EMMYLOU HARRIS
COWGIRL'S PRAYER
(Elektra 61541)
September 28/1993
Produced by Allen Reynolds & Richard Bennett
Richard Bennett - guitars/percussion/mandocello
Chris Leuzinger - ac.guitar
Kieran Kane - gut string
Al Perkins - steel
Mike Brignadello, Bobby Wray - bass
Roy Huskey - ac.bass
Milton Sledge - drums/percussion
Larry Atamanuik - drums
Sam Bacco - percussion
Dave Hoffner - organ/keyboards
Bobby Wood, Jay Spell - piano
Sam Bush - fiddle
Sam Levine - flute/clarinet
Strings:
Edgar Meyer, Grace Bahng, Kris Wilkinson, Connie Heard
Arrangements by Emory Gordy
Vocals:
Suzanne Cox, Alison Kraus, Kathy Chiavola, Ashley Cleveland, Lori Brooks, Jana King,
Hurshel Wiginton, Dennis Wilson, Trisha Yearwood, Pam Rose, Mary Ann Kennedy, John Stewart
Recorded at Jack's Track Studio, Nashville
1.
WAYS TO GO
(Lainie Marsha Williams)
« © '93 Gallivation Gal Publishing, ASCAP »
I hear the clock a tickin' see the sweat upon my brow
I know my destination nothing's gonna stop me now
I'm running on desire baby I got nerves of steel
Coming down to the wire Lord above me guide the wheel
Keep me in your prayers tonight I'll be weary opon that road
I know the finish line's in sight but I still have ways to go
There's a junkyard dog a barkin' in the valley down below
He's wantin' me to stop and gather up a heavy load
Ain't gonna heed his call ain't giving him the time of day
You mangy mutt once and for all I said I threw that stuff away
Keep me in your prayers...
I won't have a bit of trouble heading down the straight and true
I fly solo on the double into the yonder blue
I might need some intervention out upon the icy turn
In a foggy situation squeallin' on a hairpin curve
I'm running on desire baby I got nerves of steel
Coming down to the wire Lord above me guide the wheel
Keep me in your prayers...
Got a ways to go got a ways to go got a ways to go
**********
2.
LIGHT
(Kieran Kane - Emmylou Harris)
« © '93 Kieran Kane Music, ASCAP / Sorghum Music, ASCAP »
I see the light I see the light at the end of the tunnel
I see the light and it's burning bright
I see the light it's the light at the end that I run to
And the light darlin' is you
In the lonely heart of darkness I have stumbled and I have strayed
Always searchin' but never finding a ray of sunlight to guide my way
I see the light...
I have traveled down this highway of hope abandined and broken dreams
An unbeliever my faith was shaken by all the sorrow I had seen
But I see the light...
And the light darlin' is you
**********
3.
HIGH POWERED LOVE
(Tony Joe White)
« © '93 Screen Gems Music, BMI / Tony Joe White Music, BMI »
I've been running low on inspiration tired of the physical intrugue
There's nothing left to imagination living in a world that treats love so carelessly
Don't want no smooth talkin' lover I can't play the role it just leaves me cold
I need a high powered love I wanna feel that lightning streak
High powered love got to be down in the heart with me
Sometimes it's hard to keep believing yeah too many pretty faces all skin deep
Now is there anyone left with teeth just a little uneven
And won't spend more time with a mirror than he does with me
If you're just looking for a good time a notch on your gun well I ain't the one
I want a high powered love got to have intensity
High powered love don't start the fire if you can't take the heat
I can't turn back on a mission I know there's someone out there for me
I need a high powered love one that'll defy gravity
High powered love got to be strong and keep on lifting me
I need a high powered love...
In the heart with me
**********
4.
YOU DON'T KNOW ME
(Cindy Walker - Eddy Arnold)
« © '55 Unichappell Music, BMI »
You give your hand to me and then you say hello
And I can hardly speak my heart is beating so
And anyone can tell you think you know me well but you don't know me
No you don't know the one who dreams of you at night
And longs to kiss your lips and longs to hold you tight
Oh I'm just a friend that's all I've ever been cause you don't know me
For I never knew the art of making love though my heart aches with love for you
Afraid and shy let my chance go by the chance that you might have loved me too
[ guitar ]
No I never knew the art of making love...
You give your hand to me and then you say goodbye
I watch you walk away and in my heart I cry
You'll never never know the one who loves you so cause you don't know me
**********
5.
PRAYER IN OPEN D
(Emmylou Harris)
« © '93 Sorghum Music, ASCAP »
There's a valley of sorrow in my soul where every night I hear the thunder roll
Like the sound of a distant gun over all the damage I have done
And the shadows filling up this land are the ones I built with my own hand
There is no comfort from the cold of this valley of sorrow in my soul
There's a river of darkness in my blood and through every vein I feel the flood
I can find no bridge for me to cross no way to bring back what is lost
Into the night it soon will sweep down where all my grievances I keep
But it won't wash away the years or one single hard and bitter tear
And the rock of ages I have known is a weariness down in the bone
I used to ride it like a rolling stone now I just carry it alone
There's a highway risin' from my dreams deep in the heart I know it gleams
For I have seen it stretching wide clear across to the other side
Beyond the river and the flood and the valley where for so long I've stood
With the rock of ages in my bones someday I know it will lead me home oh oh oh
**********
6.
CRESCENT CITY
(Lucinda Williams)
« © '88 Lucy Jones Music, BMI / Warner-Tamerlane Publishing, BMI »
Everybody's had a few now they talkin' about who know who
I'm goin' back to the crescent city where everything's still the same
This town has said what it has to say now I'm after that back highway
And the longest bridge I've ever crossed over Ponchartrain
Tu le ton son temps that's what we'd say we used to dance the night away
Me and my sister me and my brother we used to walk down by the river
Mama lives in Mandeville I can hardly wait until
I can hear my zydeco and laissez le bon ton roulet
Take rides in open cars my brother knows where the best bars are
Let's see how these blues'll do in the town where the good times stay
Tu le ton son temps that's what we'd say...
[ fiddle ]
Tu le ton son temps that's what we'd say...
**********
7.
LOVIN' YOU AGAIN
(Roger Ferris)
« © '93 BMG Songs, ASCAP »
You call me from a phone booth with tears in your voice
Tell me you've been out all night runnin' with the boys
You say you're cold and tired and lonely and you got no place to go
There wasn't any phone book mine's the only number that you know
Well call yourself a taxi and I'll pay him at the door
If you don't mind sleepin' on the sofa or on the floor
And I spend an hour hatin' you till the cab pulls in
My heart has found another way to be lovin' you again
And every time is the last time and every time is the first
Every time is the last time with you
Oh it never gets no better and it couldn't get no worse
Then I hear footsteps the driver's at the door
He says I look familiar has he made this run before
And I tell him I don't think so what's it matter anyway
Just tell me what the meter reads and I'll go and get your pay
Well now it's down to you and me and though it don't seem right
We both know where we'll be and what we'll do tonight
And after an hour or two when the night comes to an end
My heart has found another way to be lovin' you again
And every time is the last time...
I know that there should be more to say I'll just read your mind
Let's save what's left unsaid for another time so until then
My heart has found another way to be lovin' you again
My heart has found another way to be lovin' you again
Oh my heart has found another way to be lovin' you again
**********
8.
JERUSALEM TOMORROW
(David Olney)
« © '93 Careers Music, BMI / Hayes Court Music, BMI / Irving Music, BMI »
Man you should have seen me way back then I could tell a tale I could make it spin
I could tell you black was white I could tell you day was night
Not only that I could tell you why back then I could really tell a lie
Well I'd hire a kid to say he was lame then I'd touch him and I make him walk again
Then I'd pull some magic trick I'd pretend to heal the sick
I was takin' everything they had to give it wasn't all that bad a way to live
Well I'm in this desert town and it's hot as hell but no one's buyin' what I got to sell
I make my lame kid walk I make a dumb guy talk
I'm preachin' up a storm both night and day but everyone just turns and walks away
Well I can see that I'm only wasting time so I head across the road to drink some wine
This old man comes up to me he says I seen you on the street
You're pretty good if I do say so myself
But the guy comes through here last month he was somethin' else
Instead of callin' out for fire from above he just gets real quiet and talks about love
And I'll tell you somethin' funny he didn't want nobody's money
Now I'm not exactly sure what this all means
But it's the damnest thing I swear I've ever seen
[ clarinet ]
Well since that time every town is the same
I can't make a dime I don't know why I came
I decide I'll go and find him and find out who's behind him
He has everyone convinced that he's for real well I figure we can work us out a deal
So he offers me a job and I say fine he says I'll get paid off on down the line
Well I guess I'll string along don't see how too much can go wrong
As long as he pays my way I guess I'll follow we're headed for Jerusalem tomorrow
**********
9.
