Nanci Griffith

[fox69]

"The Wing And The Wheel"

"The Wing And The Wheel"


The wing and the wheel... they carry things away
Whether it's me that does the leavin' or the love that flies away
The moon outside my window looks so lonely tonight
Oh, 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 in the halos and the smoke
The wing and 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 sky in the east... all the stars are in the west
Oh, here's to all the dreamers... may our open hearts find rest
The wing and the wheel are gonna carry us along
And we'll have memories for company... long after the songs are gone

 

[fox69]

"There's A Light Beyond These Woods (Mary Margaret)"

"There's A Light Beyond These Woods (Mary Margaret)"


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,
And 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.

Let's go to New York City, Margaret!
We'll hide out in the subways
And drink the poets' 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 plan, I'm living them now.
All the dreams we sang when we knew how,
Well, they haven't changed.
There's never been two friends like you and me,
Mary Margaret.

It's nice to see you family growing, Margaret.
Your daughter and your husband there,
They really treat you right...
But we've talked all night
And what about the light, that glowed beyond
Our woods when we were ten?
You were the rambler then.

The fantasies we planned, well, Maggie,
I'm living them now.
All the dreams we sang, oh, we damn sure knew
How... but I haven't changed.
There'll never be two friends like you and me,
Maggie, can't you see?

There's a light beyond your woods, Mary Margaret.

 

[fox69]

"These Days In An Open Book"

"These Days In An Open Book"


Shut it down and call this road a day
And put this silence in my heart in a better place
I have traveled with your ghost now so many years
That I see you in the shadows
In hotel rooms and headlights
You're coming up beside me
Whether it's day or night

[Chorus:]
These days my life is an open book
Missing pages I cannot seem to find
These days your face
In my memory
Is in a folded hand of grace against these times

No one's ever come between your memory and me
I have driven this weary vessel here alone
Will you still find me if I leave you here beside this road
Cuz' I need someone who can touch me
Who'll put no one above me
Someone who needs me
Like the air he breathes

[Chorus]

[Bridge:]
I can't remember where this toll road goes
Maybe it's Fort Worth, maybe it's a heart of gold
The price of love is such a heavy toll
That I've lived my life in the backroads
With your love in my pocket
If I spend the love you gave me
Tell me where will it go?

[Chorus]

These days your face
In my memory
Is in a folded hand of grace
Folded hand of grace
Folded hand of grace
Against these times

 

[fox69]

"Things I Don't Need"

"Things I Don't Need"


This house is full of memories that aren't mine
Pieces, I thought I would clear out over time
Life takes over, I get ahead of myself
I turn around and I've filled up the shelf

With things I don't need that weigh me down
Things I don't want but still keep around
I woke up today and I made up my mind
From now on I'll leave all those things I don't need behind

The one thing that's not on the shelf is my heart since it fell
Picking it up is a thing that I've never have done well
True love always seems to fly by me
I wonder if it's one of those things I don't need

Things I don't need that weigh me down
Things I don't want but still keep around
I woke up today and I made up my mind
From now on I'll leave all those things I don't need behind

Like a bag you unpack at the end of a trip
And you're wondering why did I take all of this?

These things I don't need that weigh me down
Things I don't want but still keep around
I woke up today and made up my mind
From now on I'll leave all those things I don't need behind
From now on I'll leave all those things I don't need behind

 

[fox69]

"This Heart"

"This Heart"


This heart was almost taken
This heart had a love of it's own
This heart was reawakened
When you came along

This heart was born feet runnin'
This heart saw your porch light on
This heart hit the sidewalk wonderin'
Why you left it on

[Chorus:]
This heart was stranded in the winter
Was stuck out in a blizzard in it's summer clothes
This heart knows
When the love comes
And when it goes

This heart hears the telephone ringin'
This heart's gonna let it go
'Cuz this heart knows the bells she's hearin'
Aren't the telephone
This heart has heard your laughter
This heart has learned how to smile
This heart is your true believer
If you'll stay awhile

[Chorus]

[Bridge:]
This heart... This heart... This heart
This heart... This heart... This heart

[Chorus]

This heart was almost taken
This heart was born feet runnin'
This heart hears the telephone ringin'
Gonna let it go
This heart... This heart... This heart
This heart... This heart... This heart
This heart... This heart... This heart

 

[fox69]

"This Old Town"

"This Old Town"


