Boulder to Birmingham

Vanavond moet ik wel in een erg melancholieke bui zijn... Even zwelgen met mevrouw Harris, Emmylou, in haar ‘lament’ voor Gram Parsons: Boulder to Birmingham. Harris en Parsons hebben mening duet gezongen, dit nummer zingt ze voor hem als hij nooit meer zingen zal. Vooral dat refrein over haar ziel in Abraham's schoot is hartverscheurend.

Boulder to Birmingham

I don't want to hear a love song
I got on this airplane just to fly
And I know there's life below

But all that it can show me
Is the prairie and the sky
And I don't want to hear a sad story
Full of heartbreak and desire
The last time I felt like this
It was in the wilderness and the canyon was on fire
And I stood on the mountain in the night and I watched it burn
I watched it burn, I watched it burn.
I would rock my soul in the bosom of Abraham
I would hold my life in his saving grace.
I would walk all the way from Boulder to Birmingham
If I thought I could see, I could see your face.
Well you really got me this time
And the hardest part is knowing I'll survive.
I have come to listen for the sound

Of the trucks as they move down
Out on ninety five
And pretend that it's the ocean
coming down to wash me clean, to wash me clean
Baby do you know what I mean
I would rock my soul in the bosom of Abraham
I would hold my life in his saving grace.
I would walk all the way from Boulder to Birmingham
If I thought I could see, I could see your face.

Written by: Emmylou Harris / Bill Danoff

Over Gram Parons vroegtijdige dood (1973) en de verwikkelingen daarna - enkele vrienden van Parsons' dachten een posthume wens te vervullen door hem in de Mojave Desert te gaan cremeren met een jerrycan benzine - is een film gemaakt, Grand Theft Parsons. De rol van hoofdvriend Phil Kaufman wordt gespeeld door niemand minder dan Johnny Knoxville, de volslagen idioot uit de serie Jackass.

Emmylou Harris over de periode na de dood van Gram Parsons: