It was that treasure that you held Look at this lonely miner here who finally fell Heart of a miner, kept her feelings buried deep Heart of a miner, could there be something she needs? Just a treasure that could hold her That's not fool's gold Tell me he's not fool's gold It's still harvest time out on this Amarillo highway Just a lonely miner still a thousand miles from home |
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3:48 |
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from Nanci Griffith - Hearts In Mind (2005)
I am on a Riverboat on the Saigon River
Where the music's too loud While I try to have my dinner Stories I've been told of 1954 When the bodies washed ashore from that distant war My friend Michael came in '68 The bodies still floating with the dinner boats sailing Beside all those souls of the American war Oh, deliver me to the river of souls In the heart of Indochina Deliver me to a River at Peace In this twenty-first century All those souls that floated free In these dark war's waters All the souls now swim together The French the Viet Minn Those American boys The souls of the Saigon River At peace in Indochina I am in a caffe in Ho Chi Minn City My friend Bobby Muller is sitting with me This traffic is maddening In his wheelchair he's napping I wonder at times, does he walk in his dreams? Later I walked all the way from Tu Do Street To the banks of the river with the dinner boats sailing Beside all of the souls, of a River in Peace Oh, deliver me to the river of souls In the heart of Indochina Deliver me to a River at Peace In this twenty-first century All those souls that floated free In these dark war's waters All the souls now swim together The French the Viet Minn Those American boys The souls of the Saigon River At peace in Indochina Hoa binh, hoa binh (Peace in Vietnamese) Peace in the heart of Indochina |
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3:29 |
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from Nanci Griffith - The Complete Mca Studio Recordings (2006)
I think I'll go to Heaven
There I will lay me down Leave all the pain behind me I'll bury it in the ground Maybe they'll talk about me I pray it won't be lies I think I'll go to heaven Heaven is in your eyes I think I'll go to Heaven I heard it's peaceful there They don't allow your troubles Everyone's had their share And if I can be someone who Never needs a disguise Then maybe I'll go to Heaven Heaven is in your eyes People in Heaven never look back Higher and higher The past fades to black I think I'll go to heaven I'll sail on into the night I'll watch as I set my soul free Watch as my heart takes flight Maybe I am too simple Maybe I am too wise And maybe I'll go to Heaven Heaven is in your eyes |
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4:11 |
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from Nanci Griffith - The Complete Mca Studio Recordings (2006)
Everybody packs their goals
And sails away for better shores I have seen times My sails have held a brilliant shine I hear tell that dreams come true Along these crowded avenues But, my peace of mind Is a place I go when I close my eyes [Chorus:] I need a hometown street where the boys are pretty And a friend is still a friend I need a hometown street where the love you're given Surely comes back 'round again Hometown streets are paved in gold With faces that you've always known But, you'll never see them Until you pack your dreams and leave them The one I loved has moved away It's hot in this city Hey, it's always late Here in this place Love doesn't get the time of day [Chorus:] I can't remember What I came here for I'm gonna pull up my anchor And sail for shore [Chorus:] |
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4:07 |
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from Nanci Griffith - The Complete Mca Studio Recordings (2006)
(Nanci Griffith - James Hooker)
I don't wanna talk about love 'cause I've heard it before ... And it talks too loud You can hear it in a disco midnight ... Shouting I don't wanna think about it Think about it It comes dressed in its summer clothes When you're traveling through the heart of the winter's cold I don't wanna talk about changes Changes come of their own free will And if you wanna talk about leavin' Well, you've always walked ... And, you always will Everytime you talk about love You talk about your yesterdays Yesterday's washing away with this morning's rain I don't wanna talk about it 'cause love has a voice of its own If all we do is try to out shout it ... then the love is gone Chorus I don't wanna talk about love now I don't wanna talk about love now I don't wanna talk about love now I don;t wanna talk about love now ... Can't you hear the voice in my heart It calls your name in the middle of the night It's always been a qyiet voice when it's breaking I don't wanna talk about this love This love was my saving grace So, can't I just say that I love you ... And we'll call it a day? Chorus |
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| from Nanci Griffith - The Mca Years: A Retrospective (2004) | |||||
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2:38 |
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from Nanci Griffith - Blue Roses From The Moons (1997)
(Sonny Curtis)
Breakin' rocks in the hot sun I fought the law and the law won I fought the law and the law won I needed money and I had none I fought the law and the law won I fought the law and the lawn won I left my baby and I feel so bad I guess my race is run She's the best girl that I ever had I fought the law and the law won I fought the law and the law won Robbin' people with a zip gun I fought the law and the law won I fought the law and the law won I miss my baby and good fun I fought the law and the law won I fought the law and the law won Left my bay and I feel so bad I guess my race is run She's the best girl that I ever had I fought the law and the law won I fought the law and the law won |
