Complete List Of Nanci Griffith Songs From A to Z

Feature Photo: Bryan Ledgard, CC BY 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

Nanci Caroline Griffith was a Texas native, born in Seguin in 1953 and raised in the Austin suburb of Rollingwood. Her earliest connection to music came as a child, singing in local coffeehouses from the age of 12. By 14, she was already playing professional gigs at downtown Austin venues. Griffith’s family had a strong creative background, with her father working as a printer, publisher, and barbershop quartet singer, while her mother was a real estate agent and an amateur actress. After studying education at the University of Texas at Austin, she briefly taught kindergarten and first grade before giving herself fully to music.

Griffith’s recording career began with independent labels in the late 1970s. Her debut There’s a Light Beyond These Woods arrived in 1978, featuring cover art designed by her father. The early 1980s brought Poet in My Window and Once in a Very Blue Moon, the latter recorded in Nashville with a stellar lineup of musicians such as Béla Fleck and Lloyd Green. By 1985 she had earned national attention with the PBS program Austin City Limits, and her next record, The Last of the True Believers, scored her first Grammy nomination. Songs from that album, including Love at the Five and Dime and Goin’ Gone, became country hits when covered by Kathy Mattea, further expanding Griffith’s reach as a songwriter.

The late 1980s marked her move to MCA Records and a sharper country focus. Her 1987 record Lone Star State of Mind contained Trouble in the Fields and introduced Julie Gold’s From a Distance, which became one of Griffith’s most enduring songs. She followed with Little Love Affairs and One Fair Summer Evening, a live set recorded in Houston that captured her growing reputation as a performer. During this period, Griffith also shifted toward pop with Storms and Late Night Grande Hotel, tackling socially conscious themes like racial conflict and Northern Ireland’s unrest with It’s a Hard Life Wherever You Go.

Griffith’s defining moment came in 1993 with Other Voices, Other Rooms, an album of covers honoring her greatest folk influences. The project not only won her the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Folk Album, but also cemented her as a leading interpreter of the American folk tradition. The album included contributions from legendary figures like Bob Dylan and Odetta and later achieved gold certification. She followed it with Flyer in 1994, another Grammy-nominated release, and became deeply involved in social causes, lending her voice to the AIDS benefit compilation Red Hot + Country.

Her later years were marked by both personal resilience and creative persistence. Griffith survived two bouts with cancer in the 1990s and battled writer’s block after 2004, yet she returned with the album The Loving Kind in 2009 and Intersection in 2012, recorded with her longtime collaborators Pete and Maura Kennedy. Throughout her career, Griffith maintained a deep collaborative spirit, recording duets with artists ranging from John Prine and Emmylou Harris to Willie Nelson and Darius Rucker. She also built a family of musicians under the banner of the Blue Moon Orchestra, a revolving band she first organized in 1986.

Over the course of her career, Nanci Griffith released more than 20 albums, moved fluidly between country, folk, and what she fondly called “folkabilly,” and built a reputation as both a songwriter’s songwriter and a beloved performer. She earned a place in the Austin Music Hall of Fame in 1995, won the Kate Wolf Memorial Award that same year, received the Americana Trailblazer Award in 2008, and was honored with a BBC Radio 2 Folk Award in 2010. Her legacy was further cemented when she was posthumously inducted into the Texas Heritage Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2022.

