Nanci Griffith

Nanci Griffith
Last updated: Monday 18. March 1996

Ford Econoline
(written by Nanci Griffith)

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
She was singing sweet as a mockingbird in that Ford Econoline

(Chorus)
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 her husband was a gambler, he was a Salt Lake City rounder
He built a golden cage around his silver throated wife
Too many nights he left her crying with his cheating and lying
But his big mistake was in buying her that Ford Econoline

(Repeat chorus twice)

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 Coup DeVille but her heart rides still
In that Ford Econoline

She drives a Coup DeVille but her heart rides still
In that Ford Econoline

From A Distance
(written by Julie Gold)

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 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

Gulfcoast Highway
(written by Nanci Griffith, James Hooker and 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 bluebonnet 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
And 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 bluebonnet spring

Highway Ninety, the jobs are gone
We tend our garden; we set the sun
This is the only place on earth blue bonnets grow;
And 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
And we will fly away to Heaven come some sweet bluebonnet spring

And when we die we say, we'll catch some blackbird's wing
We will fly away together come some sweet bluebonnet spring

If Wishes Were Changes
(written by Nanci Griffith and James Hooker)

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
Cuz 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

(Repeat chorus)

(Repeat first verse)

It's A Hard Live Wherever You Go
(written by Nanci Griffith)

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."

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

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

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 Chicago for these kids to go

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

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 this world for these kids to go

It's a hard life wherever you go

It's Just Another Morning Here
(written by Nanci Griffith)

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
'Cuz 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
Everyday of the year

The neighbours 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 shoulders
Or an open window for a winged heart to fly away

(Repeat chorus)

(Repeat first verse)

(Repeat chorus twice and fade out)

I Wish It Would Rain
(written by Nanci Griffith)

(Chorus)
Oh, I wish it would rain
And wash my face clean
I wanna find some dark cloud
To hide in here
Love in memories
Sparkled 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 pines
Who only cared for me
I wanna find that love of twenty-two
Here at thirty-three
I've got a heart on my right
One on my left
Neither suits my needs
No, the one I love lives a-way out West
And he never will need me

(Repeat chorus)

I'm gonna pack up my two step shoes
And head for the Gulf Coast plains
I wanna walk the streets of my own hometown
Where everybody knows my name
I wanna ride the waves down in Galveston
When the hurricanes blow in
'Cuz that Gulf Coast water tastes sweet as wine
When your heart's rowin' home in the wind

(Repeat chorus)

When the diamonds fall darlin'... they burn like tears

Late Night Grande Hotel
(written by Nanci Griffith)

I'm working on a morning flight to anywhere but here
I'm watching this evening fire burn away my tears
All my life I've left my troubles by the door
Leavin' is all I've ever known before

(Chorus)
It's not the way you hold me when the sun goes down
It's not the way you call my name that left me stranded on the ground
It's not the way you say you hear my heart when the music ends
I am just learning how to fly away again
It's not the way you say you hear my heart when the music ends
I am just learning how to fly away again

And maybe you were thinkin' that you thought you knew me well
But, no one ever knows the heart of anyone else
I feel like Garbo in this late night grand hotel
Cause living alone is all I've ever done well

(Repeat chorus twice)

Listen To The Radio
(written by Nanci Griffith)

I am leaving Mississippi in the evening rain
These Delta towns wear satin gowns
In a high beamed frame
Loretta Lynn guides my hands through the radio
Where would I be in times like these
Without the songs Loretta wrote?

(Chorus)
When you can't find a friend
You'll still got the radio
When you can't find a friend
You'll still got the radio
Radio . . . listen to the radio
Radio . . . listen to the radio

I left a handsome two stepped good ole boy in Tennessee
Now, he's sittin' on the sofa, lookin' for his supper,
Wonderin' what's become of me
I've got a double-o-eighteen Martin guitar in the back seat of the car
Hey, I'm leaving Mississippi . . .
With the radio on

(Repeat chorus)

There's a moon across the border in the Louisiana sky
I smell the Pontchartrain, I hear silver wings
Then, away Merle Haggard flies
That good ole boy will find a Band of Gold
On the stereo
Hey, then my mama's gonna call and say "Where's she gone?"
He'll say, "Down the road with the radio on."

