Get all 13 Tracy Grammer releases available on Bandcamp and save 10%.
Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of I'll Be Here in the Morning (Single), If I Needed You (Single), American Noel (Dave Carter & Tracy Grammer), The Verdant Mile EP, Low Tide, Joy My Love (EP), Little Blue Egg, Book of Sparrows EP, and 5 more.
1. |
Better Way
03:42
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summer is over and her temples are grey
and i guess you’ll be lookin 'round for somebody new
or maybe you found him and you’re just not sayin
cause he makes you feel the way i used to do
babe, if there’s a better way to love you
show it to me
‘cause i could not live and let you get away
knowin’ there was a better way
out on that highway the mean wind is screamin
and it cuts right through you and the rain bites hard
but i’d walk beside you to share in your dreamin
and while you were sleepin, i’d be standin guard
now babe, if there’s a better way …
well hard roads bust open with bitter words spoken
and hearts can be broken, and dreams undone
but hearts can be mended, and hard words forgotten
and roads return often where they started from
so babe ...
death came to my window in the form of a maiden
and she didn’t say nothin, she just stood and stared
and round about midnight she lay down beside me
but when i awoke, there was nobody there
babe …
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2. |
Hard Edge of Livin'
04:39
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darlin come to me, satin and lace
just a weary trucker’s vision through the rain on my face
though i’m drivin through the valley of the shadow of your smile
i will fear no evil memory, let me dream awhile:
it was green summer berries, it was flowerin trees
then starry nights and dog days and babes on your knees
and autumn frost and storm clouds castin shadows from above
rainin darkness and ruin on the house of love
now it’s a blue texas norther with a 20-ton load
and i’m ten miles outta nowhere special on a dead-end road
and a wind that whips like rawhide on this jagged yellow line
and the hard edge of livin is a friend of min
god is my witness, poker’s my game
whiskey’s my poison, forgotten’s my name
and it’s biscuits when i’m hungry and it’s diesel when i’m dry
and it’s 18 wheels of lonesome for the tears you cry
in a blue texas norther with a 20-ton load
runnin ten miles outta nowhere special on a dead-end road
with a wind that whips like rawhide on this jagged yellow line
and the hard edge of livin is a friend of mine
lost and wasted on an endless plain
i am glory-bound, screamin down the passin lane
i am a rollin ball of thunder, i am a blindin flash of light
i am a last blast, fallin fast star tonight
when the radio crackles and the station goes dead
and the rumblin of the engine plays your voice in my head
i will roll away the windows, i will let the cold bite deep
i will tremble like a live wire in the throes of sleep
somewhere between midnight and the changin of tires
in the dregs of roadhouse coffee and the company of liars
in the dark behind the headlamps, in the rust behind the chrome
i will find the sign that guides me to the road back home
through a blue texas norther with a 20-ton load
and i’m somewhere outta nowhere
with a wind that whips like rawhide on this jagged yellow line
and the hard edge of livin is a friend of mine
yeah the hard edge of livin
it’s on the backroads i have driven
and the sinner unforgiven is a friend of mine
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3. |
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i lived in a place called okfuskee
and i had a little girl in a holler tree
i said little girl, it’s plain to see
there ain’t nobody that can sing like me
ain’t nobody that can sing like me
you know it’s hard for me to see
how one little boy got so ugly
yes my little girly, that might be
but there ain’t nobody that can sing like me
ain’t nobody that can sing like me
way over yonder in the minor key
way over yonder in the minor key
there ain’t nobody that can sing like me
we walked down by the buckeye creek
to see the frog eat the goggle-eye bee
to hear that west wind whistle to the east
hey, there ain’t nobody that can sing like me
ain’t nobody that can sing like me
way over yonder in the minor key …
oh my little girly will you let me see
way over yonder where the wind blows free
nobody can see in our holler tree
and there ain’t nobody that can sing like me
ain’t nobody that can sing like m
now mama cut a switch from a cherry tree
and laid it on to he and me
and it stung lots worse than a hive of bees
but there ain’t nobody that can sing like me
ain’t nobody that can sing like me
way over yonder in the minor key …
now i have walked a long long ways
and i still look back to my tanglewood days
i let lotsa girls since then to stray
sayin ain’t nobody that can sing like me
ain’t nobody that can sing like me
way over yonder in the minor key …
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4. |
Hard to Make It
03:04
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lonesome stranger, won't you share my bed
the sidewalk siren at the bus stop said
love is a tear in a salty bay and it's
hard to make it in this world today
love is a river but the river run dry
the clouds blow bitter in a boneyard sky
flesh dries up and it burns away
and you can't remember where your heart once lay and it's
hard to make it in this world today
dandy don, he's a velvet hand
he's my silent partner, he's the inside man
holds me shakin through the shotgun dawn and he
keeps me walkin down this road i'm on
keeps me runnin when he calls my name
shines the light but he kills the flame
stones me simple when i try to speak
bruise my face but he kiss my cheek and it's
hard to make it when you get this weak
one of these mornins, gonna spread my wings
like a red-ass robin at the gates of spring
rise up singin on a cyclone wind
till the walls of this city come tumblin in
walls of this city come tumblin, rumblin
'round my head like an old man stumblin
i don't care if the mountains fall
there's a little blue egg in the middle of this all and it's
hard to make it when you feel so small
bus pulled up and i climbed inside
i sat in the window and i waved goodbye
she stood starin at the blue machine
singin, "nobody knows the trouble i've seen"
nobody cares and nobody knows
only weeds remember where your headstone grows and it's
dust to ashes and wings to clay and i
check my wallet as we pull away, 'cause it's
hard to make it in this world today
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5. |
Cross of Jesus
03:24
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he’s a motorcycle preacher
he’s a seeker and a teacher
and he says the faithful shall not want for anything
when the good lord come to take us
where the big sky meets the pecos
and the flowers bloom and grow in everlasting spring
and he’s bustin loose and breakin even
glory-bound and true-believin
ridin down the edge of a switchblade knife
and he speaks the truth that frees us
and he moves on when he pleases
and he wears the cross of jesus as he wanders through this life
she’s a waitress and a mother
she the keeper of her brother
she’s a patient force of nature livin in a double-wide
and she used to be a dancer
now she says she knows the answer
cause she loves the lord and she keeps the covenant inside
and she’s bustin loose and breakin even
glory-bound and true-believin
dancin down the edge of a switchblade knife
and she speaks the truth that frees us
cause she knows us when she sees us
and she wears the cross of jesus as she wanders through this life
now i’m only a beginner
i’m a helpless mortal sinner
i’m a self-reflectin derilectin also-ran
but i’m a tender of the fire
and i’m merciful with liars
and i think i’ve had a vision of the promised land
and i’m bustin loose and breakin even
glory-bound and true-believin
livin on the edge of a switchblade knife
and i keep that truth that frees us
and i deal with my diseases
and i wear the cross of jesus as i wander through this life
yes i wear the cross of jesus as i wander through this life
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6. |
Amazon
04:22
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come home, knock at the gate, summon the guardian moon
though winter is nigh and the hour is late, she'll open up for you
outside hard times, redlines, deadlines,
people you just can't please
climbers and graspers, best-laid disasters --
we don't make much of these
rest your head my weary sister, lay your tireless body down
with your tears and tender whispers, we will turn the thirsty ground
and the lords of constant sorrow will not dare to march upon
the bonnie gardens of tomorrow that spring up where you have gone, amazon
hard lie the hobbles and cuffs over the dreary day
but sage rhymes and oracle doves chisel the chains away
though clever jesters clip your feathers
tether your pinions proud
prisons will open, bonds will be broken
daisies will dance in rounds
rest your head my weary sister, lay your tireless body down
with your tears and tender whispers, we will turn the thirsty ground
and the lords of constant sorrow will not dare to look upon
the bonnie gardens of tomorrow that spring up where you have gone, amazon
so rise swan, open your wings, put off your duckling guise
carry the maiden born to be queen over the rolling skies
shine bright starlight hold tight swift flight
home to the new-made nest
worries and maybes will not delay thee
lovers and friends await thee --
rest your head my weary sister, lay your tireless body down
with your tears and tender whispers we will turn the world around
for the lords of constant sorrow cannot bear to look upon
the golden gardens of tomorrow that spring up where you have gone, amazon
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7. |
Three-Fingered Jack
02:42
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built me a cabin on the coho trail
cedar shake roof and a fence of rails
wind come a' howlin and the sky turn black
'round the bald head of three-fingered jack
three-fingered jack in his coat of trees
never a kind word did he say to me
walkin away and i won't look back
fare thee well cruel three-fingered jack
goodbye my sorrel miss celia jane
proud were your haunches and your tangled mane
will you await me till the sunrise red
melts the white snowbank where you laid your head
if i was joshua i would rattle and chime
'round the dark tower three and thirty times
blow my brass trumpet and i'd stomp the ground
till that ol' mountain come a-tumblin down
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8. |
Any Way I Do
03:49
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in the redwing valley
on the injun side
upon my daddy's pony i would ride
now i work in the city
on the fact'ry line
and i sing the rock of ages
in a midnight choir sometimes
in praise or lamentation
peace or desperation
any way i do, i come into
the presence of the lord
in the twilight hour
when the whistle blow
out upon that shotgun street i go
johnny walker on the sidewalk
askin for my change
prophesyin thunder, man he's
sleepin in the rain
in praise or lamentation ...
