Tall Tree Lyrics

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"Thirty Some Miles" is about running away from a life of fear and doubt and hurt and into a new life of hope and possibility. The Lord is the lover of our souls. He is the only one who knows us as deeply as we hope and desire to be known and loved. When we begin to understand this, we begin to understand love and grace and mercy and hope, and how much He wants us to be filled with his light and joy. The world is a chaotic place and it's very easy to get sidetracked and forget who we belong to, who loves us more than we can imagine. And, the world will tell us we are crazy for believing. When we answer His gentle call and fall into His welcoming arms, He will take us in His loving embrace, every time and without fail. "Thirty Some Miles" is a prayer of hope and thanksgiving and promise.

Thirty Some Miles

It's thirty some miles from Magdalena

across the San Augustine

Thirty some miles for riding and dreaming

thirty miles til I get to you

A star filled sky lights my way

to a lover's embrace

Warm winds blow the fear away

and dry the tears on my face

It's thirty some miles of wide open riding

til I get to the other side

My heart is charging into the gale

I'm staying on the whole ride

I know I said I'd never love again

but I was wishing on a falling star

The whole world changed when you called my name

and took me in your arms

It's thirty some miles from Magdalena

across the San Augustine

Thirty some miles for riding and dreaming

Thirty miles til I get to you

A gentle voice is calling me

to a lover's embrace

Warm winds blow the fear away

and dry the tears on my face

Don't look back, don't ever look back

leave the devil to his ways

He's begging and pleading and rattling his bones

'Cause he knows he's lost this race

The west wind's blowing that voice away

I don't care what people say

My heart is charging into the gale

I'm staying on the whole way

It's thirty some miles from Magdalena

Across the San Augustine

Thirty some miles for riding and dreaming

Thirty miles til I get to you.

Every little girl's first love is her Daddy and her horse, right? Whoa to the fella who thinks he can move either of those two out of first position.

My First Love

Tonight, as I stand gazing out my window

A big Apache moon flies over head

My husband and new born baby

lie asleep, in their downy bed

But, my heart's out there in the moonlight

My soul is a drift on the breeze

I fear my husband might know

he wasn't the first love for me

My first love, my true love so strong and so wild

A tempest a whirlwind and I, just a child

As easy as morning, he walked in my soul

So gentle and kind, my young heart he stole

Now he watches for me from the meadow

and sometimes, I slip out in the night

While my husband and child lie sleeping

my first love and I reunite

In the moon light we stroll through the meadow

Sometimes we merely embrace

I tell him my heart as he plays with my hair

and presses his cheek to my face

My first love, my true love so strong and so wild

A tempest a whirlwind and I, just a child

As easy as morning, he walked in my soul

So gentle and kind, my young heart he stole

From the darkness, my husband whispers

as his hand gently touches my arm

I know that he is your first love

and you'll never escape his charm

Go and be with him in the moonlight

and return on the sweet morning air

That you'll one day love me like you love that old horse

Is your husband's only prayer

My first love, my true love so strong and so wild

A tempest a whirlwind and I just a child

As easy as morning he walked in my soul

so gentle and kind, my young heart he stole

Music by Nancy Elliott ASCAP and Jon Messenger

Cold Night in Nashville was written during a trip home from Ohio and seeing family along the way. Headed to Nashville via the back roads on a foggy November afternoon, I thought I saw some one standing under the canopy of a large tree along River Fork Road. The words starting coming right away, and the snow really was blowing side ways when I finally found a room in Nashville. I was still reeling from the nastiness which occurred during the settling of my parent's Estate. After three days of going through my entitlements, figuring out what would fit in the car and what would have to be mailed, what I was going to give to a childhood friend who had been my mother's caretaker, the fact that the two people who loved me unconditionally and were always there for me, were both gone forever, was just beginning to be a realization. There were a lot of ghosts on this trip.

Cold Night in Nashville

It was raining when he saw her down on River Fork Road

He pulled over said, "Get in, you're looking wet and cold."

