Iris Breaks My Heart
Why do we listen to music? For me, it's very seldom just background music. I have music on a lot during the day, but I almost always am listening to it in some sense, even if it's on in the morning while I'm reading the newspaper. And when I get new music, I'll always take some time to sit down (often with the lyric sheet if there is one) and do nothing but just listen to it. I own close to 1500 CDs and LPs. Many albums, many songs, have special meanings for me. Perhaps it reminds me of a certain point in my life (I've been seriously "collecting" music for almost 30 years). More often than not, something about a particular song will touch me in some way, have some meaning or resonance in my life, and often the lyrics will speak to me in a very personal and particular way.
Earlier tonight I was listening to Iris Dement's album, My Life. This is probably one of the saddest albums I've ever heard. (If you are unfamiliar with Iris Dement, she is kind of a traditional country and folk singer-songwriter with an incredible Arkansas twang to her voice.) There is a song about midway through the album called "No Time To Cry." The song is about being too busy with life to find time to mourn the death of her father. ("My father died a year ago today" is the first line.) But there is also a real sense of fear underlying the song that if we were to let go and let those emotions out, they would overwhelm us. The final song, "My Life" talks of her life being halfway over and not accomplishing anything. It's sad, plaintive, but not morose.
It's an incredible album, but not one to listen to if you're already feeling down. (When my ex-wife first left me, that was probably the saddest time of my life. The Replacement's album
Tim was getting a lot of play at my house at the time, but I always took it off before the final song, "Here Comes a Regular" just because it was so damn sad I couldn't stand to hear it.)
The one time I was privleged to see Iris perform live, my friend Jeannette who went with me to the show, turned to me at one point and said, "When she's sad, she's really, really sad, isn't she?" That comment's always stuck with me. And so has Iris Dement's music. It's great stuff.
Earlier tonight I was listening to Iris Dement's album, My Life. This is probably one of the saddest albums I've ever heard. (If you are unfamiliar with Iris Dement, she is kind of a traditional country and folk singer-songwriter with an incredible Arkansas twang to her voice.) There is a song about midway through the album called "No Time To Cry." The song is about being too busy with life to find time to mourn the death of her father. ("My father died a year ago today" is the first line.) But there is also a real sense of fear underlying the song that if we were to let go and let those emotions out, they would overwhelm us. The final song, "My Life" talks of her life being halfway over and not accomplishing anything. It's sad, plaintive, but not morose.
It's an incredible album, but not one to listen to if you're already feeling down. (When my ex-wife first left me, that was probably the saddest time of my life. The Replacement's album
Tim was getting a lot of play at my house at the time, but I always took it off before the final song, "Here Comes a Regular" just because it was so damn sad I couldn't stand to hear it.)
The one time I was privleged to see Iris perform live, my friend Jeannette who went with me to the show, turned to me at one point and said, "When she's sad, she's really, really sad, isn't she?" That comment's always stuck with me. And so has Iris Dement's music. It's great stuff.
posted by Kootch | 11:39 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home