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...
Children who continue to be "brought up right, with Jesus as their foundation", do not look at you like that.... But rather, honor and respect your many years of wisdom and will sit to listen to your stories. They STILL Love us "older folks". 🩷 You matter, Sir. 🙌🇺🇲✝️
"Due South"? Canadian Mountie and Chicago Cop. Loved that one, too. Always thought it was kinda hip that the two best shows on TV at the time were called "Northern Exposure" and "Due South". 👍
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".
I wondered the same thing myself. The only thing I can figure is that Iris DeMent is more of a Christian than she is an entertainer. Christians don't have the same priorities as entertainers. Entertainers want to be famous and rich. Christians want to store their treasures in Heaven.
I think it's a 'genre' thing. She would have been called 'folk/rock' years ago and gotten some 'exposure', but that category doesn't get any notice in the current era.
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.
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 too grew up in that small town in Alabama and it is a Walmart and and a fast food place. After moving through 12 different states and four different countries I have been settled in the quintessential Alabama Americana town with two red lights, no Walmart and one fast food place. We have more cattle than people and fewer neighbors than white tail deer. It's our town and it's wonderful.
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.
That was the first time I heard the song and yes I shed a few years. I've never connected with a television show and it's characters like that before or since. I actually haven't had interest in television for many years. But music will always be a part of my life. This song is beautiful.
@@DJDouglasWarden I am the EXACT same way!! After Northern Exposure, I never got interested in any other series. There was just something so special about that show. We actually went to Roslyn , Washington on vacation and got to walk around Ruth Anne's store, KBHR, Joel's office, The Brick. It was fabulous and I'd love to go again.
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.
You're right about the little towns that followed the railroads, sprang up every 5 to 10 miles. They met their zenith in 50 years and died a slow death. I could go on for hours about growing up in a small town.
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.
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 had a family friend who I saw as an uncle. He used to feel like he would lose me so he would play this song to me & tell me to promise him I wouldn't go. He battled alcoholism all his life & he rapidly deteriorated his last couple years. He passed away peacefully in his sleep 5pm yesterday evening... The nurses looking after him had sang him happy birthday & his mother's boyfriend say he received a rare but affectionate hug from him that day. Rest easy Warren you were a great friend & a great person & you were so complicated & full of pain but never gave people a reason not to smile. I only wish you could have seen your daughters again before you passed. & I was planning on seeing you again after nearly a year and a half for my birthday... I was planning it all. It's such a shame I didn't get to see you again. I'll see you on your funeral day & I know I'll be able to capture the glance you had as you parted from life. Rest easy old friend...😓
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-
Green Brown77 my hubby always said that listening to Iris always lifted his spirits because her songs were such beautiful sadness that you couldn’t help but feel better after listening to her songs. Your description is perfect.
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 live in a small town called Holt, Missouri most of it is run down but has a historical memory of what is was like 50 years ago. A quaint little town.
Feels like watching my grandma and grandpa say goodbye to their town before they had to move next to us so we could help take care of them. I never understood what they were going through, until now.
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.
You couldn't be alive if this one don't get you. What a capture of the human condition. The only thing better is when she performs it alone with her guitar.
I was almost in tears and very emotional when I heard this song in the last Northern Exposure show, me having quitted my childhood town when I was 16. an event that broke my heart.
How I had never never heard of this lady until John Prine’s passing, amazes me. And, yep, I had only heard of John Prine, never listened to him. Makes one wonder what I’ve been doing all my life.
I was the opposite I’d been listening to her & found John Prine. I was putting together a playlist of a few songs of hers & I figured I’d keep the good & get rid of the bad, but I listened to about 13 & hadn’t rejected a single song. Iris & John should go right up there with the best duo’s of all time.
Happens to most of us. I've discovered (usually by accident) a treasure chest of some of the greatest music and songs in the world if not for the Internet. I am continually amazed and pleased.
Iris was an icon, long before Northern Exposure for those of us lucky to have heard and seen her live. I live in Ireland and so wish she could come back to us.