A duffel and guitar she tossed on the back seat

then she jumped into the front and took her wet socks off her feet.

He turned the heater up and they drove for several miles

'for she ever spoke a word, then she turned to him and smiled.

"Thank you, it was a cold, cold night in Nashville.

I left early in the morning and if you hadn't stopped

I might still be standing there, I might have missed my rendezvous,

I might have missed it."

He said, "But, that's the way I'm going, back the way you came."

She said, "Oh well, that's Okay. So, tell me, what's your name?"

And he told her his real name and a million other things

about love and pain and memories, of those songs he never sang

And when the snow was blowing sideways past the head light glare

they found a bottle and a room and they took up refuge there.

"Thank you, it was a cold, cold night in Nashville.

I left early in the morning and if you hadn't stopped

I might still be standing there, I might have missed my rendezvous,

I might have missed it."

Then she played those songs he never wrote and helped him find the chords

to the music that had haunted him for verses rhymed in truth.

The words moved like a razor carving right behind the pain

and the melodies were double edged, slicing through the chains.

At the bottom of the bottle when there were no more words to sing

he fell back onto his pillow, her guitar ringing through his dreams.

In the morning snow was blowing sideways past the hotel door

blurring faces, songs and words, and her footprints through the storm

"I never even kissed, her. Hell, I never even touched her.

I never even asked her, I never asked her for her name.

But, I told her all my pain, and shared all my wildest dreams

and she made them into songs, and gave them back to me."

"Thank you, it was a cold, cold night in Nashville.

I left early in the morning and if you hadn't stopped

I might still be standing there, I might have missed my rendezvous,

I might have missed it."

Tall Tree ( Away, Away )

A Tall Tree bends over the canyon

He stands so high above the rim

he looks below and sees the river

the one true love he'll never know

Oh, river wild, deep in the canyon

she's silver jewels and azure blue

She sings to him a song of love

that sparkles in the sunrise hue

She looks above every morning

to see her lover waiting true

As he sways to her love song

his branches whisper, "I love you."

Away, Away, down in the canyon

where he cannot feel her touch

Away, away, oh he would take her

away and wrap her in his love

So far away in miles or time

your love comes to fill my heart

deny the want, deny the longing

my heart still breaks that we're apart

If time were kind and life was tender

I would always be your love

And your heart's fires would travel home

to wrap me always in your love.

Away, away, my heart goes dreaming

of when you were here with me

Away, Away, old fires remembered

of when you wrapped me in your love

A tall tree bends over the canyon

he stand so high above the rim

He looks below and sees the river

the one true love he'll never know

Horseman's Hands, another song of hope and prayer, was written after leaving a thirteen year marriage that was, shall we say, not the kindest of situations. I was sure there was a song in the several page epic poem but could not manage to dig it out. My friend, Stewart MacDougall, took a look at it and said, "Yes, there is a song in there. But, you can't watch because I am going to put it through the meat grinder." Okay. It was a few months before Stewart returned the poem as a song set to music. I had never felt that the first four lines of the last verse were solid, but when I heard them set to music, I was able to make the changes to make them solid. It took me two years to be able to play this song in public and get through it. After hearing the ghost track of Horseman's Hands for the Tall Tree Album, a female songwriter friend said to me, "This is about God, isn't it?"

Yep. It is.

Horseman's Hands

I'm not so young, I'm not so old

I am weary, truth be told

A weak man's fear can break a heart

Cruel hands can tear a soul apart

My spirit crushed with acid words

Yet, in my heart a new light stirred

To lose my fear and break my chains

I bolted for the open range

Where someone watched me from afar

Many moons I kept my guard

One night beneath my awning sky

The stars a glitter caught my eye

and held me spell bound unaware

that he who watched approached me there

He showed a hand so brown and worn

and spoke to me so kind and warm

Sooo girl, now there's a good girl.

