Nanci Griffith

[fox69]

"Armstrong"

"Armstrong"


Black boy in Chicago
Playing in the street
Not near enough to wear
Not near enough to eat
Don't you know he saw it
On a July afternoon
He saw a man named Armstrong
Walk upon the moon

Young girl in Calcutta
Barely eight years old
The flies that swarm the market place
Will see she don't get old
Don't you know she heard it
On that July afternoon
She heard a man named Armstrong
Had walked upon the moon
She heard a man named Armstrong
Had walked upon the moon

The rivers are getting dirty
The wind is getting bad
War and hate are killing off
The only earth we have
But the world all stopped to watch it
On that July afternoon
To watch a man named Armstrong
Walk upon the moon
To watch a man named Armstrong
Walk upon the moon
To watch a man named Armstrong
Walk upon the moon
And I wonder if a long time ago
Somewhere in the universe
They watched a man named Adam
Walk upon the earth

 

[fox69]

"Back When Ted Loved Sylvia"

"Back When Ted Loved Sylvia"


They both wrote poetry
In fact, that was how they met
He was a Yorkshire man in Cambridge
She was from Massachusetts

They spoke and they fell in love
They kissed and picked daffodils
She came across the ocean
Just to bid her heart goodbye

The hawk next to his goddess
They were glorious to see
Back when Ted loved Sylvia

Close friends disapproved
Said they ought to wait
They did not care with all that said
And married nonetheless

They traveled and they taught
A life of academia
Typewriters and cocktails
Angry verses and sad pleas

Dutiful wife and mother
The poet behind her man
Back when Ted loved Sylvia

The tempests that were howling
And tearing them apart
Were forces that had been in place
To wreck them from the start

So she stayed home with the kids
Collecting poems in a jar
He had his lectures and soon a mistress
And left her all alone

Why did she end it all?
Was he just to blame?
There's only two that know for sure
And neither one remain

I don't need an answer
I prefer to read between the lines
Back when Ted loved Sylvia
Back when Ted loved Sylvia

 

[fox69]

"Ballad Of Robin Winter-Smith"

"Ballad Of Robin Winter-Smith"


Mamma's in the kitchen rattlin' pans and the baby cries,
On the TV news, somebody died
He was a crazy biker in a motorcycle ridin' daredevil show,
In Merry England, oh,... twenty seven years old
He was tryin' to break the record,
For jumpin' over cars, he was the champ
He fell a little bit short... oh, hit the ramp

This is the story, sad and it's gory of Robin Winter-Smith
He was a very brave man if you get my drift
'Cause he waved to the crowd, headed down the runway like a
Man possessed, Robin Winter-Smith... I guess he did his best

I make a livin' a-playin' these songs and I hang out in bars
I play my guitar... oh, but honey, I don't jump over cars
Mamma's in the kitchen rattlin' pans and the baby cries,
On the TV news... somebody died
He was a crazy biker in a motorcycle ridin' daredevil show,
In Merry England, oh,... twenty seven years old

 

[fox69]

"Banks Of The Pontchartrain"

"Banks Of The Pontchartrain"


I'm goin' back where my garden blooms all year
Where the wintertime speaks softly in the fallin' rain
I'm goin' back to my green eyed lover there
And we will dance along the banks of old Lake Pontchartrain

Oh, I've grown pale beneath the streets of Montreal
Where the voices ring like bells in French-Canadian
And the rivers stand imprisoned till the thaws
I am alone at night and dream of my own Pontchartrain

[Chorus:]
Take me to the station... I am late to catch my southbound train
Oh, I'm gonna call my cousin Libby
She will be waiting by the tracks when I roll in
I'm gonna roll across America
Just to stand beside my Pontchartrain again

These old rails shake like thunder through the night
Soon I'll have my green eyed lover's arms to comfort me
Oh, I can see my cousin Libby by his side
Her hair will flow in waves like on Lake Pontchartrain

[Chorus]

I'm goin' back where my garden blooms all year
Where the wintertime speaks softly in the fallin' rain
I'm goin' back to my green eyed lover there
And we will dance along the banks of old Lake Pontchartrain
Yes, we will dance along the banks of old Lake Pontchartrain
We will dance along the banks of old Lake Pontchartrain
And here comes the train

 

[fox69]

"Battlefield"

"Battlefield"


I live on a battlefield
Surrounded by the ruins of a love we built
And then destroyed between us, the smoke has cleared
As I stumble through the rubble, I'm dazed and seein' double
And I'm truly mystified

[Chorus:]
My new home is a shell-hole
Filled with tears and muddy water
And bits of broken heart
All around there is desolation
And scenes of devastation
Of a love being torn apart
I live on a battlefield
I live on a battlefield

I live on a battlefield
The one where not one single drop of
Blood has spilled
Is no less horrifying sweet memories
Of a bygone situation
Now shattered, lord and battered
Lies scattered all around

My new home is a shelly hole
Filled with tears and muddy water
Yes, and the bits of broken heart
All around, there is desolation
And scenes of devastation
Of a love being torn apart
I live on a battlefield
I live on a battlefield
I live on a battlefield

