Nanci Griffith (born Nanci Caroline Griffith in Seguin, TX, on 6 July 1953;… Read Full Bio ↴Nanci Griffith (born Nanci Caroline Griffith in Seguin, TX, on 6 July 1953; died 13 August 2021) was an American singer, guitarist, and songwriter who was raised in Austin, TX, and later resided in Nashville, TN. Her career spanned a variety of musical genres, predominantly country and folk, and what she terms "folkabilly." She won a 1994 Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Folk Album for Other Voices, Other Rooms, an album of Griffith covering the songs of artists who influenced her.

She is best-remembered for From a Distance, by Julie Gold, although the version that achieved greater commercial success was not Griffith's but Bette Midler's (From a Distance). Similarly, other artists have occasionally achieved greater success with Griffith's songs than did Griffith herself: for example, Kathy Mattea, who had a country music top five hit with a 1986 cover (Love at the Five and Dime) of Love at the Five and Dime.

ADDITIONALLY
In 1994, Griffith teamed up with Jimmy Webb to contribute the song "If These Old Walls Could Speak" to the AIDS benefit album Red Hot + Country produced by the Red Hot Organization. Griffith is a survivor of breast cancer which was diagnosed in 1996, and thyroid cancer in 1998.[2]

Singer-songwriter Christine Lavin remembers the first time she saw Griffith perform:

I was struck by how perfect everything was about her singing, her playing, her talking. I realized from the get-go that this was someone who was a complete professional. Obviously she had worked a long time to get to be that good.

During her career, Griffith toured with many artists, including Buddy Holly's band, The Crickets; John Prine; Iris DeMent; Suzy Bogguss; and Judy Collins. Griffith has recorded duets with many artists, among them Emmylou Harris, Mary Black, John Prine, Don McLean, Jimmy Buffett, Dolores Keane, Willie Nelson, Adam Duritz (singer of Counting Crows), The Chieftains, and Darius Rucker (lead singer of Hootie & the Blowfish). She also contributed background vocals on many other recordings.

Griffith suffered from severe 'writers block' for a number of years after 2004, lasting until the 2009 release of her The Loving Kind album, which contained nine selections that she had written and composed either entirely by herself or as collaborations.

After several months of limited touring in 2011, Griffith's bandmates The Kennedys (Pete & Maura Kennedy) packed up their professional Manhattan recording studio and relocated it to Nashville, where they installed it in Griffith's home. There, Griffith and her backing team, including Pete & Maura Kennedy and Pat McInerney, co-produced her album, Intersections over the course of the summer. The album includes several new original songs and was released in April 2012.

In addition to her own songs, Griffith is well known for her versions of other people's material, usually by contemporary singer-songwriters.

Awards

Griffith won the 1994 Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Folk Album for Other Voices, Other Rooms. In 2008, the Americana Music Association awarded her its Americana Trailblazer Award; Lyle Lovett, who contributed backing vocals to some of "The Blue Moon Orchestra's" recordings,[which?] had won it before her.

Band (The Blue Moon Orchestra)

Griffith refers to her backing band as "The Blue Moon Orchestra." This reference is believed to have been drawn from both the title of one of her earliest albums, Once in a Very Blue Moon, and its title selection, which reached #85 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart in 1986.

Do Re Mi
Nanci Griffith Lyrics

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Well thousands of folks back east they say
Are leaving home most everyday
They're beating the hot old dusty way
To the California line
Across the desert sands they roll
Getting outta that old dust bowl
They think they're going to a sugar bowl
But here is what they find

Oh the police at the port of entrance say

Overall Meaning

Nanci Griffith's song "Do-Re-Mi" is about the migration of people to California during the Great Depression era. The song speaks about thousands of individuals heading from the East to the West, hoping to find relief from the socio-economic situation in the Western states. The lyrics express the struggles of the Dust Bowl migrants, who hoped to find a prosperous and comfortable life but faced several hardships as immigrants in California. Griffith paints a vivid picture of these migrants, who were leaving their homes behind and traveling across the vast desert lands to California, hopeful of finding a new and better life.

The song also reflects on the harsh realities that awaited these migrants in California. They faced significant challenges such as insufficient employment opportunities, poor living conditions, and discrimination from employers and other Californians. The song's allusion to the police at the port of entrance is symbolic of the difficulties the migrants encountered as they arrived in California.

Overall, "Do-Re-Mi" is a heartfelt tribute to the migrants who made the arduous journey to California in search of better opportunities, despite the countless hurdles they faced.

Line by Line Meaning