I completely agree. I cry every time I hear it. Each character in that show was perfect within the role they played. The bittersweet feeling of the show ending breaks my heart every time, and I feel compelled to join them again in Cicely just one more time. I'm truly crying as I listen to the song again.
somebody asked Merle Haggard in a mag interview a few years before he died who he thought had the most authentic country music voice he's heard and he said Iris Dement.
I feel like such a winner tonight, hearing this song for the first time in my 68 years. I gotta a lot of catching up to do - and looking forward to it.
Listening to this in a rural part of Ireland and it resonates with the small villages in ireland,great song by two American beauties greetings from Ireland.
Greetings from Limerick Ireland also. This song resonates with me also especially when I'm thinking about the small villages here. Limerick has changed an awful lot. I can totally get the sentiment in this wonderful song. Just love it 😍☺️😊🇮🇪🍀
High praise from Ireland. Both of these singers are carrying on the tradition from the Isles. Yours and our Sinéad gave us some wonderful music. Folk singer Malvina Reynolds said "You could drop a net in any Irish pub and come up with a great quartet. Don't get me started on your writers!
I may be a stupid yank, but don't you think Iris has a hint of Irish in her accent?!? When I first listened to "After You're Gone" I thought she was Irish. It wasn't until later I learned that she's from Arkansas/California/Iowa!!
whenever I hear this song it makes me weep. My mother loved this song so much. I bought it for her when it first came out. She played it over and over again. She has been gone now for 6 years. I can close my eyes and see her little self busying around her kitchen listening to this. God bless you my mommy. I love you and miss you. And I remember 'Our Town'
If EmmyLou Harris bringing nothing but coffee and donuts to a recording to simply make a song better she would. She cares about her craft not her ego. Incredible collaboration of talent.
I saw her in the movie Songcatcher. I don't know what is about her and her voice but I have been hooked ever since. I had to find out who she was and I'm glad I did.
Emmylou is so comfortable singing backup, that's one of the things that makes her so great - not needing to be front-and-center all the time. The best put the music ahead of ego. (And yes, Douglas and Bain are doing the same.)
Reminds me of a comment about Lead Belly. When playing lead with another guitarist, he wanted you to think he was the best guitarist in the world. But, when playing support to another lead, he wanted you to think the other was the best in the world.
It makes this 44 year old male cry like a 4 year old with a skinned knee. My dad passed away when I was a kid, my mum doesn't have long to go. The town I grew up in, where they met, got married, bought a house and started a family is dying. I want to leave because I want to remember it the way it was, not how it is.
I first heard Iris and "Our Town" late at night, by myself, on car radio on a return trip, after passing through a number of shuttered up little towns in Mississippi and Alabama. Had no idea who she was but that voice and song gave immediate meaning to all those closed stores and old homes no longer lived in. Found out who belonged to that incomparable voice and the feeling it evokes and have been an Iris DeMent fan since.
This was the closing song that said goodbye to the fictional town of Cicely, Alaska (actually Roslyn, Washington) in the beautiful 1990s TV series, Northern Exposure. Everytime I hear it, it brings tears. I even bought the DVD set so I could go back to Cicely.....
I watched True Grit tonight and looked at the credits to see who sang Leaning on the Everlasting Arms. I had NEVER heard of Iris DeMent. I feel like an ostrich with its head buried. What an amazing, God-given talent. I am glad I stayed up late listening to several songs by her. Beautiful music, beautiful lyrics, and a BEAUTIFUL voice. Thank you, Iris for sharing your beauty with the world, and I’m sorry it took me so long to discover you.
Leaning on the Everlasting Arms is a hymn that was written long before this woman was born, while she does a great job with it, it clearly is not her song.
This is very true, But I think what you’re referring to is “folk”. Not to get too semantic.. I was telling the wife they just don’t make ‘‘em like her anymore
@@marksavage2310 Thank you. Came to listen to it today for her Birthday. Miss her bunches and my Dad will be joining her soon due to cancer. Tough day.....
Iris de ment, emmylou Harris, lovely fiddle, and everyone else involved here, and such a beautiful song.. what more could a person ask for. Just wonderful. Larry.
