Nanci Griffith

[fox69]

"Southbound Train"

"Southbound Train"


I'm sitting on a southbound train
Staring at the sky
I'm thinking of my childhood
And I'm trying not to cry
While a stranger sleeps against me
And it feels like I'm his wife
Towns and cities flutter past
Like the pages of my life

My heart is on the baggage rack
It's heavy as can be
I wish that I could find someone
Who would carry it for me
Just to pay it some attention
And to handle it with care
Because it has been dropped
And is in need of some repair

[Chorus:]
Some things I know
Some things I guess
Some things I wish that I could learn
To express
Like the way that I feel
As I stare at the sky
And I remember your voice
And the sound... of goodbye

Maybe it's the autumn...Chill
Maybe it's the rain
Maybe I should wake the stranger
And ask him his name
But, my eyes they would betray me
And my words could not defend
No, I must learn to wait my turn
Before I love again

[Chorus]

 

[fox69]

"Speed Of The Sound Of Loneliness"

"Speed Of The Sound Of Loneliness"


You come home late
And you come home early
You come on big
When you're feelin' small
You come home straight
And you come home curly
Sometimes you don't come home at all

[Chorus:]
So what in the world's come over you?
What in heavens name have you done?
You've broken the speed of the sound of loneliness
You're out there runnin'
Just to be on the run

Well, I got a heart that burns with a fever
And I got a worried and a jealous mind
Well how can a love
That will last forever
Get left so far behind?

 

[fox69]

"Spin On A Red Brick Floor"

"Spin On A Red Brick Floor"


I could use a little spin on a red brick floor
In that crazy ol' bar when Tim locks the door
Where the walls are gonna ring and the strings are gonna bend
And it's a buss on the cheek from all my old lovers again

Oh. the Blue Ridge mountains at the fall of the night
It sure feels good when you cross that line
I'll tip my cup and holler at the moon
I'll say-a-Great White North... honey here's to you sleep tight...

[Chorus:]
I've gone crazy on this road... with all of this travelin' alone,
But the asphalt is burnin' tonight...

The New England Spring's been good to me
There's been warmth to lend and good lines to sing
But, how I miss my native tongue
'cause... New York City sorta brings out the stupids in me

I've got one more stop down in Tennessee
My sweetheart is there just a-waitin' on me
Then it's on down the road kickin' East Texas dust
I'll catch my breath with that hot Houston neon buzzin'

[Chorus]

Oh, here comes a little spin on a red brick floor
It's a crazy ol' bar and Tim's locked the door
The wall's are ringin', the strings are gonna bend
And it's a buss on the cheek from all my old lovers again

 

[fox69]

"St. Olav's Gate"

"St. Olav's Gate"


Drinking black market vodka in the back of the Scottsman's saloon
Then it's red meat and whiskey like a coyote drunk on the moon
Outside in Oslo the buskers' all sing the same tune
And it's Waltzin' Matilda while the bagpipes play old Clare de Lune

She was a lady, she came down from Bergen she said
She spoke little English, they laughed and drank whiskey instead
In the mornin' he found it... a rose with a note on his plate
It said, "meet me at midnight on the corner of St. Olav's Gate"

[Chorus:]
Here's to the ladys you love and don't see again
The night is warm whiskey... the mornin's a cold bitter wind
The blue eyed madonna leaves town while the drunken man waits
Leaves him standing alone in the shadows of St. Olav's Gate

[Chorus]

 

[fox69]

"Still Life"

"Still Life"


You walked the line all your life
You never thought you'd have to change it
You're always there to give advice
You never thought you'd have to take it

It's still life but it's broken
It's still life when it's torn
It's still life that you're walking
On and on and on and on and on

You need to change, you don't know how
Your life could use a reformation
If you could see you as I see you now
I know you'd change the situation

It's still life but it's broken
It's still life when it's torn
It's still life that you're walking
On and on and on and on and on

It's always someone else's fault
You're always right, you're never wrong
You think that life's a game but this is real

You think you can just walk away
And leave destruction in your wake
But you're not walking anywhere near

Is it still life if you are drowning?
Is it still life when you fall?
Is it still life when you can't carry
On and on and on and on and on?

It's still life but it's broken
It's still life when you're torn
It's still life when you're walking
On and on and on and on and on and on

It's still life but it's broken
It's still life but it's torn
It's still life but you're walking
On and on and on and on and on and on and on

It's still life

 

[fox69]

"Storms"

"Storms"


As quiet as a street lamp
This is some kinda town
Whiskey go easy
When the sun goes down
My best to the midnight...
God, look at the moon
There's enough for two shadows
There's only one in the room
There's only one in the room

[Chorus:]
There's a storm out on the water
Oh, bless the ships at sea
There's a storm down in my lover's heart
Oh, God bless me
I wanna be blown by the wind of his
Breathing
Shown by lightening flashing
Oh, I've never been afraid of the thunder
I wonder
Will he rain on me?

