All That You Need

Album: Streets of Sin (2003)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • Joe Ely tends to write direct, honest songs with a strong sense of narrative. "All That You Need" adds a light political element to his usual formula. Ely explained to Barnes and Noble that "the whole song is something I've been wanting to write for a long time, because I've seen it happen in my immediate family."

    It describes the loss of a generational family farm, as narrated by the youngest son in the family. The story was based on an actual farm owned by Ely's uncle that was taken over by corporate agriculture.
  • Streets of Sin was Ely's first new material in six years when it released. Flavored with his usual brand of country-twang, he described it as "I don't have any idea if it's gonna get any airplay, but I feel I've done my job. I hope I caught a little of what's going on out there in the world from an everyday-man point of view."
  • Ely performed the song for Willie Nelson's "Farm Aid," an annual benefit concert held since 1985 to assist family-owned farms.

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Amy Lee of Evanescence

Amy Lee of EvanescenceSongwriter Interviews

The Evanescence frontwoman on the songs that have shifted meaning and her foray into kids' music.

Jim McCarty of The Yardbirds

Jim McCarty of The YardbirdsSongwriter Interviews

The Yardbirds drummer explains how they created their sound and talks about working with their famous guitarists.

Bass Player Scott Edwards

Bass Player Scott EdwardsSong Writing

Scott was Stevie Wonder's bass player before becoming a top session player. Hits he played on include "I Will Survive," "Being With You" and "Sara Smile."

P.F. Sloan

P.F. SloanSongwriter Interviews

P.F. was a teenager writing hits and playing on tracks for Jan & Dean when he wrote a #1 hit that got him blackballed.

John Doe of X

John Doe of XSongwriter Interviews

With his X-wife Exene, John fronts the band X and writes their songs.

Commercials

CommercialsFact or Fiction

Was "Ring Of Fire" really used to sell hemorrhoid cream?