Nanci Griffith

[fox69]

"Love In A Memory"

"Love In A Memory"


She sleeps alone in the warm nights of Memphis
Where the Peabody Hotel meets the velveteen sky
She sings like the waves in the cool Mississippi
That brought her from St. Paul in '75
And men come to court her with roses and sweet wine
Where hands cross the ivories from six until nine
She sings away sorrow each night when she leaves him
She goes home alone,
She's not the marrying kind

[Chorus:]
Love is a memory that she'll always hold
Cuz love in a memory never grows old
Why she did leave him, well nobody knows
Love in a memory never grows old

Now he works the toll booth on the New Jersey Turnpike
The ring on his finger grows cold to the bone
His sons were all dreamers who cheat on their own wives
He still dreams of St. Paul when he's cheating alone

[Chorus]

 

[fox69]

"Love Is A Hard Waltz"

"Love Is A Hard Waltz"


Take this heart of mine out the winter
And let the new life of Springtime come rest at our door
May the soul of my brother never bow to the wicked
And the hearts of our children waltz together once more

[Chorus:]
Love is a Hard Waltz... and we could all use a
Lesson in giving
If we give it hearts... it could teach us the
Rhythm if only we're willing

Now my mother's had a hard life in learnin' to dance
My father did leave her on the dance floor at midnight
Though they shared a true love, he did not understand
That all she ever wanted was a hand in her own life

[Chorus]

I know women who gather for the hatred of men
Their eyes are as closed as the blind Ku Klux Klan
There are men who would love those same women as friends
Oh , brother and sister they'd stand in the end...but...

[Chorus]

Now, we've all lived in fear of the needs of our neighbors
Yet, we voice our opinions through weak politicians
Hey, the shores of our country have closed for this season
And our lady of the harbor stands lonely and weeping...'cause...

[Chorus]

 

[fox69]

"Love Wore A Halo (Back Before The War)"

"Love Wore A Halo (Back Before The War)"


She owned a hotel on the Jersey shore
She made her living sending sailors
Door to door
He was the small one with a
Crooked smile
Oh, he made her eyes light up like
The heavens on the Fourth of July

She ran the numbers... They say she
Ran 'em clean
Those porcelain hands could keep
A ledger even in her sleep
While he worked the Seabees in
The Philippines
They say she made more money than
You or I will ever see

[Chorus:]
Love was an anchor on the
Jersey shore
If you were looking for love, boys,
You could've found it in forty four
'Cuz love wore a halo... back before
The war
When the men loved the women
And the women knew what men
Were for

It was in the winter when he came home
He had to hold those porcelain hands
Just to keep her warm
So they had a daughter... they named
Her Stephanie Anne
Hey, they sent her off to Vassar to
Find herself a family man

[Chorus]

Now, she sold the hotel... it belongs to me
I watch those sailors come and go
Like the waves in the sea
I've hung their portraits in the
Honeymoon suite
I hear they're fishin' their lives away
In the Florida Keys

[Chorus]

 

[fox69]

"Love's Found A Shoulder"

"Love's Found A Shoulder"


My friends think I'm crazy and maybe it's true
'cuz I'll go on and love you this way
Though I have discovered that you love another
And hardly remember my name

[Chorus:]
My youth was so crazy... my heart was so lazy
Love never could stand me still
But, love's found a shoulder now that I'm older
With plenty of time to kill

[Break]

I wish you well for your new love
'Cuz true love is so hard to hold
You'll be the one that I dream of
'till I find a love of my own

Now, here I am standin' in the cold winter rain
If hearts were of wool I'd be warm
I've known some kind hearts and I've touched a few
Though I never claim one for my own

[Chorus]

 

[fox69]

"Marilyn Monroe / Neon And Waltzes"

"Marilyn Monroe / Neon And Waltzes"


The sun will stop shinin'
Hearts will stop poundin'
The screen is so lonely tonight
The men are out prayin'
The women are sayin'
She died for the loss of her prime
And lived on DiMaggio time

[Chorus:]
Farewell you old tinsel city
With your waltz in the mornin'
And your neon at night
I've bathed in your loneliness
Drank of your wine
I lived on DiMaggio time

Hearts felled to paradise still rest in her eyes
She was no fading light

Hot night in August
So Long to the Goddess
"America's fatherless child"
Immortal's forever
That Queen of the camera
The master of winkin' a smile
And leaving her shadow behind

[Chorus 2x]

 

[fox69]

"Mary And Omie"

"Mary And Omie"


My daddy was a longshoreman in New Orleans,
My mamma kept score just watchin' the Mardi Gras...
Oh me,... I sat on the front porch watchin' the rails roll out,
I was waitin' for my Omie to take me outta this south
It was me and my sisters... like to wore that front porch out

[Chorus:]
And there can't be more to this livin' than loving my Omie
We're both sittin' back here watchin' our children grow
If there's a better ace in the deck,
Well,... baby, come on and show me...
If you ain't got a hand then get on your wheel and roll,
'cuz there could never be a better hand than these hearts I hold

