Happy Birthday, Iris Dement

Arkansas's country/folk fusion singer and songwriter, Iris Dement, turns 54 today. Her melody remains as sweet as ever and her songwriting timeless.

From 1992:



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 babies 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'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.

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 wanna 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.
I can see the sun has gone down on my town, on my town,
Goodnight.
Goodnight.

From 2001, with John Prine and his song from the film, Daddy and Them:




From 2012 the title song from her album, Sing the Delta - the Arkansas delta, that is.




So you're headed down a Southern way,
passing thru the Delta some time today?
In my mind, pictures line the walls
of a place I used to know, and vividly recall
I love you so much, and you sure sing good
and it would mean so much to me, if you would
Sing the Delta a love song for me!

It's the land where the cotton used to grow
that owns a piece of my heart and soul.
It's where my people, on both sides, going back
eked-out a liven' farmin' and fillin' them ole' cotton sacks.
Dad took us West when I was a little child.
But it's in my blood, and it's still flowing strong and wild.
Sing the Delta a love song for me!

Sing the Delta a love song for me!
Lay it down on that ole river, let it roll on out to the sea!
The Delta lived in my Momma's voice and in her hands
it's a language my spirit understands, so
Sing the Delta a love song for me?

You give it all just the way your Daddy does,
you both got your demons, but they're cloaked in love.
And I know that life's puttin' your callin' to the test,
But you've got somethin' that sets you right up 'long side the very best.
So take that heart, good as Heaven ever made,
and that voice that lays like August in the shade,
and sing the Delta a love song for me!

Sing the Delta a love song for me!
Let it rock that old cradle and roll on out to sea.
I've been West, I've been East and North,
from that sweetness I just can't ever divorce,
Sing the Delta a love song for me.

She is a unique voice in American music and one of most talented songwriters of our time. 


Sources:
Photograph, minersfoundry.org
Lyrics: metrolyrics.com