But my guess is she would be delighted to know that Trouble in the Fields is being used in classrooms. Grammy Award-winning folk and country singer-songwriter who played with the Blue Moon Orchestra. The albums Storms (1989) and Late Night Grande Hotel (1991), produced by the rock producer Glyn Johns and Rod Argent and Peter Van Hooke respectively, provoked some criticism from purists for aiming for a more mainstream audience. But I feel somehow that I did know her. She was inducted into Austin Music Hall of Fame in 1995. Not sure if I would have found this remembrance otherwise, and Im now letting go the need to know exactly how she met her end, and instead enjoying her lifes work. She was sincere. It was a haunting and nostalgic saga of two childhood friends pursuing different paths through life, and included a reference to a boy called John, who had been her high school sweetheart but died in a motorcycle accident. You wouldve thought he had just pleaded guilty to robbing the poor. Our condolences go out to Griffith's loved ones. Marcia. Then in 1999 Texas Monthly did an expose on that situation titled You Can Never Go Home Again or something similar. Thank you for your tribute to her . document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Bostons online arts magazine since 2007. That said, I just wanted to thank you for this great remembrance and article. Ms. Griffith was married to the Texas singer-songwriter Eric Taylor from 1976 to 1982. Im so sad that her life was hard. hardly smooth, easy listening voices there but listen to their heart and youll grow to love the voice, I loved her singing! A beautiful soul that I love has left this earth," Bogguss wrote. Her father, Marlin, was a bookseller. A few years ago, it was with Winter Marquee. It is a great live album, with songs that sounded better than originally recorded a feat not always achieved, and it had me digging out my entire collection. A huge and largely unappreciated talent(at least by the wider public) I believe health issues both physical and emotional made her withdraw from the scene. She had just played at Peter Jennings funeral. The influential jazz innovator died at the age of 89 on Thursday in Los Angeles. The world of music has lost a brightly shining light, way too soon. Im asking the same question. She did She had a couple of singles in the country Top 40, and her first two albums made it above the #30 mark. Thank you for your BEAUTIFUL music, Nanci. I only saw her once, in 1999, at the Galaxy Theater in Santa Ana, CA, with my wife, and it was just a magical concert that I will never forget. How sad to be able to walk through someones life work in a few hours knowing they are already gone. "[1] Griffith won a Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Folk Album in 1994 for her 1993 recording, Other Voices, Other Rooms. Thank you again for your article. The focus on Americana music has come to late for too many whose intelligent lyrics could be short stories. (The Nashville industry joke at the time was that MCA stood for More Crummy Artists.) Griffith told me, and others, that the label didnt know what to do with her. Like, how could she when she gave us so much? Nanci Griffith won the 1994 Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Folk Album for "Other Voices, Other Rooms." . Its statement did not say where she died or give a cause of death, saying only, It was Nancis wish that no further formal statement or press release happen for a week following her passing., While Ms. Griffith often wrote political and confessional material, her best-loved songs were closely observed tales of small-town life, sometimes with painful details in the lyrics, but typically sung with a deceptive prettiness. However, all those times I listened to the lyrics I thought her fathers advice was, Youll never get BY living alone. For the first time I heard the lyric correctly. Her love songs often struck an honest yet wistful tone, at times unusual in phrasing and the pattern of thoughts. She was suddenly a rootsy poet wandering among the synthesizers. The comments and remembrances have enriched the article itself. One of the tracks on Intersection is Hell No (Im Not Alright) Nothings gonna change / No end in sight which speaks all too starkly of frustration, even outright embitterment. Always still makes me laugh and cry listening to her music, vocals and stories. Thank you for writing from your experience and honoring her memory. A true story teller that always drew me in.. December 28th, 2021. Did she die in her home, and nobody found her for a month? But one thing you could always expect: fierce affection for her talented musical friends and band-members. Griffith toured with various other artists, including Buddy Holly's band, the Crickets; John Prine; Iris DeMent; Suzy Bogguss; Judy Collins and The Everly Brothers. A piece on the Griffith Passim tribute night just ran today on ArtsFuse. [10][citation needed], In 1994, Griffith teamed up with Jimmy Webb to contribute the song "If These Old Walls Could Speak" to