Knuckleball Catcher by Welch/Rawlings

[onassis]

Anyone happen to have the lyrics to Knuckleball Catcher by Gillian Welch and David Rawlings? I'm having a devil of a time finding them on the net. Thanks!

[Mike Bromley]

Anyone happen to have the lyrics to Knuckleball Catcher by Gillian Welch and David Rawlings? I'm having a devil of a time finding them on the net. Thanks!

Appropriate name for a song written by a member of the Rawlings clan...?

[earthsave]

If you cannot find it. Just listen to the song over and over and sing along. A great way to learn a song.

I also will play a line, stop it, write down/type that line, and continue to the end of the song. Takes a few minutes and another way to help sink those words in the brain.

[gabe]

try here............
gabe

http://coolesturlever.com/

[onassis]

Earthsave- Thanks! That's what I usually try to do, especially since having to listen so closely and write everything down longhand really helps burn the words into the ol' brain. The problem I've run into here is that it's a song they haven't released, so I can only find it on live recordings, and all of those I've found so far have been audience tapes, not soundboards. You know how that can be, clarity-wise. Also, I suffer from chronic lyricosis!:grin: I could screw up "Happy Birthday"!

Gabe- Thanks for the link! Just what was looking for. It's even from a show here in C'ville!

[delsbrother]

now a left-winger can be a bluegrass singer too
and some hard liquor can make a [mandolin] picker out of you
but a knuckleball catcher only gets one job to do

[onassis]

There's a strange, beautiful connection between BG/OT and baseball that I can't quite put my finger on. Not so much references to the game (like this), but afficionados of the music seem to also be fans of the game, in higher %es than the general population.

[CES]

Count me in on the dual fanship...I can think of no better way to spend a summer day than a long, hot day on the ballfield and an evening full of music and refreshment. OK, maybe the morning on horseback, the afternoon on the ballfield, and then a quick swim before an evening of music and refreshment...

There's something timeless and American about both, I think. I know not all OT is American, and don't mean to get that argument started. But, there's something about the beautiful simplicity yet difficult complexity of each that hit me deep inside...

[John Flynn]

I am only a casual baseball fan, but that is one great tune! I get the rest of the lyrics, very Bob Dylan-ish, but I'd love to hear someone's interpretation of the "knucleball catcher" metaphor. Frankly, I don't get it, but I'd like to.

[CES]

Traditionally knuckleballers (good ones, anyway), have been few and far between. Tim Wakefield is the only active MLB player I know of presently (though there may be others) who primarily throws one. Anyway, in addition to being difficult to hit, a good knuckleball is very difficult to catch, and a good knuckleballer can make a catcher look silly when he's on.

Anyway, a knuckleball catcher tends to only play when the knuckleballer is pitching. Often his only real contribution is being able to catch (or at least knock down) knuckleballs and prevent unearned runs off passed balls, etc. It's a very specialized position and, and a knuckleball catcher's time in the majors is often measured by the pitcher's, unless they are an all around good catcher otherwise.

Haven't yet heard the song, so can't put it in that context, but that's the gist of it...

[onassis]

Chuck's description of a knuckleball catcher is spot on. And the "Dylanesque" comment on the lyrics also hits it for me. Welch/Rawlings tend to have a certain timelessness a la Dylan, and they are also fond of covering obscurish Dylan tunes, notably Queen Anne Approximately.

I think one common factor in OT and baseball is tradition, and the reverence both pursuits have for that tradition while still remaining very much alive and vital. For me, both give a sense of participating in something that was around long before me, and will continue long after I'm gone. Very cool.

[earthsave]

try here............
gabe

http://coolesturlever.com/

Dang if you caint find just about anything on the web.

[GVD]

There's at least one video of it on youtube.

[Oggy]

It's a lovely song, for sure... I play it with my band occasionally. And as a matter of fact, the first time I heard the song was at the show displayed in the clip above in Stockholm almost two years ago.

And by the way, WHEN WILL THEY RELEASE THEIR NEXT ALBUM? I'm waiting impatiently.

[arwolk]

Here is my transcription of the lyrics---they're really very different from the other transcription at the above link---I think they've just changed them as they've played it, and I'm pretty sure this is more current. (and btw, my interpretation of the song is that it's comparing banjo players to knuckleball catchers in terms of if you're going to do it well it is a dedicated role. some humor in that explanation considering Gillian dabbles in the banjo and David always makes fun of her for it. as a more extended metaphor, you could apply it to anyone elusive and unicorn-like who disappears into the darkness once their work is done.)

Knuckleball Catcher

Caught my eye when a flash of lightening hit the land
Out in the darkness, with a banjo in your hand
You came into the firelight, to the circle from the gloom
And I was standing childlike, while you got yourself in tune

Now a bricklayer can be an old-time player too
But a knuckleball catcher only gets one job to do

You played your melody, it was too much to believe
Froze my flesh down to minus nine degrees
Like I was passing a graveyard full of flowers on mother's day
Now that's the last time I let a stranger break my heart this way

Now a grandmother can be a dashboard drummer too
but a knuckleball catcher only gets one job to do
Only gets one job to do

When the jam was finished, well you slipped out of the choir
I tried to follow, but my shoes just caught on fire
so I searched the campground, I never saw your face again
Were you a devil woman, or just a bluegrass fan?

'Cause a left-winger can be a bluegrass singer too
and some hard liquor can make a guitar picker out of you
but a knuckleball catcher only gets one job to do

[MikeEdgerton]

That's a wonderful song.