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This is how it has been since time began: If you want to make something really worthwhile and true, then you have to suffer for it.
Iris DeMent -
I've always written about things that cause me to feel something.
Iris DeMent
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My life, it don't count for nothing;When I look at this world, I feel so small.My life, it's only a season:A passing September that no one will recall.
Iris DeMent -
Everybody's wonderin' what and where they all came from.Everybody's worryin' 'bout where they're gonna goWhen the whole thing's done.But no one knows for certainAnd so it's all the same to me.I think I'll just let the mystery be.
Iris DeMent -
And I've been walking 'round with memories way too long.
Iris DeMent -
I never set out to write songs about the world around me... it just kind of came about as a result of paying more attention to things.
Iris DeMent -
I don't know what other people are like, I haven't been able to crawl inside anybody else.
Iris DeMent -
Fireflies inside of a mason jar,Acting big behind the wheel of daddy's car.Playing church around the old piano stand,You were quite a preacher and oh, we sang so grand.I remember every night what we would say and do:'If you've forgiven me, then I've forgiven you.'And now when life begins to get the best of me,I reminisce these childhood memories.
Iris DeMent
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Most of the music you hear on the radio today is developed for making money. It doesn't feel true or honest. You can feel it in the music.
Iris DeMent -
I was mainly influenced by the Carter Family, Jimmie Rodgers, Loretta Lynn, Merle Haggard, and others like Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash.
Iris DeMent -
Some guy refuses to fight and we call that the sin, but he's standing up for what he believes in and that seems pretty damned American to me.
Iris DeMent -
My guitar is really tempermental. I don't give up on it though, I'm close to my guitar!
Iris DeMent -
Making the record was tons of fun, the most fun I've ever had.
Iris DeMent -
Far away I've travelledTo stand once more alone.And hear my memories echoThrough these hills that I call home.As a child I roamed this valley,I watched the seasons come and go.I spent many hours dreamingOn these hills that I call home.
Iris DeMent
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Writing, overall, has never been what I'd call fun. It's fulfilling. It doesn't come real easy for me.
Iris DeMent -
I've always been aware of having feelings that were pretty intense at times. I imagine most people have had that, or they wouldn't be human.
Iris DeMent -
Turn off the TV and start digging around for information that's not from a corporation trying to make money.
Iris DeMent -
For a long time I was interested in being a social worker. In a lot of ways I feel that that's all my music is, trying to help people.
Iris DeMent -
I don't describe myself as a Christian or religious, but I like to think that how I live my life is honest.
Iris DeMent -
Maybe I spent more time dwelling on emotions than some people, and maybe that's why I ended up writing.
Iris DeMent
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Sweet is the melody, so hard to come by,It's so hard to make every note bend just right.You lay down the hours and leave not one traceBut a tune for the dancing is there in it's place.
Iris DeMent -
I honestly don't listen to a lot of music - I spend so much time working at my own music.
Iris DeMent -
If something bothers me, it bothers me for a long time until I find a way to work it out. Music provided me with a means of working things out.
Iris DeMent -
And you know the sun's settin' fastAnd 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.
Iris DeMent