hey, can you hear the trumpet blowin
hey, won't you come up where i am
sister will you walk beside me where i'm goin
up the shadow canyon in the pure blood of the lamb
when the midnight special
come to take me home
and the toothless buzzard time gnaws down my bones
i will sail on a river
in a boat of reeds
cryin, "come oh come emmanuel in this, my hour of need"
in praise or lamentation ...
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9. |
Till We Have Faces
03:44
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my joy and i held candles before the frozen throne
she in her winged sandals, i in my boots of stone
she in her silken flora, i in my leather drear
she with the grace of cora upon the road of tears
and did they see us shining through winter’s dark decree
those gods of time and dying who reasoned doom to me
came bright the dove of april, good summer in her wake
the eaglet in her cradle, and autumn’s golden snake
who was it caught my dearest in snares of shallow will
to bind her frail and fearless upon their hallowed hill?
come now you crawling spider, dire wolf and driving rain
my heart will sleep beside her, secure as iron chains
i climbed the rise at evening to bury my delight
no sign of web or weaving, no shadow of her flight
behold the unmade chalice, the wine that has no taste
the bare and phantom palace she made of my embrace
behold these endless mazes, these winters without end
we roam till we have faces to feel the spring again
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10. |
Gypsy Rose
05:15
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my love is like a gypsy rose
wild is the only way he grows
out where the sweet july wind blows
he blooms over yonder
his voice is like a mountain stream
washes me clear, washes me clean
i walk along the banks serene
where he will wander
there is no hill high as the moon, no river deeper than the sea
no shooting star, reckless in flight, burns in the night
wild as the love he gave to me
only the rain knows where he goes
thunder and me, ramblin with my gypsy rose
and on the day we were wed
up to the altar he was led
lay like a prisoner in my bed
oh, how we shivered
so i built a house to keep him in
guarded him from the sun and wind
but in the autumn he grew thin
in winter, he withered
there is no hill ...
my love was buried in the spring
i see his face in blossoming things
one night i thought i heard him sing
down in the hollow
now it's been thirty years and three
every night he calls to me
and for as long as i shall be
i know i'll follow
there is no hill ...
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11. |
September Sea
03:21
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darlin fair, the hour approaches when i will bid this troubled world adieu
i will spurn fine chariots and coaches for the hold of the master’s swift canoe
no my love, we cannot row together out upon the wide september sea
when i cross the ocean of forever in the spring, will you still remember me?
when you have gone a-sailin yonder, i’ll be a sister to the wind
i will not rest nor cease to wander till i slumber in your arms again
no my love, we cannot row together ...
no reaper’s hand can hold or touch us, no swell of darkness ragin wild
when the fierce and the mighty breaker crushes, i will come safe to harbor in your smile
no water wide can long divide no sund’ring water come between
when the sage moon rise to guide us, we’ll meet in fields of evergreen
no my love, we cannot row together ...
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Tracy Grammer Greenfield, Massachusetts
Writer. Actor. Storyteller. Singer. Multi-instrumentalist. Former head cheerleader, now a fearless navigator of the
heart.
“One of the finest pure musicians anywhere in folkdom.” - Boston Globe
“A brilliant artist.” - Joan Baez
“Her gifts as a musician are like that of a painter who is a master of chiaroscuro, offering light and shadow at every turn.“ - Mary Chapin Carpenter
... more
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