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.
I only saw one episode of that show and they were being insulting about Australia so I switched off. Short-sighted of them, considering it was being screened here. Love the song though. It's the first time I've heard it and just can stop replaying it.
I'd first seen and heard the video for this wonderful song soon after it first came out in the early 1990s. We'd just gotten MTV, and they'd played it on their "120 Minutes" show. I've been knocked out by it, and Iris, ever since.
"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.
About eleven years ago, when I was in college, I would listen to this song every time I took the train home. Good memories. Iris moved me all 20 years old
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.
The first summer Northern Exposure aired, my neighbour Dave and I were marvelling over it. "It's like it's been beamed in from another universe and we were never actually meant to see it," he said. I loved that show and love this song. My Mom loved the show, too, so I bought her the soundtrack CD for Christmas. "It's music that moves," she said. Such good memories.
When that man & woman are hugging each other gently it’s very precious & touching to see. It’s hard to hear a song like this just stating that it’s over folks. Sun 🌞setting down on our town tonight. Hold on to your lover cause your hearts ‘bout to die.
Saw her in the mid 90's and she turned me onto true country/folk music.An era of great music and artists long gone from the Nashville garbage of today.
I love this song even though I am not a great fan of country music, As I get older I think it it reflects on life its self as you can see the sun setting down on your existence. Great song.
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.
Northern Exposure was one of the best shows in an island in the midst of so many bad sitcoms, reality shows, exercise shows. Lots of Junk tv to keep the mind in a state of catharsis.
I'm 44 and live in Wollongong... This song resonates because the Wollongong I grew up in is dead. Totally different place. Very sad because it used to be a beautiful town. Not anymore. Speaking of Crookwell, I moved to Goulburn 10 years ago then back to Wollongong a year later. BIGGEST mistake of my life. I miss Gouburn. Hopefully I'll get to move back soon.
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 -
Having spent decades photographing abandoned architecture throughout North America, this is a soundtrack for that work. The video shows the end of habitation - and the heartbreak, just before the living leave and emptiness begins. How often I've felt the lives lived in countless homes bereft of residents.
Hello Dear Douglas, I paid attention to your letter. There's big changes going on here in my town. A little sleepy place with no parking meters or traffic lights. horses in the main street..x .but Hey , it's rapidly evolving into a "satelite city" (folk rushing out of nearby Auckland ) and lots different kind of behaviour..like..no-one ever tooted thier horn . x.
I hear what you are saying. When you see an abandoned homestead I say to myself that at one moment in time it was someones dream or hope for the future.
I watched that programme from beginning to end (the first ones when I was a student, for my BSc), and I cried my eyes out at this way to end (and, this evening, I am again): so… THANK YOU, all for making this
WOW !!!! .... THE GOLD STANDARD OF COUNTRY MUSIC .... .......................................................................................................
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.
And you know the sun's settin' fast And just like they say nothing good ever lasts Well, go on now and kiss it goodbye but hold on to your lover 'Cause your heart's bound to die Go on now and say goodbye to our town, to our town Can't you see the sun's settin' down on our town, on our town Goodnight Up the street beside that red neon light That's where I met my baby on one hot summer night He was the tender and I ordered a beer It's been forty years and I'm still sitting here But you know the sun's settin' fast And just like they say nothing good ever lasts Well, go on now and kiss it goodbye but hold on to your lover 'Cause your heart's bound to die Go on now and say goodbye to our town, to our town Can't you see the sun's settin' down on our town, on our town Goodnight It's here I had my baby's and I had my first kiss I've walked down Main Street in the cold morning mist Over there is where I bought my first car It turned over once but then it never went far And I can see the sun settin' fast it And just like they say nothing good ever lasts Well, go on now and kiss it goodbye but hold on to your lover 'Cause your heart's bound to die Go on now and say goodbye to our town, to our town Can't you see the sun's settin' down on our town, on our town Goodnight I buried my Mama and I buried my Pa They sleep up the street beside that pretty brick wall I bring them flowers about every day But I just gotta cry when I think what they'd say If they could see how the sun's settin' fast And just like they say nothing good ever lasts Well, go on now and kiss it goodbye but hold on to your lover 'Cause your heart's bound to die Go on now and say goodbye to our town, to our town Can't you see the sun's settin' down on our town, on our town Goodnight Now I sit on the porch and watch the lightning-bugs fly But I can't see too good, I got tears in my eyes I'm leaving tomorrow but I don't want to go I love you my town, you'll always live in my soul But I can see the sun's settin' fast And just like they say nothing good ever lasts Well, go on I gotta kiss you goodbye but I'll hold to my lover 'Cause my heart's 'bout to die Go on now and say goodbye to my town, to my town Can't you see the sun's settin' down on my town, on my town Goodnight, goodnight
Home Town is Hainault Essex (UK)...1950s.....left when I was 12 years old....still miss good times and bad times...luckily later I found a new home...wherever I am with my Gill...the best of all my 76 years
Nothing last forever. Family comes first. Ensure that you're family wants you and longs for you. That's the best way to live. The opposite is a total waste of life. Don't let regret and remose be your companion folks. Love and patience
Interesting the corporations and One Worlders seem to desperately want to replace family with government. Which reinforces the truth of what you say there.
Absolutely stunned by originality inherent accent cant beat it shes true to herself and where she came from lots for more singers to learn that's what appeals to everyone and brings you to another world love her singing and God given voice ❤
Nothing good ever lies... Iris you lift me up when I am down, your voice always brings a lump to my throat and tears in my eyes and I smile at your wonderful gift you share with all of us - your voice.
This is what beautiful and unique song was made to sound like after thousands of years of human history. It is also so sad and so lonely that it brings a tear to my eye every I play it and makes me very melancholy. Love the version with Emmy Lou Harris as well. Thank you Iris, well done.
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.
Greatest country music song since "You Are My Sunshine." This song is literally about my home town, "Graceville, Florida." I'm seventy now. When I was growing up, this was a swinging town. There was not a building in town that did not have a business. I can remember on Fridays and Saturdays, people would actually come into town on horse and buggy, and also on mule and wagon. I'm not kidding. Graceville was a swinging town, long before I was born. It's not anymore. It's sad when you live in a ghost town, when you can remember when your little town once had life.
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.
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.
I don't think I have ever heard a song that touched me like this one . Sung with such feeling. Her voice was made for this song. Northern Exposure was one of my all time favorite TV shows.
I still love the song. I first heard it when I played it at a radio station I worked at in the 90's. It has a very strong meaning to those of us who live in rural area's. Especially in coal counties.
Heard her live in a very small venue in N. Ga. Maybe 100 people, she hung out with us after performance. A very simple, open musician with a pure voice. Incredible!
Wow, you are so fortunate. But it doesn't surprise me to hear what you said about her, it all comes across in the video! Wish I could have been there!!!
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...
Made bad , stupid moves in my life. Always have a 1000 mile stare. Regrets I guess.
You old coot
Yea man, when I listen to some songs like this, I think of all the loves in my life with tears in my eyes. Thank you
Children who continue to be "brought up right, with Jesus as their foundation", do not look at you like that.... But rather, honor and respect your many years of wisdom and will sit to listen to your stories.
They STILL Love us "older folks". 🩷 You matter, Sir. 🙌🇺🇲✝️
@@KTocci66
Now hun that was mighty nice of you to say that to him.
Northern Exposure is probably the greatest TV show ever.
"Due South"? Canadian Mountie and Chicago Cop. Loved that one, too. Always thought it was kinda hip that the two best shows on TV at the time were called "Northern Exposure" and "Due South". 👍
100%
Yes it is. Period.
Kind of liberal: good though
@@cliffordbowman6777 what are you talking about? It consistently rebuked big government and praised American capitalism.