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3:17 |
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from Nanci Griffith - The Complete Mca Studio Recordings (2006)
I knew love
When it still meant forever When a feeling shared didn't always have to hurt And a promise that was made would go unbroken I knew love When it was more than just a word I knew a time When hope was all you needed And if you cared you found a way to make things work When life was what two people shared together Oh, I knew love When it was more than just a word [Chorus:] I knew love When I could still believe It was the greatest power in the world I knew love When it was more than just a word I knew hearts When they made it all so easy And sad goodbyes were seldom ever heard When I wouldn't have to read this note that says you're leaving I knew love When it was more than just a word [Chorus] I knew love when it was more than just a word |
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3:35 |
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| from Nanci Griffith - Blue Roses From The Moons (1997) | |||||
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3:21 |
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from Nanci Griffith - Hearts In Mind (2005)
I love this town like an unmade bed
I love this town of the living dead I love this town gonna paint it red If I can spare a minute I love this town where curtains twitch Where this door scratches next door's itch It's a pantomime at fever pitch And we can all be in it People here are large as life They know the whole world and his wife From a razor's edge to a kitchen knife They'll be glad to help you I love this town of hidden charms Where no one means you any harm And if you sleep through false alarms No one here would blame you I love this town on the beaten track Where nothing slips between the cracks Her rent's arrears his heart attack Now isn't that a shame Everyone's friendly to your face And everybody knows their place As long as you respect their space You won't have to worry The town hall clock is calling out It's rush hour on the roundabout Now I know without a doubt It's the place for me I love this town the dirty streets It's a merry-go-round with broken seats Where silk and lace and satin sheets Are only dirty washing I love this town down on its knees It's going under by degrees Still we can do just as we please As long as no one's watching I love this town, I love this town I love this town, I love this town |
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from Nanci Griffith - There`S A Light Beyond These Woods (2002)
(Nanci Griffith)
Oh, your golden lights of America, Joseph sought your prairies and your buffalo And the humming of the rails down through Kansas, they brought Joseph in from Baltimore The Cavalry the Indians and an old dan were his only friends Then the old dan died and the Indian's plight Made the Cavalry young Joe's enemy. Oh, the oultlaws spilled the blood across The Kansas plains in the '70s Joseph took a badge for America To defend you from your fantasies Joseph wore that badge across the Kansas prairies To save the railroads But the heroes that we made, well, they were Ruthless soldiers who'll kill for gold. With a broken heart for the frontier plains Joseph sat a-rocking in his front porch swing That old tin badge is tarnished now You know it was just a young man's dream And old man's tales are hard to reach when you Don't believe in your American dream The Indians, the buffalo and old Joe Mason They died from memory Oh, your golden lights of America Joseph sought your prairies and your buffalo And the humming of the rails down through Kansas They brought Joseph in from Baltimore The Cavalry, the Indians and an old dan Forsaken old man. Oh, your golden lights of America. |
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from Nanci Griffith - There`S A Light Beyond These Woods (2002)
(Nanci Griffith)
Oh, your golden lights of America, Joseph sought your prairies and your buffalo And the humming of the rails down through Kansas, they brought Joseph in from Baltimore The Cavalry the Indians and an old dan were his only friends Then the old dan died and the Indian's plight Made the Cavalry young Joe's enemy. Oh, the oultlaws spilled the blood across The Kansas plains in the '70s Joseph took a badge for America To defend you from your fantasies Joseph wore that badge across the Kansas prairies To save the railroads But the heroes that we made, well, they were Ruthless soldiers who'll kill for gold. With a broken heart for the frontier plains Joseph sat a-rocking in his front porch swing That old tin badge is tarnished now You know it was just a young man's dream And old man's tales are hard to reach when you Don't believe in your American dream The Indians, the buffalo and old Joe Mason They died from memory Oh, your golden lights of America Joseph sought your prairies and your buffalo And the humming of the rails down through Kansas They brought Joseph in from Baltimore The Cavalry, the Indians and an old dan Forsaken old man. Oh, your golden lights of America. |
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3:36 |
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from Nanci Griffith - Other Voices Too (1998)
(Johnny Cash - Roy Cash, Jr)
At my door the leaves are falling The cold wild wind will come Sweethearts walk by together And I still miss someone I go out on a party To look for a little fun But I find a darkened corner Because I still miss someone Chorus Oh, I never get over those blue eyes I see them everywhere I miss those arms that held me When all the love was there I wonder if she's sorry Fr leaving what we've begun There's someone for me somewhere But I still miss someone Chorus Repeat First Verse Oh, I still miss someone |
