Great tune from Iris, with a little help from Mark Knopfler on guitar and Paul Franklin on steel guitar. This one's from her 1996 album of the same name "The Way I Should".
The more I listen to Iris the more I realize what a phenomenal writer she is! She has written so many great songs that are enjoyed around the world. Thank you Iris!
A cold wind against my shoulder woke me up in the middle of the night An Autumn leaf was scraping against my window Like it was trying hard to get inside And then a ghost that I had met before kept me up till dawn And everything I thought was right was suddenly all wrong He said, "Your score is looking pretty bad" And then he asked me what it was that I had to show So I went running down a list of things Some were real, but on some of them I lied 'Cause I felt I had to justify each breath that I'd been breathing in this life Then I realized I was playing into someone else's rules Trying to keep my score up in a game I did not choose Then I looked that ghost straight in the eye And said "You'd better not be coming back by again" And it's true that I don't work near as hard As you tell me that I'm supposed to I don't run as fast as I could But I live just the way I want to And that's the way I should October's leaves were dancing 'round Like angels dressed in robes of Red and Gold But November's come and gone now And they're lying in the gutter out along the road They're gonna make their way out to the ditch or someday to the sea They'll get to where they're going without the help of you or me And if each life is just a grain of sand I'm telling you man, this grain of sand is mine And it's true that I don't work near as hard As you tell me that I'm supposed to I don't run as fast as I could But I live just the way I want to And that's the way I should But I live just the way I want to And that's the way I should
I have been listening to Iris Dement nearly as long as I have mark Knopfler. I live her unique phrasing, and Knopfler never played a note that was unnecessary (but always finds the ones that need to be there!).
a great song...just like her duets with John Prine...Knopfler (while not singing) makes an immense instrumental contribution to this song...one of greatest guitar virtuosos around.......
Don't wanna be what people want me to be. Hell, don't wanna be what I am either. But gawdammit, I yam whatI yam and that's all what I yam. Who is stupid enuf to think they're better? Yep, I'm DeMented.
