Format CD single Label Columbia | Length 4:37 | |
B-side "Dancing in the Dark" (live) Released April 13, 1999 (1999-04-13) Writer(s) Mary Chapin Carpenter
Beth Nielsen Chapman
Annie Roboff | ||
"Almost Home" is a song co-written and recorded by American country music singer Mary Chapin Carpenter. It was released in April 1999 as the first single from her compilation album, Party Doll and Other Favorites. It peaked at number 22 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart, and is her last Top 40 country hit.
Contents
Content
The song is a mid-tempo about a woman who "takes stock of a life lived and comes up short". It is in the key of B-flat major with an approximate tempo of 96 beats per minute and a chord pattern of F-B♭-E♭-B♭. Carpenter wrote the song with Beth Nielsen Chapman and Annie Roboff, and produced it with Blake Chancey.
Critical reception
Deborah Evans Price of Billboard reviewed the single with favor, saying that "it's a vibrant musical outing that could signal a return to prominence for this talented singer/songwriter. Carpenter's evocative vocals infuse any song with passion and integrity, and she's particularly effective on this poignant lyric." Alanna Nash of Entertainment Weekly also described the song favorably in her review of the album, saying that it "scores the highest at marrying lyrical introspection and rhythmic yearning, one of the benchmarks of her graceful, if circuitous, career."