Songs of Nanci Griffith

Subject: RE: Songs of Nanci Griffith
From: Joe Offer
Date: 09 Aug 22 - 02:57 PM

Well, that wasn't my experience, Ray. I did the lyrics editing for the Rise Again Songbook, a collection of 1200 songs. When we requested lyrics from songwriters or took them from songwriter-owned Websites, most of the lyrics were of high quality, but some were full of obvious errors and far removed from what the songwriter was singing. And sometimes the spelling was atrocious. It was clear that some songwriters just sent us a fan's sloppy transcription, possibly a translation that the songwriter hadn't bothered to even look at before sending it. So my point is that even if you got the lyrics from the songwriter or the songwriter's Website, they may not be correct. It's always best to proofread and compare with various sources. If you publish a songbook with sloppy lyrics, the blame will fall on you, not on your sources.

That being said, there were some really awful mistakes that got past our proofreading. Once your mistakes get into print, you have to live with the shame of those mistakes forever.

Subject: RE: Songs of Nanci Griffith
From: GUEST,Ray
Date: 09 Aug 22 - 10:10 AM

With respect to artists supposedly submitting “wrong” lyrics - I suspect that it’s down to the fact that they wrote them so they can sing (and often do sing) whatever lyrics they like to a song and are not as pedantic in singing the “right” words as someone who doesn’t own it.

I can think of several singer/songwriters who have changed the words to a song over the years; some because they’ve changed their mind, some because they’ve thought of an improvement.

It must wearing to sing the same old song night after night, year after year so why shouldn’t songs evolve? I remember asking the writer of probably the best known contemporary folk song ever in the UK if he ever got sick of singing it. Yes, he said, but for half the audience it’s probably the only song of mine that they know. I often start with it so they’re not sitting waiting for me to sing it and then they can listen to the stuff I want to sing.

Subject: RE: Songs of Nanci Griffith
From: Joe Offer
Date: 08 Aug 22 - 04:26 PM

Thread #117054   Message #2518071
Posted By: Joe Offer
17-Dec-08 - 01:45 PM
Thread Name: BS: All (UK) Woolworths stores to close
Subject: ADD: Love at the Five and Dime (Nanci Griffith)

The Woolworth Building is an architectural delight. I used to treasure my set of Woolworth dominoes, that had the image of the Woolworth Building embossed on every piece.

Woolworth's was gone from most places in Wisconsin by the time I left Wisconsin in 1970. I was stationed in Berlin 1972-73, and the Woolworth (no apostrophe-s) stores there seemed to be very prosperous. No lunch counters in the Berlin stores, though.

There was still a Woolworth's in Sacramento when I moved there in 1973. I think it closed in the 1980's. I remember the U.S. stores as being a little seedy, while the German Woolworth stores were shiny and clean. Since I was born in Detroit, I always thought Kresge was the best five-and-dime store.

Reminds me of one of my favorite songs:

LOVE AT THE FIVE AND DIME
(Nanci Griffith)

Rita was sixteen years... hazel eyes and chestnut hair
she made the Woolworth counter shine
Eddie was a sweet romancer, and a darn good dancer
they'd waltz the aisles of the five and dime

(chorus)
They'd sing, "Dance a little closer to me... dance a little closer now
Dance a little closer tonight
Dance a little closer to me... it's closing time
And love's on sale tonight at this five and dime
Eddie played the steel guitar and his mama cried 'cuz he played in the bars
And kept young Rita out late at night
So, they married up in Abilene... lost a child in Tennessee
still, that love survived

(repeat chorus)

One of the boys in Eddie's band... took a shine to Rita's hands
so, Eddie ran off with the bass man's wife
Oh' but he was back by June... singin' a different tune
And sportin' Miss Rita back by his side

(repeat chorus){He sang}

Eddie travelled with the barroom bands... till arthritis took his hands
now he sells insurance on the side
Rita's got a house to keep... dimestore novels and a love so sweet
they dance to the radio late at night

(repeat chorus)
(repeat 1st verse)

they'd waltz the aisles of the five and dime
they'd waltz the aisles of the five and dime



Source: http://www.nancigriffith.com/lyrics.php?track=324


Here's the Wikipedia article on the company. All that's left of Woolworth's in the U.S., is the Foot Locker chain of sporting goods stores. www.woolworth.com leads to Foot Locker.
-Joe-

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NeU4KJJPpqU

Subject: RE: Songs of Nanci Griffith
From: Jeri
Date: 15 Aug 21 - 08:19 PM

On one thread for all the songs of one songwriter, or separate threads for each song, I think if you consider folks will likely know who wrote it or the name of the song, I don't know. I get that there are "Nanci Griffith" songs that she didn't write, but is known for. From a Distance was by Julie Gold, but I don't think there's more than one.

