Original Nanci Griffith version
| Nanci Griffith: | Gulf coast highway, he worked the rails |
| He worked the rice fields with their cold dark wells | |
| He worked the oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico | |
| The only thing we've ever owned | |
| Is this old house here by the road | |
| Nanci Griffith: | And when he dies he says he'll catch some blackbird's wing |
| And we will fly away to heaven come some sweet blue bonnet spring | |
| Mac McAnally: | She walked through springtime when I was home |
| The days were sweet, our nights were warm | |
| The seasons changed, the jobs would come | |
| The flowers fade, and this old house felt so alone | |
| When the work took me away | |
| Mac McAnally: | And when she dies she says she'll catch some blackbird's wing |
| And she will fly away to heaven come some sweet blue bonnet spring | |
| Nanci Griffith: | Highway 90, the jobs are gone |
| We kept our garden | |
| Griffith and McAnally: | We set the sun |
| This is the only place on Earth blue bonnets grow | |
| And once a year they come and go | |
| At this old house here by the road | |
| Griffith and McAnally: | And when we die we say we'll catch some blackbird's wing |
| And we will fly away to heaven come some sweet blue bonnet spring | |
| Nanci Griffith: | Yes when we die we say we'll catch some blackbird's wing |
| Griffith and McAnally: | And we will fly away together come some sweet blue bonnet spring |
GULF COAST HIGHWAY is a song written by James Hooker, Nanci Griffith, and Danny Flowers and originally released by Nanci Griffith on her 1988 album Little Love Affairs. She recorded the song as a duet with Mac McAnally in August 1987. The above lyrics are for the original Nanci Griffith version of GULF COAST HIGHWAY as released in 1988.
Bruce Springsteen sound-checked Nanci Griffith's GULF COAST HIGHWAY in 1988 during the Tunnel Of Love Express Tour but he never performed it on the tour's or any other tour's regular shows. Nanci Griffith also mentioned that Bruce Springsteen and Patti Scialfa recorded the song as a duet, but this is yet to be confirmed. See the 1988 sound-check version for more details.
List of available versions of GULF COAST HIGHWAY on this website:
GULF COAST HIGHWAY [1988 sound-check version]
