Nanci Griffith

[fox69]

"Darcy Farrow"

"Darcy Farrow"


Where the Walker runs down into the Carson Valley plain
There lived a young maiden Darcy Farrow was her name
The daughter of old Dundee and a fair one was she
The sweetest flower that bloomed o'er the range

She was courted by young Vandermeer
And quite handsome was he I am to hear
He brought her silver rings and lacy things
And they promised to marry before the snows came that year

But her pony did stumble and she did fall
Her dyin' touched the hearts of us, one and all
Young Vandy in his pain put a bullet in his brain
And we buried them together as the snows began to fall

They sing of Darcy Farrow where the Truckee runs through
They sing of her beauty in Virginia City too
At dusty sundown to her name they drink a round
And to young Vandy whose love was true

Where the Walker runs down into the Carson Valley plain
There lived a young maiden Darcy Farrow was her name
The daughter of old Dundee and a fair one was she
The sweetest flower that bloomed o'er the range

 

[fox69]

"Deadwood, South Dakota"

"Deadwood, South Dakota"


Well, the good times scratched a laugh
From the lungs of the young men
In a Deadwood saloon, South Dakota afternoon
And the old ones by the door
With their heads on their chests,
They told lies about whiskey on a womans breath

Yes, and some tell the story of young Mickey Free
Who lost an eye to a buck deer in the Tongue River Valley
Oh and some tell the story of California Joe
Who sent word through the Black Hills
There was a mountain of gold

[Chorus:]
And the gold she lay cold in their pockets
And the sun she sets down on the trees
And they thank the Lord
For the land that they live in
Where the white man does as he pleases

Some flat-shoed fool from the East comes a-runnin'
With some news that he'd read in some St. Joseph paper
And it was "Drinks all around" cause the news he was tellin'
Was the one they called Crazy
Has been caught and been dealt with

And the Easterner he read the news from the paper
And the old ones moved closer so's they could hear better
"Well it says here that Crazy Horse
Was killed while trying to escape,
And that was some time last September,
It don't give the exact date"

[Chorus]

Where the white man does as he pleases

Then the talk turned back to whiskey and women
And cold nights on the plains, Lord
And fightin' them indians
And the Easterner he says he'll have one more
'fore he goes
He gives the paper to the Crow boy
Who sweeps up the floor

[Chorus]

Where the white man does as he pleases
Where the white man does as he pleases
As he wants to, as he pleases

 

[fox69]

"Deportee (Plane Wreck At Los Gatos)"

"Deportee (Plane Wreck At Los Gatos)"


The crops are all in
And the peaches are rotting
The oranges are stacked
In their Creosote dumps
They're flying them back
To that Mexico border
To pay all their wages
To wade back again

[Chorus:]
Goodbye to you Juan, goodbye Rosalita
Adios mis amigos, Jesus and Maria
You won't have a name
When you ride the big airplane
All they will call you
Will be deportee

My father's own father
He waded that river
They took all the money
He made in his life
My brothers and sisters
Come working the fruit trees
And they rode on the trucks
'til they took down and died

[Chorus:]
Goodbye to my Juan, goodbye Rosalita
Adios mis amigos, Jesus and Maria
You won't have a name
When you ride the big airplane
All they will call you
Will be deportee

Somos ilegales (well some are illegal)
Y mi recibidos (And some are not wanted)

Se a caba el contrato (Our work contracts out)
Y de alli a caminar (And we've got to move on)
Six hundred miles
To that Mexico border
They chase us like outlaws
Like rustlers, like thieves

[Chorus]

We died in your hills
And we died on your deserts
We died in your valleys
We died on your plains
We died 'neath your trees
And we died in your bushes
Both sides of that river
We died just the same

The sky plane caught fire
Over Los Gatos Canyon
Like a fireball of lightning
And shook all our hills
Who are all those friends
All scattered like dry leaves
The radio says
They are just deportees

[Chorus]

Is this the best way
We can grow our big orchards?
Is this the best way
We can grow our good fruit?
To fall like dry leaves
And rot on my topsoil
And be known by no name
Except deportee

[Chorus]

Goodbye to myjuan,
Goodbye Rosalita
Adios mis amigos,
Jesus and Maria
You won't have a name
When you ride the big airplane
All they will call you
Will be deportee

 

[fox69]

"Desperadoes Waiting For A Train"

"Desperadoes Waiting For A Train"


I played the Red River Valley
He'd sit in the kitchen and cry
Run his fingers through seventy years of livin'
And wonder, "Lord, why has every well I've drilled gone dry?"