Complete List Of Nanci Griffith Songs From A to Z

1937 Pre-War Kimball – The Dust Bowl Symphony – 1999
Across America – The Loving Kind – 2009
Across the Great Divide – Other Voices, Other Rooms – 1993
Alabama Soft Spoken Blues – There’s a Light Beyond These Woods – 1978
Always Will – Flyer – 1994
Always Will – The Dust Bowl Symphony – 1999
Angels – Hearts in Mind – 2004
Anyone Can Be Somebody’s Fool – Little Love Affairs – 1988
Anything You Need but Me – Flyer – 1994
Are You Tired of Me Darling? – Other Voices, Other Rooms – 1993
Armstrong – Clock Without Hands – 2001
Back When Ted Loved Sylvia – Hearts in Mind – 2004
Bad Seed – Intersection – 2012
Ballad of Robin Winter-Smith – Once in a Very Blue Moon – 1984
Banks of the Pontchartrain – The Last of the True Believers – 1986
Battlefield – Blue Roses from the Moons – 1997
Beacon Street – Lone Star State of Mind – 1987
Beautiful – Hearts in Mind – 2004
Before – Hearts in Mind – 2004
Bethlehem Steel – Intersection – 2012
Big Blue Ball of War – Hearts in Mind – 2004
Bluer Than Blue – Ruby’s Torch – 2006
Boots of Spanish Leather – Other Voices, Other Rooms – 1993
Brave Companion of the Road – Storms – 1989
Brave Companion of the Road – Ruby’s Torch – 2006
Canadian Whiskey – Other Voices, Too (A Trip Back to Bountiful) – 1998
Can’t Help but Wonder Where I’m Bound – Other Voices, Other Rooms – 1993
Can’t Love Wrong – Poet in My Window – 1982
Clock Without Hands – Clock Without Hands – 2001
Cold Hearts/Closed Minds – Lone Star State of Mind – 1987
Come on Up Mississippi – Intersection – 2012
Comin’ Down in the Rain – Other Voices, Other Rooms – 1993
Cotton – Clock Without Hands – 2001
Cotton’s All We Got – The Loving Kind – 2009
Daddy Said – Once in a Very Blue Moon – 1984
Darcy Farrow – Other Voices, Too (A Trip Back to Bountiful) – 1998
Davey’s Last Picture – Intersection – 2012
Deportee (Plane Wreck at Los Gatos) – Other Voices, Too (A Trip Back to Bountiful) – 1998
Desperados Waiting for a Train – Other Voices, Too (A Trip Back to Bountiful) – 1998
Do-Re-Mi – Other Voices, Other Rooms – 1993
Dollar Matinee – There’s a Light Beyond These Woods – 1978
Don’t Forget About Me – Flyer – 1994
Down ‘N’ Outer – Late Night Grande Hotel – 1991
Dress of Laces – Other Voices, Too (A Trip Back to Bountiful) – 1998
Drive-In Movies and Dashboard Lights – Storms – 1989
Drops From The Faucet – The Dust Bowl Symphony – 1999
Drops From The Faucet – Ruby’s Torch – 2006
Dust Bowl Reprise – The Dust Bowl Symphony – 1999
Everything’s Comin’ Up Roses – Blue Roses from the Moons – 1997
Fields of Summer – Late Night Grande Hotel – 1991
The Flyer – Flyer – 1994
Fly by Night – The Last of the True Believers – 1986
Ford Econoline – Lone Star State of Mind – 1987
Fragile – Flyer – 1994
Friend Out in the Madness – Once in a Very Blue Moon – 1984
From a Distance – Lone Star State of Mind – 1987
From Clare to Here – Other Voices, Other Rooms – 1993
The Ghost Inside of Me – Clock Without Hands – 2001
Ghost in the Music – Once in a Very Blue Moon – 1984
Goin’ Gone – The Last of the True Believers – 1986
Going Back to Georgia – Flyer – 1994
Goodnight to Mother’s Dream – Flyer – 1994
Grapefruit Moon – Ruby’s Torch – 2006
Gulf Coast Highway – Little Love Affairs – 1988
Gulf Coast Highway – Blue Roses from the Moons – 1997
Hard Times Come Again No More – Other Voices, Too (A Trip Back to Bountiful) – 1998
Heart of a Miner – Poet in My Window – 1982
Heart of Indochine – Hearts in Mind – 2004
Heaven – Late Night Grande Hotel – 1991
Hell No (I’m Not Alright) – Intersection – 2012
He Was a Friend of Mine – Other Voices, Too (A Trip Back to Bountiful) – 1998
High on a Mountain Top – Intersection – 2012
Hometown Streets – Late Night Grande Hotel – 1991
I Don’t Wanna Talk About Love – Storms – 1989
I Fought the Law – Blue Roses from the Moons – 1997
If I Could Only Fly – Intersection – 2012
If I Had a Hammer (The Hammer Song) – Other Voices, Too (A Trip Back to Bountiful) – 1998
If These Walls Could Speak – Ruby’s Torch – 2006
