Recording and Mixing Dates: Recorded April 5, 2015. Mixed May 11, 2016.
Genesis: I wrote this song on April 8, 2010. The lyrics came quickly. I made a few small revisions two weeks later. The song title came from my songwriter’s notebook. The music wrote itself. I feel fortunate that this song came into the world almost fully formed. And I referred to “cottonwood” again…
I recorded the song almost immediately but I filled up the tracks with piano, fiddle, mandolin, organ, pedal steel, etc. The song collapsed under the weight of the arrangement. Last year I went back and stripped things down to very spare acoustic arrangement, emphasizing the brightness of the banjo-guitar and the darkness of the baritone resonator guitar. I also added the pause before singing the last line of each verse.
Production: Bass Guitar, Banjo-Guitar, Baritone Resonator Guitar, Drums.
Lyrics
Out Along the Western Sky
Out along the Western Sky
Crows and wolves pass on by
Whispered words like cottonwood
Blow away misunderstood
Trees have roots that hold them true
Straight-line wind can drop them too
Wishing I had said goodbye
Out along the Western Sky
Out along the Western Sky
Two half-truths make a lie
I have walked the King’s Highway
With righteous pilgrims led astray
Dust and thunder play duets
I’m so close I’m not there yet
Wishing I had said goodbye
Out along the Western Sky
Out Along the Western Sky
The softest thoughts amplify
Fallen idols cast about
Planting fields with seeds of doubt
Cut myself on common sense
Against the grain of coincidence
Wishing I had said goodbye
Out along the Western Sky
Out Along the Western Sky
Shadowed hands mark my eyes
Bloodied moon black-eyed sun
Countdown days have just begun
Fellow travelers in my heart
Look for things to take apart
Wishing I had said goodbye
Out along the Western Sky
Wishing I had said goodbye
Out along the Western Sky
Copyright 2016 Fred Grittner All Rights Reserved
52 tracks blog 
We have talked about this one before, Fred. I do like the lyrics. An excellent song.
Not sure which version I prefer. Still think about recording the song one day.
First listening says the banjo-guitar is a tad too prominent, maybe bring up the resonator guitar a bit.
Enough nit-picking. this one is in the top three of the new songs.
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Thanks, Jan. Will revisit mixes in 2017.
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I just listened and sang a harmony the first time through. It could be awesome. I think we need to “revisit” a new mix together!
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“Cut myself on common sense.” A very powerful line. I had to listen to this one more than once, because the lyrics spoke to me so eloquently in my current situation. It made me wonder what your thoughts were at the time you wrote them. But isn’t that the very definition of a great song? The lyrics speak to the listener, no matter what the time frame. You reference a banjo-guitar. Is that a six-string banjo?
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Thanks, Henry. I guess at the time my mood was filled with peaceful regrets, looking back over the years. As for the instrument, it is a six-string guitar neck bolted on a banjo body. I am too old to learn 5-string the way I would want to play it, so this is a good compromise. A bit mellower than a banjo, almost a baritone banjo sound.
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