THANKS TO YOU
(Jesse Winchester)
« © '84 Fourth Floor Music, ASCAP / Hot Kitchen Music, ASCAP / WB Music, ASCAP »
Well goodness is it really real it'd take a baby child to know the way I feel
Oh my flutter to the blue I would take the credit but it's thanks to you
Oh yeah I'm a sinner and I ain't some beginner
I'll uncork a pint of trouble sit down and drink a double
I'm thirsty for something lighter that'll get me even tighter
And tighter until one day I think I hear angels play
Goodness is it really real...
[ guitar ]
Now someday up in glory well I'll weep and tell the story
To someone who will smile and say you're a mess but you're my child
Goodness is it really real...
[ piano ]
Now someday up in glory...
Goodness is it really real...
Well goodness is it really real...
[ guitar - piano ]
**********
10.
I HEAR A CALL
(Tony Arata)
« © '90 April Music, ASCAP / Morganactive Songs, ASCAP »
I hear a call now will I answer forsake my all to serve another
Though darkness falls stay a believer I hear a call now will I answer
I see a light now will I follow fill up this life that grows more hollow
Make joy reside where there lives sorrow I see a light now will I follow
I hear a call from out of nowhere and from everywhere I go
I hear a call now will I answer
[ dobro ]
I feel a touch now will I hold on be there with love for those with no one
With a kindness such it lives though I'm gone I feel a touch now will I hold on
I hear a call from out of nowhere and from everywhere I go
I see a light now will I follow I feel a touch now will I hold on
I hear a call now will I answer
**********
11.
BALLAD OF A RUNAWAY HORSE
(Leonard Cohen)
« © '89 ATV Songs, BMI »
Say a prayer for the cowgirl her horse ran away
She'll walk till she finds him her darlin' her stray
But the river's in flood and the roads are awash
And the bridges break up in the panic of loss
And there's nothin' to follow nowhere to go
He's gone like the summer gone like the snow
And the crickets are breaking her heart with their song
As the day caves in and the night is all wrong
Did she dream it was he who went galloping past
And bent down the fern broke open the grass
And printed the mud with the well hammered shoe
That she nailed to his speed in the dreams of her youth
And although he goes grazin' a minute away
She tracks him all night she tracks him all day
And she's behind to his presence except to compare
Her injury here with his punishment there
Then at home on a branch on a high stream a songbird sings out so suddenly
And the sun is warm and the soft winds ride on a willow tree by the riverside
Ah the world is sweet and the world is wide
He's there where the light and the darkness divide
And the steam's comin' off him he's huge and he's shy
And he steps on the moon when he paws at the sky
And he comes to her hand but he's not really tame
He longs to be lost she longs for the same
And he'll bolt and he'll plunge through the first open pass
To roll and to feed in the sweet mountain grass
Or he'll make a break for the high plateau
Where there's nothing above and nothing below
It's time for their burden the whip and the spur
Well she ride with him or will he ride with her
So she binds herself to her galloping steed
And he binds himself to the woman in need
And there is no space just left and right
And there is no time but there is day and night
Then she leans on his neck and whispers low whither thou goest I will go
And they turn as one and the head for the plain
No need for the whip oh no need for the rein
Now the clasp of this union who fastens it tight
Who snaps it asunder the very next night
Some say it's him some say it's her some say love's like smoke beyond all repair
So my darlin' my darlin' just let it go by that old silhouette on the great western sky
And I'll pick out a tune and they'll move right along
And they're gone like smoke and they're gone like this song
Say a prayer for the cowgirl
**********