the AIDS benefit album Red Hot + Country produced by the Red Hot Organization. She is my favorite singer-songwriter for her sweet heart and fearless, frank, genuine vulnerability and strength. This is it! It seems to me that Nanci never grasped how wide her audience was and how many people her music did touch. in: "From those early Kerrville campfires to her angelic harmonizing with Nanci Griffith and that classic unreleased tape with Mickie Merkensto crowded folk venues from Texas to Switzerland, Denice Franke's music has always moved me. Grammy Award-winning country and folk singer-songwriter Nanci Griffith has died at the age of 68. At one of her shows I felt really low, as I was living with depression. The Texas-born crooner's management team confirmed her death on Friday but gave no cause. When she sadly passed away the articles all said she asked that the cause would not be disclosed until one week after she died. It was a horrible job and involved very little that had anything to do with. She was both a stunning songwriter and a savvy song-finder. I think the true professionals, especially those who knew Nanci closely, kept her memory close to the vest and away from public consumption. She died of undisclosed causes . The Death Of Nanci Griffith Nanci lost her life on August 13, 2021. Some of them I had recorded and toured with prior to 1986: and some simply wandered into the Blue Moon Orchestra through this revolving open door of the road. She also was known as an interpreter of songs by other writers, performing with a light, clear voice. No cause of death or further information was provided, reportedly at Griffith's behest: "It is Nanci's wish that no statement or press release happen for a week following her passing.". [19] Lyle Lovett, who contributed backing vocals to her third album, Once in a Very Blue Moon,[20] had won it before her. Thanks for the note, Jeff. [2] One more thing that I have to sharethe night after I learned she was gone I listened to Daddy Said a few times with a new pair of fancy headphones. While it was unknown why the two divorced, Taylor later died in March of 2020 at the age of 70. Amazed to find that the library was actually lending out CDs of artists actually born after 1900, my eyes came upon the cover of One Fair Summer Evening. They later became friends. Griffith was an American singer, guitarist, and songwriter. It is no accident I put the word won in quotes, for the move to MCA, in my opinion, ultimately diminished Griffiths career. According to the outlet, Griffith said, "There has always been a certain amount of pathos within artists who leave their sacred bountiful homes of birth for the benefit of preserving their own belief in their art especially in cases such as my own where my native soil that I have so championed around this globe has done its best to choke whatever dignity I carried within me.". [16], Griffith won the 1994 Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Folk Album for Other Voices, Other Rooms. I am truly saddened by her struggles. Thanks so much, Brooks. Considering her battle with two cancers, her lack of recent albums, and her bitterness over her pursuit of mainstream success, it is possible to paint a melancholy personal picture of Griffith in her later years. Nanci Griffith, the youngest of three siblings, was born in Seguin, Texas, but raised in Austin, the place her family moved to shortly after her birth. I like many sadly learned of Nanci Griffith upon her passing. Griffith described her family as really dysfunctional, and her song Bad Seed, from the album Intersection (2012), was addressed to her father, and included the lines Bad seed, theres a darkness I cant hide too much pain to keep inside., She learned to play the guitar by watching a PBS TV series hosted by Laura Weber and started to write her own songs. I was at 32-year-old DJ and Taos New Mexico and the owner of the station, KTAO, but Nancy and her band in a motel called the Kachina Lodge. I was blown away! Just looking at all the albums I have all but 3. Im struggling with the idea that she was bitter about her career too. She's a deeply talented writer, singer, and guitarist. Why the wall of silence? Steve Earle called it, with biting wit, country musics great credibility scare. By 1990 it was nearly over, and MCA farmed Griffith out to their pop division. One of the reasons I am in Nashville," he wrote. Close in age, she and I walked the same time-space. ", Saving Country Music reported that Griffith was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1996 and thyroid cancer in 1998. I know a couple of musicians who backed her up in her group and they only have kind and wonderful things to say about her. On these music nights up in the quit mountains around Lake fontana some how or nother I would get his cd player stuck on repeat, a feat that could not be done any other time for some reason,and blast ,I knew love when I could still believe it was the greatest power in the world,at Mach 9 as he would say ,the monastery also would be lite up