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from Nanci Griffith - The Mca Years: A Retrospective (2004)
Oh I wish it would rain and wash my face clean
I want to find some dark cloud to hide in here Oh love and a memory sparkle like diamonds When the diamonds fall they burn like tears When the diamonds fall they burn like tears Once I had a love from the Georgia Pans who only cared for me I want to find that love of 22 here at 33 I've got a heart on my right and one on my left And neither suits my needs No the one I love is way out west and he never will need me I'm gonna pack up my two-step shoes and head for the Gulf Coast plains I want to walk the streets of my own home town where everybody knows my name I want to ride a ways down to Galveston when the hurricanes blow in Cause that Gulf Coast water tastes as sweet as wine When your heart's rolling home in the wind |
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from Nanci Griffith - Winter Marquee (2005)
Oh I wish it would rain and wash my face clean
I want to find some dark cloud to hide in here Oh love and a memory sparkle like diamonds When the diamonds fall they burn like tears When the diamonds fall they burn like tears Once I had a love from the Georgia Pans who only cared for me I want to find that love of 22 here at 33 I've got a heart on my right and one on my left And neither suits my needs No the one I love is way out west and he never will need me I'm gonna pack up my two-step shoes and head for the Gulf Coast plains I want to walk the streets of my own home town where everybody knows my name I want to ride a ways down to Galveston when the hurricanes blow in Cause that Gulf Coast water tastes as sweet as wine When your heart's rolling home in the wind |
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2:39 |
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from Nanci Griffith - The Complete Mca Studio Recordings (2006)
Oh I wish it would rain and wash my face clean
I want to find some dark cloud to hide in here Oh love and a memory sparkle like diamonds When the diamonds fall they burn like tears When the diamonds fall they burn like tears Once I had a love from the Georgia Pans who only cared for me I want to find that love of 22 here at 33 I've got a heart on my right and one on my left And neither suits my needs No the one I love is way out west and he never will need me I'm gonna pack up my two-step shoes and head for the Gulf Coast plains I want to walk the streets of my own home town where everybody knows my name I want to ride a ways down to Galveston when the hurricanes blow in Cause that Gulf Coast water tastes as sweet as wine When your heart's rolling home in the wind |
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3:08 |
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from Nanci Griffith - The Complete Mca Studio Recordings (2006)
You never liked this place where we'd been living all along
So, you packed up your things and bought a one-way ticket home Leaving never hurt as much as being left behind [Chorus:] I would change my life I would make it right I would change my life If you would only change your mind I have spent my hours on some misbegotten dream I have spent my money on some foolish hearted things I have spent my memories on old embittered wine [Chorus] I wish that I could find the words to make you come back home I wish that I could say the things you needed for so long I wish that you could see me now, maybe then you'd find [Chorus] |
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2:40 |
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from Nanci Griffith - Blue Roses From The Moons (1997)
(Nanci Griffith - Tom Littlefield)
This flesh and bone ain't much protection For an honest heart like mine A broken home for good intentions Damaged inventions of my design Chorus I'll move along (time to move along) I'll move along (time to move along) I'm slow to move these feet of clay You passed me by now you're in my way I take my change at my own damn pace I'll move along one day I'll move along (time to move along) (come on let's go) I'll move along (time to move along) (come on let's go) I don't say much I was born to listen Tell me now, did I hear you wrong? This was love not the Inquisition If it was my decision we should move along Chorus You passed me by now you're in my way I'll move along one day Chorus |
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| from Nanci Griffith - Winter Marquee (2005) | |||||
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2:47 |
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from Nanci Griffith - Other Voices Too (1998)
(Pete Seeger - Lee Hayes)
If I had a hammer I'd hammer in the morning I'd hammer in the evening all over this land I'd hammer out danger I'd hammer out a warning I'd hammer out the love between my brothers and my sisters All over this land If I had a bell I'd ring it in the morning I'd ring it in the evening all over this land I'd ring out danger I'd ring out a warning But I'd ring out love between my brothers and my sisters All over this land If I had a song I'd sing it in the morning I'd sing it in the evening all over this land I'd sing out danger I'd sing out a warning I'd sing out love between my brothers and my sisters All over this land Well I got a hammer And I got a bell And I got a song to sing all over this land It's the hammer of justice It's the bell of freedom And it's the song about love between my brothers and my sisters All over this land |
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from Nanci Griffith - Once In A Very Blue Moon (2002)
Now they all sat around in a circle
