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I bought this on the strength of "Speed of the Sound of Loneliness,"
a haunting tune about isolation and despair. It sort of fit my mood at
the time I bought it. Little did I realize the other gems that were on
this live album. "Boots of Spanish Leather," a cover of a Bob Dylan
tune (and superior to the original I might add) is another somber song
about lost love. However, "Listen to the Radio" and "Last Train
Home" never fail to put a smile on my face. My favorite tracks are
"Two For the Road," a song about the kind of love I'd always wanted
but never seemed to find, and "There's A Light Beyond These Woods
(Mary Margaret)," describing a friendship for the ages.
Winter Marquee
Rounder Records 2002
Speed Of The Sound Of Loneliness
I Wish It Would Rain
Boots Of Spanish Leather
Two For The Road
Listen To The Radio
There's A Light Beyond These Woods (Mary Margaret)
Gulf Coast Highway
The Flyer
Good Night New York
Traveling Through This Part Of You
Last Train Home
I'm Not Driving These Wheels (Bring The Prose To The Wheel)
What's That I Hear
White Freight Liner
Speed Of The Sound Of Loneliness
(John Prine)
©1986, Big Ears Music / Bruised Oranges, (ASCAP), Administered by Bug Music
You come home late
And you come home early
You come on big
When you're feelin' small
You come home straight
And you come home curly
Sometimes you don't come home at all
Chorus:
What in the world's come over you?
What in heaven's name have you done?
Broken the speed of the sound of loneliness
You're out there runnin' just to be on the run
I got a heart that burns with a fever
I got a worried and a jealous mind
How can a love that would last forever
Get left so far behind?
(Repeat Chorus)
It's a mighty mean and a dreadful sorrow
It's crossed an evil line today
How can you ask about tomorrow
We ain't got one word to say
(Repeat Chorus) [back]
I WISH IT WOULD RAIN
(Nanci Griffith)
©1988 Wing & Wheel Music (BMI)
Chorus:
Oh, I wish it would rain
It's gonna wash my face clean
I wanna find some dark cloud
To hide in here
Oh, love in a memory
Sparkled like diamonds
When the diamonds fall... they burn like tears
When the diamonds fall... they burn like tears
Once I had a love from the Georgia pines
Who only cared for me
I wanna find that love of twenty-two
Here at thirty-three
I've got a heart on my right
and one on my left
But neither suits my needs
Oh, the one I love lives a-way out West
And he never will need me
(Repeat Chorus)
I'm gonna pack up my two steppin' shoes
And head for the Gulf Coast plains
I wanna walk the streets of my own hometown
Where everybody knows my name
I wanna ride the waves down in Galveston
When the hurricanes blow in
'Cuz that Gulf Coast water tastes sweet as wine
When your heart's blowin' home in the wind
(Repeat Chorus)
[back]
BOOTS OF SPANISH LEATHER
(Bob Dylan)
©1963, renewed 1991, Special Rider Music, (ASCAP)
Oh, I'm sailing away my own true love
I am sailing away in the morning
Is there somethin' I can send you
From across the sea
From the place where I'll be landin'
Oh there's nothin' you can send me my own true love
There is nothin' I am wishin' to be ownin'
Just carry yourself back to me unspoiled
From across that lonesome ocean
Oh, but I just thought you might want somethin' fine
It's made of silver or of golden
Either from the mountains of Madrid
Or from the coast of Barcelona
Well, if I had the stars of the darkest night
Or the diamonds from the deepest ocean
I'd forsake them all for your sweet kiss
Cause that's all I wish to be ownin'
I might be gone for 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?
When 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'
Well, if you my love must think that-a-way
Then I know your mind is a-roamin'
And I know your thoughts are not with me
But they're 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
It's Spanish boots of Spanish leather
[back]
TWO FOR THE ROAD
(Nanci Griffith)
©1996 Irving Music, Inc./ Ponder Heart Music, (BMI)
Out of the blue horizon
Stretched a band of gold
From the straits of Juan de Fuca
To the east of Portland, Maine
You held my hand
As we raced along the Buffalo Bayou
Chasing the tail of this globe
You say, babe, one day we're bound to go
It takes two for the road
Chorus:
Two of a kind heart
Closing in the distances
Now here comes our twilight part
We've had the best light of our days
We're two rails that never crossed in anger
Voices never raised
Two of a kind heart
Two for the road
We have been blessed with dreaming
You had Georgia's New Mexico
And while your hands worked in China
It was from Ireland I wrote
Moving out from America
From those Buffalo Bayou trails
Now, didn't you tell me, babe, we'll have this globe by it's tail
'cuz it takes two for the road
(Repeat Chorus)
And we could be anywhere and never leave home
With your hand to hold baby ... We are two for the road
We're two of a kind heart ... We're two for the road
We are two for the road [back]
LISTEN TO THE RADIO
(Nanci Griffith)
©1989 Irving Music, Inc./ Ponder Heart Music, (BMI)
Well I am leaving Mississippi in the evening rain
These Delta towns that wear satin gowns
In a high beamed frame
Loretta Lynn guides my hands through the radio
Where would I be in times like these
Without the songs Loretta wrote?
