Nanci Griffith

[fox69]

"Montana Backroads"

"Montana Backroads"


In an old pickup truck, with his hat pulled down
He drives them old Montana backroads
Remembering half-forgotten times, and wondering where it's gone
And if he can still carry the load

Now, the summer sun is setting, and the moon is on the rise
As he pulls that old pickup into town
And he parks beside the place where the feed store used to be
And he heads for an old familiar sound

Those honky-tonk bands still play old-time songs
Remembering how things used to be
Sitting at the bar with his head down in his hands
So alone with his memories
Lord, he's so alone with his memories

He remembers back in '33, or was it '34
The year that he won the rodeo
The buckle that they gave him, well, he still wears today
For that Brahma bull that he rode

But his riding days are over now, his back is getting weak
And his eyesight, it just ain't as good
As the days he'd spot a deer at a hundred yards or more
And bring back a month's supply of food

Those honky-tonk bands still play old-time songs
Remembering how things used to be
Sitting at the bar with his head down in his hands
So alone with his memories
Lord, he's so alone with his memories

Now the bar is getting set to close, they say he's got to leave
But it feels like, Lord, he just arrived
So he downs his last shot as he's heading for the door
Getting ready for that long and lonely drive

In an old pickup truck, with his hat pulled down
He drives them old Montana backroads
Remembering half-forgotten times, and wondering where it's gone
And if he can still carry the load

Those honky-tonk bands still play old-time songs
Remembering how things used to be
And he tumbles through the door, and he falls down on his bed
Still alone with his memories
Lord, he's still alone with his memories

 

[fox69]

"More Than A Whisper"

"More Than A Whisper"


How I wish that you would call... we have not spoken since last fall
Now that smokey conversation's come and gone
Do I just read between your line?
Or could it be this winter wine?... so sweet upon my tongue tonight
Recalls your tender eyes

[Chorus:]
O, I need more than a whisper... so much more than a whisper
It takes more than a whisper to wake this weary fool
Give me more than a whisper... if you're sayin' I love you
'cuz it's the whispers I have never understood

It's snowin' up in the northlands... I read your warm words from the plains
While the poets say that I should never be thinkin' of you this way
They say that I misread your lines 'cuz I've been lonely all my life
And here I'm reachin' for some silver and leavin' my heart out in the fire

[Chorus]

I will drink my winter wine... when I get home I'll change my mind
I'll only whisper that I love you in those smokey bars at night
And though the poets say I'm lonely... there's still this woman here inside
And I've never been a fool when my heart was on the line

[Chorus]

 

[fox69]

"Morning Song For Sally"

"Morning Song For Sally"


As the morning light stretched in across my bed
I thought of you
Remembering your laughing eyes and all we said
I love you too
As all my thoughts of you pass 'fore my face a thousand times
The way they race my heart... I cannot say it all in lines

How the short time together lasts so long
Makes me strong
As two weeks came and went then you and I were gone
Living on
For it seems our love was destined
To be caught in other nets
But the love we held so brief
I'd chance again without regret

Yes, standing by the road has been my song before
Much too long
But now somehow I'm forced to
See me there once more
And that's the song
For my waking thoughts of you are
But extensions of the dream
Without you here beside me
I'll never know all that they mean

As the morning light stretched in across my bed
I thought of you
Remembering your laughing eyes and all we said
I love you too
As all my thoughts of you pass 'fore my face a thousand times
The way they race my heart... I cannot say it all in lines

 

[fox69]

"Morning Train"

"Morning Train"


There's a morning train
Heading for New Orleans
Carrying business men and week day shoppers
I have sixteen bucks and a dollar in change
That's not a bad price for a one way ride
On a morning train

I give you my devotion
You left me heartsick
Oh, you couldn't have hurt me more
Not workin' with a night stick
Now I'm tired of sharin' this bed of nails
So come first light I'm gonna be right
With the mornin' train

[Chorus:]
So goodbye lover, I'm goin' undercover
Crescent city's gonna swallow me
Gonna skip my ring 'cross the mississippi river
When it sinks I won't feel a thing
When it sinks I won't feel a thing

I'm gonna be stayin'
With a short time acquaintance
When I met him he was playin'
On the Gulf Breeze circuit
He didn't play no hit songs or TV themes
He's a guitar man just a hired hand
From a local band

[Chorus]

The whistles blowin' loud
When I hit the station
I'll take a taxi to the corner
I'm gonna meet him by a street car
Name of what-cha-ma-call-it
My imagination
Won't let us miss a thing
Life's gonna be fine when I leave him behind
On a mornin' train

 

[fox69]

"Mountain Of Sorrow"

"Mountain Of Sorrow"


Easy come, easy go
Anything but easy... though
You were here, now you're gone
That's the only thing I know

And it's just one more sorrow
To throw upon the heap
Mountain of sorrow... steep

What you see, the new me
Changing right before your eyes
Like a leaf on a tree
Letting go before she flies

And it's just one more sorrow
To throw upon the heap
Mountain of sorrow... steep

Mountain of sorrow
How high the top
Must I climb, must I climb
Ever blue
Mountain of sorrow
When I can I stop
And be fine
Knowing I'm over you?

Easy come, easy go
Anything but easy... though
Said goodbye, knowing I
Would have rather said hello

And it's just one more sorrow
To throw upon the heap
Mountain of sorrow... steep
Mountain of sorrow... steep

 

[fox69]

"Never Be The Sun"

"Never Be The Sun"


You'll never be the sun turning in the sky
And you won't be the moon above us
On a moonlit night
And you won't be the stars in heaven
Although they burn so bright
But even on the deepest ocean
You will be the light

You may not always shine as you go
Barefoot over stones
You might be so long together
Or you might walk alone
And you won't find that love comes easy
But that love is always right
So even when the dark clouds gather
You will be the light

And if you lose a part inside
When love turns around on you
Leaving the past behind
Is knowing you'll do as you always do
Holding you blind
Keeping you true

Youll never be the sun turning in the sky
And you won't be the moon above us
On a moonlit night
And you won't be the stars in heaven
Although they burn so bright
But even on the deepest ocean
You will be the light
You will be the light
You will be the light

 

[fox69]

"Never Mind"

"Never Mind"


You say you're heading out to
California
You've heard the grapes are falling
From the vine
I was hoping you might have the
Urge to write me
But, I don't believe you will...
So never mind

I was talking to a man down at Genesco
He said they might be hiring any time
I'm so tired of going any way the
Wind blows
And I thought that me and you...
But never mind

[Chorus:]
Never mind... never mind
I'm just talkin' through the wine
And you know that drinkin' always
Makes me sad
But before this night is through...
I better say I love you
Or I'm gonna always wish that
I had

I first saw you pickin' oranges
In Orlando
All day you kept your ladder close
To mine
We froze in Georgia... burned up
In Chicago
And I always thought that we...
But never mind

Did you know today my baby called
You daddy?
Sometimes I've wished that she was
Yours and mine
I could call my brother Milt in Cincinnati
And ask him for a loan...
But never mind

[Chorus]

 

[fox69]

"Nickel Dreams"

"Nickel Dreams"


A little girl dreamer
Ribbons and long curls
Reflections of yesterdays past
Headlines and footlights
Wee hours and long nights
Keep everything moving so fast

It's taken a long time
And she's walked a fine line
For fortune and fame have arrived
She kept on striving
And half-way surviving
Till part of those dreams came alive

[Chorus:]
Now she wishes she looked like they tell her she looks all the time
What she'd give just to feel like she tells them she's feelin' just fine
All that money she makes every night ain't as much as it seems
Cuz it's a dollar a wrinkle and less than a nickel a dream

Well, her heart may be breaking
But she keeps on taking what she thought she wanted back then
It's too late to change her,
There's always a stranger to tell her she's someone again

[Chorus]

 

[fox69]

"Night Rider's Lament"

"Night Rider's Lament"


While I was out a-ridin'
The graveyard shift midnight till dawn
The moon was as bright as a reading light
For a letter from an old friend back home

[Chorus:]
He asked me
Why do you ride for your money?
Why do you rope for short pay?
You ain't gettin' nowhere
And you're losin' your share
Oh, you must've gone crazy out there

He said last night I ran into Jenny
They married and have a good life
Oh, you sure missed the track when you never came back
She made the perfect professional's wife

[Chorus (She)]

[Bridge:]
They've never seen the northern lights
Never seen a hawk on the wing
Never seen the spring hit the Great Divide
And they ain't ever heard old Camp Cookie sing

Now, I read up the last of my letter
And tore of the stamp for Black Jim
Little Dougie rode up to relieve me
He just looked at my letter and grinned

[Chorus (They)]
[Bridge (They)]

 

[fox69]

"Nobody's Angel"

"Nobody's Angel"


Something's disturbed me
I'm out of your company
I'm Out of the country
With another man's heart
I'm angered and doubtful
And I'd shout an earful
But nothing comes out
When I open my mouth

[Chorus:]
I'm nobody's angel now
(she's out of the country now)
Nobody's angel now
(she's out of the country now)
And if I can't give love
I can't rise above the clouds
Nobody's angel now

I was the forest for love songs
The one who can't love wrong
The one who won't fall
But will still write it down
I'm the one who would understand
Who listens with pen in hand
I'm everyone's shoulder
Till it's me who falls down

[Chorus]

[Bridge:]
I'm grounded and rusty
An' my dance card is dusty now
Because I wanted to be
What the angels see
When they look down
Just a couple on the avenue
With their feet on the ground
And I'm nobody's angel now

Something's disturbed me
I'm out of your company
I'm out of the country now
Something's disturbed me
I'm out of your company
I'm out of the country
Nobody's angel now
(she's out of the country now)
Nobody's angel now
(she's out of it)
I'm out of the country now
I'm out of the country
And nobody's angel now