All I Intended to Be (Vinyl LP)

product never arrived. seller never responded to email. amazon won't support guarantee. only gave 1 star because i couldn't give no stars.

This is the first time in my entire life (and I'm pretty old) I've purchased an album and liked every song! Highly recommend this album.

Another lovely album by Ms. Harris! The title song is haunting, and the songs contemplative; Ms. Harris at her best! Highly recommended!

Emmylou Harris' new CD is a lovely folk set. Four of the tracks have caught my ear at this point. "All That You Have Is Your Soul" is a Tracy Chapman song that Harris remakes with great result, "Hunger only for a taste of justice; Hunger only for a word of truth 'cause all that you have is your soul." For me, the album is backloaded with my very favorites coming right at the end. "Not Enough" is an Emmylou penned tune about loss, "I still have your memory, one or two pictures of you & me, Life is long & life is tough, but when you love someone, life's not long enough." What wisdom! "Sailing Round the Room" was written by Emmylou with Kate & Anna McGarrigle. Its lovely melody shines with the McGarrigles' backup vocals, "From the tall pines of Carolina all the way to the wall of China." The set ends with the lovely harmonies of Mike Auldridge & John Starling on "Beyond the Great Divide." "All I Intended to Be" is a quiet set that is like deep waters. Enjoy!

Once again I feel compelled to comment on Emmylou's music. When I first saw this disk I read various reviews here whining that this album is a "downer" and the like. I smiled to myself and bought it without a second thought. I would have bought it no matter what the reviews said. Yes, Emmylou sings about pain, but she also sings about redemption and perseverance, the dawn that follows the darkness. Anyway, what price do you put on music that brings tears to your eyes?

But I am writing just to comment on one track from this disk. "All That You Have Is Your Soul", a song that did not grab me when I heard the author's version two decades ago, is rescued here and made Emmylou's own. The song includes the lines: "hunger only for a taste of justice, hunger only for a world of truth." The depth of longing in the "hunger only", the slight hush of reverence in "justice" and "truth". Those lines, at this time, in that voice... Whatever I might think of the tracks on this album, and my opinion varies, those few seconds are worth the price of the album to me, and I would not be without it.