I Knew Love – Little Love Affairs – 1988
I Love This Town – Hearts in Mind – 2004
I Remember Joe – There’s a Light Beyond These Woods – 1978
I Still Miss Someone – Other Voices, Too (A Trip Back to Bountiful) – 1998
I Wish It Would Rain – Little Love Affairs – 1988
I Would Change My Life – Little Love Affairs – 1988
I’ll Move Along – Blue Roses from the Moons – 1997
I’m Not Drivin’ These Wheels – Once in a Very Blue Moon – 1984
If I Were the Woman You Wanted – Once in a Very Blue Moon – 1984
If Wishes Were Changes – Storms – 1989
In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning – Ruby’s Torch – 2006
In The Wee Small Hours – Clock Without Hands – 2001
Intersection – Intersection – 2012
Is This All There Is? – Blue Roses from the Moons – 1997
It’s a Hard Life (Wherever You Go) – The Dust Bowl Symphony – 1999
It’s a Hard Life Wherever You Go – Storms – 1989
It’s Just Another Morning Here – Late Night Grande Hotel – 1991
It’s Too Late – Late Night Grande Hotel – 1991
John Philip Griffith – There’s a Light Beyond These Woods – 1978
Julie Anne – Poet in My Window – 1982
Just Another Morning Here – Intersection – 2012
The Last of the True Believers – The Last of the True Believers – 1986
Last Song for Mother – Clock Without Hands – 2001
Last Train Home – Hearts in Mind – 2004
Late Night Grand Hotel – Ruby’s Torch – 2006
Late Night Grande Hotel – Late Night Grande Hotel – 1991
Late Night Grande Hotel – The Dust Bowl Symphony – 1999
Leaving the Harbor – Storms – 1989
Let It Shine on Me – Lone Star State of Mind – 1987
Listen to the Radio – Storms – 1989
Little Love Affairs – Little Love Affairs – 1988
Lone Star State of Mind – Lone Star State of Mind – 1987
Lookin’ for the Time (Workin’ Girl) – The Last of the True Believers – 1986
Lost Him in the Sun – Clock Without Hands – 2001
Love at the Five and Dime – The Last of the True Believers – 1986
Love at the Five and Dime – The Dust Bowl Symphony – 1999
Love Conquers All – Hearts in Mind – 2004
Love in a Memory – Lone Star State of Mind – 1987
Love Is a Hard Waltz – Once in a Very Blue Moon – 1984
Love is Love – The Loving Kind – 2009
Love Wore a Halo (Back Before the War) – Little Love Affairs – 1988
Love’s Found a Shoulder – The Last of the True Believers – 1986
The Loving Kind – The Loving Kind – 2009
Marilyn Monroe/Neon and Waltzes – Poet in My Window – 1982
Mary & Omie – Once in a Very Blue Moon – 1984
Maybe Tomorrow – Blue Roses from the Moons – 1997
Michael’s Song – There’s a Light Beyond These Woods – 1978
Midnight in Missoula – Clock Without Hands – 2001
Money Changes Everything – The Loving Kind – 2009
Montana Backroads – There’s a Light Beyond These Woods – 1978
More Than a Whisper – The Last of the True Believers – 1986
Morning Song for Sally – Other Voices, Other Rooms – 1993
Morning Train – Blue Roses from the Moons – 1997
Mountain of Sorrow – Hearts in Mind – 2004
Never Be The Sun – Ruby’s Torch – 2006
Never Going Back – Intersection – 2012
Never Mind – Little Love Affairs – 1988
Nickel Dreams – Lone Star State of Mind – 1987
Night Rider’s Lament – Other Voices, Other Rooms – 1993
Nobody’s Angel – Flyer – 1994
Nobody’s Angel – The Dust Bowl Symphony – 1999
Not Innocent Enough – The Loving Kind – 2009
Not My Way Home – Blue Roses from the Moons – 1997
Not My Way Home – The Dust Bowl Symphony – 1999
October Reasons – Poet in My Window – 1982
Old Hanoi – Hearts in Mind – 2004
On Grafton Street – Flyer – 1994
Once in a Very Blue Moon – Once in a Very Blue Moon – 1984
One Blade Shy of a Sharp Edge – Late Night Grande Hotel – 1991
One of These Days – The Last of the True Believers – 1986
One of These Days – The Loving Kind – 2009
Our Very Own – Hearts in Mind – 2004
Outbound Plane – Little Love Affairs – 1988
Party Girl – The Loving Kind – 2009
Pearl’s Eye View (The Life of Dickey Chapelle) – Clock Without Hands – 2001
Please Call Me, Baby – Ruby’s Torch – 2006
Poet in My Window – Poet in My Window – 1982
Pour Me a Drink – The Loving Kind – 2009
The Power Lines – Late Night Grande Hotel – 1991
