Nanci Griffith

[fox69]

"Boots Of Spanish Leather"

"Boots Of Spanish Leather"


Oh, I'm sailin' away my own true love
I'm sailin' away in the mornin'
Is there somethin I can send you
From across the sea
From the place where I'll be landin'

There's nothin' you can send me my own true love
There is nothin' I'm wishin' to be ownin'
Just carry yourself back to me unspoiled
From across that lonesome ocean

Ah, but I just thought you might want somethin' fine
Made of silver or of golden
Either from the mountains of Madrid
Or from the coast of Barcelona

If I had the stars of the darkest night
And the diamonds from the deepest ocean
I'd forsake them all for your sweet kiss
That's all I wish to be ownin'

I might be gone a long ole time
And it's only that I'm askin'
Is there somethin' I can send you
To remember me by?
To make your time more easy passin'?

How can, how can you ask me again?
It only brings me sorrow
The same thing I would want today
I would want again tomorrow

Oh, I got a letter on a lonesome day
It was from his ship a-sailin'
Sayin' I don't know when I'll be comin' back again
It depends on how I'm feelin'

If you my love must think that-a-way
I'm sure your mind is a-roamin'
I'm sure your thoughts are not with me
But with the country where you're goin'

So take heed, take heed of the western wind
Take heed of stormy weather
And yes there is somethin' you can send back to me
Spanish boots of Spanish leather

 

[fox69]

"Brave Companion Of The Road"

"Brave Companion Of The Road"


Where are you going there?
With your suitcase by the back porch stairs
With my heart in your hand
In this cold December wind again
The cafes and bars are closed
The Christmas lights are veiled in snow
Tell me, where are you going?
My brave companion of the road

[Chorus:]
It seems to me that you are lonelier
Than I've ever seen you be
Oh, it's plain to see
That you've gone crazier
Than you ever thought you'd be
When the lights go down
And the dance floor is empty
And the crowd is going home
... I will be waiting
For my brave companion of the road

Some days come up roses
Some days just come and go
Some nights are so ruthless
That you can't recall the day before
This love has seen better days
Than home for these holidays
Cuz this love has miles for sense of place
Oh, my brave companion of the road

[Chorus]

Tell me, where are you going?
My brave companion of the road

 

[fox69]

"Can't Help But Wonder Where I'm Bound"

"Can't Help But Wonder Where I'm Bound"


It's a long and dusty road
It's a hot and heavy load
And the folks I meet ain't always kind
Some are bad and some are good
Some have done the best they could
Some have tried to ease my trouble in mind

[Chorus:]
And I can't help but wonder where I'm bound
Where I'm bound
I can't help but wonder where I'm bound

I've been wandering through this land
Just doin' the best I can
Tryin' to find what I was meant to do
And the people that I see
Look as worried as can be
And it looks like they are wanderin', too

[Chorus]

And I had me a buddy back home
But he started out to roam
And I hear he's out by Frisco Bay
And, sometimes, when I've had a few
His old voice comes ringin' through
And I'm goin' out to see him some old day

If you see me passin' by
And you sit and you wonder why
And you wish that you were a rambler, too
Just nail your shoes to the kitchen floor
Lace 'em up and bar the door
Thank your stars for the roof that's over you

 

[fox69]

"Can't Love Wrong"

"Can't Love Wrong"


He is from the work of a Southern writer
Where everyman's a fighter
Where the strong survive
And the weak move north to rest
He had lines of silver and hands that delivered
Me down the river
To drift away alone

[Chorus:]
I will never understand the heart of a lonely man
And why my own wheels are gonna carry me
Far from his gentle hands
Baby, I can't come home
I've been away now just too damn long
Oh, and I can't love wrong
No I can't love wrong

Late night when the bars are empty
And my liquor's been plenty
And the fiction read
Rests heavy on my tongue
I miss the sound of his dreaming
I can't believe I am leaving
All that I ever wanted
Because I can't love wrong

[Chorus]

 

[fox69]

"Canadian Whiskey"

"Canadian Whiskey"


In the hills of Montana
There's a timber wolf howlin'
The rangers are prowlin'
For a woman alone
She'd run away from an Indian lover
He'll never recover
She turned him to stone

[Chorus:]
She drank Canadian whiskey
Pure blended whiskey
She drank it like wine
Her eyes were the color of Canadian whiskey
Pure blended whiskey
So light brown and fine

Twenty tears later
I heard of a woman
She's living alone
Up by Yellowstone Creek
And old Trapper John
Brings her cases of whiskey
Canadian whiskey
He says she never will speak

[Chorus 2x]

 

[fox69]

"Clock Without Hands"

"Clock Without Hands"


I am a clock without hands
I'm walking through the midnights
Counting all the moments
Of the loves I've left behind
Crying on the shoulders of the days
I've not forgotten now

