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Wildflowers - Jonathan Byrd

I'm going down to the railroad tracks and see if I can hitch a ride on the 939.
You don't know; I might never be back. I'll see you in that town all the way at the end of the line.

Wildflowers bloom every spring, every spring
even in the high desert sun.
I hear your voice when a bluebird sings.
I see your face on everyone.

Arkansas was wet and gray. After a rain, you know the fields in the delta really shine.
Every drop's a reminder of the silver tears in the eyes of the girl I left behind.

Wildflowers bloom every spring, every spring
even in the high desert sun.
I hear your voice when a bluebird sings.
I see your face on everyone.

The sun has risen and the sun has set. Would you believe that we are in Texas still?
Blooms to the east and a fire to the west, the painted plain with nary a valley nor a hill.

Wildflowers bloom every spring, every spring
even in the high desert sun.
I hear your voice when a bluebird sings.
I see your face on everyone.

California, here I come. The western sun is no closer than when I begun.
I've been chasing this foolish dream and now I am the fool to have left my one and only one.

Wildflowers bloom every spring, every spring
even in the high desert sun.
I hear your voice when a bluebird sings.
I see your face on everyone.


Wildflowers
from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Wildflowers is the 2001 debut album by Jonathan Byrd. The songs are mostly original songs with a few traditional tunes. Here he mixes contemporary singer-songwriter storytelling with Appalachian folk roots. There is even a murder ballad; "Velma" is a song about serial killer Velma Barfield whose victims included Byrd's own grandfather. Sing Out! says, "[Jonathan Byrd's] songwriting melds the lyricism of Celtic music with the stark storytelling of the finest traditional balladeers."

Arthur Wood of Folkwax says that Byrd's "Ashe County Fair" is certain, in time, to become a "folk classic." Byrd explained to Wood: "When I started writing it, I didn't know the girl was going to die."

Byrd says that he learned to play in the alternate guitar tuning DADGAD during two visits to Ireland: "For a personal challenge, I wrote and recorded my entire first album [this album] in that tuning, bringing it into the Old-Time, Bluegrass, and Country idioms." The album includes a couple of instrumentals that allow Byrd to show off his flatpicking skills. Sing Out! described the sound of the album as, "a wonderfully spare collection, allowing the warm expressive vocals of Jonathan and his strong guitar to carry most of the weight of the arrangements." Byrd plays a number of vintage Martin Guitars on the album including a 1936 Martin D-28, a 1937 sunburst D-18, and a 1934 D-18.

Credits:

from Wildflowers, words and music by Jonathan Byrd

Buy Wildflowers here!