And I have no clue who's harvesting the "LYR ADD" songs, or if anyone is, or anything is added to the DT.

---

For now, the Digital Tradition is frozen as Dick Greenhaus left it, and it might well stay that way. I'm working on indexing songs in the Forum in a different manner, the Origins threads for traditional threads. I've been bugging Max for years to build a similar "Songwriter" database in the same format, and I've been gathering the data and formatting lyrics for that database for years.
-Joe Offer, Mudcat Music Editor-

Subject: RE: Songs of Nanci Griffith
From: Jeri
Date: 15 Aug 21 - 07:59 PM

Pedantic me says it works best if you spell her name right: Griffith, (no "s")

Subject: Lyr Add: I Would Bring You Ireland (N Griffith)
From: Felipa
Date: 15 Aug 21 - 05:34 PM

I WOULD BRING YOU IRELAND
Nanci Griffith

I would bring you Ireland
I would bring you Ireland
The cool sweet of the Dublin rain
If you would keep my heart for me
In the quiet of your Texas days
And my old friend, will you shelter me from pain
In return I'd bring you Ireland

One day I'll build a tower
High upon my Texas plains
I can see from coast to coast
On hot platinum summer days
When the dust is still, and the cotton prays for rain
And the thirsty passers-by wonder why they came

I dreamed of Amarillo
On a foreign night in Dublin
The dust was on my pillow
When the raindrops started falling
In a hotel window, where I could see his rainbow
And I thought I'd send my heart to you
Cause that's the way the wind blows

And I'll reclaim my heart one day
We'll sit and watch your children play
And I will bring you lullabies
From the Emerald Isles for back porch days
And my old friend we will always meet again
And I will bring you Ireland
I will bring you Ireland

I would bring you Ireland


Source: LyricFind
Songwriters: Nanci Griffith
I Would Bring You Ireland lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, BMG Rights Management
Album: "One Fair Summer Evening"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rFL90I7n13o

Nanci Griffith often toured Ireland. I remember her as a frequent participant in the Belfast Nashville Songwriters' Convention

Subject: RE: Songs of Nanci Griffith
From: Felipa
Date: 15 Aug 21 - 05:21 PM

problems of multiple song threads are that the search engine doesn't work so well for recent posts and it is more effective to search by using the filter and refresh functions if you have a word from the title of the song. (we don't always know authors of songs if we've heard other people than the composers singing them/ also does "songs of Nanci Griffiths" include songs she didn't write but was known for performing?}.

Second difficulty is that with a singer-songwriter as prolific as Nancy the thread could get extremely long. People don't only comment on a song in the few days after it is first posted. They come looking for the song years later to say something about it. And then it can sometimes become confusing which song the comments refer to.

Subject: RE: Songs of Nanci Griffith
From: GUEST,LarrytheRadioGuy
Date: 14 Aug 21 - 10:07 PM

A beautiful song....about seasonal workers who have to leave their families for full such long periods of time. I don't know if Texas is still the only place where Blue Bonnets grow.

Pretty sure the lyrics are correct---they are the ones a friend and I used when we sang this tune.