with her Angelica voice ,all who visited were introduced to her.she comes with me where eri I go and times I call her name,my favorite beyond a doubt,she was love ,and she shared it with us all.give her gift to some one,share her masage the world needs it, she did her part.rest in peice true love of mine ,meet you down on congress ave.next to the Woolworth store be driving a Ford econo line listening for the sound of lonliess.. Its good to read that kind of passion for an artist of such high quality. I have the unused ticket on my bulletin board. That she never won a Grammy for any of her own compositions is an injustice. I have no idea how many times I saw her live after that in Austin, Dallas, Houston, Boston, New York, Kerrville. [5] She was married to singer-songwriter Eric Taylor from 1976 to 1982. Lets be frank, its a badge of honor in many cases to be under-appreciated/misunderstood by the mainstream/Nashville/commercial radio whatever. Im absolutely embarrassed to say Ive only started to listen to Nanci in the last few years but my, what a singer songwriter and artist she was. Ms. Griffith in performance at the Farm Aid concert in Indianapolis in 1990. A small part in all of us died with her passing. She was hurt. [18] In 2008, the Americana Music Association awarded her its Lifetime Americana Trailblazer Award. [6] Her father took her to see Townes Van Zandt as a teenager. Youll never get tired a living alone. This fact is haunting me. Agree completely. It had weight and it was joyous but tinged with sadness. Ive been there ever since. Anyone can read what you share. Nanci Griffith, the Texan "folkabilly" singer-songwriter, died in August at the age of 68, after fighting two different cancers for 25 years. I discovered her one fall evening many years ago on NPR and saw her perform on both coasts. Thanks for this great article. She told Rolling Stone in 1993 that the radio person at MCA Nashville told me that I would never be on radio because my voice hurt peoples ears. After two albums aimed at the country market were met by positive reviews but middling sales, she made two albums that tried to reach pop fans, an effort that was successful in Ireland but not in the United States. You so eloquently capture Nanci, her music, her contradictions, that I wont belabor you with a point by point acknowledgment of all that resonates with me; you articulate in ways I cant, and I thank you for this piece. Below is all you want to know regarding the death of Nanci Griffith and more! But when news of the Texas singer-songwriter's death at the age of 68 began to spread on Friday, love was all there was. I had no idea she died back in August. At the utterance of her name, she stepped forward with resolute energy. I dont think I mentioned Little Love Affairs by name, though in an even longer first draft i did. Michael Corcoran was a music critic for one of the Austin papers was very critical of her. Make a greatest hits and put her back on the radio. Why is there so much mystery around her cause of death? One of Texas' finest." [1] She appeared many times on the PBS music program Austin City Limits starting in 1985 (season 10). Her death was confirmed by management and her record label on Friday, without a cause of death being given. On one hand Im embarrassed but on the other Ive a catalogue of music to explore that touches me like I was discovering music for the first time. Born in Austin, Texas, Griffith resided in Nashville, Tennessee prior to her death. A case of Dupuytren's contracture caused her to lose flexibility in her fingers. Her death was confirmed. The Tragic Death Of Singer Nanci Griffith. RIP Nanci. As a songwriter myself her influence has guided me in recent years. Ill think of her that way always. Maybe someday Ill see you on that Southbound Train, Nanci. She was so beautiful with just her guitar under the lights. The passing of Nanci upset me more that anything I can quite remember. May you all Rest In Peace, Nanci, Bill and John. More likely, they were not fans of her more political works. Do you have a video of it you could share? Thank you. She was 68. But Nanci jumped up and darted purposefully to the stage. Dear Mr. Gewertz: Thank you so very much for this wonderful article. Love at the Five and Dime, from Griffith's album The Last of the True Believers (1986), was a Grammy-nominated country hit for Kathy Mattea, while Emmylou Harris and Willie Nelson sang Gulf Coast Highway on Harris's hit album Duets (1990). The following year, she was awarded the Kate Wolf Memorial Award by the World Folk Music Association. Thank you for this article on Nanci Griffith. She was having drinks with Nanci that evening in Harvard Square, on a weekend Nanci was playing Passim in Cambridge and said Nanci wanted to have me join them. That song sustained my spirit through 14 months of frustration and anger. It is called cradle of the interstate and it comes from an early 90s soundtrack and epitomized her beautiful voice and heart. Its a pretty fair term. A lot of the stuff was petty. Particularly