This woman is magnificent: soul, understanding, empathy and a haunting, utterly compelling voice.
All you said is so true. And she is remarkably modest about herself.
I love Iris❤❤ . She has a beautiful and unique voice.
Once in a great while the perfect voice is mated to the perfect song. This is one such moment.
It's help's that the singer writes the song.
@@mbsnyderc Turns out it was the first song she ever wrote, too.
That is just it. I could say more but I would be inarticulate and I don't want that.
This is the moment.
Heartbreaking
Amen to that.
This was the perfect song to end Northern Exposure
😪😪😊🤗
I was just going to post the same thought. I finished watching the series yesterday. One of the best!
@@3865ronOne if my favorites.
It was ❤
Season 6 was a disaster but they really did nail the final montage with this song.
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".
She is amazing still listening in 2024.
I wondered the same thing myself. The only thing I can figure is that Iris DeMent is more of a Christian than she is an entertainer. Christians don't have the same priorities as entertainers. Entertainers want to be famous and rich. Christians want to store their treasures in Heaven.
Famous Seamus.
I think it's a 'genre' thing. She would have been called 'folk/rock' years ago and gotten some 'exposure', but that category doesn't get any notice in the current era.
She didn’t look like Olivia,
Iris Dement is one of the few true voices of Americana. She’s an endless source of inspiration.
She's not American. We stole country music from the Irish and Scottish too. Where Bluegrass gets it's roots. 😂😂
@@ebogar42 I’m American of Irish descent with family still in the hills and hollows of West Virginia. Iris is fine with me.
Absolutely you nailed it my friend!!! Absolutely beautiful!
Have you seen her sing pretty saro,?
Well said Ms. Maloney
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.
men sometimes find it difficult to grieve. this song helps me feel the pain, without having to hide. I hear you dave.
Sending love and blessings, Dave.
as time passes the rawness of your loss will scab over. and you will remember the happy times more. I wish you peace
I hear ya Dave.
Sending you big hugs, I want to have my daughter listen to this but she passed almost six years ago, the grief is unbelievable.
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.
Our Town.. Grown up in a small town in Alabama was a good thing. All gone now. Wal- Mart took it all.. Sad
I too grew up in that small town in Alabama and it is a Walmart and and a fast food place. After moving through 12 different states and four different countries I have been settled in the quintessential Alabama Americana town with two red lights, no Walmart and one fast food place. We have more cattle than people and fewer neighbors than white tail deer. It's our town and it's wonderful.
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.
Same for me
Awesome, awesome show.
I didn't get a lump in my throat at the end of Northern Exposure. I cried my eyes out, but I'm a girl so..
That was the first time I heard the song and yes I shed a few years. I've never connected with a television show and it's characters like that before or since. I actually haven't had interest in television for many years. But music will always be a part of my life. This song is beautiful.
@@DJDouglasWarden I am the EXACT same way!! After Northern Exposure, I never got interested in any other series. There was just something so special about that show. We actually went to Roslyn , Washington on vacation and got to walk around Ruth Anne's store, KBHR, Joel's office, The Brick. It was fabulous and I'd love to go again.
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.
love them both, so talented.
What can I say, but that I agree.
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.
You're right about the little towns that followed the railroads, sprang up every 5 to 10 miles. They met their zenith in 50 years and died a slow death. I could go on for hours about growing up in a small town.
Your words here are so beautiful, they paint a wonderful story all their own. Thank you.
Nomad, thanks for sharing that heartfelt story.
been there done that in canada now in ireland and look back with hate,and loathing,but am glade you've good memories
@@andreasobuaculla9511 sorry you feel this way. Care to share with a few words?
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.
Same here
Sometimes there’s a fictional show a fictional place that is so wonderful you just want desperately for it to be REAL….
