Disco de Nanci Griffith: “Flyer”

No one ever accused Nanci Griffith of being secretive, private, but when it comes down to it, we don't know much about her personal life. That is, not until "Flyer." Each song is like a page from her diary, and if you're a Nanci fan at all, that makes this a must-have.

So it hits and misses, musically, but it does it with the awkward grace of Nanci herself, with this kind of unabashed, blurty admission of truth, maybe not always clean and perfectly wrought...but honest.

Which makes the inclusion of the Julie Gold song, "Southbound Train," very strange on a cd FULL of Nanci originals, but I guess it spoke to her, and if you look at the lyrics you can see why, see how it tells a little more the story of our flyer Nanci.

"Goodnight to a Mother's Dream" might be the saddest song she's ever written, and it's certainly done more for me than any other, as far as shedding light on Nanci herself. Little girl raised to be strong, to be independent, to take care of herself and think for herself -- and what does it get her? "I've got love enough for two, but it's just me and this old moon." And I just want to reach out and shake her for this, for all this earnestness, this beautiful woman's belief somehow that she's "plain as plain can be" and tell her just how grateful I am for all she's given me. "I am the heart not taken," she says, "the one thought not worth breaking. I am the late-blooming rose with only a mother's dream to hold." Wonderful, heartbreaking stuff. And man, I love Nanci for it, and I feel a whole lot closer to her from having heard this song, this album.

"Anything You Need But Me" is the flipside of that story, but another one I can identify with: "you sent me out on a limb, brought me home, sent me back again. Out on that limb one too many times, you shoulda known I'd learn to fly."

She gives us a lot of long-distance love and love lost on this album, "Flyer," "Say It Isn't So," "Talk to Me While I'm Listening.," "Fragile," and, perhaps best in "Nobody's Angel": "I'm the one who would understand, who listens with pen in hand, everyone's shoulder till it's me who falls down. I'm nobody's angel now."

She remembers John (cf. "There's a Light Beyond These Woods...") in "On Grafton Street" and "Always Will," and she's even got a love song to her long-time accompanist and best friend James Hooker in "Don't Forget About Me."

And she leaves us with a rousing note of hope, she reminds us she's strong, with the fabulous "This Heart." "This heart was stranded in the winter, was stuck out in a blizzard in its summer clothes, this heart knows when the love comes and when it goes."

So get "Flyer," if you love Nanci, if you'd like to love Nanci, or even if you'd just like to get to know her a little better.

And Nanci, if you're out there, I've always got my porch light on.

I'll start by saying that I have been listening to Nanci Griffith for my entire life.*(15 years)* That's because she is one of my mother's favorite artists, so I'm quite familier with her work. But out of of all her albums, Flyer is totally my favorite. I think that it's somewhat diffrent from her other albums, with more flow, and less, as I call it, twang. You know, that country sound. I like that.

It's hard to name my favorite song. Most likely Southbound Train, or Goodnight to Mother's Dream.

Southbound Train, to me, is everything lonely and sad whenever I hear it. The kind of sound that makes my heart twist around in this weird way, just listening to that piano and her voice.

I'm sitting on a southbound train

Staring at the sky

I'm thinking of my childhood

And I'm trying not to cry

While a stranger sleeps against me

And it feels like I'm his wife

Towns and cities flutter past

Like the pages of my life

And I love Goodnight to Mother's Dream, even though I'm not sure why. In a way, it just connects with me, the lyrics and music. And the chorus is beautiful.

And the sailors on the water

...They all want the captain's daughter

They want her beauty and her youth

To grace their bow out on the sea

Me, I'm getting older and I'm plain

As plain can be

Got a bank full of mother's dreams

Maybe mother just didn't see

That love would be the only thing

Her daughter would ever need

The rest of the album is just as perfect. "Always will," "Talk to Me While I'm Listening", "Fragile", And "On Grafton Street" are particularly amazing. Each of her songs are are like individual storys, and they all connect to me in a way that I can't really describe. Let's just say they touch you, and can stay with you long after you hear them. All of her music has always been deep and beautiful, but this album truly shines. In my opinion it's the best of her work, and most defenently my favorite.

I would like to say more, do a page on every song, maybe, but I won't. But I'll say this: Rock on, Nanci.

This one is ageing well, like a fine wine. It's as good an album as you'll find in the Nanci discography. Nanci is writing from the heart here, and it makes for something different than the more obviously "folk" albums she is well known for. There are no stories about strange people. This is more personal stuff, more emotional stuff than we're used to. At times it is enthralling and perfect, like in "Talk to Me When I'm Listening" which has some inexplicably beautiful lines. But it's not all deeply reflective. The bouncy, brilliantly catchy "Going Back to Georgia" (duet with Adam Duritz from Counting Crows) demonstrates this. It's one of my favourite ever Nanci tracks. Almost all the tracks are excellent, inventive, intelligent, beautifully arranged and performed. I'm holding back on the fifth star for two reasons: "Time of Inconvenience" is not to my taste. I don't think it comes up to the high standards of the other Nanci originals. And "Southbound Train" is a Julie Gold song and therefore to me, a bit irritating. Leave those two out and it's an easy five stars.

If you want a fantastic Nanci album - this is THE one in terms of original songs. It ranks up with 'Last of the True Believers' as the ALL TIME GREATEST Nanci Griffith album. There is not a bad song on the whole album - and the visiting musicians really seem to bring out the best in Nanci. 'These days in an Open Book' and 'Inconvenient Time' and 'Going Back to Georgia' are worth the price of the CD alone...and there are 10 more pearls just like these. You'll play this one over and over if you buy it...and wish other artists would make albums this good!!!

This is absolutely a desert Island disc - It is right up there with One Fair Summer Evening. Nanci fan or not, buy this disc - you will not be disappointed. If you haven't heard a lot of her music, this is a great place to start. Standouts - Southbound Train, Don't Forget About Me, Going Back to Georgia, Talk to Me While I'm Listening, These Days in an Open Book....they're all great! This record is a truly extraordinary work!