the last few years when her absence was so apparent to us all. Always uncontrollably laughing out loud & forced to think deeper when listening to herso thankful I found her when I was young. I do know that Nanci Griffith left instructions for people not to write anything for a week after her death. Other people have said it much better above but I was very happy to have found her and kept her to myself all these years. Ive been gobbling up any and all articles about Nanci for over four months now, so I was surprised to stumble into this one for the first time today. Theres a Light Beyond These Woods gets a public airing here. Throughout her career, Griffith was able to accumulate an estimated net worth of $2 million. Nanci Griffith, the Texan folkabilly singer-songwriter, died in August at the age of 68, after fighting two different cancers for 25 years. I feel blessed to have seen her at The Music Hall in Portsmouth NH in the early 2000s. How did I miss Nanci? She was truly heads above the rest. That was Nanci Griffith: more or less equal parts gumption and vulnerability; a force of nature and a delicate, worried soul. Recently I came across Theres a Light Beyond these WoodsNow Ive listened to Nanci non stop for two months. Photograph: C Brandon/Redferns via Getty. So the news of her passing came through the news of the passing of Bill Staines. I was able to see her twice in San Francisco she was remarkably. There was an early marriage and divorce, to a fellow Texan singer-songwriter, Eric Taylor, a Vietnam veteran and heroin addict. I think she would be happy and humbled to know her legacy will live on forever in so many waysfrom the simple pleasure of incredible & lasting great folkabilly music to educating the next generations. One thing about her voice: once one got accustomed to it, one could denote the honesty of it. She was known for her 1993 covers collection album "Other Voice, Other Rooms," which earned her critical acclaim. Only was able to see her live on one occasion in Lakewood Ohio back in September of 2001. But it was one of the last concerts she ever did. When she talked, at long last, about her former husband, a drug-addicted Vietnam vet, for example, it was a breakthrough for her. I dont need to go into what those reports ultimately turned out to become but I will always feel cheated, no, robbed of the afterglow of a wonderful evening getting to see my favorite female artist perform her beautiful songs in person. in: "In 2008, the Americana Music Association gave her a Lifetime Americana Trailblazer Award." By then, Griffith had a record deal with folk label Rounder, and a lot of friends and musical collaborators to call on. Similarly, while Ms. Griffith was the first person to record From a Distance, written by Julie Gold, the song was later a smash hit for Bette Midler. In 2015, producer/director Dorsay Alavi began filming a documentary about the life of Shorter called Wayne Shorter: Zero Gravity. Griffith continued to perform while attending the University of Texas, and after hours while working as a kindergarten teacher. By 24 she had recorded her first LP for a tiny label, Featherbed. Ive felt great comfort reading how others loved her and are grieving her. This is the most comprehensive and compassionate remembrance of Nanci that I have seen. The news was confirmed by her management company, Gold Mountain Entertainment. Her parents moved to Austin during her childhood before divorcing in 1960. Nanci's management company issued a statement after Nanci's death, saying that Nanci wished that no more formal statement or press release would be issued until one week after her death. Thank you for this. She was 68. I was watching on YouTube just yesterday the long video for her Other Voices, Other Rooms album and tour (also have it on VHS!). Dont we all wish someone would reissue her albums? I dont know about her fights with the Texas press. A case of Dupuytrens contracture caused her to lose flexibility in her fingers. It was announced on August 13, 2021 that Griffith passed away at the age of 68. As well as the wonderful emotive songs that she wrote she introduced me to many songs and artists I have since followed. Sadly missed. Her 1993 album, Other Voices, Other Rooms (named after Truman Capotes debut novel), comprised 17 versions of songs by her folk forebears, including Malvina Reynolds and Woody Guthrie. ", Variety reported that Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum CEO Kyle Young paid tribute to Griffith after her death. On a few later albums she vacillated between her natural balladic voice and an oddly pretentious vocal approach that sounded like a cloying little girl. Fans around the world are mourning Nanci Griffith's death. When I watch her wonderful Austin City Limits performance from 89 she seemed so positive and optimistic like she expected great things were in store. She was married to the Texan singer-songwriter Eric Taylor from 1976 until their divorce in 1982. Child Ballads Learned From Irish Travellers A collection loyal to song circle