I want to go to Cicely
….. and you want to go there
😊❤
My Grandpa passed away this morning and my brother sent me this song. Absolutely heartbreaking. 😭 We will miss you and your tremendous example, Grandpa. ❤
Made me cry💔but thank you for sharing that
❤
I had a family friend who I saw as an uncle. He used to feel like he would lose me so he would play this song to me & tell me to promise him I wouldn't go. He battled alcoholism all his life & he rapidly deteriorated his last couple years. He passed away peacefully in his sleep 5pm yesterday evening... The nurses looking after him had sang him happy birthday & his mother's boyfriend say he received a rare but affectionate hug from him that day. Rest easy Warren you were a great friend & a great person & you were so complicated & full of pain but never gave people a reason not to smile. I only wish you could have seen your daughters again before you passed. & I was planning on seeing you again after nearly a year and a half for my birthday... I was planning it all. It's such a shame I didn't get to see you again. I'll see you on your funeral day & I know I'll be able to capture the glance you had as you parted from life. Rest easy old friend...😓
What an amazingly beautiful post. It is as heartfelt as this song. Just brilliant, thank you.
What a nice thing to say!
❤
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'm crying now listening to her, 76 year old country boy!!
No one delivers such a delicious sadness like Iris Dement.
you got that right
It hurts so good. :)
Green Brown77 my hubby always said that listening to Iris always lifted his spirits because her songs were such beautiful sadness that you couldn’t help but feel better after listening to her songs. Your description is perfect.
Except maybe her husband Greg Brown.
Wonderful way to say that! It is an accurate description.
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 live in a small town called Holt, Missouri most of it is run down but has a historical memory of what is was like 50 years ago. A quaint little town.
just finished watching NX front to back (took me 6 months!) and then i came straight here :)
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
Who still here in 2019.i feel in love with song omg i cant help listerning
Still relevant , trumps destroying this sentiment
It is still like a fresh memory of having to leave, when I listen to it. Almost hurts to.
Beautiful. Just Beautiful
@@robindesjardins8566 x
Menard Bonfils oh gawd just amazing. Heh give Lucinda Williams a try
I've watched all the Northern Exposure series several times. This song always brings tears. Sweet, simple, poignant.
I have those tears aswell, every single time
I can't listen to this song without sobbing!!
Me too. Similar to the tears from story told in the song you use as your name.
Me too, every time
me too every time
Same here!
SPOT ON GILLIAN I'LL JOIN YOU ,RAY TWELVE STRINGS U.K
Feels like watching my grandma and grandpa say goodbye to their town before they had to move next to us so we could help take care of them. I never understood what they were going through, until now.
when the best show ever closed with this exquisitely heartbreaking song, we all cried our eyes out.
YES, we did!
The absolute best show. Intelligent, interesting, Shakespearean in scope.
Me too. To me It’s about all the change and losses in life. Rock on, we will all see better times.
One of the most beautiful pieces of music ever created.
Absolutely!!!
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.
You couldn't be alive if this one don't get you. What a capture of the human condition. The only thing better is when she performs it alone with her guitar.
great job
Thanks for the words I could not find. Well said.
Much agreed, and it was bittersweetly the LAST episode, and the final 5 minutes............killed me a few times, too. Okay, every time......... ; )
me 2
2020 and still one of the most amazing songs!
listening now that friend John Prine is gone.
Love her !
Great quarantine music.
krusherking1 it’s kept me sane!
Iris is the only female voice fit for for this song. Her and Emmylou are my 2 favorite country female voices.
I was almost in tears and very emotional when I heard this song in the last Northern Exposure show, me having quitted my childhood town when I was 16. an event that broke my heart.
How I had never never heard of this lady until John Prine’s passing, amazes me. And, yep, I had only heard of John Prine, never listened to him. Makes one wonder what I’ve been doing all my life.
I was the opposite I’d been listening to her & found John Prine. I was putting together a playlist of a few songs of hers & I figured I’d keep the good & get rid of the bad, but I listened to about 13 & hadn’t rejected a single song. Iris & John should go right up there with the best duo’s of all time.
You arrive when you arrive.