We were friends, me and this old man
We's like desperados waitin' for a train
Desperados waitin' for a train

He's a drifter, a driller of oil wells
He's an old school man of the world
He taught me how to drive his car when he was too drunk to
And he'd wink and give me money for the girls
And our lives was like, some old Western movie
Like desperados waitin' for a train
Like desperados waitin' for a train

From the time that I could walk he'd take me with him
To a bar called the Green Frog Cafe
There was old men with beer guts and dominos
Lying 'bout their lives while they played
I was just a kid, they all called me "Sidekick"
Like desperados waitin' for a train
Like desperados waitin' for a train

One day I looked up and he's pushin' eighty
He's got brown tobacco stains all down his chin
Well to me he was a hero of this country
So why's he all dressed up like them old men
Drinkin' beer and playin' Moon and Forty-two
Jus' like desperados waitin' for a train
Like a desperado waitin' for a train

The day 'fore he died I went to see him
I was grown and he was almost gone.
So we just closed our eyes and dreamed us up a kitchen
And sang one more verse to that old song

[Spoken:]
Come on, Jack, that son-of-a-bitch is comin'

We're desperados waitin' for a train
Was like desperados waitin' for a train. (x4)

 

[fox69]

"Do Re Mi"

"Do Re Mi"


Well, thousands of folks back east they say
Are leavin' home most everyday
They're beatin' the hot ole dusty way
To the California line
Across the desert sands they roll
A-gettin' outta that ole dust bowl
They think they're goin' to a sugar bowl
But, here is what they find
The police at the port of entry say
You're number 14,000 for the day

[Chorus:]
If you ain't got that Do Re Mi boys
If you ain't got that Do Re Mi
Oh, you better go back to beautiful Texas
Oklahoma, Georgia, Kansas, Tennessee
California is a garden of Eden
It's a paradise to live in or see
Believe it or not you won't find it so hot
If you ain't got that Do Re Mi

Well, if you wanna buy you a home or farm
That can't deal nobody harm
Or take your vacations by the mountains or the sea
Don't swap your old cow for a car
You'd better stay right where you are
You better take this little tip from me
Cuz' I look through the want ads every day
And the headlines in the papers always say

[Chorus]

 

[fox69]

"Dollar Matinee"

"Dollar Matinee"


Ronnie stood beneath the movie marquee
His memories all curled up inside
He was trying to remember
Was it August or September
He'd seen her for the last time

He'd heard that she'd become an actress
Lord, she always had the prettiest face
And he stood with his hands
In his pockets and waited
For the dollar matinee

Lord, she's bigger than life on the screen
There's a laugh from the balcony, good Lord
And the sun will burn you and blind you
When you step back into the street

The theater, she smelled so familiar
She was a smokey old velvet delight
Yes, and he sat down front
Just like he'd always done
With his feet hanging out in the aisles

And he watched her with eyes disbelieving
Felt something like time on his brain
And he told himself
Don't you remember it's only
Just a part that she's playing

Lord, she's bigger than life on the screen
There's a laugh from the balcony, good Lord
And the sun will burn you and blind you
When you step back into the street

She stood by some window in Paris
While the captions translated the scene
Oh, and Ronnie stared back
At her body and breathed
"Christ, that's the first time I've seen it!"