They were laughing and all telling lies Then the tall one he bumped in a dollar Oh he said boys I've got nothing to hide Now if the King and the Queen stood together Then the ace he would not be to blame And if the cards were all laid on the table, now darlin' Then love could be more than a game And if the stars didn't shine on the water Then the sun wouldn't burn on the sand And if I were the woman you wanted babe I would not be the woman that I am And I have seen my share of long nights And I have told my share of lies And I have run into the darkness, now darlin' When I saw the look in your eyes But if the night didn't lie in the darkness Then the daylight would be hard to find And if the truth didn't turn to a weakness, now babe I would have never have spoken my mind And if the stars didn't shine on the water Then the sun wouldn't burn on the sand And if I were woman you wanted babe Then I would not be the woman that I am So if you're going out to California Then don't linger in New Mexico And if you think of the one there behind you, there darlin' Then you might not feel so alone And if the stars didn't shine on the water Then the sun wouldn't burn on the sand And if I were the woman you wanted babe I would not be the woman that I am And if I were the woman you wanted babe I would not be the woman that I am |
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from Nanci Griffith - The Mca Years: A Retrospective (2004)
I wish that you loved me
The way that I love you I wish I had Angels Who sang in my dreams If wishes were changes We'd all live in roses And there wouldn't be children Who cried in their sleep He wishes I loved him The way that I love you If wishes were changes I'd dry all his tears If wishes were changes I'd make him my anchor He'd be my Angel Who sang through the years [Chorus] So long to the blue days of wishing If wishes were changes There'd be no goodbyes So long to the heart I have given 'Cause wishing won't bring back The love in your eyes I wish that I had your Wings of desire I wish I had seen you As I see you now I wouldn't feel sorrow You've left here inside me But, wishing won't change Right from wrong for you now [Chorus] I wish that you loved me The way that I love you I wish I had Angels Who sang in my dreams |
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3:44 |
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from Nanci Griffith - The Complete Mca Studio Recordings (2006)
I wish that you loved me
The way that I love you I wish I had Angels Who sang in my dreams If wishes were changes We'd all live in roses And there wouldn't be children Who cried in their sleep He wishes I loved him The way that I love you If wishes were changes I'd dry all his tears If wishes were changes I'd make him my anchor He'd be my Angel Who sang through the years [Chorus] So long to the blue days of wishing If wishes were changes There'd be no goodbyes So long to the heart I have given 'Cause wishing won't bring back The love in your eyes I wish that I had your Wings of desire I wish I had seen you As I see you now I wouldn't feel sorrow You've left here inside me But, wishing won't change Right from wrong for you now [Chorus] I wish that you loved me The way that I love you I wish I had Angels Who sang in my dreams |
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2:49 |
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from Nanci Griffith - Clock Without Hands (2001)
In the wee small hours of the morning
While the whole wide world is fast asleep You lie awake and think about the girl And never ever think of counting sheep When your lonely heart has learned its lesson You'd be hers if only she'd call In the wee small hours of the morning That's the time you miss her most of all When your lonely heart has learned its lesson You'd be hers if only she'd call In the wee small hours of the morning That's the time you miss her most of all |
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3:49 |
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from Nanci Griffith - Blue Roses From The Moons (1997)
I have traveled far to be sitting here with you
And I will leave this place alone That's a sad and simple truth There is so little time and so much to say And I'll be none the wiser When I leave you here today Is this all there is I wanted so much more The gold in those hills The silver of the moors And now that I'm here Looking you head on You're the treasure that I left behind And all I'll ever miss The blame for losing love is blind Is this all there is It always stops me cold everytime I hear your name The friends that we have shared Know I'll never love the same I still hear your voice echo through the days Yet it never breaks my stride 'cuz we would always end this way Is this all there is I wanted so much more The gold in those hills The silver of the moors And now that I'm here Looking you head on You're the treasure that I left behind And all I'll ever miss The blame for losing love is blind Is this all there is We were really something Holding hands and walkin' Now, no amount of talkin' Could lend this love a place to go Is this all there is I wanted so much more The gold in those hills The silver of the moors And now that I'm here Looking you head on You're the treasure that I left behind And all I'll ever miss The blame for losing love is blind Is this all there is |
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4:23 |
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| from Nanci Griffith - The Dustbowl Symphony (1999) | |||||
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from Nanci Griffith - The Mca Years: A Retrospective (2004)
I am a backseat driver from America