I've been watching you, you glow like a pearl

No bitter words, no brutal hand

no whip, no rope are part of the plan

Sooo girl now there's a good girl

I'm asking you now, come into my world

I'll patiently wait, in time you will see

In a true horseman's hands

Your spirit is free

I'm not so young, I'm not so old

I am learning, truth be told

A kind man's touch will heal a heart

A gentle word will light the dark

And when I watch him from a far

and see the pasture gate ajar

I wonder in a natural thing

He laughs and smiles and softly sings

Sooo girl, now there's a good girl

Now you're watching me and I'm in your world

When I look in your eyes I see clear to your soul

and there, I find my own

Sooo girl, now there's a good girl

in kindness and trust, we're sharing this world

I'll patiently wait, in time you will see

In a true horseman's hands

Your spirit is free.

Gypsy Heart is a wish set to song. Wishes really do come true, and this one has.

Gypsy Heart

When you rode into my life, you really took me by surprise

this broken gypsy heart could not believe

there could be someone else like me

with a longing to be free

and a gentle gypsy heart to rest beside

Gypsy Heart, gypsy soul

you're always one step from edge of the road.

And the part I love the best

is when you lay your head down to rest

you're dreaming of our loving gypsy home

When you're gone a long, long time

and my heart begins to pine

for your sweet kiss and laughter in my ear

You may be far on down the road

but, your ramblin' spirit goes

a drifting off to find me in my dreams

Gypsy heart, gypsy soul,

you're always one step from the edge of the road

And the part I love the best

is when you lay your head down to rest

you're dreaming of our loving gypsy home

Where are you now my gypsy love?

what are you thinking of?

What did you find in the rising of the sun?

So many stories to be told

and new highways to unfold

keep your gypsy heart a rambling all of the time

Gypsy heart, gypsy soul

You're always one step from the edge of the road

and the part I love the best

is when you lay your head down to rest

You're dreaming of our loving gypsy home

Gypsy heart, gypsy soul

You're always one step from the edge of the road

Inseparable From My Heart by Cindy Walker

The sand and the sea are inseparable

and nothing can take them apart

And that's how it will be, forever with me

inseparable from my heart

The powers that be are unchangeable

and somehow, somewhere from the start

heaven sent you to me and meant you to be

inseparable from my heart

Like the birds in flight

drifting clouds of white

shining stars at night

are fulfilling their destiny

and so are we

For we were born to be inseparable

and nothing can take us apart

and like my heart beat and me

you always will be

inseparable from my heart

Cindy Walker Rose/Acuff Sony

A Breath of Spring, a prayer of thanksgiving, is about remembering to go to that place to be refreshed. Of returning to that place of peace and grace so the Breath of Spring can blow over me and I may be the Breath of Spring for some one else.

A Breath of Spring

A gentle breeze blow through the meadow

and stirs white blossoms made of lace

A blushing sunrise peeks 'ore the mountain

and plants soft kisses on my face.

A breath of spring, my heart is lighter

a breath of spring, the world is new

a breath of spring, the sun shines brighter

a breath of spring brings me to You.

This is the place where my heart goes

when days are hard, cold and long

It is where I always find You, calling me

with Your sweet song

A breath of spring, my heart is lighter

a breath of spring, the world is new

a breath of spring, the sun shines brighter

a breath of spring brings me to You.

Laughing waters dance and sparkle

come tumbling down just like Your grace

Refresh my soul and ease my burden

when I rest in Your embrace

A breath of spring, my heart is lighter

a breath of spring, the world is new

a breath of spring, the sun shines brighter

a breath of spring brings me to You.

