Emmylou Harris found a kindred soul in Gram Parsons. It’s Parsons who helped Harris get her career started and who became a close friend and confidant of Harris. Harris also sings on Parsons’ 1973 GP album. So when Parsons passed away in 1973 of a drug overdose, Harris was understandably devastated.
Harris channeled her grief into her music. On her sophomore Pieces Of The Sky record, out in 1975, she includes “Boulder To Birmingham”. Written with Bill Danoff, the song is about Parsons.
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“Boulder To Birmingham” says, “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.”
Dolly Parton includes “Boulder To Birmingham” on her 1976 All I Can Do album. The song is one of only two that Parton did not write herself for the records, with the only other one being “Life’s Like Poetry” by Merle Haggard. Also in 1976, Joan Baez included “Boulder To Birmingham” on her live From Every Stage album.
What Emmylou Harris Says About Writing “Boulder To Birmingham”
Harris has gone on to write plenty of great songs. But few compare to “Boulder To Birmingham”, at least according to Harris.
“That song was very important,” Harris tells The Guardian. “Words can be so powerful to help you express something you otherwise can’t. And everyone has experienced loss. So, even though the song is deeply personal, I can understand how people can relate to it, having lost someone who is very close to them.”
In 2010, rock group The Fray released a version of “Boulder To Birmingham”, joined on the song by Harris. Lead singer Isaac Slade still recalls their initial meeting, which taught him a valuable lesson.
“We met and sat down with Emmylou,” Slade recounts. “She showed us the ropes. She scolded me a little bit and put me in my place because I was getting a little rock star and giving Emmylou advice, which is something you don’t do. You listen and don’t talk. And we just did it in one afternoon.”
Photo by Michael Putland/Getty Images
More Behind The Song
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Left to right: Robert Plant, John Paul Jones and Jimmy Page, of British heavy rock group Led Zeppelin, performing at Earl's Court, London, May 1975. The band were initially booked to play three nights at the venue, from 23rd to 25th May, but due to public demand, two more concerts were later added, for 17th and 18th May. Total ticket sales were 85,000. (Photo by Michael Putland/Getty Images) -
Portrait of country singer Eddie Rabbitt in Memphis, Tennessee, May 31, 1981. (Photo by Paul Natkin/Getty Images) -
LOS ANGELES – FEBRUARY 22: 31st Annual Grammy Awards. Broadcast February 22, 1989. Shrine Auditorium, Los Angeles, California. Pictured accepting award is Bobby McFerrin. His song "Don't Worry, Be Happy" won Record of the Year, Song of the Year, and Best Pop Vocal Performance, Male. Also Best Jazz Vocal Performance, Male. (Photo by CBS via Getty Images) -
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – APRIL 03: Singers Mike McGuire (L) and Marty Raybon of Shenandoah attend the 51st Academy of Country Music Awards at MGM Grand Garden Arena on April 3, 2016 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Rick Diamond/ACM2016/Getty Images for dcp) -
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The three founding members of Talking Heads on a Manhattan rooftop, US, 1976. (Jerry Harrison would join the group at the beginning of 1977.) (L-R) Bassist Tina Weymouth, singer-guitarist David Byrne and drummer Chris Frantz. (Photo by Linda D. Robbins/Getty Images) -
Patty Smyth of Scandal at the Poplar Creek Music Theater in Hoffman Estates, Illinois, June 3, 1983. (Photo by Paul Natkin/Getty Images) -
Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images