Me and my Omie... we settled down here in Houston
Oh, and one by one, we moved my sisters west
We bought a house in the suburbs and we've got four fine children
We are black middle class because Omie wouldn't settle for less
We are black middle class because Omie wouldn't settle for less

[Chorus]

My children are the first thing in my mornin'...
My Omie is the last thing in my night
Oh, in between I dream about that porch back home
And I bless my daddy for the love within that house
But,... I thank my Omie for takin' me outta the south

... look at these hearts I hold... oh, look at these hearts I hold
... look at these hearts I hold... there ain't no place like home
Look at these hearts we hold... look at those hearts you hold
Hey!... my Omie's got a heart of gold... look at these hearts we hold
... take a look at those hearts you hold... !

 

[fox69]

"Maybe Tomorrow"

"Maybe Tomorrow"


I will find somebody new
Maybe tomorrow
I will stop this missing you
Maybe tomorrow
Times the healer... times the key
So all the wise folks say
Oh, maybe tomorrow
But not today

Life will once again make sense
Maybe tomorrow
I'll regain my confidence
Maybe tomorrow
True love is just around the bend
But I really don't know when
Oh, maybe tomorrow

There's a gorgeous morning in my future
There are smiles waiting here
Behind the tears
Once again I'll be a friend worth having
And just chalk this off
As one of those years

I will find somebody new
Maybe tomorrow
I will stop this missing you
Maybe tomorrow
Time's the healer... times the key
So all the wise folks say
Oh, maybe tomorrow
But not today

Oh, maybe tomorrow
But not today

 

[fox69]

"Michael's Song"

"Michael's Song"


There's a light out on the freeway
Says it's time to go
I'm wasting my time counting
Stains on a barroom floor
Thinking 'bout my hometown
And the friends I'll leave behind
Mostly 'bout the man who writes
His songs with smiling rhymes
And I'm holding on to a smokey view
Of his dreams in the midnight light

Michael counts his songs
In the years of wasted miles
I used to think he was really part
Of that fantasy in rhyme
But looking back on all his tunes
Of butterflies and sunshine
There was only one about the
Man he kept inside
About the time he crossed the line
And let a tear come to his eye

I used to hide out
In his pretty smile
And hope it would shine me
Through the morrow
Until I learned the way
It feels to be the man
Who sings the world a smile
Without a soul to share his sorrow

The light here at the freeway
Well, it's turning green to gold
The stains on that barroom floor
Ten miles back down the road
Thinking 'bout how that old bar
Brought Michael back to mind
And how I can sing his blues
And be smiling here inside...
I guess a weary soul will always

I used to hide out
In his pretty smile
And hope it would shine me
Through the morrow
Until I learned the way
It feels to be the man
Who sings the world a smile
Without a soul to share his sorrow

 

[fox69]

"Midnight In Missoula"

"Midnight In Missoula"


Are you sleeping now?
It's midnight in Missoula
Where the Black Hills know your name
Is the snow piled high around your window frame?
Is there enough frost left to write our names upon the pane?

[Chorus:]
Are you sleeping now?
It's midnight in Missoula
Are you sleeping now?
It's midnight in Missoula

I am down in Rio where I cannot find the sky
Our savior on that mountaintop has taught my soul to fly
I am singing Gershwin and children's lullabies
And wondering of you
And if you're sleeping in Missoula tonight

[Chorus]

I'd love to climb your hilltop and look out upon Missoula lights
Sing Samuel Barber melodies with your viola sweet and high
But I am off to Liverpool on an early evening flight
And wondering of you
And if you're sleeping in Missoula tonight

[Chorus]

Are you sleeping now?
It's midnight in Missoula
Where the Black Hills know your name
Is the snow piled high around your window frame?
Is there enough frost left to write our names upon the pane?

[Chorus]

Are you sleeping now?
Do you know how much I love ya?
Are you sleeping now?
It's midnight in Missoula

 

[fox69]

"Money Changes Everything"

"Money Changes Everything"


In the rush of the river and the roar of the crowd
You can't hear the silence calling
When it's merely a whisper of a cloud
In a crazy storm that pulls you on

Take a pill or you might take a loss
And the vicious circle tightens
But compromise comes with a cost
Maybe you can't see but it's clear to me

Money changes everything
It changes everything

Make a little and it makes your day
And the heavens smile upon you
Make a bundle and you're blown away
To a different game and the rules all change

Leave a husband or trade a wife
You're in the bigger picture now
Take a country or take a life
If it's moolah's will there's gold in them hills

Money changes everything
It changes everything
Money changes everything
It changes everything

If you think it makes your world go round
It makes your world go round
If you think it makes your world go round
It makes your world go round

Money changes everything
It changes everything
Money changes everything
It changes everything

It changes everything
It changes everything
It changes everything