Harris is truly an innovator. For over 30 years, Emmylou has flowed effortlessly between genres achieving popularity in pop, folk, country and now alternative. The common bridge is an exquisite vocal style and a gift for discovering the heart of a song.
Born in Birmingham, Alabama on April 2, 1947, the daughter of Walter and Eugenia Harris grew up near Washington, D.C. As a college student in the late 60s, she sang with a local folk duo and eventually moved to Greenwich Village. She played the clubs on the local folk scene occasionally sharing the stage with Jerry Jeff Walker and David Bromberg.
Discovered in 1971 by Chris Hillman, Hillman brought Gram Parsons to hear her sing in a small club in the Washington D.C. area. In 1972, she answered the call from Gram to join him in Los Angeles to work on his first solo album, "GP." According to Songfacts, Parsons tragic early death in 1973 left Harris at an emotional and musical crossroads. Her earliest signature song, Boulder To Birmingham was written shortly after Gram's death, and it showed the depth of her shock and pain at losing her friend and mentor.
After the loss of Gram, Emmylou went back to the D.C. area and formed a country band, playing with them until her 1975 major label debut, Pieces of the Sky, when she formed the first version of the legendary Hot Band. Over the years the Hot Band included world class players such as Albert Lee, Rodney Crowell and Hank DeVito.
Emmylou has been called by Billboard Magazine a "truly venturesome, genre-transcending pathfinder." Throughout her career, she has been admired for her talent as an artist and song connoisseur, but it was with her 2000 album, Red Dirt Girl, for which Ms. Harris was awarded her tenth (out of eleven total to date) Grammy, that she revealed she is also a gifted songwriter. Continuing the trend with her September 2003 album, Stumble Into Grace, Emmylou wrote ten of the album's eleven tracks. Though Emmylou is the most admired and influential woman in contemporary country music, her scope extends far beyond it. She has recorded with such diverse artists as Ryan Adams, Beck, Elvis Costello, Johnny Cash, Lucinda Williams, Bob Dylan, Tammy Wynette, Neil Young, The Chieftains, Lyle Lovett, Roy Orbison, The Band, Willie Nelson and George Jones.
She sings with Dolly Parton and Linda Ronstadt on the incomparable albums Trio and Trio II, making all three artists living American legends.
A longtime social activist, Harris has lent her voice to many causes. She is active in cultural preservation issues, notably the Country Music Foundation and the Grand Ole Opry. As an animal rights activist and the owner of several dogs and cats, Emmylou also supports PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) and the Humane Society. Since 1997 she has been the most visible spokesperson for the Campaign for a Landmine Free World, drawing public attention and notable musical artists to the cause.
Boy from Tupelo
Emmylou Harris Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Don't need a bible to tell me so
I hung around a little too long
I was good but now I'm gone
Like the buffalo
That boy from Tupelo
Any way the wind can blow
I'll be gone like a five and dime
It'll be the perfect crime
Just ask the boy from Tupelo
He's the king and he oughta know
The shoulder I've been leanin on
Is the coldest place I've ever known
There's nothin left for me round here
Looks like it's time to disapear
Like the buffalo
That boy from Tupelo
The old wall down in jericho
Maybelle on the radio
I'll be gone like the five and dime
It'll be the perfect crime
Just ask the boy from Tupelo
He's the king and he oughta know
You don't love me, this I know
Don't need a bible to tell me so
It's a shame and it's a sin
Everything I coulda been to you
Your last chance Texaco
Your sweetheart of the rodeo
A juliet to your romeo
The border you cross into Nexico
I'll never understand why or how
Oh but baby its too late now
Just ask the boy from Tupelo
He's the king and he oughta know
The song "Boy from Tupelo" by Emmylou Harris is a somber reflection on failed love and the need to move on. The lyrics betray a resignation to the fact that the singer's love interest does not reciprocate and there is no chance of salvaging the relationship. The religious allusion in the first verse - "Don't need a bible to tell me so" - is juxtaposed with the image of a buffalo, an unconquerable creature that roams free, going where the wind takes it. Here, the singer likens herself to the buffalo, choosing to go wherever fate leads her. The reference to the "boy from Tupelo" is presumably to Elvis Presley, the King of Rock and Roll, who was born in Tupelo, Mississippi. In this context, he represents a figure who knew how to be free and follow his own path, without worrying about what others thought.
The second verse talks about the singer's heartbreak and her realization that she needs to leave. She had been relying on her lover for support, but she now recognizes that he is "the coldest place" she has ever known. The imagery of the old wall in Jericho falling and Maybelle on the radio suggest that time is passing and things are changing, but the singer remains stuck. She wants to leave, but is unable to do so. The final verse uses a series of metaphors to underscore the singer's sense of loss. She uses the images of a gas station, a rodeo, and a tragic love story to capture the different facets of her relationship with her lover. The final lines - "I'll never understand why or how / Oh but baby its too late now / Just ask the boy from Tupelo / He's the king and he oughta know" - reinforce the sense of helplessness and suggest that the singer has accepted her fate.
Line by Line Meaning
You don't love me this I know
I am aware that you don't love me
Don't need a bible to tell me so
I don't need any religious reference to know that you don't love me
I hung around a little too long
I have stayed with you for a longer time than I should have
I was good but now I'm gone
I was faithful, but I have now left you
Like the buffalo
I am like the buffalo, free and wandering
That boy from Tupelo
I am like that boy from Tupelo, who is untamed
Any way the wind can blow
I am open to going any way the wind may take me
That's where I'm gonna go
I will go wherever the wind may take me
I'll be gone like a five and dime
I will leave quickly and easily, like something cheap from a store
It'll be the perfect crime
My departure will be easy and unnoticeable
Just ask the boy from Tupelo
The boy from Tupelo knows how to disappear, so you should ask him
He's the king and he oughta know
The boy from Tupelo is an expert in disappearing, so he knows what to do
The shoulder I've been leanin on
The person I relied on to support me
Is the coldest place I've ever known
That person turned out to be cold and unhelpful
There's nothin left for me round here
There is no reason for me to stay here anymore
Looks like it's time to disappear
I need to leave and start anew
The old wall down in Jericho
The wall in Jericho is reference to an ancient story in the Bible
Maybelle on the radio
Maybelle was a famous country music artist from Tennessee
Your last chance Texaco
A reference to a popular gasoline brand
Your sweetheart of the rodeo
A reference to a famous and beloved horse in a rodeo
A juliet to your romeo
A romantic reference to Romeo and Juliet, meaning I was willing to be your lover
The border you cross into Nexico
A reference to crossing the border into Mexico
I'll never understand why or how
I will never understand why our relationship didn't work out
Oh but baby its too late now
It's too late to fix our relationship now
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Written by: EMMYLOU HARRIS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind