Nanci Griffith - It's A Hard Life Wherever You Go

[JustAintthatWay]

i heard this song performed on a cool sunday night music tv show

over 20 years ago now but i still remember it clearly

i didnt really understand what the song meant til some years after that

[whoiamiswhoiam]

Great song, Nanci

[emptiness133]

She is so good

[duncangray2011]

and the famaly tabula rosa, and we give our kids opuim, live long and prosper.

[gjc82071]

#$%& Yea Nancy! Sing it baby..sing it! This is 1 of the BEST songs ever made! It has not even 1/10,000th the views of J.Beiber/Lady Gaga. That is disgusting. It should be 10 X Platinum record sales!!! How can you NOT like this song??? Beautiful music....and the words....my god!....so meaningful and powerful! BTW, I love Nancy's voice, but it's weird that she sings with an almost Irish accent, but speaks with a very pronounced Southern (USA) drawl/twang, accent. It's cool though.

[ineedadamnedname]

@gjc82071 Actually, it makes sense because the Southern drawl/twang is very closely related to the Irish accent! :^D Cool, eh?

[gjc82071]

@ineedadamnedname I guess I just don't hear a resemblance (Irish/Southern USA), but it does make sense. I have often wondered where the Southern accent came from and how it developed. Obviously it developed from U.K., Irish & assorted European immigrants, but if this is the case, why is it only in the south? I wonder what the "drawl" sounded like, 2 or 3 centuries ago? Did it sound more European? I imagine there are article online in regards to the origin of the Southern accent.

[gjc82071]

OMG!!!!!!! I have been looking for this freak'n song, literally for over 10 years!!! (closer to 15!!!). I saw it on TV only 1 time & did not know the name of the singer and never saw her again. I feel like me life is complete now. Well, almost. There is just 1 more song in my mind that I heard 1 time 15yrs ago, but never caught the bands/singers names. Anyway, this is a GREAT song by a great singer! THANK YOU FOR POSTING THIS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!­!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[duncangray2011]

walt whitman. the father of america the never was. kill america, the beaast so the beast. they demand they damnd their children for nothing. for nothing..

[SkivMarine]

@duncangray2011 Um.....WHAT???

[gerrykane2]

Such a lovely song. Walter Ks anniversary 17/7/02009

[bazman9999]

I bought this album after hearing this song when i was waiting to have my haircut,out over a thousand albums I have ,it is in my top 3

[bazman9999]

This woman is a "goddess"she should be recognised as a fantastic singer/songwriter

[ksjoyjespeace]

this song segues with Billy Joel's "We didn't start the fire", nicely !?

[ShenSpirit]

Never cared much for the word "tolerance," which implies forebearance in the face of pain or discomfort. The thing we're tolerating can still be causing us pain, and in the case of differences of appearance, class, gender, or opinion, tolerance still means rejection of those qualities, which, if they cause us pain, is a function of our own fear. A very different thing from acceptance or inclusion.

[WestVirginia002]

@jthaw

How can you be for tolerance and yet still reject bigotry? Don't you have to tolerate bigots too? Don't you have to tolerate ideas different from your's even if you don't like them?

[SuperVinny55]

@WestVirginia002 silliest comment ive read on the internet ever

[hazzle34]

Just heard this on Australia's CMC and really enjoyed it.

[WestVirginia002]

@Lizkay09

If she thinks love is the "solution" then she is terribly wrong.

[jthaw]

@WestVirginia002 Sadly, yours is a terribly cynical response. It is, perhaps, true that love is not ALL you need (to reference the Beatles), but it surely cannot hurt to start there! Furthermore, you seem to be missing the point of this song, for it is mainly about tolerance and the rejection of bigotry, and taking the path of the latter will only yield unhappiness.

[knmurphy1]

Wonderful song.

[stevef1290]

I may be incorrect, but I think the man playing steel guitar to the left of Nanci (our left, her right) is Terry Kelly, who wrote another great song, "A Pittance of Time."

[4711StGermain]

Ahhh Nanci......., you're a peach of a gal. You can truly bust up this old soldier. (we're both kids of the 60's)

[2224612]

It has been proven age upon age the children will be what you make them. Make them hate and they will. Make them love and they will. The choice is yours. The whirlwind is also yours...

[findandshop]

I agree, one of the most important songs ever written by anyone. Share it often!

[magikoflove]

I've been listening to Nanci for decades now and I consider this to be one of the most important songs ever written by anyone. I just read a couple of posts and there seems to be some discord regarding the lyrics. Get over it and listen to the message, not the lyrics.

"...and if we poison our children with hatred, a hard life is all that they'll know."

My god, no truer words were ever spoken, perhaps with the exception of "all you need is love".

Peace my Brothers & Sisters

the doctor

[SurlyComet]

Really? People called this song preachy? They probably were the people this song cautioned against.

[WestVirginia002]

I heard this song when it first came out but then not again untill I heard it here. I always liked it, that's why I searched for it here. But now that I hear it again, she's kind of preachy for someone who offers no solutions for what she sings against.

[raginh8r]

@WestVirginia002 Since when do require singers to provide solutions to anything? I'd like for more singers and actors to just mind their own business and do what we pay them to do.....entertain us.

[LizKay09]

@WestVirginia002 - It would seem she's preaching that love is the solution.

[TheLostone38]

Nancy Griffith is so beautiful. I love her music

[CimarronWestfolk]

Timeless.

[roughampark]

More than 3500 dead ......all sides...for what  ???

[MsBuddles]

Beautiful song, Thanks for posting!

[numbat56]

Not sure about some of the comments here & don't want to get flamed. This song spoke volumes & continues to do so, for me. To me sounds like some political correctness being taken to, but so be it. "Trash" seems to be the issue. Please don't trash Nanci's beautiful song? Nanci is a Texan: I'm from .au. World's apart. Her music struck chords with me way before YouTube existed. Maybe just try to enjoy, yes?

[eesa49]

@numbat56 Yes yes so true - Nanci is a true spriritual warrior and a fabulous writer and singer and I am eternally grateful for her music and her voice. She is superb and the music is beautiful. It's a very hard life whereever you go and if we poison our children with hatred then the hard life is all that they'll know. <3 <3 <3 Sing it Nanci. :)

[7808521113]

Check out Stan Rogers - House of Orange. It has the same message (in a way). He had a booming baritone that drilled in the message "causes are ashed where children lie slain". I agree that Nanci has a beautiful voice - this song has haunted me for years - I also love her song "Just Once In A Very Blue Moon".

[capndavey1]

Just love Nanci she's one of the truly great singer songwriters and doesn't get the credit she deserves! I've played her CD's to death if they were LP's they would be shot

[SnagHombre52]

It takes an open heart, which leads to an open mind, with such, on your sleeve ,....you can win the hearts of the world

[KateMackie114]

umm just wondering.. how is it FREAKING POSSIBLE to dislike this?

[danmatt]

One of the greatest songs ever - truly poignant

[heartisan42]

It's like pulling out of the coffee shop parking lot and cursing at the idiot who pulled up to the light so you cannot make your exit. Then the next day you find yourself at the very same intersection except you are the one at the light looking up to realize you have just blocked someone from making their exit. Spread Peace.

[tonymombo]

"The fat man in front of me

Is calling black people trash to his children

He's the only trash here I see"

If you have any hatred in your heart I can see why you might be offended by these words. But if you have a good and open mind and if you want to remove hatred, you have to teach your children not to judge people by their race, color or religious beliefs. It has to start somewhere!!!

[TheFriedLiverAttack]

who rose hitler the songs and dirges of olden times...lol...poets of the future fuck you and you desolate dreams...nietzche...i fear the philosophers of the future what are there wonders not earthly.

[TheFriedLiverAttack]

see people you are just the result of the most corrupt institution the earth has ever known...in greece speak from the gutter...but in rome well held with an iron grip...can you imagine when your heart could flutter free...i love you ... julias ceaser.

[TheFriedLiverAttack]

in the room the woman come and go speaking bout the children

[TheFriedLiverAttack]

where ever your prsion walls lie he gave fruit in the garden of fornication then adam reached for that red fruit and as in drop to the ground his lady eve in all innocence evein after all the fornication bend over and picked up the fruit. hence forth.

[harlanmackey]

i hate the 'trash' line. that's so creepy and undermines the song for me

[zzflowerbombzz]

@harlanmackey

How does it undermine it?

[harlanmackey]

@zzflowerbombzz it's just a typical instance of using the term 'trash' for white people when in the previous line she makes clear it's not a good term.

[dynastychick3]

@harlanmackey Maybe the lyrics are like that for a reason...

[mmedefarge]

@harlanmackey The man in question is calling a whole group of people, people he's never met, trash. She refers to him as "trash" for his views & what he's teaching his kids. Therein lies the difference. She's judging someone on what they say; he's prejudging people he's never even met. Haven't you ever met anyone whom you thought was "trash" based on what they did or said?

[TheFriedLiverAttack]

@harlanmackey no not atall just your mind your imagination where does it lead you.?

[MrBushytop]

@harlanmackey I think she was trying to make a point. Just love this song. Really strong message here about not poisoning children with hatred.

[dynastychick3]

@harlanmackey How does it undermine it? I'm just curious. I've heard people speak a LOT worse than that word many times.

[mgchainsawful]

@harlanmackey Still a great song, but totally understand your point. The response to mean words should not be mean words. But, it's a great song, with a great message. Calling the racist 'trash' does go against the message of tolerance, but I suppose it expresses the battle cry of "this is wrong!" I'm too stupid to know the right way to put it, but I still love the song, and absolutely understand your point

[TadRapidly]

@mgchainsawful check out some videos by byron katie. Forgiveness on STEROIDS. ;-)

[distantkc]

Very meaningful words. Why so few views?

[SurlyComet]

perfection! it has a Sesame Street quality to it