Reminds me of every U.S. Air Force base I grew up on that has since been demolished and plowed over never to exist again. All my hometowns are gone. I can only revisit the place as a dirt patch or what modern buildings are there now but can never revisit the time.
What a tear-jerker ! Life is a jungle, there's winners , survivors, and victims, all striving to succeed and stay alive, but nobody and nothing get's through un-scarred..
Iris Dement has the most beautiful voice I have ever heard, I don't generally like country music but her voice is just so pure and angelic that it just makes me want to cry whenever I hear it
I watched this on transatlantic sessions which was recorded in Scotland, and to my regret I had never heard of her before. She appeared on subsequent of this series, thank christ.
Oh Grandad, I am so sorry my generation and my kids said Good bye to our home town. Its gone now and the sun has set far fast. The time is gone to little home towns and simple farm memorys. Im the old guy here, its not the same now nor willit be ever again. Just respect every one you meet friends.
I had never heard of Iris Dement before until I started looking for something by Emmylou Harris. All I can say is that this is fabulous - what a fabulous song and what a voice
I did not know of Iris before a few days ago, when John Prine passed away. I went to listen to some of his songs, and of course "In Spite of Ourselves" came right up. I listened to that one, and now I am hooked. I really like the folk sound of their music. I look forward to listening to many more of both artists.
zombiesneedluv21-Same for me! I followed John Prine down a rabbit hole and ran into Iris DeMent. The first song of hers alone really grated on my ears. I almost turned off of her completely but her videos kept popping up in my feed, so I gave her another try. Now I am mesmerized.
Christycat35 , she’s just so gorgeous and I love that almost perplexed look she gets sometimes, when she’s singing. Regarding her voice, I think the recording levels were wrong on this recording. That’s why it sounds fuzzy and staticy when she the high notes. Milo
When I first heard this song on the car radio it caused me to nearly have an accident. I had to pull over to finish listening to it. I'd never heard anything like it, and still haven't. Iris is an American national treasure. So honest, so eclectic in her musical tastes and a voice that causes you to have "tears in my eyes". It makes me proud to be of the human genus when I hear this. My mob is (very occasionally) capable of this.
vivvy sues I have all of her albums, with the exception of her latest one. It seems as though nobody in Australia has ever heard of her. Being uncommon is OK for me.
I know this is old, but I just started listening to country music and it's a pretty diverse genre, you just gotta find what you're into. Try Townes van zandt, Guy Clark, John Prine , Lucinda Williams and Magnolia Electric Co.
This song makes my cry every time I hear it, I lost my baby sister 1 year ago today and this was one of her favorite songs. In her happier days before she got sick she lived in a small town called Paldi, on Vancouver Island, Canada. Paldi was her town , everyone came to Paldi to see her, she was the queen of Paldi. Sadly they bulldozed Paldi for bigger things, which never happened and my sister had to leave her town, it always made her very sad to know she had to leave her town, sing it Lorrie
One of the most underrated tv shows and the most underrated county singer ever. Infamous Angel is one of the greatest albums I've ever heard. That includes Pet Sounds, Sgt. Pepper, and others. And you can hear the generations of Appliacia's folk music in her lyrics and singing. What a treasure.
That's because Iris Dement is the greatest folk/country singer of our time and one of the very best of all time. On top of that, the incomparable Emmy Lou and the incredible musicianship of the band. This is a truly awesome video.
Yes... and of course the incomparable fiddling of Aly Bain! SIX years ago I commented "I love Aly Bain" and NOT ONE PERSON in FOUR MILLION viewers gave me a like because NOT ONE person knows who Aly is or what a genius he is on the fiddle.
@@kinky_Z You saying he's always playing second fiddle?:) True, I never heard of him, but never heard of this lady and barely even heard of emmylou harris, thats the sad result of too much radio, not enough music searching. My bad. I do love fiddle music but honestly can't really distinguish good from bad. I'm listening to 'bonapartes retreat', pretty good stuff.