I am frozen in time
Like the battles of the soldiers
Left displaced of time
Where their tears still fall
Loves that wreck out on the track
Far beyond my looking back to recall
I'm just a clock upon the sheif
Without hands to give the time of day
For love at all

[Chorus:]
I am a clock without hands
No one understands this
That when the autumn comes
I see no reason for a fall
Spring can fall to move me
With it's tulips and it's clover
Now the time for love is over
I am a clock without hands
I'm just tickin' and that's all
I am a clock without hands
I'm just tickin' and that's all

I recall a time
When love still had the power
To reach inside this clock
Where my hands held a dream
The innocence of passion
And the words of Saint Teresa chiming in
And I recall the faith
Of the love of my life
And the loosing of my hands
Which he took with him when he died
I'm crying on the shoulders of his love
That I'm remembering now
It's been ages since this heart has ticked a beat of love
So I've forgotten how

[Chorus]

 

[fox69]

"Cold Hearts / Closed Minds"

"Cold Hearts / Closed Minds"


My bags are waiting in a cab downstairs
I've got a ticket in my pocket says I'll make it out of here
And I came by here just to tell you good-by
I can see it in your face, you don't want to know why

[Chorus:]
I made up my mind late last night
That I would leave your city behind
Oh, and love is not in question
When you're holding the answer
In your cold heart and your closed mind
You've got a cold heart and a closed mind

Out in these streets these people are angry
Well, they push and shove one another aside
Well, I worked from the heart and you worked for the money
But I paid the price for your will to survive

[Chorus]

Chicago roars like a midwest hurricane
I see that storm in your eyes
One of these mornings when you're making your way
Just gonna wash you out with the tide

[Repeat first verse]

[Chorus]

 

[fox69]

"Comin' Down In The Rain"

"Comin' Down In The Rain"


Flipped into the wind
Like the ashes of her cigarette
He got scattered thrown on the breeze
As he tried to forget
He lost all his heat
And his heart never will be the same
He got lighter than air
But he'll only come down in the rain

Strung out and hung out to dry
Laughin' under the line
It's not such a dignified place
But he really don't mind
He says with his feet on the ground
He'd have nothin' to say
Claims he likes it up there
And he'll only come down in the rain

[Chorus:]
Comin' down in the rain
Washin' outta the sky
Loaded down with the pain
There just ain't no way to fly
You can read him as clear
As the wall where he once wrote his name
It was right next to hers
But it'll only come down in the rain

Burnin' himself out on a limb
Like a leaf in the fall
He blazed for awhile
Now he's feelin' all dried up and small
The colors all gone
Disappeared, near as quick as it came
He says he can't stay up
But, he'll only come down in the rain

[Chorus]

You can read him as clear as the wall
Where he once wrote his name
It was right next to hers
But he'll only come down in the rain

 

[fox69]

"Cotton"

"Cotton"


If I came back to the land of cotton
Would you love just me?
Old loves lost are ne'er forgotten
That's the way it's supposed to be

Are you short or are you long?
Are you easy to see?
Are you weak or are you strong?
Makes no never to me

All the ballerina sees when her world's on fire,
Is where she puts her feet
And if she burns her toes, she'll just jump higher
Never skip a beat

I've been good most of the time
Since you last saw me
You come 'cross my mind from time to time
Now look at me

I'm standing at your door
With my heart in your hands
Ain't you gonna ask me in?
If you say "no", I'll understand dear
And never come south again

If I came back to the land of cotton
Would you love just me?
Old loves lost are ne'er forgotten
That's the way it's supposed to be

 

[fox69]

"Daddy Said"

"Daddy Said"


Oh, I used to wish I was a hard line taker... and they'd say,
"Six to one a half dozen'll break her",
'till I fell in love with a young man who sang the blues
Oh, bless my daddy, he warned me well
He'd whisper in my ear and say, "Now look out, gal...
There's always a ne'er do well gonna call you the fool"

[Chorus:]
He said, "you'll never learn to fish on a borrowed line
You'll never learn to write if you're walkin' 'round cryin'
And it's a pity that you're lover died young, but...
You'll never get tired of livin' alone".

So, now I dream of the lover that I don't know
It's safer this way 'cuz I don't have to go... oh, and he
Won't come... so nobody goes away
Sometimes I wish for the warmth of his hand
Take a look in these eyes and understand
I'm just a little too old to be a-learnin' the rules of the game

[Chorus]

Oh, maybe I could take him to Mexico
We'd kick our heels in the warm cloudy gulf
He'd sing a song about the weather in the Poconos;
This lover that I don't know
Then two hearts would pound 'stead of one in the night
I'd learn to fish with my own line
Catch my dream and hope that line would hold

[Chorus]

No, I never get tired of livin' alone
Sometimes my feet get cold... when I'm livin' alone...