"Let Me Into Your Heart" was nominated for a 1997 Grammy Award for Best Female Country Vocal Performance.
Preoccupied with the big questions--who are we, why are we here, and what the hell do we do now--Mary-Chapin Carpenter struggles to find her own PLACE IN THE WORLD and in the process touches on the things that bind us all together. Bridging the gap between contemporary country, pop and post-Joni Mitchell folk, Carpenter's music is an adult-alternative radio programmer's dream. She crosses over to all of the above audiences, as well as the caught-in-the-middle, baby-boomer nation for which she speaks so eloquently in songs like "Hero In Your Own Hometown" and the title tune. "Hero" is a summing up of how far she and her generation have come; "A Place In The World" wonders where they will go next.
Not that Carpenter over-intellectualizes. She's equally capable of spinning out a simple, infectious pop tune like "I Want To Be Your Girlfriend" or an uptempo rocker like "Keeping The Faith." Whether longing for escape in "What If We Went To Italy" or celebrating newfound love in "Let Me Into Your Heart," Mary-Chapin Carpenter's well-crafted compositions and straight-ahead vocal style make it clear that even if she has yet to find her PLACE IN THE WORLD, she knows all the right places to look.
