She released her self-titled debut in 1987, and released "Mountain Soul II" on September 29, 2009.
Following throat surgery to repair her vocal chords, she released the album Only What I Feel in 1993 to the best reviews of her career and won multiple awards.
Patty Loveless has been one of the most popular country singers. According to her website, as of 2019 she has had 21 album releases, including 4 that went platinum and 3 that went gold, and nine #1 hits.
A Handful Of Dust
Patty Loveless Lyrics
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And you might think He failed
We're not copper for one penny or
Even iron for one nail
And a dollar would be plenty to buy twenty of us
Until true love is added to these handfuls of dust
Handful of dust, handful of dust
True love makes priceless the worthless
Whenever it's added to a handful of dust
However small though our worth may be
When shared between two hearts
Is even more than it would ever be
Measured on it's own, apart
And our half what it could be is now twice what it was
When true love is added to these handfuls of dust
Handful of dust, handful of dust
Sums up the richest and poorest of us
True love makes priceless the worthless
Whenever it's added to a handful of dust
Handful of dust, handful of dust
Sums up the richest and poorest of us
True love makes priceless the worthless
Whenever it's added to a handful of dust
In this song, Patty Loveless describes how the human body is made up of mere elements and minerals like dust, copper, and iron. Individually, these elements hold little to no value or significance. However, the addition of true love makes even the most insignificant things valuable and priceless. She emphasizes that love is what gives our existence meaning and makes everything more valuable, because it has the power to elevate something as simple as a handful of dust to a level that is priceless. Loveless shows us how even though what we are made of may not hold much value, love is what makes our existence valuable and beautiful.
The repeated use of “handful of dust” underscores the point that Loveless wants to get across – that without love, we are nothing more than particles of dust. But when we add love to the equation, everything changes - we become precious and valuable, not because of what we are made of, but because of the love we have in our hearts. The song ultimately serves as a reminder that love is what truly gives our existence significance.
Line by Line Meaning
Break us down by our elements
If you break us down to our most basic components
And you might think He failed
You could think that God didn't do a good job creating us
We're not copper for one penny or
We're not even as valuable as copper, which is worth very little
Even iron for one nail
We're not even worth as much as a single nail made of iron
And a dollar would be plenty to buy twenty of us
We're not worth much at all, you could buy twenty of us with just one dollar
Until true love is added to these handfuls of dust
But when true love is added to us, we become priceless
Handful of dust, handful of dust
We are like a small and insignificant amount of dust
Sums up the richest and poorest of us
Regardless of our wealth or status, we are all just a handful of dust
True love makes priceless the worthless
Love can make something that seems worthless or insignificant become incredibly valuable
Whenever it's added to a handful of dust
When love is added to even a tiny and insignificant thing, it can transform it into something amazing
However small though our worth may be
Even if we don't think we are worth much
When shared between two hearts
When love is shared between two people
Is even more than it would ever be
It becomes even more valuable than it was before
Measured on it's own, apart
If we were to measure our worth on our own, we might not see our full value
And our half what it could be is now twice what it was
But when love is added to our lives, we become more than we ever thought possible
Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: TONY ARATA
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind