Iris DeMent - Our town - northern exposure soundtrack - official music video fixed audio - 

When I was young I had no idea why older folks would sometimes sit quietly and stare off into the distance. I'm 65 now and I often run the memories and heartbreaks of my life through my mind, thinking about all I've found and all I've lost, knowing damned well little kids look at me and think I'm just some strange old man...

This was the perfect song to end Northern Exposure 😪😪😊🤗

Once in a great while the perfect voice is mated to the perfect song. This is one such moment.

This woman is magnificent: soul, understanding, empathy and a haunting, utterly compelling voice.

Northern Exposure is probably the greatest TV show ever.

Iris Dement is one of the few true voices of Americana. She’s an endless source of inspiration.

We were huge fans of Northern Exposure and when I heard this on the last show-I was hooked on Iris Dement. I saw her do a show in Columbus OH about 10 or 12 years ago. She is an amazing performer. I bought every album I could find of hers. This song always makes me cry-

I was a young man in my prime when N.E came out. living up in Oregon. I tried to watch it every week when i could with the young kids around but had a lot going om back then and didnt watch the last season till a month ago and when they ended it with this song it was just perfect! And really made me break down😢 Now 35 yrs later i live alone with my dog in z small place in a small town in Arizona.

I've loved this song since first hearing, but it's making me cry now without my wife to share it with. There's extra dimensions in the lyrics after life leaves you the only one standing when family members pass on. It's feeling like my heart is getting ripped in half, goddamn it.

If you payed attention to the background music in The Brick, there were lots of great nuggets. Really great country songs. Northern Exposure still airs on APTN in Canada.

One of the most beautiful pieces of music ever created.

One of the best songs I have heard. Iris Dement is one of the most gifted Folk and Country songwriters along with John Prine. May he RIP.

when the best show ever closed with this exquisitely heartbreaking song, we all cried our eyes out.

My Grandpa passed away this morning and my brother sent me this song. Absolutely heartbreaking. 😭 We will miss you and your tremendous example, Grandpa. ❤

I can't listen to this song without sobbing!!

I'll always remain a dedicated fan. Especially her duet with John Prine. She's definitely an American Treasure!😊

I can't help but feel that Iris was referring to something much broader than just one small town; the disintegration of America as a whole.

Some of my favorite memories are of my mom and I sitting in our old house just listening to this song on repeat..I was 4.

I’ve just discovered DeMent and this song of hers, and I don’t know how many times I’ve listened to it since yesterday. One of the most beautiful songs I’ve discovered for a long time.

I just love Iris. I found her music a long time ago and you know genuine singers when you hear them.

Beautiful song, Beautiful voice, Beautiful woman!

One of the most beautiful songs ever sung

I'm sorry , but I never saw Northern Exposer , love her voice !!! Vietnam Vet , Tom

2020 and still one of the most amazing songs!

She is perfect.Her voice is amazing and she is soooo pretty. Love you Iris .

I found my own northern exposure watched show in the day flash forward I’m a detective in far North Queensland Australia Cooktown love this song

My wife and I never missed an episode of Northern Exposure. I remember watching the last episode, listening to this song and it bringing tears to my eyes. 20 plus years later of living the good and bad that life throws at you, I listen to this song now and I can't put in to words how much more deeply the emotion hits me.

Who still here in 2019.i feel in love with song omg i cant help listerning

No one delivers such a delicious sadness like Iris Dement.

This song crushes my heart and takes my breath away. It so efficiently brings to mind the loves and the losses of my own life. I grew up in a famous town that was well known for its fruit orchards, productive farms, and its dairy. But before I left it became famous for hightech. And as Joni Mitchell brilliantly says, "They paved paradise..." So many friends never made it out of that town. So many I loved and remember fondly. If loss was treasure, I would be a very, very wealthy man. I both love this song and yet I am haunted by it. Thank you Iris Dement for touching my heart so deeply.

Northern exposure last episode closing theme! It makes me sad! Too many years ago!

I was born in a small southern US town and lived there until my folks moved us to a big city when I was only 11. I'm 60 now and I can really connect with this song. Those early years really shine brightly in my memory. When she sings about watching lightning bugs I feel like I'm back in the little town where my greatest memories abound.

A beautiful song!! The Perfect song for Nothern Exposure. One of the best series ever. The one show that made us Happy

Good human beings only come around once in a while thank you for showing up Iris Much love Jim

Certainly tells the story of many place that time has forgotten. Great singer.

WOW !!!! .... THE GOLD STANDARD OF COUNTRY MUSIC .... .......................................................................................................

It gets me every time i listen to it. Most of the time when I need it the most. I am a huge Northern Exposure fan. it was the most moving closing to a ending. such a great voice just makes you want to hold on to your lover. Love you Iris.

this is everything that's Good about country...real country... magnificient!!

Iris is a gift that keeps on giving!!

Such a beautiful evocative song paired with a unique voice !

This one will make a mule tear up. Whew!

Thanks miss Iris you are truly something to call home about

I just love this song and her voice just so perfect beautiful amazing voice

This video reminds me of my Nana, Ruth Burt, Asbury Alabama, near Albertville. She had a house like that, bed, windows and all. I miss her. Sad Song

Man, when they closed the Northern Exposure series with this song while showing all the characters, I got a huge lump in my throat. Perfect song to wrap up one of tv's best shows.

Iris D. Is a diamond in the rough. Our Town is worth a book on the malaise of small town America.

And to this day remains a true story and continues to evolve. A true Masterwork.

Beautiful magical trak ` Iris at delightful best ☆ love

I love this woman's voice; her music; her style

Iris DeMint is an American treasure. Thank you so much for putting into lyrics what I could never put into words myself.

Now THIS is real Country music. Beautiful melody, lyrics, and voice, not to mention class. All of which are missing from the pop-Country garbage made now. And Northern Exposure is/was one of the best shows ever made. A perfect song to see it off.

I grew up in South east London in the early fifties yet this song kind of resonates with me.

A precious few country songs succeed in painting a detailed, affectionate, knowing portrait of life. These songs function very much like short stories. I'm one who feels there are never enough songs that celebrate normal life like this. This is a great, great song.

Iris holds the soul of everyone in her lil ole hand. That voice is beyond compare. Good morrow.

As the years slip away I still think of my old town and how it has changed out of all recognition. I am still with my first Love but a lifetime away from youthful Love dancing to this song.

One of the best songs. I remember when this came out.

Why isn't Iris Dement more famous? Why isn't she famous? Nowhere I go, wherever there are people who love country music, no one seems to have ever heard of her. Why? I think this is the greatest song since "You Are My Sunshine".

Awesome song by an awesome singer

I absolutely love this song ❤️

Thank you for telling the story of five generations of my family. At age 57 and one of the last ones living I still feel this song in my heart. And it brings me to tears. 2020 year of the world pandemic covid-19.......

Fantastic !!!!!

I came here two days after finish watching Northern Exposure. What a great moment. My girlfriend was in tears.

"Over there is where I bought my first car... It turned over once but then it never went far" To me, that is one of the greatest verses in songwriting. Deceptively simple. Pregnant with meaning.

I can listen to this sitting on my front porch. Watching my grandson when he was little.

Such an emotional song .. and her voice is just perfect ... a sad song and one that would apply to countless small towns across many lands .... beautifully sung.

I've watched all the Northern Exposure series several times. This song always brings tears. Sweet, simple, poignant.

God what a haunting video.

This fine piece so beautifully sung reminds me of the movie "The Last Picture Show" which was great too. Impossible to forget good things like this

Iris Dement is a national tresure I only discovered at the end of True Grit movie.She is fantastic."

Don't apologize for anything, you knocked it "outa the park." Great work. It really hit home with the audio and video segments tied together. Many thanks.

A wonderful song to end a wonderful show. I love it but I can't listen to it all the way through. Too many family members have gone and it just makes me remember all the good times that are gone. But that is what makes this song great.

Sounds fine to me.. And I'm so relieved that I'm still able to find this one. I was introduced to this song by a friend that has since passed away. He'd put together a 6 CD set of songs I had picked along with several of his own pics that he thought I might appreciate. The set was a wedding gift of sorts and thankfully when my marriage ended I was smart enough to hang on tight to the CD set. Its a gift that I've always been thankful for and will always apriciated.

Love her voice

OH,KA! Mean ol' wheel of Ka!!They're tearin' into an old part my town fer th' second time in my life!Good Night ,my Towen.

this song is so poignant - lot of memories growing up in a small town that lost its innocence and small town qualities that some might dispute today. The sun was setting fast before my mom died - and really felt like it was sundown after that and dad sold the house. Great imagery, as somone else said below.

Always reminds me of leaving hometown at 17 when my dad dropped me at the Greyhound Bus Station with one small bag and a crisp twenty dollar bill. I spent the next thirty years in the military. My hometown has died from what it used to as so many other small towns. Although I do not return to live there it saddens me to see so much of those great small towns in America dying. I'm glad I grew up in a small town and now 38 countries later and seeing the world I realize how lucky I was to play baseball with the same kids 12 years in a row. We were all at my last reunion together. I knew everyone in my school. I could ride my bike anywhere and we had a real downtown with Woolworths and Walgreens (when they had a lunch counter & a drug store). I always get a little emotional remembering those days.

Soothin voice & good thoughts put in song make a tear every time a hear it good music plain & soothing lyrics good old country song true nothing true ever lasts 4 ever

Thank you David Chase for always knowing the right song for the right moment.

2021 anos still one of the most amazing songs!

She's astounding isn't she? Beautiful.

This song tears me up big-time but not tears of mourning, no, no mourning, just the poignancy of our human experience

Best “feel good” series ever ! I feel like I lived there.

I live in Roslyn,northern exposure still lives on here

My good friend Rob showed me this song many years ago and boy was he right this is a great song by a great artist!

That is absolutely beautiful. I could listen to it a hundred times and it would make me cry every time.

Beautiful story song best wishes from the land of Ireland

Truth. The first time i hear this was when watching the final show of the most epic tv show in history come to its end the song built an automatically emotional response in me. I just clicked on this and WHAM.I guess that's a good thing to let out some stored emotions.

This kills me. Every time. I have never, in any other song, film or story, met a lament so soulful and deep. It's the words, yes, and also her voice,inflection and the abject sense of bittersweet loss that she conveys. Just amazing. I suppose that some of it is that I have seen my own town live through it. The lament in 'Cars' (James Taylor) is pretty good, too. But this one just gets me.

I loved Northern Exposure it one of the best TV shows ever I wish that someone would upload all of the shows onto RU-vid

Completely blundered into this video via a random suggestion from liking the theme to The Leftovers. What an amazing voice.

This is one of my favorite songs ever written. I still remember sitting in the living room with my Dad getting so drawn in watching CMT and her performing on Crook and Chase. This song helped shape me as a songwriter and helped send me in the direction of being a folk writer because I loved how real the songs were. Her imagery is simply amazing. You feel the pains of the older woman, leaving not only a town but all the memories associated with the town including those with her parents.

Something about Iris that soothes my soal

Such beautiful song, splendid singer

I was listening to a mix of John Prine songs, and I forgot this was in there. At same time I was on a facebook page about Govan (my Town) on the edge of Glasgow, it was all Shipyards, Engineering works and Docks - ALL gone - As I looked at photos from 50 odd years ago, of what it was like when I was a kid, This beautiful song came on - brought tears to my eyes - The words were so apt -

Love her voice.

I don't know if I could call her a one-hit wonder, but if this was her one hit, it was absolutely THE song for it.

Extraordinary songwriting and singing.

Pure Americana. I just heard this song for the first time here on our local College/NPR radio station. I love it!

When you have been producing, engineering and helping artists since 1982 there are going to be people and memories that almost break your heart to listen to.. Iris was was a friend of someone I recorded in KCMO She had moved to KC and had like twenty bucks. I said come over, lets see what might become. I believe this was the first song she played. I know way too much about being the charity studio who loved music and writers. I started using her as a background vocalist to fund more recordings I had moved to Seattle, saw she was playing and the club told me her hotel, called her up. She wouldn't even talk to me. I still pulled for her, she doesn't understand she is one of my kids.

I'm packing up to move from my home of the last decade or so. It's been harder work emotionally, than has been physically, but oh my has it been hard in the physical sense. I suppose these past few days have been some of my saddest ever, and I still have more coming these next few. The pain in the old ladies face is real. The embrace with the old man, the mutual agony, that's real, too. I hope they don't have the regrets that I do...