New Door Records
2005
Hearts In Mind
About This Album
A trip to Southeast Asia and the U.S. invasion of Iraq seem to have inspired much of Nanci Griffith's 12th studio album of new, original material, Hearts in Mind. "I don't want your wars to take my children," Griffith sings in the country-folk opener, "A Simple Life," and at the album's end, in "Big Blue Ball of War," she provides a historical primer of world conflicts that concludes speciously by suggesting that if only women were in charge of things, wars would cease. In between, "Heart of Indochine" and "Old Hanoi" provide her observations on Vietnam, the former pleading, "Deliver me to a river of peace." And while "Before" and "Love Conquers All" do not concern war directly, they do refer to it. Meanwhile, songwriter Julie Gold, who previously gave Griffith "From a Distance" (before Bette Midler absconded with it) and "Heaven," contributes a reflection on 9/11, "Mountain of Sorrow," that treats the loss of the World Trade Center towers as if it were a case of romantic heartbreak. But Hearts in Mind is not a full-fledged concept album about state violence. "Angels" (written by Tom Kimmel and Jennifer Kimball) and "Rise to the Occasion" speak to the ennobling power of love.
Track List (try tracks 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9 and 10)

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