They drive to the left on Falls Road The man at the wheel's name is Seamus We pass a child on the corner he knows And Seamus says, "Now, what chance has that Kid got?" And I say from the back, "I don't know." He says, "There's barbed wire at all of these exits And there ain't no place in Belfast for that kid To go." [Chorus:] It's a hard life It's a hard life It's a very hard life It's a hard life wherever you go If we poison our children with hatred Then, the hard life is all that they'll know And there ain't no place in (Belfast) for These kids to go (Chicago) (This world) A cafeteria line in Chicago The fat man in front of me Is calling black people trash to his children He's the only trash here I see And I'm thinking this man wears a white hood In the night when his children should sleep But, they slip to their window and they see him And they think that white hood's all they need [Chorus] I was a child in the sixties Dreams could be held through TV With Disney, and Cronkite, and Martin Luther Oh, I believed, I believed, I believed Now, I am the backseat driver from America I am not at the wheel of control I am guilty, I am war, I am the root of all evil Lord, and I can't drive on the left side of the road [Chorus] |
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4:01 |
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from Nanci Griffith - The Complete Mca Studio Recordings (2006)
I am a backseat driver from America
They drive to the left on Falls Road The man at the wheel's name is Seamus We pass a child on the corner he knows And Seamus says, "Now, what chance has that Kid got?" And I say from the back, "I don't know." He says, "There's barbed wire at all of these exits And there ain't no place in Belfast for that kid To go." [Chorus:] It's a hard life It's a hard life It's a very hard life It's a hard life wherever you go If we poison our children with hatred Then, the hard life is all that they'll know And there ain't no place in (Belfast) for These kids to go (Chicago) (This world) A cafeteria line in Chicago The fat man in front of me Is calling black people trash to his children He's the only trash here I see And I'm thinking this man wears a white hood In the night when his children should sleep But, they slip to their window and they see him And they think that white hood's all they need [Chorus] I was a child in the sixties Dreams could be held through TV With Disney, and Cronkite, and Martin Luther Oh, I believed, I believed, I believed Now, I am the backseat driver from America I am not at the wheel of control I am guilty, I am war, I am the root of all evil Lord, and I can't drive on the left side of the road [Chorus] |
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from Nanci Griffith - The Mca Years: A Retrospective (2004)
The telephone is ringin' in the middle of the night
And I pull the bed clothes higher Will it stop calling out if I turn on the light? I'm afraid of these shadows here Cause my past is truly frightening And I'm afraid of the warmth in the down Of a feathered heart in flight [Chorus:] It's just another morning here (it's morning) It's just another morning here It's just another morning here (it's morning) And it's a miracle that it comes around Every day of the year The neighbors scream and their baby cries I'm hiding in the corner I won't be them, pray I won't be them one day Maybe it's just the breath of August So hot upon my shoulder Or an open window for a winged heart To fly away [Chorus] The telephone is ringin' in the middle of the night I pull the bed clothes higher Will it stop calling out if I turn on the light? I'm afraid of these shadows here Cause my past is truly frightening And I'm afraid of the warmth in the down Of a feathered heart in flight [Chorus: x2] |
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from Nanci Griffith - The Complete Mca Studio Recordings (2006)
The telephone is ringin' in the middle of the night
And I pull the bed clothes higher Will it stop calling out if I turn on the light? I'm afraid of these shadows here Cause my past is truly frightening And I'm afraid of the warmth in the down Of a feathered heart in flight [Chorus:] It's just another morning here (it's morning) It's just another morning here It's just another morning here (it's morning) And it's a miracle that it comes around Every day of the year The neighbors scream and their baby cries I'm hiding in the corner I won't be them, pray I won't be them one day Maybe it's just the breath of August So hot upon my shoulder Or an open window for a winged heart To fly away [Chorus] The telephone is ringin' in the middle of the night I pull the bed clothes higher Will it stop calling out if I turn on the light? I'm afraid of these shadows here Cause my past is truly frightening And I'm afraid of the warmth in the down Of a feathered heart in flight [Chorus: x2] |
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from Nanci Griffith - The Complete Mca Studio Recordings (2006)
You pace the pool and talk about it
I read my book and think about it You've walked on water As I'm turning the page You say, What's the intrigue here, In reading when the sky is clear? You are in the sun And I am always in the shade [Chorus:] It's too late to leave you You know that I will never leave you It's too late to know you You don't like to be known You would never hold me I don't like to be held I will always love you In spite of myself I can feel the weather changing The leaves are tired and turned with anger They fall around us like a veil Of golden tears You have never needed me And I'm not good at being needed This season will be leaving us But we will still be here [Chorus] Do you miss me when I'm far away? Do you save me for your rainy days? Is my picture on the mantle Or is it in the fire? It's odd the way the years fly by They leave us standing side by side You have been my mystery And I've been your desire [Chorus] |
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| from Nanci Griffith - Once In A Very Blue Moon (2002) | |||||
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from Nanci Griffith - There`S A Light Beyond These Woods (2002)
He was a simple man only to a stranger.