This old town should've burned down in 1929
That's when we stood in line
Waiting for our soup
Swallowing our pride
This old town should've burned down in 1931
When the rain refused to come
Air filled up our bellies
Dust filled up our lungs
And we thought our time had come

[Chorus:]
This old town was built by hand
In the dust bowl of the Mother land
There must be rock beneath this sand
Oh, I'll be damned
This town still stands

This old town should've burned down in 1944
When the last men went to war
They came back different
If they came back at all
This old town should've burned down in 1956
That's when the twister hit
And all our hopes were buried
Beneath the boards and bricks
And we almost called it quits

[Chorus]

[Bridge:]
Somewhere in the distance
The city lights do shine
The sidewalks gleam with neon dreams
That call from time to time
When my children's children
Ask me why I didn't go
They say the heart of any town
Is the people that you've known
They'll always call you home

[Chorus]

 

[fox69]

"Three Flights Up"

"Three Flights Up"


We returned to that five room flat
Now it was empty and this the last time
There were blinking pictures
Of how we'd sit and chat
Some of them are scattered
Others shattered in my mind

[Chorus:]
It was always three flights up
Cathedral bells kept time

In the winter, a-chatterin' cold
While the building shook like ragweed in the wind
Stories from the heat pipes
We were told
But now they only leave me
With a half enchanted grin

[Chorus]

[Bridge:]
Bicycles squeezed down alley ways into view
And towels warmed on oven doors
To not freeze
Was the only thing to do

I wonder if we kept to the fair warning
'Cause I can see it in the flowers
Dyin' on the window sill
I know we must be out by tomorrow mornin'
But am I goin' 'gainst my will

[Chorus]

[Bridge]

[Repeat last verse]

[Chorus]

 

[fox69]

"Time Alone"

"Time Alone"


Oh the grace that true love holds when hearts grow weary for
Time alone
You give it room and the warm to hold
... and it'll always come home

True love is faithful all on it's own
Hearts know when they should fly alone
When the mind is rested and the heart's at ease...
Two loves can give to each other's needs

Oh, the grace that true love holds when hearts grow weary for
Time alone
You give it room and the warm to hold
... and it'll always come home

You can fool yourself and fool your dreams
But you can't fool your heart and you can't fool me
Love is a sailor sailing out to sea
One of these days you'll need the harbor in me...

Oh, the grace that true love holds when hearts grow weary for
Time alone
You give it room and the warm to hold
... and it'll always come home
Oh, give it room and the warm to hold... and it'll always
Come home

 

[fox69]

"Time Of Inconvenience"

"Time Of Inconvenience"


We're living in a time of inconvenience
Compassion fails me with this meanness in the air
Our city streets are filled with violence
So we close our doors to the city
And pretend that it's not there
Here I go again
Back out on these mean streets
The evil seems to cling to the soles of my feet
Cuz' I'm living in a time of inconvenience
At an inconvenient time

We're living in the age of communication
Where the only voices heard have money in their hands
Where greed has become a sophistication
And if you ain't got money
You ain't got nothin' in this land
An' here I am one lonely woman
On these mean streets
Where the right to life man has become my enemy
Cuz' I'm living in his time of inconvenience
At an inconvenient time

[Bridge:]
I've turned my cheek
As my history fades
While the clock ticks away
Any progress we've made
I never thought
I'd be ashamed to be human
Afraid to say
My time has seen it's day
Cuz' I'm living in a time of inconvenience
Living in a time of inconvenience
Living in a time of inconvenience
It's an inconvenient time

This is the time of greed and power
Where everyone needs to have someone to shove around
Our children come to us for answers
Listening for freedom but they don't know the sound
And there they are, our children
Dumped out in these mean streets
The evil sweeps them up
And brings them to their knees
Cuz' they're living in our time of inconvenience
They're living in the age of communication
This is the time of greed and power
This is the time that I wish was not mine
Cuz' it's an inconvenient time

(time, oh time)
(it's an inconvenient time)

 

[fox69]

"Tonight I Think I'm Gonna Go Downtown"

"Tonight I Think I'm Gonna Go Downtown"


Tonight I think I'm gonna go downtown
Tonight I think I'm gonna look around
For something that I couldn't see
When this world was more real to me
Tonight I think I'm gonna go downtown

My love, my love has gone away
My love, my love what can I say
My love would never see
That this world's just not real to me
Tonight I think I'm gonna go downtown

I told my love a thousand times
Why I can't say what's on my mind
But he would never see
That this world's just not real to me
And tonight I think I'm gonna go downtown