-Larry

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-NuBFst5vc
Gulf Coast Highway, from Little Love Affairs


"Gulf Coast Highway"
(duet with Mac McAnally)

Gulf Coast Highway, he worked the rails
He worked the rice fields with their cool dark wells
He worked the oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico
The only thing we've ever owned is this old house here by the road

And when he dies, he says, he'll catch some blackbird's wing
And he will fly away to Heaven, come some sweet bluebonnet spring

She walked through springtime when I was home
The days were sweet, the nights were warm
The seasons changed, the jobs would come the flowers fade
This old house felt so alone when the work took me away

And when she dies, she says, she'll catch some blackbird's wing
And she will fly away to Heaven, come some sweet bluebonnet spring

Highway 90, the jobs are gone
We tend our garden, we set the sun
This is the only place on earth bluebonnets grow
Once a year they come and go at this old house here by the road

And when we die, we say, we'll catch some blackbird's wing
And we will fly away to heaven, come some sweet bluebonnet spring

And when we die, we say, we'll catch some blackbird's wing
And we will fly away together, come some sweet bluebonnet spring

Subject: RE: Songs of Nanci Griffith
From: Joe Offer
Date: 14 Aug 21 - 05:12 PM

I've combined a couple of threads with lyrics for songs by Nanci Griffith. In general, it's best not to start a single thread for posting a single song by a single songwriter - unless you want to actually discuss the song or ask for corrections. And in general, it would be very helpful if you could listen to a song and make corrections, instead of just copy-pasting lyrics from a lyrics site. And as Jeri says, performer Websites often contain incorrect lyrics. When I was working on the Rise Again Songbook, I found that songwriters sometimes sent incorrect lyrics even when we were paying them for the songs and asking them to send us their version of the lyrics - grammar and spelling, sloppy format, words that didn't make sense, etc.
I see that Nanci Griffith's Website has disappeared, so it might be a good idea to use this thread for corrected lyrics, or for links to collections on uncorrected songs.
Here's a link to tablature for several Nanci Griffith songs.

https://adamschneider.net/music/nanci_griffith/

Archive of Nanci Griffith Website:

https://web.archive.org/web/*/www.nancigriffith.com

Subject: RE: Songs of Nanci Griffith
From: Jeri
Date: 14 Aug 21 - 04:59 PM

You know how many times I've found mistakes in lyrics on the songwriter's own site? Somebody posts them with errors, and they get copied EVERYWHERE.

Not meaning to start a discussion in this thread, just hoping folks pay attention. (Because we make enough mistakes when we're NOT copying someone else's.)

Subject: Lyr Add: You Can't Go Home Again (Nanci Griffith)
From: Felipa
Date: 14 Aug 21 - 04:08 PM

YOU CAN'T GO HOME AGAIN
Nanci Griffith

So much silence to my hometown streets
Gonna put my cheek to the window and watch it sleep
Where the shadow's fall from sycamore trees
Fight off this north wind and I'll be headin' back east

Let the Colorado River roll on tp the sea
I will be crossing it in changes
This 'ole town never did really care
That much for me
I don't know why I always come here
In my dreams

It's the hardest to hold but it's the easiest to find
If you'll slip for the dollar I'll fall in the wine
But you cannot save your past for today
It will leave you cold on an outbound train

Let the Colorado River roll on to the sea
I will be crossing it in changes
This 'ole town never did really care
That much for me
I don't know why I always come here
In my dreams

Folded memories in my soul
It's that old blue line that you can never go back home
So I'm waiting for the moon to rise
He'll kiss my tears away and set my heart in line

Let the Colorado River roll on to the sea
I will be crossing it in changes
This 'ole town never did really care
That much for me

I don't know why I always come here
In my dreams
Let the Colorado River roll on to the sea
I will be crossing it in changes
This 'ole town never did really care that much for me
I only come here to remember my dreams

Sleep tight
Hill Country town
Goodnight

Source: Musixmatch
Songwriters: Nanci Griffith

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cJKqU-5VMvQ

Subject: Lyr Add: There's a Light Beyond These Woods
From: Felipa
Date: 14 Aug 21 - 03:51 PM

This song has been mentioned in a couple of Mudcat discussions re songs about friendship, and also on the Nanci Griffith obituary thread (died 13 Aug 2021). Lyrics are posted on some of the popular lyrics sites, but not here. Wikipedia says There's a Light Beyond these Woods is also the title of a 1977 Nanci Griffiths album

THERE'S A LIGHT BEYOND THESE WOODS (Mary Margaret)
Nanci Griffith

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 subway
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 your family growing, Margaret.
Your daughter and your husband here,
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
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

Source: LyricFind
"There’s a Light Beyond These Woods (Mary Margaret)" by Nanci Griffith lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, BMG Rights Management

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8YZ3yvXpMOw