Happens to most of us. I've discovered (usually by accident) a treasure chest of some of the greatest music and songs in the world if not for the Internet. I am continually amazed and pleased.
Iris was an icon, long before Northern Exposure for those of us lucky to have heard and seen her live. I live in Ireland and so wish she could come back to us.
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.
Everybody that left home town gets a little tear in a corner of the eye whenever this song is playing. I know I do ...
Northern exposure last episode closing theme! It makes me sad! Too many years ago!
+Andrea Tavolacci I loved that show and I love that song
This song was the perfect end for a great show.
Best show ever.
I only saw one episode of that show and they were being insulting about Australia so I switched off. Short-sighted of them, considering it was being screened here. Love the song though. It's the first time I've heard it and just can stop replaying it.
The last episode made you feel as if you were leaving your best friends forever.
She is perfect.Her voice is amazing and she is soooo pretty. Love you Iris
.
I'd first seen and heard the video for this wonderful song soon after it first came out in the early 1990s. We'd just gotten MTV, and they'd played it on their "120 Minutes" show. I've been knocked out by it, and Iris, ever since.
"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.
Ranks with
"He was the 'tender and I ordered a beer
It's been forty years and I'm still sittin' here."
Oh dear.
@@frankmcnally01
Will you please tell me? I don't see anything figurative. I guess I don't see it all
If I had met Iris when a young man, I would have made a fool of myself to win her hand...what a woman...
Me too,
@@stewartbates5533 Me three!
I four
Hi-five to that
Got your six
I'll always remain a dedicated fan. Especially her duet with John Prine. She's definitely an American Treasure!😊
About eleven years ago, when I was in college, I would listen to this song every time I took the train home. Good memories. Iris moved me all 20 years old
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.
Bless you old timer ...
The first summer Northern Exposure aired, my neighbour Dave and I were marvelling over it. "It's like it's been beamed in from another universe and we were never actually meant to see it," he said. I loved that show and love this song. My Mom loved the show, too, so I bought her the soundtrack CD for Christmas. "It's music that moves," she said. Such good memories.
I'm not crying! YOU'RE crying! ;)
One of my dads favorite songs. Hes been gone now for almost 8 years -this song always makes me think of him ❤ thanks for sharing😊
I came here two days after finish watching Northern Exposure. What a great moment. My girlfriend was in tears.
I'm sorry , but I never saw Northern Exposer , love her voice !!!
Vietnam Vet , Tom
You need to binge watch it next winter, it’ll change your life
When that man & woman are hugging each other gently it’s very precious & touching to see. It’s hard to hear a song like this just stating that it’s over folks. Sun 🌞setting down on our town tonight. Hold on to your lover cause your hearts ‘bout to die.
Saw her in the mid 90's and she turned me onto true country/folk music.An era of great music and artists long gone from the Nashville garbage of today.
A beautiful song!! The Perfect song for Nothern Exposure. One of the best series ever.
The one show that made us Happy
Iris Dement is a national tresure I only discovered at the end of True Grit movie.She is fantastic."
I love this song even though I am not a great fan of country music, As I get older I think it it reflects on life its self as you can see the sun setting down on your existence. Great song.
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.
...or Folk, to some ;)
This is not country music. It's Americana.
Northern Exposure was one of the best shows in an island in the midst of so many bad sitcoms, reality shows, exercise shows. Lots of Junk tv to keep the mind in a state of catharsis.
@@v-town1980 Come on Country has it's roots in folk.
@@thomasromano9321 Nothing has changed -- the wasteland has only grown larger.
This song tears me up big-time but not tears of mourning, no, no mourning, just the poignancy of our human experience
Al Warner What a great sentence .
Couldn’t agree more....beautiful and awfully sad....tears tonight
I remember hearing my mum playing this song when i was a little kid and now she hears me listening to it instead! i won't ever forget it
One of the most heart felt songs ever. Thanks Iris. You sung it just right.
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 too am an Australian and this song always reminds me of my town. Luckily my town lives on.
God Bless Crookwell !!!!.
