IRIS DEMENT

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NOTE: This topic was originally written, created, and posted at the "OUR ETERNAL STRUGGLE" web site by John Robert Mallernee on Monday 10 January 2011.
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Greetings and Salutations to All my Kith and Kin and All the Ships in Outer Space:

One of my favorite singers is Iris DeMent.

For the best effect, please be sure and enjoy watching, in "FULL SCREEN" mode, this video recording of Iris DeMent performing her own original composition, "MY LIFE", and the lyrics to that song.



The event was the HARDLY STRICTLY BLUEGRASS FESTIVAL at the Golden Gate Park in San Francisco, California on Sunday 05 October 2008, and the video was posted on the YOU TUBE web site by "SUN ROAD SAND" on Sunday 23 November 2008.

"MY LIFE"

Words and Music by:
Iris DeMent

VERSE # 01:
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.

CHORUS:
But, I gave
Joy to my mother,
And I made
My lover smile,
And I can give comfort
To my friends
When they're hurting,
And I can make
It seem better
For a while.

VERSE # 02:
My life,
It's half the way traveled,
And still,
I have not
Found my way
Out of this night.
My life,
It's tangled in wishes
And so many things
That just never
Turned out right.
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For the best effect, please be sure and enjoy watching, in "FULL SCREEN" mode, this video recording, which was posted at the YOU TUBE web site on Thursday 26 August 2010 by the VOLTARE 2 AM STEREO channel, of Iris DeMent performing her own original composition, "OUR TOWN", and the lyrics to that song.



"OUR TOWN"

Words and Music by:
Iris DeMent

CHORUS:
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.

VERSE # 01:
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.

VERSE # 02:
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.

VERSE # 03:
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.

VERSE # 04:
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.
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Here's a homemade amateur video recording of ME (!), strumming simple chords on my Yamaha G-130A classical guitar, while singing a favorite Iris DeMent song, "TROUBLESOME WATERS", along with a copy of the lyrics:



"TROUBLESOME WATERS"

Written By:
Maybelle Carter,
E.J. Carter,
and Dixie Deen

VERSE # 1:
Troublesome waters,
Much blacker than night,
Are hiding from view
The harbor's bright light.
Tossed in the turmoil
Of life's troubled sea,
I cried to my Saviour,
"Have mercy on me!"

CHORUS:
Then gently I'm feeling
The touch of His hand
Guiding my boat
Safely to land;
Leading the way
To Heaven's bright shore,
Where troublesome waters,
I'm fearing no more.

VERSE # 2:
Troublesome waters
Around me do roll.
They're rocking my boat
And wrecking my soul.
Loved ones are drifting
And sinking in sin.
The treacherous whirlpools
Are pulling them in.

VERSE # 3:
When troublesome waters
Are rolling so high,
I lift up my voice
Unto Heaven and cry,
"Lord, I am trusting,
Give guidance to me,
And steady my boat
On life's troubled sea."

Thank you.

John Robert Mallernee 

Armed Forces Retirement Home 

1800 Beach Drive, Unit 311 

Gulfport, Mississippi  39507

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