The third verse of Iris Dement’s "No Time To Cry", one of my absolute favorite songs:
"I sit down on the sofa and I watch the evening news
There’s a half a dozen tragedies from which to pick and choose
The baby that was missing was found in a ditch today
And there’s bombs a’flying, and people dying, not so far away
And I take a beer from the ’fridgerator and go sit out in the yard
And with a cold one in my hand I’m gonna bite down and swallow hard
Because I’m older now, I’ve got no time to cry"
Reading the lyrics doesn’t come close to conveying the devastating heartbreak in Iris’ singing of them. The song has been recorded by two of my all-time favorite singers, Merle Haggard and Kasey Chambers, both of them also superior songwriters themselves. You can hear the song on You Tube, and then go buy the album it is on, Iris’ My Life. Not a single bad song on it, one of my "Perfect Albums".