Desert Motel

The sky was a mix of oil and pastel

It's a quarter past twelve at the Desert Motel

On the Miracle Mile or the highway to hell

She sits all alone, at the Desert Motel

He had a broken marriage, he had a busted arm

A winning attitude and smooth cowboy charm

He was leaving his wife, said it would not be long

He'd meet her next week at the rodeo in Tucson

So she pack all her dreams and most of her stuff

In old cardboard boxes in the back of her truck

There isn't much heat and the room's getting colder

A week has gone by, the rodeo is over

It's Saturday night and she just found out

He paid up his fines and then he turned out

He was gone with the wind, but he left her a note

It lifted her heart, and gave her hope

By that sixty watt light bulb that hangs from a wire

She read what he wrote and she knows he's a liar

But, champions are made, big buckles get won

and love was lost on this highway in Tucson

And the sky was a mix of oil and pastel

It's a quarter past twelve at the Desert Motel

On the Miracle Mile or the highway to hell

She sits all alone at the Desert Motel

Don't you forget who you really are! The World is always telling us who we are and who we should be. That can make you sad and angry and nuts! Crazy Horse is a reminder to never forget who we really are and why we are really here. To remember how different we all are and how miraculous and wonderful those differences are. We are here to bring Glory to the Lord through our crazy differences.

A Crazy Horse

Well, a crazy, crazy horse lives inside of me

she's mostly blue, some days she's grey

She's got red paint splatters here and there

and rainbow feathers tied in her hair

and she goes buck and snort all around my ribs

singing, "Don't you forget who you really is!

You are the whirlwind and the softest of sighs

You are good, you are brave you are strong you are wise

You are pinion smoke and snowflakes in a starry sky

You are wild and never tame and you know you are right

You are a seed in the earth, a song on the wind

You're drinking moonshine from a teacup while you're dancing on the Rim."

Oh, her heart is made of sky where the song bird flies

lightning and thunder live behind her eyes

And when I can't remember who I'm S'posed to be

I look into the mirror, she's looking back at me

and she goes buck and snort, all around my ribs

singing, "Don't you forget, who you really is !

You are the smallest flower, on the highest peak

You are the secret on the morning breeze

you are the oak that bends, you are the Eagle's flight

You're the river, you're the stone, your a sweet lover in the night

You are young, you are old, you are God's perfect prize

You are diamonds, you are rubies you are danger in disguise

This old world can get the best of a girl

make you feel like the swine, instead of the pearl

But, when I can't remember, who I'm s'posed to be

I look into the mirror and she's looking back at me

And, she goes buck and snort all around my ribs

singing, "Don't you forget, who you really is!"

Well, a crazy, crazy horse lives inside of me

she's mostly blue, some days she's grey

She's got red paint splatters here and there

and rainbow feathers tied in her hair

and she goes buck and snort all around my ribs

singing, "Don't you forget who you really is!"

Starlight Ballroom is a real place, or was in the late 1970's. A large ballroom where the men had to check their hats, the band had three fiddlers and two steel players. The place to be!

Starlight Ballroom

Shanghaied near Abilene while riding to the ranch

Those cowboys turned my horse around, we headed to the dance

Tied our ponies to the rail, we'll be swinging pretty soon

A good old time we'll have tonight at the Starlight Ballroom

I can hear that music playing, there's town folks by the score

We'll be dancing with those pretty girls until our feet are sore

Whet your whistle at the bar and loosen up the rust

Find a partner, hit the floor and kick up that saw dust

Oh, that Starlight Ballroom lights up this dusty town

You won't find a better place anywhere around

They call it cowboy heaven, a cowboy dream come true

Just listen to that music boys, and you'll be swinging, too!

Check your pistols at the gate, you won't need them any more

The only showdown that you'll have is out there on the floor.

My spurs they are jangling as we dance across the room

We're having us a real good time that won't be ending soon.

We'll twirl those girls left and right and swing 'em all night long.

We'll dosy-do till morning light and all the stars are gone.

Riding back we'll laugh and sing a happy cowboy tune

'bout the fun we had last night a the Starlight Ballroom

Oh, that Starlight Ballroom lights up this dusty town

You won't find a better place anywhere around

They call it cowboy heaven, a cowboy dream come true

Just listen to that music boys, and you'll be swinging, too!

Nancy Elliott Music