Written by Muchacha Motorista
I’m going to tell you right off the bat: I love Emmylou Harris’ new album, All I Intended To Be. Complete with original material as well as covers, it is an essential listen for fans of old country music and folk.
It is mournful, soulful. Not something you want to have playing at your kid’s birthday party or on a road trip with your girls to Vegas, but sitting on the patio in the sun in a quiet mood. Or sitting on the floor of a dark room with a drink. Or looking through old photographs of times gone by and missing the people in the pictures.
The songs on All I Intended To Be run the gamut. There’s Joan Baez-ish storytelling in the sad songs of loss such as "Broken Man’s Lament" (written by Mark Germino) and "Kern River" (Merle Haggard). There are songs that give hope in the midst of sorrow, such as Jack Wesley Routh’s "Shores of White Sand" where she sings, “Some say I’m sinking into the muddy waters, but somehow I’m sailing to shores of white sand.”
One of the most interesting takes at a cover is "All That You Have Is Your Soul." I’ve always loved Tracy Chapman’s version, and the first round of listening to Harris’ version left me with something to be desired. Where Chapman’s vocals give the mother’s cautionary tale instant depth and desperation, Harris’ voice seemed far too gentle. But I listened again, and again. And I can see the narrator in Harris’ version now as well. It isn’t the same mother that’s in Chapman’s version. This mother is a smoother, quieter mother. The narrator in Chapman’s version will have always known her mother’s story, will have heard the tale from as far back as she can remember. The narrator in Harris’ version may have found out her mother’s story and been surprised by her mother’s struggles and regrets. Both versions have merit unto themselves, and I really enjoyed hearing the different takes at the story.
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