Forums » Gillian Welch and David Rawlings "Lyrics"
Currently unrecorded (but performed)
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Knuckleball Catcher
You caught my eye
When a flash of lightning hit the land
Out in the darkness
With a banjo in your hand
You came into the firelight
Into the circle from the gloom
I was standing childlike
While you got yourself in tune
Now a bricklayer can be an all-time player, too
But a knuckleball catcher only gets one job to do
Only gets one job to do
You played your melody
It was too much to believe
It froze my flesh down
to minus nine degrees
Like I was passing a graveyard
Filled with flowers on Mother's Day
That's the last time I let a stranger
Break my heart this way
Now a Den Mother can be a dashboard drummer, too
But a knuckleball catcher only gets one job to do
Only gets one job to do
When the jam had finished
You stepped out of the choir
I tried to follow
But my shoes just caught on fire
So I searched the campground
I never saw your face again
Were you a devil, woman,
Or just a bluegrass fan?
Now a left-winger can be a bluegrass singer, too *
And some hard liquor
Could make a guitar picker out of you
But a knuckleball catcher only gets one job to do
Do do do do do do
But a knuckleball catcher only gets one job to do
*Dave sometimes says something like "And it's a hard road to choose", but I can't make it out.
I love the juxtaposition between the story in this song and the generalization of the refrain. Certainly the refrain is evocative and it takes me to a certain place. However, I will admit that I am still working on the relationship, in terms of meaning, between the verses and chorus. Thoughts?
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"I've Been Down Before"
(I'd love chords on this one)
I wish I had a shotgun, I'd tie it to my side
And never be without the power to make a man do right
'Cause I've been pushed around some, and I've been made to bend
I've been down before but I won't be down again
And if I had a pony, how fast I would ride
Yippie taye aye ay, with a shotgun at my side
An outlaw to my foes and a hero to my friends
I've been down before but I won't be down again
I'd give myself a peso for every star I see
And ride to El Dorado with a banjo on my knee
My pockets full of silver to gamble or to lend
I've been down before but I won't be down again
And I wish I had a hammer, like old John Henry swung
I'd lay the mountain low and sit and look at what I'd done
I'd walk through the valley and make the rivers bend
'cause I've been down before but I won't be down again
But I don't have a hammer
No pony no gun
All I've got's this morphine running through my blood
I don't have to wonder what makes the good times end
I've been down before but I won't be down again.
Or something close to that, anyway:) -
Hi Sarah,
I think I can get the chords for you. They're quite easy. Starts on G B7 Em, ... I'll post the rest when I have my guitar in hand again. Haven't played it in a long time.
I think a couple of lyrics are slightly off too, but I'm half deaf so I could be wrong.
I think it's old-time player, not all-time
Full of flowers on Mother's Day
Might be "slipped out of the choir"
I think there's no comma between Devil Woman, or just a bluegrass fan. I always took it to mean that she possessed such skill that like Robert Johnson she must have sold her soul to the devil for the skills.
And I think, because I've tried hard to figure it out myself, that Dave says "It's the high, lonesome truth" which refers to the high, lonesome sound of Bill Monroe's bluegrass.
Also on the first version I ever heard, the lines went
You played your melody and it went twisting through the trees...
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I like how they mix it up changing little verses here and there on live stuff. It's where they really shine, and it keeps it interesting.
Makes you wonder if they were trying out alternates from before or just coming up with them on the fly.
I'll have to listen to Been Down Before. Never heard it. Sumthin to look forward to, too. Especially since the world is ending tomorrow!