Is loneliness contagious?
Another damn song about a waitress
It's the only hotel here
... and the engine's gotta cool
I'm a bad hand at solitaire
You lie to yourself and no one cares
While the wall paper fades...
The sun takes the moon
There should be two to a room

[Chorus]

There's a storm out on the water... will he rain on me?

 

[fox69]

"Summer Wages"

"Summer Wages"


Never hit seventeen
When you play against the dealer
You know that the odds
Won't ride with you
And never leave your woman alone
With your friends around to steal her
She'll he gambled and gone
Like summer wages

And we'll keep rollin' on
'til we get to Vancouver
And the woman that I love
She's living there
It's been six long months
And more since I've seen her
Years have gambled and gone
Like summer wages

[Chorus:]
In all the beer parlors
All down along Main Street
The dreams of the seasons
Get all spilled down on the floor
All the big stands of timber
Just waiting for the falling
And the hookers standing watchfully
Waiting by the door

So I'll work on the towboats
With my slippery city shoes
Which lord I swore I would never do again
Through the gray fog-bound straits
Where the cedars stand watching
I'll be far off and gone
Like summer wages

[Chorus]

Never hit seventeen
When you play against the dealer
You know that the odds
Won't ride with you
And never leave your woman alone
With your friends around to steal her
She'll be gambled and gone
Like summer wages

And the years are gambled and lost
Like summer wages

 

[fox69]

"Sweet Dreams Will Come"

"Sweet Dreams Will Come"


I'm sleepin' less in L.A.
Dreamin' of days yet to come
Oh, and I don't care what you say
I know that those days will surely come

I'm wakin' and I'm callin'
I'm shakin' and I'm fallin'
Oh, little darlin'
I wonder when those sweet dreams
Will come

There's a hole in the sky
That was made by my Right Guard
Last night
Oh, and then there's you and I
Assuring that everything's alright
We are nursing... pretending
Cursing then defending
And yet it's never ending
Makes ya' wonder when those sweet
Dreams will come

I am lookin' for some love
I guess that's why people buy dogs
Is there someone up above?
And I wonder is the Captain keeping
Logs
I am cursing and I'm praying
Not knowing what we're saying
And yet, it's everydaying
And I wonder when those sweet dreams
Will come

I feel like a fire
In the morning when the fire is out
I am walking on the wire
And the wire's what the whole
Thing is about
The pretender is thinning
Surrender is winning
And yet, it's a beginning
To feel like those sweet dreams will come

Oh, little darlin'
Don't cha wonder when those sweet
Dreams will come

(Oh, sweet dreams will come)

 

[fox69]

"Talk To Me While I'm Listening"

"Talk To Me While I'm Listening"


I should have known that you were gone back in Germany
You told me in the dark while I was sleeping
Then you slept through the sunrise
As it washed across your face
And all that I had heard were our hearts beating

[Chorus:]
Talk to me while I'm listening
While this love has a voice that we both
Can hear
Before you let it go...
The greatest love I've ever known
Won't you please
Talk to me
While I'm listening

I cannot find a place to put this love away
Or lose the thought of sunlight on your face
I thought I heard your voice
Say I love you today
But it was only the sound of my heart breaking

[Chorus]

How I wish that I could take us back to Germany
I would stay awake and you would talk to me
Yet for every drop of rain I hear
There's bound to fall another tear
Upon this page of song of my heart aching

[Chorus]

Before you let it go...
This greatest love I've ever known
Won't you please
Talk to me
While I'm listening
Talk to me
Talk to me

 

[fox69]

"Tecumseh Valley"

"Tecumseh Valley"


The name she gave was Caroline
Daughter of a miner
And her ways were free
It seemed to me
The sunshine walked beside her

She came from Spencer
Across the hill
She said her Pa had sent her
'Cause the coal was low
And soon the snow
Would turn the skies to winter

She said she'd come
To look for work
She was not seeking favors
And for a dime a day
And a place to stay
She'd turn those hands to labor

But the times were hard Lord
The jobs were few
All through Tecumseh Valley
But she asked around
And a job she found
Tending bar at Gypsy Sally's

She saved enough to get back home
When spring replaced the winter
But her dreams were denied
Her Pa had died
The word come down from Spencer

So she turned to whorin' out on the streets
With all the lust inside her
And it was many a man
Returned again
To lay himself beside her

They found her down beneath the stairs
That led to Gypsy Sally's
In her hand when she died
Was a note that cried
Fare thee well... Tecumseh Valley

[Repeat first verse]