tradition, Wayne Shorter, enigmatic saxophonist who shaped modern jazz, dies at 89, Refugees told they are to be moved as hotels prepare for holiday season, A Magdalene laundry and its clients: Holles Street, Fitzwilliam Tennis Club, Captain Americas, Before I would have held my husbands hand walking around the streets. I discovered this week how dreadfully much I will miss her presence on earth. Songs such as Love at the Five and Dime and Gulf Coast Highway have become permanent fixtures in the folk-country canon (Griffith described her music as folkabilly), and the Grammy award she won for her album Other Voices, Other Rooms in 1994 seemed a long overdue reward for her carefully crafted body of work. Before she started making music full time, Nanci was a school teacher (just for one year, I think). Nanci Griffith, a Grammy-winning singer and songwriter who kept one foot in folk and the other in country and was blessed with a soaring voice equally at home in both genres, died on Friday.. Welty, etc. I love that city. It was lovely seeing your comments so many months after my September article. We walked in and were greeted by Jackies cousin Christine Lavin who introduced us to Nanci who was as gracious as can be. Nanci Griffith, a Texas-born singer-songwriter celebrated in folk and country-music circles for her crystalline voice and storytelling skill, died Friday in Nashville at age 68. It opens with her singing Theres a Light Beyond These Woods, and I was thinking what a great song this is and why hadnt I thought this before, but then I realized, Wait, shes sitting on the very end of a diving board over a completely dry pool, marvelously singing that song (was it all in one take? I am amazed, as such a music fan, I never heard of her before. Hi Daniel, It was at the Harvard Square basement room then called Passim Coffeehouse. Wonderful. Artists like Nanci Griffith was an inspiration to many artists who follow their own path. In 2008, the Americana Music Association gave her a Lifetime Americana Trailblazer Award. I saw her in Portland, ME. Now is a different story. While that album comprised versions of other peoples songs, other artists appreciated the quality of her own material. For some reason your note here makes me remember a time, way back in the mid 80s, when a music associate of mine left a phone message for me. Griffith recorded duets with many artists, among them Emmylou Harris, Mary Black, John Prine, Don McLean, Jimmy Buffett, Dolores Keane, Willie Nelson, Adam Duritz (singer of Counting Crows), the Chieftains, musician John Stewart; and Darius Rucker (lead singer of Hootie & the Blowfish). I had a mention of A Light Beyond These Woods, Mary Margaret that i cut because it was getting too long a piece. The sound may have been more commercial, but were so much better than most commercial country music. Nanci was a gift of Grace and though I know that all life is temporaryweve lost so many (John Prine being so terribly painful) and it was particularly cruel to take Nanci when she vanished from our presence. I actually saw her Flyer concert twice. But now I wouldnt. But in between songs she would talk about her life, as talk-ups, and there would be infrequent times I knew to be a fictionalization. When she told a joke she mentioned west Texas humour as if no-one else could really understand. While Nanci passed recently shes been gone for the better part of 15 years or more. "She was the first singer I ever saw of the female gender who wrote her own dad-gum songs and played her own rhythm guitar," Griffith said of Lynn in a 1989 Austin City Limits appearance. I, too, followed Nanci from back in the eighties. When I came home, I googled, and here I am. She was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1996 and thyroid cancer in 1998. In mind mind that was her peak (and its my personal favorite of hers). From this guy, thank you, The songwriting felt quite personal on that album. The core of the band stayed with her for the long haul." More recently, hes published personal essays, taught memoir writing, and participated in the local storytelling scene. [21], Griffith was inducted into the Texas Heritage Songwriters Association's Hall of Fame in February 2022 at the Paramount Theatre in Austin.[22][23][24]. She sounds positively exultant that the creative forces come from outside herself. Born: July 6th, 1953 Died: August 13th, 2021 Greatly admired by her fellow artists and a devoted army of fans, Nanci Griffith, who has died aged 68, exemplified a style of musical storytelling. I only came upon this article this evening, when I had Nanci on my mind. I still cant believe she is gone. A wonderful tribute to a true talent and so good to see your byline again, Dan Gewertz. From a Distance later become a well-known Bette Midlersong. She kept playing through two bouts of cancer and a painful case of Dupuytrens contracture, an abnormal thickening of the skin on the hand, which severely limited the mobility of her fingers. That album copped a Grammy nomination, and won Nanci Griffith