Radio Fragile – Storms – 1989
Rise to the Occasion – Hearts in Mind – 2004
Roseville Fair – Once in a Very Blue Moon – 1984
Roses on The 4th of July – Clock Without Hands – 2001
Ruby’s Arms – Ruby’s Torch – 2006
Saint Teresa of Avila – Blue Roses from the Moons – 1997
San Diego Serenade – Late Night Grande Hotel – 1991
Say It Isn’t So – Flyer – 1994
Shaking Out The Snow – Clock Without Hands – 2001
She Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere – Blue Roses from the Moons – 1997
Simple Life – Hearts in Mind – 2004
Sing – The Loving Kind – 2009
Sing One for Sister – Lone Star State of Mind – 1987
So Long Ago – Little Love Affairs – 1988
Southbound Train – Flyer – 1994
Speed of the Sound of Loneliness – Other Voices, Other Rooms – 1993
St. Olav’s Gate – The Last of the True Believers – 1986
Still Life – The Loving Kind – 2009
Song for Remembered Heroes – There’s a Light Beyond These Woods – 1978
Spin on a Red Brick Floor – Once in a Very Blue Moon – 1984
Storms – Storms – 1989
Stranded in the High Ground – Intersection – 2012
The Streets of Baltimore – Other Voices, Too (A Trip Back to Bountiful) – 1998
Summer Wages – Other Voices, Too (A Trip Back to Bountiful) – 1998
The Sun, Moon, and Stars – Late Night Grande Hotel – 1991
Sweet Dreams Will Come – Little Love Affairs – 1988
Talk to Me While I’m Listening – Flyer – 1994
Tecumseh Valley – Other Voices, Other Rooms – 1993
Tell Me How – The Dust Bowl Symphony – 1999
Ten Degrees and Getting Colder – Other Voices, Other Rooms – 1993
Tequila After Midnight – The Loving Kind – 2009
There’s a Light Beyond These Woods (Mary Margaret) – There’s a Light Beyond These Woods – 1978
There’s a Light Beyond These Woods (Mary Margaret) – Lone Star State of Mind – 1987
These Days in an Open Book – Flyer – 1994
These Days in an Open Book – The Dust Bowl Symphony – 1999
Things I Don’t Need – The Loving Kind – 2009
This Heart – Flyer – 1994
This Old Town – Other Voices, Other Rooms – 1993
Three Flights Up – Other Voices, Other Rooms – 1993
Time Alone – Once in a Very Blue Moon – 1984
Time of Inconvenience – Flyer – 1994
Tonight I Think I’m Gonna Go Downtown – Poet in My Window – 1982
Traveling Through This Part of You – Clock Without Hands – 2001
Trouble in the Fields – Lone Star State of Mind – 1987
Trouble in the Fields – The Dust Bowl Symphony – 1999
Trouble with Roses – Poet in My Window – 1982
Truly Something Fine – Clock Without Hands – 2001
Try The Love – Other Voices, Too (A Trip Back to Bountiful) – 1998
Turn Around – Other Voices, Other Rooms – 1993
Two For the Road – Blue Roses from the Moons – 1997
Up Against the Rain – The Loving Kind – 2009
Waiting For Love – Blue Roses from the Moons – 1997
Waiting For Love – The Dust Bowl Symphony – 1999
Waiting on a Dark Eyed Gal – Intersection – 2012
Walk Right Back – Other Voices, Too (A Trip Back to Bountiful) – 1998
Wall of Death – Other Voices, Too (A Trip Back to Bountiful) – 1998
Waltzing with the Angels – Poet in My Window – 1982
Wasn’t That a Mighty Storm – Other Voices, Too (A Trip Back to Bountiful) – 1998
West Texas Sun – There’s a Light Beyond These Woods – 1978
Wheels – Poet in My Window – 1982
When I Dream – Ruby’s Torch – 2006
Where Would I Be – Clock Without Hands – 2001
Who Knows Where The Time Goes – Other Voices, Too (A Trip Back to Bountiful) – 1998
Wimoweh – Other Voices, Other Rooms – 1993
The Wing and the Wheel – The Last of the True Believers – 1986
The Wing and the Wheel – The Dust Bowl Symphony – 1999
Wings of a Dove – Other Voices, Too (A Trip Back to Bountiful) – 1998
Woman of the Phoenix – Other Voices, Other Rooms – 1993
Workin’ in Corners – Poet in My Window – 1982
Wouldn’t That Be Fine – Blue Roses from the Moons – 1997
Yarrington Town – Other Voices, Too (A Trip Back to Bountiful) – 1998
Year down in New Orleans – Once in a Very Blue Moon – 1984
You Can’t Go Home Again – Poet in My Window – 1982
You Made This Love a Teardrop – Storms – 1989
You Were on My Mind – Other Voices, Too (A Trip Back to Bountiful) – 1998