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| Emmylou Harris |
Happy Birthday Emmylou Harris!! The Grammy-winner turns 65 today and I thought it would be appropriate to share one of my favorite songs that she wrote with another Grammy-winner, Bill Danoff.
The song, Boulder to Birmingham, recounts her feelings of grief in the years following the death of country rock star and mentor Gram Parsons. Danoff also recorded the song with his group, Starland Vocal Band, on their self-titled debut album.
It is a beautiful, haunting song. I think we all can identify with that feeling of doing anything, even walking from Boulder to Birmingham, to see the face of a loved one just one more time. Once you listen to it, and you can find it on YouTube, I think you'll agree that Boulder to Birmingham stays with you for along time:
Boulder to Birmingham
Lyrics By Emmylou Harris
Music By Bill Danoff
I don't want to hear a love song
I got on this airplane just to fly
And I know there's life below
But all that it can show me
Is the prairie and the sky
And I don't want to hear a sad story
Full of heartbreak and desire
The last time I felt like this
It was in the wilderness and the canyon was on fire
And I stood on the mountain in the night and I watched it burn
I watched it burn, I watched it burn.
I would rock my soul in the bosom of abraham
I would hold my life in his saving grace
I would walk all the way from boulder to birmingham
If I thought I could see, I could see your face.
Well you really got me this time
And the hardest part is knowing I'll survive.
I have come to listen for the sound
Of the trucks as they move down
Out on ninety five
And pretend that it's the ocean
Coming down to wash me clean, to wash me clean
Baby do you know what I mean
I would rock my soul in the bosom of abraham
I would hold my life in his saving grace
I would walk all the way from boulder to birmingham
If I thought I could see, I could see your face.