Everything that can and has gone wrong
(I live on a battlefield)
It's gonna take spine to carry on
(I live on a battlefield)
Like a drownin' man comin' up for air
(I live on a battlefield)
I'm looking for another survivor
But I can't see one anywhere

[Chorus]

My new home
(My home is filled with muddy water)
All around
(All around, there's bits of broken heart)
My world
(My world)
Is one of desolation and scenes of devastation
There is no consolation, for a love been torn apart

I live on a battlefield
I live on a battlefield, battlefield
I live on a battlefield
(My home is filled with muddy water)
I live on a battlefield, battlefield
I live on a battlefield
(All around, there's bits of broken heart)
I live on a battlefield, battlefield
I live on a battlefield
(My home is filled with muddy water)

 

[fox69]

"Beacon Street"

"Beacon Street"


Gonna wake up crazy to the cry of the trains on Beacon Street
So far from home, so far from love, so far from a friend in need
And all I need is a heart to hold and a good night's sleep
And all I have is the cry of the trains as they bid farewell on Beacon Street

[Chorus:]
And here I am again
I'm in the company of strangers
It's a cold winter wind that sings a song
You say your love is lost
I'm not the kind who lingers on
So it's farewell to your heart
Cuz when the love is gone, it's gone.

I never did feel lonely till I looked in the mirror and all I could see
Was a little bit of you in the corner of an eye in need of a good night's sleep
And all I need is to close my eyes to find my dreams
And all I had was the cry of the trains as we bid farewell on Beacon Street

[Chorus]

[Repeat first verse]

And all I had was the cry of the trains as we bid farewell on Beacon Street
And all I had was the cry of the trains as we bid farewell on Beacon Street
Bid farewell to a lonely heart on Beacon Street

 

[fox69]

"Beautiful"

"Beautiful"


Here's a photograph of you in Woody Hermann's band
It was 1952, you were such a handsome man
One of you at a memorial with all of Hoagy's clan
And then you and my mother
Walking hand in hand

[Chorus:]
And she was beautiful
And you played the piano
You were beautiful upon the keys
The world was beautiful
When the two of you were dancing
Beautiful, to me

You took a photograph of us, your ladies liberty
My hair was in the breeze and I played Carnegie
Grandmother read the sonnet of Emma Lazarus
She's only halfway in this picture
You took of all of us

[Chorus]

You were a father to this lonely child
Though we are not related
You taught me how to write these notes upon a page
You were a soldier for your country in two of our wars
You played piano all your life
And you are beautiful

[Chorus]

 

[fox69]

"Before"

"Before"


I dreamed of Louisiana
And a night in Lafayette
We had breakfast with Susanna
We were young and wild and left

[Chorus:]
What's different here than in that dream
And in reality
Is we weren't afraid to fail in love
And we all believed in the dream
Before... Before

I dreamed of Manhattan
In a time before this war
It was snowing down on Bleecker Street
It was before you were a star

[Chorus]

Now everything is twilight
It's a time too dark to see
It's fear of being what we were
And pondering the dream

Then I dreamed of Texas
And the Gulf Coast shores
I dreamed of who we used to be
And the hope we had before

[Chorus]

 

[fox69]

"Big Blue Ball Of War"

"Big Blue Ball Of War"


In 1914 this ball was at war
It went from Belgium on through Ireland
The Congo, then back home

This big blue ball of war spun on its own
Spinning history in lines of blood
When many souls fell off

[Chorus:]
We all ride on (we all ride)
This big blue ball of war
Souls with tickets through the veil
We all ride on
We all ride on (we all ride)
This big blue ball of war
We choose to spin around and ride
This big blue ball of war

Almost a century, the blood has flowed
We've killed our men of peace around this ball
And refused to hear their ghosts

We spend our destinies in deeds of hate
Humanity upon this ball
Is just a bloody fall from grace

[Chorus]

A reformation might just save us all
A voice of harmony and open heart
Where the women teach the song

These men of evil deed can be proven wrong
If we join hand to hand with Abraham
So not a soul falls off

[Chorus]

 

[fox69]

"Bluer Than Blue"

"Bluer Than Blue"


After you go, I can catch up on my reading
And after you go, I'll have a lot more time for sleeping
And when you're gone
Looks like things are gonna get a lot easier
Life will be a breeze, you know
I really should be glad

But I'm bluer than blue, sadder than sad
You're the only light this empty room has ever had
Life without you is gonna be
Bluer than blue

After you go, I'll have a lot more room in my closet
After you go, I'll stay out all night long if I feel like it
And when you're gone
I can run through the house screaming
And no one will ever hear me
I really should be glad

But I'm bluer than blue, sadder than sad
You're the only light this empty room has ever had
Life without you is gonna be
Bluer than blue

I don't have to miss no TV shows
I can start my whole life over
Change the numbers on my telephone
But the nights will sure be colder

Cause I'm bluer than blue, sadder than sad
You're the only light this empty room has ever had
Life without you is gonna be
Bluer than blue

Bluer than blue
Bluer than blue