(Repeat chorus)

Love At The Five And Dime
(written by Nanci Griffith)

Rita was sixteen years
Hazel eyes and chestnut hair
She made a Woolworth counter shine
Eddie was a sweet romancer
And a darn good dancer
They'd waltz the aisles of the five & dime

(Chorus)
They'd sing
Dance a little closer to me
Dance a little closer now
Dance a little closer tonight
Dance a little closer to me
'Cuz it's closing time
And love's on sale tonight
At this five & dime

Eddie played the steel guitar
His mama cried 'cuz he played in the bars
And kept young Rita out late at night
So they married up in Abilene
Lost a child in Tennessee
But, still that love survived

(Repeat chorus)

One of the boys in Eddie's band
Took a shine to Rita's hands
So Eddie ran off with the bass man's wife
Oh, but he was back by June
Singin' a different tune
And sportin' Miss Rita back by his side

He sang
Dance a little closer to me
Dance a little closer now
Dance a little closer tonight
Dance a little closer to me
'Cuz it's closing time
And love's on sale tonight
At this five & dime

Eddie travelled with the barroom bands
Till arthritis took his hands
Now he sells insurance on the side
Rita's got a house to keep
She writes dimestore novels
Of a love so sweet
They dance to the radio late at night

(Repeat chorus)

(Repeat first verse)

They'd waltz the aisles of the five & dime
They'd waltz the aisles of the five & dime

Outbound Plane
(written by Nanci Griffith, additional words by Tom Russell)

I don't want to be standing here
With this ticket for this outbound plane
Oh, I've been here before
Somehow this doesn't feel the same
Talk is cheap
So we could talk all night long
And we may never figure out
Just where your love went wrong

(Chorus)
'Cuz I don't wanna be standin' here
And I don't wanna be talkin' here
And I don't really care who's to blame
If love won't fly on it's own free will
It's gonna catch that outbound plane

The old folks say that love's not forever anymore
Because these young people walk away from love alone
To pace the floor
Young or old
I say that love is still the same
You may walk away from love
But you'll fall head and heel again

(Repeat chorus)

Two lonely hearts in this airport knowing
Neither cares where that other heart is going
Cuz if love won't fly on it's own free will
It's gonna catch that outbound plane

That frown you're wearing's just you're halo turned upside down
Where is the laughter
We once shared back in the lost and found
These broken wings are gonna leave me here
To stand my ground
And you can have this ticket for that lonely plane
That's flying out

(Repeat chorus)

There's A Light Beyond These Woods(Mary Margaret)
(written by Nanci Griffith)

There's a light beyond these woods Mary Margaret
Do you think that we will go there
And see what makes it shine...Mary Margaret
It's almost morning and we've talked all night
You know we've made big plans for ten year olds...you and I

Have you met my new boy friend Margaret
His name is John and he rides my bus to school
Oh he holds my hand he's fourteen...
He's my older man
But we'll still be the best of friends...
The three of us Margaret, John and I

Hey, let's go to New York City Margaret
We'll hide out in the subways and drink the poet's wine
Oh but I had John so you went and I stayed behind
But you were home in time for the senior prom...when we lost John
The fantasies we planned Oh Maggie I'm living them now
All the dreams we sang when we know how...
They haven't changed
And there'll never been two friends like you and me Mary Margaret
It's nice to see your family growing Margaret
Your daughter and your husband here they really treat you right
But we've talked all night...
What about those lights
That glowed beyond our woods when we were ten
You were the rambler then

The fantasies we planned Oh Maggie I'm living them now
All the dreams we sang...
We damn sure knew how
And I'll never change
There'll never be two friends like you and me
Maggie can't you see There's a light beyond your woods...Mary Margaret

The Wing And The Wheel
(written by Nanci Griffith)

The wing & the wheel
Well they carry things away
Whether it's me that does the leavin'
Or the love that flies away
And the moon outside my window
Looks so lonely tonight
There's a chunk out of it's middle
Big enough for an old fool to hide

Where are all the dreamers
That I used know?
We used to linger beneath street lamps
With our halos in the smoke
The wing & the wheel
Came to carry them away
Now they all live out in the suburbs
Where their dreams are in their children at play

There's a pale moon in the east
All the stars are in the west
Oh, here's to all the dreamers
May our open hearts find rest
'Cuz the wing & the wheel
Are gonna carry us along
And we'll have memories for company
Long after the songs are sung

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