a contract at MCA Records, a big label in Nashville. Didnt realize she had passed (being in the mom bubble with young children) until one of my boys teachers (very young herself) recently used Trouble in our Fields as an example when teaching about The Great Depression. Thank you for such an eloquent and tender tribute to a complicated woman. The Grammy winner was 68. [8] Nanci's debut album, Theres a Light Beyond These Woods, was released in 1978, with a cover designed by her father. I too loved Nanci Griffith. in: "Griffith didn't write the title song from. Thank you, Daniel, for what has been the most thorough and most balanced remembrance of Ms. Griffith that I have read thus far. She inspired me to be an artist and to tell my stories. The 'Love at the Five and Dime' singer's cause of death was not provided . But the article in Texas Monthly was pretty much a hit piece. Griffith was known for her skills as a story-telling songwriter, producing memorable songs like "Late Night Grand Hotel" and "It's a Hard Life Wherever You Go." A nice tribute. She put aside finger paints when she won a songwriting award at the Kerrville Folk Festival in Texas; she released her first album, Theres a Light Beyond These Woods, in 1978. I only saw her perform live once, at the Wiltern in Los Angeles in the 1990s. I would sing along in my bad voice. Thanks so much Dan. A life changing artist and a beautiful person as I am finding out. I was crying. The 89 Austin City Limits concert that you mentioned gave me my first glimpse of her. The album included several new original songs and was released in April 2012 on Proper Records. both physical and emotional, and cant fathom why she wasnt a mega star. The live CD version of the concert also finds Griffith back on her old label, Rounder. She was a pal to many of us who never met her. Grammy Award-winning folk and country singer-songwriter who played with the Blue Moon Orchestra. Good to read your words, Marjorie. For example, Kathy Mattea had a country music top five hit with a 1986 cover of Griffith's "Love at the Five and Dime"[10][citation needed] and Suzy Bogguss had one of her largest hits with Griffith's and Tom Russell's "Outbound Plane". Nanci Griffith, the Grammy-winning folk singer and songwriter, has died aged 68. Once in Seattle and then the next night in Portland. X, Nice to hear from a Liverpool singer-songwriter. I can still see her singing Love at the 5 and Dime at many venues across the UK. She left a large body of notable work. NANCI Griffith was an award winning musician known for her 1993 covers collection, Other Voice, Other Rooms, featuring John Prine, Emmylou Harris and Bob Dylan. I agree with the commenters who consider this among the best tributes to Nanci. But ultimately, her great victories in life werent about awards, label deals, or Top 40s. Syphallitic parasitics as the late, great John Prine puts it. Im late to the Nanci Griffith fan club, only first hearing about her recently. Lone Star State of Mind got me through living in Denver (of all places!) But there definitely was a sadness about her that was not so evident in the performances I saw on tape earlier when her career track was on the upswing and the future seemed to hold more promise. Even the stories I couldnt completely relate to, I could learn and feel what she sang about. If any fault is to be applied its a mismanagement of a great artist. She sang my feelings. It seemed pretty strange that the writer would decide to lead the piece with Nancis disgruntled feelings about being forced to tour 11 months of the year, and her envying mega-selling artists. I am not alone in thinking that Griffiths best LPs were the two she did on the Philo/Rounder label in the mid-80s, Once in a Very Blue Moon (1984) and Last of the True Believers (1986), both produced by folk-legend Jim Rooney. Even though I was never a little girl and my childhood friendships with boys would differ in details, the feeling it evokes about those kind of lifetime friendships the very serious events that inevitably take place, as well as the ways your paths significantly diverge from each other and how you dreamed it would turn out, all the while keeping the original connection is perfect. Your article is filled with so much I did not know. She certainly was for me. In addition, in one instance, the story misspelled her name as Griffiths. I love you all and thank you for giving us your gifts of music. In 1978 she released her debut album, Theres a Light Beyond These Woods, on the local Austin label BF Deal. Wayne Shorter's Cause of Death is Untold. Biography - A Short Wiki. I always knew she had some devoted fans, but it is remarkable to read how she was a light in the darkness, a help with troubled times. On the great song Daddy Said, the titular character advises, Youll never learn to fish on a borrowed line / youll never learn to write if youre walkin round cryin / And its a pity your lover died young / but youll never get tired of living alone., That may have proven true of Griffiths hit-and-miss romantic life.