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.
Fragile
Nanci Griffith Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Across this countryside
I wonder how they've grown together
While people live such separate lives
I think I'll stay inside for the winter
Cause the weather's in my bones
And the wind could shatter bone to splinter
Then howl me back home
[Chorus:]
I'm fragile as the lady of the harbour
Fragile as her torch that glows
Fragile as these gulf stream waters
To the Texas coast
To the Texas coast
I stared up at the faces in the mountain
Just a year ago
Laughin' in the spirit of America
And singin' in the snow
Now I wish I felt as strong as that mountain
Just carved in stone
I wish I was the gulf stream water
And I could sail you home
[Chorus]
I would give you all that's in me
Though part of me is gone
If I could have that day upon the mountain
For the snow and the song
But here's to love and all that it changes
When you're alone out in that storm
Cause' if I'd had a shield of heather
I'd have never loved at all
[Chorus]
I would sail you home
To the Texas coast
I would sail you home
To the Texas coast
In Nanci Griffith's song "Fragile," the singer contemplates the beauty and resilience of nature as she struggles with her own fragility. Looking out on the "shields of heather" that have grown together despite people living "such separate lives," she is struck by the contrast between the constancy of nature and the uncertainties of human existence. The singer chooses to stay inside for the winter, feeling the weather in her bones, and reflecting on how easily the wind could break her apart.
The chorus repeats the image of fragility, comparing the singer to the "lady of the harbour" and the "gulf stream waters" that are ever-changing and unpredictable. She feels small and fragile in comparison, wishing she could be as strong and immovable as the "faces in the mountain" she saw just a year ago. Despite her fears, she offers to give all that she has to someone else, hoping to find a sense of security and stability in the love that they share.
Line by Line Meaning
I look out on these shields of heather
I am looking at the heather bushes and how they stick together.
Across this countryside
As I look out, I see the countryside.
I wonder how they've grown together
I am amazed at how the heather bushes are growing so well together even when people can't.
While people live such separate lives
I am puzzled over why people live so apart when they are capable of growing together.
I think I'll stay inside for the winter
I have decided not to go out into the winter season.
Cause the weather's in my bones
I am feeling the cold in my body, so I'd rather stay indoors.
And the wind could shatter bone to splinter
The cold wind is scathing, and it's capable of causing damage to the human body.
Then howl me back home
It's scary to think of venturing out in such weather as it might drive me back home in a hurry.
I'm fragile as the lady of the harbor
I am feeling as fragile as the statue of the lady of the harbor.
Fragile as her torch that glows
Just like her torch, I am fragile - and with no guarantee of staying strong.
Fragile as these gulf stream waters
I am as fragile as the gulf stream waters, which can cause destruction.
To the Texas coast
These waters travel to the Texas coast.
I stared up at the faces in the mountain
I am gazing at the mountain landscape's shapes and angles.
Just a year ago
It's been only a year since I was last here.
Laughin' in the spirit of America
Last year, I laughed like an American, feeling their sense of humor and freedom.
And singin' in the snow
I was singing with the Americans in the snow.
Now I wish I felt as strong as that mountain
I am hopeful that I'd feel as strong as the mountain structures one day.
Just carved in stone
The mountain structures are hewed out of rocks and solidified, while I can't find what composes me.
I wish I was the gulf stream water
I'd love to be free-flowing like the gulf stream waters and able to sail someone home.
And I could sail you home
I'd happily sail everyone home to the Texas coast.
I would give you all that's in me
I am willing to do anything to help you, even if it means giving you everything I have.
Though part of me is gone
Although part of me is gone, I'd still give you all that remains of me.
If I could have that day upon the mountain
I cherish the memory of the day I spent out there on the mountain.
For the snow and the song
I enjoyed the snow and the songs that day in the mountains.
But here's to love and all that it changes
Yet, I know that love changes everything.
When you're alone out in that storm
Especially when you're all by yourself out in the storm.
Cause' if I'd had a shield of heather
I'm thinking that if I had something to cling onto just as the heather bushes are rooted together, I may not have loved at all.
I'd have never loved at all
Maybe I'd never put myself out there and loved someone if there's a chance of getting hurt.
I would sail you home
I am willing to sail you back home to the Texas coast.
To the Texas coast
I'd love to take you back home to the Texas coast.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: NANCI GRIFFITH
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind