I’ve been sitting in my kitchen this morning, in need of something mellow to listen to. My first thought was to Emmylou Harris… she’s rarely ever let me down.
What I found was something I haven’t heard in quite a while, a live version of Harris and Sarah McLachlan performing McLachlan’s 1997 song, “Angel.”
“Angel” is off McLachlan’s Surfacing album and hit #4 on the charts. It’s been used in a number of films and television shows, and has become one of McLachlan’s most enduring songs. I always thought the song was about her personal struggles with the music business, but it actually came from reading Rolling Stone magazine articles about how artists were turning to heroin for escape from the pressures of the industry.
McLachlan explains in a CMJ New Music Monthly article that “I’ve been in that place where you’re so fucked up and you’re so lost that you don’t know who you are anymore, and you’re miserable—and here’s this escape route. I’ve never done heroin, but I’ve done plenty of other things to escape.”
This version with Emmylou Harris combines two of my favorite voices in music. Harris has always done a great job interpreting songs, and when their voices harmonize… pure bliss for me this morning.
Here’s McLachlan and Harris performing “Angel” on Jimmy Kimmel:
The lesson to be learned here is DON’T DO HEROIN. It’s bad.
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Download: Angel (live with Emmylou Harris)
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And here I just said on the last post that “Angel” is my favorite. This is simply gorgeous. Thank you so much for posing it!!
I listen to this song a lot before I sleep, and especially when I can't sleep. That whole first verse gets me every time….
It's a beautiful song. Thank you for this version.
It is such a gorgeous version, isn't it?
I think the lyrics are so universal, even though it's about heroin and the music industry. She did a great job writing it! If I had $5 I'd buy her a beer.
I did not know this song was about heroin. Learn something new every day. I knew that heroin was a theme in “She Talks to Angels. It's a beautiful song. Emmylou is a fine solo singer, but where she is like no other is her harmonies. She makes everybody sound better! Also, I think she is beautiful, to me she is much more beautiful now than when she was in her early 20's singing with Gram Parsons.