First off, I'm a fan of Iris DeMent. Second of all just yesterday I found it my xfife is I'll with cancer. She must get to a senior living facility close to her family, which means she has to mow from her lifetime home where she has been for 75 years. Yes, she is reluctant, but this will be the song that I hope she thinks of and the last day she moves out of town.
I know you can take lessons to learn how to sing but a voice like this can't be learned, you have to be born with it. So beautiful it takes my breath away!
@@tom7471 Born with it, and then she had to kraft songs for it, because there's nothing that fits Iris' unique voice better than Iris' wonderful songs. Except for, oddly enough, John Prine's songs lol.
Yesterdays coming back. Hard times but also great times. Growing up in a small town was me. I miss those days. Young & no cares. Life was good in our town. I lived by the railroad tracks. Walked to school each day until I finished the 12 th grade. Was 1954 It was the best of times. Then did 30 years in the USAF.. Retired & 83.. I still like Pizza.
I had been gone 30 years when they closed the paper mill that had been our town's life blood and this is the song that immediately came to my mind and which I shared on one of our area's discussion group. It's what I think of each time I go home where most of the stores on one side of main street are closed and on the other side all that remains of the booming business that fed my family for decades is a huge fenced off 1500' long vacant lot.
My dad told me to listen to this and I'm glad I did. Her voice, the music, the back vocals, everything together makes such an authentic sound. I'm absolutely a fan now, will explore this woman's music now. 🎶 🥰
I first heard this song at the end of the final episode of Northern Exposure back in 1995. By the time of that final episode the show had run out of steam having lost some of its major characters. But this song just rocked my world. It took some research to find out about the song and its writer, Iris Dement. I sincerely echo all of the superlatives added below in the comments about this masterpiece of song writing. She has so many other great songs too. Listen to "Let The Mystery Be."
It's funny I had the same experience as David H. But I thought the singer was Emmy Lou Harris ironic. Took me a year of reruns and watching the credits to find out who this was. Worth the time and effort.
Yes Susan Myers they are Both National Treasures! And Emmy is the Perfect Vocal accompaniment for Iris on this tune. My only carp is I wish the Sonic Quality was Immeasurably Better befitting a PERFORMANCE FOR THE AGES! But it's still AWESOME!!!!!!
heard DeMent today 10/12/13 for the first time on public radio---blew me away. amazed I've not heard her before. must have had my head in the sand! many thanks to "A Prairie Home Companion" for having DeMent on their show this weekend. I love emmylou harris too.
It touches your soul. Saw Emmylou Harris a couple of weeks ago in Frankfurt/Germany. She is truly an icon. Recognized Iris Dement the first time in the closing Credits of Coen-Brothers "True Grit" with "Leaning on theeverlasting arms". What a beautiful simple voice she has.
I left "my town" over 50 years and have not been back much. These lines from Iris Dement bring my youth back and bring a tear to my eye every time I hear it when I think back to those day, to "out town" where my parent lay by a petty hedge.
Iris is a national treasure. From my Texas roots to my life in the fast lane in California this song pulls at my heart strings more than any song I've listened to. It was fitting that it was the last song played on the epic TV show 'Northern Exposure'.
What a lovely song.Sung by two beautiful girls.Look at the expression on Iris`s face showing that she is giving it her all.!How lucky we are to have such wonderful people about.Keep it up girls! XX
Beutifull song and so well sung ,the only other version of that that iv'e heard was at a singing night in Whelan's pub in Seanaglish Co Galway Ireland ,sung by a lady from Athenry I think who allso sang it so well
I love Iris DeMent's singing style with its honesty and genuine simplicity. This performance and "Let the Mystery Be" are particularly captivating, performed in a home setting with such wonderful instrumental accompaniment. Sometimes the simple, down-to-earth things are the most beautiful.
Listen to "Easy's Gettin' Harder Every Day". No wonder she not a prolific songwriter: Her songs are written to her unique voice, and it seems every note has to be perfect. And they are.
Every time I watch this I just want to hug Iris to comfort her. The expression in her face conveys emotional turmoil to me. It's part of the believability of Iris. She is genuine. There is nothing fake about her and that's what makes me love her. She reminds me to be myself and not worry what others may think. Thanks Iris, for being such a beautiful person.