And the kindness in his eyes I still remember. Now that he is old, they say he's angry and he's cold, That his soul is dying. He's a wealthy man's dream, and he's a working man's dime. He has stood in both men's shoes in his own damn time. The hard times of the thirties still linger in his mind When he is lonely. He's out there in the cold, twenty years away from home. Does he dream about his old home in San Antone? He's often watched the highways, but he's a man of sixty-five. Where ain't a soul in El Paso who would give an old drunk a ride. Now, he traded in his draftsman's pen for a fishing pole. And his mansion on the hill is an alley in El Paso. The anchors of the fifties still hold to broken dreams When his sorrows grow. He's out there in the cold, twenty years away from home. Does he dream about his old home in San Antone? He's often watched the highways, but he's a man of sixty-five. There ain't a soul in El Paso who would give an old drunk a ride. Now, they tell me that John Philip loved to gamble in his day. And he burned his bridges well when he walked away. He closed those corporate doors, left his children and his home . . . Now no one owns him. |
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from Nanci Griffith - There`S A Light Beyond These Woods (2002)
He was a simple man only to a stranger.
And the kindness in his eyes I still remember. Now that he is old, they say he's angry and he's cold, That his soul is dying. He's a wealthy man's dream, and he's a working man's dime. He has stood in both men's shoes in his own damn time. The hard times of the thirties still linger in his mind When he is lonely. He's out there in the cold, twenty years away from home. Does he dream about his old home in San Antone? He's often watched the highways, but he's a man of sixty-five. Where ain't a soul in El Paso who would give an old drunk a ride. Now, he traded in his draftsman's pen for a fishing pole. And his mansion on the hill is an alley in El Paso. The anchors of the fifties still hold to broken dreams When his sorrows grow. He's out there in the cold, twenty years away from home. Does he dream about his old home in San Antone? He's often watched the highways, but he's a man of sixty-five. There ain't a soul in El Paso who would give an old drunk a ride. Now, they tell me that John Philip loved to gamble in his day. And he burned his bridges well when he walked away. He closed those corporate doors, left his children and his home . . . Now no one owns him. |
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from Nanci Griffith - Poet In My Window (1982)
An urban light hit's a bartender's smile
'Cause it's closin' time again Last call rang out such a long time ago In the heart of Julie Anne Now she waits inside this midnight glow to steal her dance of grace White satin gloves on her hands these days to cover the dancer's age The wintertime's so sweet Even wino's have their needs They pretend that she is younger when they are lonely The bar room floor's her home When the light's are low they'll call for more How it hurt's to hear them say she is only old Julie Anne Men don't fear the well's of time for the years will bring them something (something) While the women count their wrinkles and the children in their homes But if I'm blinded here tomorrow I am blessed in the beauty of chance To remember the hands of a bird in flight In the dance of Julie Anne The wintertime's so sweet Even wino's have their needs They pretend that she is younger when they are lonely The bar room floor's her home When the light's are low they'll call for more How it hurt's to hear them say she is only old Julie Anne Oh Julie Anne Don't go to sleep Just pick your heart up off that wino's knee And let the whiskey be your lover who makes the winter sweet and warms a dancer's feet |
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