Love you Iris..........
Australia has that desolate look in the outback.
I'm 44 and live in Wollongong... This song resonates because the Wollongong I grew up in is dead. Totally different place. Very sad because it used to be a beautiful town. Not anymore.
Speaking of Crookwell, I moved to Goulburn 10 years ago then back to Wollongong a year later. BIGGEST mistake of my life. I miss Gouburn. Hopefully I'll get to move back soon.
From the glory days of Country music television! Love Iris Dement!
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 -
RIP John Prine :-( 2020, I’m ready to get past you.
@@JimHeil Oh no I never knew - I try to stay off media during virus
Having spent decades photographing abandoned architecture throughout North America, this is a soundtrack for that work. The video shows the end of habitation - and the heartbreak, just before the living leave and emptiness begins. How often I've felt the lives lived in countless homes bereft of residents.
Your comment reminds me of a documentary that was on PBS called "Death of a Dream" Oh if the walls could only talk.
Life is rich if you have some empathy. Horribly sad and tragic and painful, but rich.
Hello Dear Douglas, I paid attention to your letter. There's big changes going on here in my town. A little sleepy place with no parking meters or traffic lights. horses in the main street..x .but Hey , it's rapidly evolving into a "satelite city" (folk rushing out of nearby Auckland ) and lots different kind of behaviour..like..no-one ever tooted thier horn . x.
I hear what you are saying. When you see an abandoned homestead I say to myself that at one moment in time it was someones dream or hope for the future.
i dont think ive ever made it through this song without a tear....
Scott..me either...
I haven't either...
First time, to this time. I can kind of hold it back if I'm around people, but...
Beautiful song, Beautiful voice, Beautiful woman!
I love Iris's voice. She makes me hurt so much, I cry, and I thank her for every tear.
WOW, couldn't have put it any better!!!
I watched that programme from beginning to end (the first ones when I was a student, for my BSc), and I cried my eyes out at this way to end (and, this evening, I am again): so… THANK YOU, all for making this
WOW !!!! .... THE GOLD STANDARD OF COUNTRY MUSIC ....
.......................................................................................................
Good human beings only come around once in a while thank you for showing up Iris
Much love
Jim
Iris DeMint is an American treasure. Thank you so much for putting into lyrics what I could never put into words myself.
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.
this is everything that's Good about country...real country... magnificient!!
And you know the sun's settin' fast
And just like they say nothing good ever lasts
Well, go on now and kiss it goodbye but hold on to your lover
'Cause your heart's bound to die
Go on now and say goodbye to our town, to our town
Can't you see the sun's settin' down on our town, on our town
Goodnight
Up the street beside that red neon light
That's where I met my baby on one hot summer night
He was the tender and I ordered a beer
It's been forty years and I'm still sitting here
But you know the sun's settin' fast
And just like they say nothing good ever lasts
Well, go on now and kiss it goodbye but hold on to your lover
'Cause your heart's bound to die
Go on now and say goodbye to our town, to our town
Can't you see the sun's settin' down on our town, on our town
Goodnight
It's here I had my baby's and I had my first kiss
I've walked down Main Street in the cold morning mist
Over there is where I bought my first car
It turned over once but then it never went far
And I can see the sun settin' fast it
And just like they say nothing good ever lasts
Well, go on now and kiss it goodbye but hold on to your lover
'Cause your heart's bound to die
Go on now and say goodbye to our town, to our town
Can't you see the sun's settin' down on our town, on our town
Goodnight
I buried my Mama and I buried my Pa
They sleep up the street beside that pretty brick wall
I bring them flowers about every day
But I just gotta cry when I think what they'd say
If they could see how the sun's settin' fast
And just like they say nothing good ever lasts
Well, go on now and kiss it goodbye but hold on to your lover
'Cause your heart's bound to die
Go on now and say goodbye to our town, to our town
Can't you see the sun's settin' down on our town, on our town
Goodnight
Now I sit on the porch and watch the lightning-bugs fly
But I can't see too good, I got tears in my eyes
I'm leaving tomorrow but I don't want to go
I love you my town, you'll always live in my soul
But I can see the sun's settin' fast
And just like they say nothing good ever lasts
Well, go on I gotta kiss you goodbye but I'll hold to my lover
'Cause my heart's 'bout to die
Go on now and say goodbye to my town, to my town
Can't you see the sun's settin' down on my town, on my town
Goodnight, goodnight
I remember that use that song for Northern Exposure ending and I cried and cried 30 years later and I still get choked up
That is absolutely beautiful. I could listen to it a hundred times and it would make me cry every time.