Chorus:
When you can't find a friend
You've still got the radio
When you can't find a friend
You've still got the radio
The radio, listen to the radio
The radio, listen to the radio
It's the radio
I left a handsome two-stepped good ole boy back in Tennessee
Now, he's sittin' on the sofa, he's lookin' for his supper
Wonderin' what's become of me
I've got a double-o-eighteen Martin guitar in the back seat of the car
And I am leaving Mississippi with the radio on
(Repeat Chorus)
There's a moon across the border in the Louisiana sky
I smell the Pontchartrain, I hear Silver Wings
And then away Merle Haggard flies
That good ole boy will find a Band of Gold on the stereo
Hey, then my Mama's gonna call and say, "Where's she gone?"
He'll say, "Down the road with the radio on."
(Repeat Chorus) [back]
THERE'S A LIGHT BEYOND THESE WOODS (MARY MARGARET)
(Nanci Griffith)
©1983 Wing & Wheel Music, (BMI)
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 boyfriend, 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
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, we'll 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 planned, oh, I'm living them now
All the dreams we sang when we knew how, well, they haven't changed
And there'll 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, now what about those lights
That glowed beyond our woods when we were ten
You were the rambler then
The fantasies we planned, oh Maggie, I'm living them now
All the dreams we sang, oh, we damn sure knew how, and I'll never change
There'll never be two friends like you and me, Maggie can't you see
There's a light beyond these woods, Mary Margaret [back]
GULF COAST HIGHWAY
(Nanci Griffith / James Hooker / Daniel Flowers)
©1988 Wing & Wheel Music, (BMI)
Rick Hall Music, Inc. / Danny Flowers Music, (ASCAP)
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 wings
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 change, the jobs would come, the flowers fade
This old house felt so alone
When the work took me away
And when she dies she said she'd catch some blackbird's wings
And she will fly away to heaven
Come some sweet bluebonnet spring
Highway 90, the jobs are gone
We tend our garden
To set the sun
This is the only place on earth bluebonnets grow
And once a year they come and go
At this old house here by the road
When we die we say we'll catch some blackbird's wings
We will fly away to heaven
Come some sweet bluebonnet spring
Cause when we die we say we'll catch some blackbird's wings
We will fly away together
Come some sweet bluebonnet spring [back]
THE FLYER
(Nanci Griffith)
©1994 Irving Music, Inc./ Ponder Heart Music, (BMI)
He was a flyer for the Air Force
In a plane from San Antonio
I was travelling to London
He was going off to Buffalo
Changing planes in Pittsburgh
We got grounded in a storm
I would give anything
To be on that flyer's arm
We played cards, mostly blackjack
As we sat out on the tarmac
We sang songs we knew in Spanish
As we both loved songs of language
He'd heard me on the radio
I'd seen the flyers of San Antone
I would give anything
To have that flyer for my own
Chorus:
God bless the flyers
Who would be flying home tonight
I would give anything
To see that flyer, flyin' tonight
He said he'd never married
Cause his heart was in the clouds
And I said I was too clumsy
That I broke the wings of the loves I found
He shouted out his name to me
As I ran to make my flight
I would give anything
To see that flyer, flyin' tonight
One year I watched a war in London
In an airport leaving London
And I wondered if I'd know him
If I saw his wings in motion
Did I leave my heart in Pittsburgh
In the lightning of that flight
I wish that you could tell me now
Will he be flyin' home tonight
(Repeat Chorus) [back]
GOOD NIGHT, NEW YORK
(Julie Gold)
©1993 Irving Music, Inc. / Julie Gold Music (BMI)
My mother came to America
Sailed through the harbor of hopes and of dreams
Back in the Thirties
With the streets paved in gold
And the sky laced with moonbeams
Mothers and daughters, fathers and sons
Here in the free world, we're the lucky ones
Chorus:
All of my yearning
All of my hunger
Maybe I'm learning
Sometimes I wonder
Good night, New York
Before the Kennedys
Before the Beatles
Before the Vietnam War
Back to a time when anything was possible
Having less meant knowing more
Brothers and sisters, uncles and aunts
Here in the free world, for that second chance
(Repeat Chorus)
My mother came to America
Sailed through the harbor of hopes and of dreams
And here in the future
I hope I've not failed her
Cause nothing's the way that it seems
(Repeat Chorus) [back]
TRAVELING THROUGH THIS PART OF YOU
(Nanci Griffith)
© 2000 & 2001, Irving Music, Inc./ Ponderheart Music (BMI)
Nothing that I've ever seen
Now means much of anything
In traveling through this part of you
And the Vietnam that I had dreamed
The place you wore your life 'fatigued'
I'm traveling through this part of you
Chorus:
Where are you amongst this madness
On the streets of Saigon
Where were you in 1969
When I was but a youth
Oh, here were you
You were traveling through this part of you
I'll make my way now on my own
Back to my home to live alone
Having traveled through this part of you
And I will save this time and place