Behind him the people were leaving
Well, the busses, they were humming outside
But old Ronnie never went
To the movies unless
He could stay and see it twice

Lord, she's bigger than life on the screen
There's a laugh from the balcony, good Lord
And the sun will burn you and blind you
When you step back into the street

 

[fox69]

"Don't Forget About Me"

"Don't Forget About Me"


I can't be your weather
Cuz' if it rains then it rains
I can't be your lover
Cuz' the feelings would change
I can't be the wind
Cuz' the wind blows too free
But if you want a true companion
Don't forget about me

[Chorus:]
Don't forget about me
When your heart's in the shade
When there's no one to hold you
And you've fallen from grace
When the spotlights come blind you
And you can no longer see
I'll be right there beside you
Don't forget about me

Friends never leave you
They're a two way street
They'll always believe in you
When you've ceased to believe
And I'll still feel the same
If you're a friend in need
Cuz', I'll always love you
Don't forget about me

[Chorus 2x]

 

[fox69]

"Down 'N' Outer"

"Down 'N' Outer"


I once was a lot like you
We share a dream I couldn't make come true
I was a child who wrote my name
Across a frosted window pane

And there are jobs that I might hold
If they'd just let me through the door
Without a shower and new clothes
That I can ill afford

[Chorus:]
Can you spare the time?
Can you spare a dime?
Can you look me in the eye?
I'm down 'n' out
And I am lonely
Do you ever think of me on
Sunday?
No. I don't live
Across the water
Hey, I live right here
On this corner
...just a bank account away from
America

I won't hurt your family
I don't want a house there on your street
And I know you think that I'm...
As lazy as a hobo's sigh
Now, you call me down 'n' outer
If there's a way out...
I've not found 'er
I only want to earn my piece of America

[Chorus]

I'm just a bank account away from
America

 

[fox69]

"Dress Of Laces"

"Dress Of Laces"


And she has a dress of laces
It's worn in many places
The shoulder hangs upon her by a thread
And she has a need for sharin'
For someone warm and carin'
And no one sees a heart that's underfed

[Chorus:]
Young girl in love
Young girl in tears
She hasn't seen the man she loves in years

And her mother is a waitress
At the harbour bar, good graces
Where the seamen come a fishin' with their lines
And it was one of them that caught her
And left her with a daughter
Who lives with hate and loving him in mind

[Chorus]

So the young girl goes to the water
And she calls out for her father
But she ain't seen the old man in some time
Yes, and he was always boastin'
Just a drinkin' and a toastin'
And one day he left his family far behind

[Chorus]

So the mother comes home a drinkin'
With a sailor who's a thinkin' out loud
That he might stay with them awhile
So she loads her mother's pistol
And she shoots him as he whistles
A song about a sailor's life in style

Young girl in love
Young girl in tears
She kills the only man she's loved in years
And with him dies her hopes, her dreams, her fears

And she has a dress of laces
It's worn in many places
The shoulder hangs upon her by a thread
And she has a need for sharin'
For someone warm and carin'
And no one sees a heart that's underfed
And no one sees a heart that's underfed

 

[fox69]

"Drive-In Movies And Dashboard Lights"

"Drive-In Movies And Dashboard Lights"


Sister had a crystal voice
She played a Silvertone from Montgomery Ward
Baez songs in Monroe hair
She sure could turn the boys' heads to stare
Swim wear saunter, tan and haunt them
That's all she learned in school
Books were for the other girls
And the other girls were fools
In Texas back in sixty-nine
It was drive-in movies and dashboard lights

Father waltzed her down the aisle
Cuz college didn't suit her style
The sad truth was that she could barely read
But, if you'd told dear Father...
He wouldn't believe you
The telephone rang... it drove Mother insane
From the hearts left on the shelf
Sister's gone and she won't be home
Cuz she didn't take care of herself
In Texas back in sixty-nine
It was drive-in movies and dashboard lights

[Chorus:]
Where is she now?
The backseat Queen of fraternity
Where is she now?
She is heavy of thigh and light on integrity
Someone should've told her
When beauty's all you offer
Too soon the world discovers that your
Beauty's gone
(It's gone...)

Mother can't you hear your daughter crying
Father wake up her youth is dying
Her kids are grown... Husband's gone away
It's a shame cuz she had such a lovely face
Can't you see she needed more
Than, "Oh, what a pretty child"?
You never taught her truth from lie
All you told her was to smile
In Texas back in sixty-nine
It was drive-in movies and dashboard lights

[Chorus]

In Texas back in sixty-nine
It was drive-in movies and dashboard... lights