Me too!
I've been trying to listen to this whole thing without crying for years. Still no success. 😂
Just close your eyes and listen. This song has a perfect blend of voices and instruments beautiful melody and the message delivered perfectly
What memories of northern exposure. magnificent song to end a magnificent series.
Home Town is Hainault Essex (UK)...1950s.....left when I was 12 years old....still miss good times and bad times...luckily later I found a new home...wherever I am with my Gill...the best of all my 76 years
75 in Canada left at 21 ..great song
She has a voice like no other. She could make you cry over a happy song.
That defines “soulful” to me.
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
Iris holds the soul of everyone in her lil ole hand. That voice is beyond compare. Good morrow.
Just finished Northern Exposure for the first time. I had to keep rewinding to hear this song and see the last scenes again.
I think I want that life.
Certainly tells the story of many place that time has forgotten. Great singer.
I could never take this beautiful song out of my head. Heard it for the first time at the ending of Northern Exposure.
Nothing last forever. Family comes first. Ensure that you're family wants you and longs for you. That's the best way to live. The opposite is a total waste of life. Don't let regret and remose be your companion folks. Love and patience
Interesting the corporations and One Worlders seem to desperately want to replace family with government. Which reinforces the truth of what you say there.
Absolutely stunned by originality inherent accent cant beat it shes true to herself and where she came from lots for more singers to learn that's what appeals to everyone and brings you to another world love her singing and God given voice ❤
Wise words friend. Peace.
Nothing good ever lies... Iris you lift me up when I am down, your voice always brings a lump to my throat and tears in my eyes and I smile at your wonderful gift you share with all of us - your voice.
This is what beautiful and unique song was made to sound like after thousands of years of human history. It is also so sad and so lonely that it brings a tear to my eye every I play it and makes me very melancholy. Love the version with Emmy Lou Harris as well. Thank you Iris, well done.
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 my favorite shows nothern exposure. Thy couldn't find a better way to end a great show than this song.
Greatest country music song since "You Are My Sunshine." This song is literally about my home town, "Graceville, Florida." I'm seventy now. When I was growing up, this was a swinging town. There was not a building in town that did not have a business. I can remember on Fridays and Saturdays, people would actually come into town on horse and buggy, and also on mule and wagon. I'm not kidding. Graceville was a swinging town, long before I was born. It's not anymore. It's sad when you live in a ghost town, when you can remember when your little town once had life.
It would be a long search to find a more perfect and encapsulating song than this.
I just love Iris. I found her music a long time ago and you know genuine singers when you hear them.
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.
I’m with you…. especially about northern exposure… miss it so much… miss lots of things
oh the sweet sadness of the passing of time and the passing of a life
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.
I don't think I have ever heard a song that touched me like this one . Sung with such feeling. Her voice was made for this song. Northern Exposure was one of my all time favorite TV shows.
I love everything Iris sings...
I still love the song. I first heard it when I played it at a radio station I worked at in the 90's. It has a very strong meaning to those of us who live in rural area's. Especially in coal counties.
Heard her live in a very small venue in N. Ga. Maybe 100 people, she hung out with us after performance. A very simple, open musician with a pure voice. Incredible!
Wow, you are so fortunate. But it doesn't surprise me to hear what you said about her, it all comes across in the video! Wish I could have been there!!!
I love this woman's voice; her music; her style