For the time when I can say
I traveled truth in this part of you
(Repeat Chorus)
You were an American boy
Whose innocence was lost here in the war
And I'll wear your scars
While traveling through this part of you
Nothing that I've ever seen
Now means much of anything
In traveling through this part of you
And the Vietnam that I had dreamed
The place you wore your life fatigued
I'm traveling through this part of you [back]
LAST TRAIN HOME
(Nanci Griffith)
© Irving Music, Inc./ Ponder Heart Music, (BMI)
By The Time I Get To Phoenix
Was the last song on your mind the day you left
Then you woke up in Nogales
With tequila and her name across your chest
Now you've stumbled through the morning
Of the border tourist's dusty avenues
Singin' Everyday's The Hurting Kind
And everyday you live, you're born to lose
Chorus:
Now you've missed the last train home
That whistle blew and she's gone
West Texas dirt beneath your nails
You're hammered down the heartbreak trail
Now you've missed the last train home
The whistle blew, she's solid gone
Now you're wandering El Paso
Searching for your broken heart and the truth
She was all you ever had
And the only thing you ever had to lose
With a jukebox playing Charlie Rich
You're lining up your shots at half past noon
You threw your ring across the bar
And sang along to Good Time Charlie's Got The Blues
(Repeat Chorus)
Don't go to Tulsa where's she's bound
You'll end up six feet underground
Your best friend Charlie's there abouts
He never missed the last train out
Now you've missed the last train home
The whistle blew, she's solid gone
Now you've missed the last train home
The whistle blew, she's solid gone [back]
I'M NOT DRIVIN' THESE WHEELS (BRING THE PROSE TO THE WHEEL)
(Nanci Griffith)
©1999 Wing & Wheel Music, (BMI)
From Boston to South Shore in the back of the bus
It's the last winter storm of the season and such
I am lost to the fiction of the book on my lap
The snow makes me drowsy, while the dreams roll and tumble
It's a long way to Texas, it's a long way back home
It's a three-hour flight on the plane when I go
Away from this snow from Boston to South Shore
Where the dreams roll and tumble and bring the prose to the wheel
Chorus:
Bring the prose to the wheel
I'm not drivin' these wheels
I'm not drivin' these wheels
Bring the prose to the wheel
I'm not drivin' these wheels,
I'm not drivin' these wheels today
That face in the window, it's one I should know
But it's never been haloed by New England snow
And the child 'cross the aisle is sleepin' away
While the soldier behind me lets his dreams roll and tumble my way
(Repeat Chorus)
This cradle on the interstate makes me weary of dreams
The hurt that they cause is now restless it seems
Oh soldier, dear soldier, you keep your dreams to yourself
My heart's rolled and tumbled until I've put it on the shelf
(Repeat Chorus)
From Boston to South Shore in the back of the bus
It's the last winter storm of the season and such
I am lost to the fiction of the book in my lap
The snow makes me drowsy, while the dreams roll and tumble [back]
WHAT'S THAT I HEAR
(Phil Ochs)
©1963,1964. Barricade Music, Inc., (ASCAP) copyright renewed
What is that sound ringing in my ears
I've heard that sound before
What's that I hear ringing in my ears
I hear it more and more
It's the sound of freedom calling
Ringing up to the sky
It's the sound of the old ways falling
You can hear it if you try
You can hear it if you try
What's that I see shining in my eyes
I've seen that light before
What's that I see shining in my eyes
I see it more and more
It's the light of freedom shining
Shining up to the sky
It's the light of the old ways falling
You can see it if you try
You can see it if you try
What's that I feel now beating in my heart
I've felt that beat before
What's that I feel beating in my heart
I feel it more and more
It's the rumble of freedom calling
Climbing up to the sky
It's the rumble of the old ways falling
You can feel it if you try
You can feel it if you try
It's the sound of freedom calling
You can hear it if you try [back]
WHITE FREIGHT LINER
(Townes Van Zandt)
©1972, 2000, JTVZ Music / Katie Belle Music / Will Van Zandt Publishing, (ASCAP)
Administered by Bug
I'm headed out on that highway
Listenin' to them big trucks whine
I'm headed out on that highway
Listenin' to them big trucks whine
White Freight Liner
Won't you steal away my mind
New Mexico ain't bad Lord
People there they treat you fine
New Mexico ain't bad Lord
People there they treat you fine
That old White Freight Liner
Gonna steal away my mind
If you see Miss Caroline
Won't you tell her that I'm doin' fine
If you see Miss Caroline
Won't you tell her that I'm doin' fine
That old White Freight Liner
Can't haul away my mind
I got bad news from Houston
Half my friends have died
I got bad news from Houston
Half my friends have died
White Freight Liner
Gonna steal away my mind
Lord I'm gonna ramble
'til I get back from where I came
Lord I'm gonna ramble
‘til I get back from where I came
That old White Freight Liner
Gonna haul away my brain
I'm headed out on the highway
Listenin' to them big trucks whine
Headed out on the highway
Listenin' to them big trucks whine
White Freight Liner
Steal away my mind [back]
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