The Way I Should

Iris DeMent | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 8, 1996)
• Original Release Date: October 8, 1996
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Warner Bros / Wea
• ASIN: B000002N5K
• Also Available in: Audio Cassette  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (47 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #62,999 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

No Description Available
No Track Information Available
Media Type: CD
Artist: DEMENT,IRIS
Title: WAY I SHOULD
Street Release Date: 10/08/1996
Domestic
Genre: FOLK

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Iris gets political, September 26, 2004

By 

Peter Durward Harris "Pete the music fan" (Leicester England) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Way I Should (Audio CD)

This album is very different from Infamous angel and My life, her first two albums that had an old-timey feel to them, with lyrics based on themes that are standard fare in country music. Here, Iris updates her sound - it has a more contemporary feel without selling out - but (more significantly) her lyrics are very different, dealing with the kind of political issues in the tradition of Joan Baez, Bob Dylan, Pete Seeger and Woody Guthrie. As I've indicated elsewhere, I can enjoy political music even when I don't agree with the opinions expressed. Not everybody can, a fact that Iris seems to acknowledge in the liner notes, in which she declared that she was willing (if necessary) to lose a lot of fans because it was important to express her views. So Iris may have lost some fans due to the lyrics and other fans due to the more contemporary sound, but this is a fine album well worth hearing.

In one song, Wasteland of the free, Iris rages about the hypocrisy of preachers who don't behave in a manner befitting their status, politicians dependant on corporate finance, wealthy businessmen opposed to minimum wages, children with guns, children with poor reading ability and going to war over oil. That's quite a lot to pack into one song.

Perhaps the song most likely to alienate fans with conservative views is Quality time. Iris discusses a wealthy family in which the parents don't have much time for the family. Clearly such families don't lead their lives in a way that Iris approves of.

Letter to Mom, a song about child abuse, is (thankfully) not a story about Iris or her mother but I'm assuming that Iris had somebody in mind when writing this song, as she feels so strongly about it. Another interesting song is There's a wall in Washington, about a memorial with 60,000 names on it and the people that visit it to pay their respects.

Not all the songs are political. This kind of happy (co-written with Merle Haggard, though he doesn't sing on the track) is a wonderful love song. When my morning comes around and Keep me God are religious songs about the afterlife.

Although I prefer her first two albums for their simplicity, this is a fascinating album in its own way. Providing you can accept the political lyrics of some of the songs, this is definitely worth a listen.

23 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Miss Iris protests., November 19, 2005

By 

Peter Reeve (Thousand Oaks, CA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Way I Should (Audio CD)

Iris has been polarizing opinions and confounding expectations throughout her career and this, the third of her four albums to date, is no exception. Everything she does is heartfelt and musically satisfying but, being so varied, will not always be to your taste. She loses some fans and gains others with each release.

Some of the songs here hark back to the style of 60s protest songs, especially There's a Wall in Washington and Wasteland of the Free. I personally found the former (about the Vietnam commemorative wall) heartbreakingly powerful, whereas the latter came over as too strident and simplistic.

I still love Iris best when she is light and lyrical, as she is on my favorite track, When My Morning Comes Around. But long may she extend her thematic range and continue to explore new avenues of creativity. Listen to her with an open mind and an open heart and you may well fall in love with her too.

11 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What country should sound like, June 2, 1998

By 

[e-mail] is Adam Bartolik (Denver, Colorado) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Way I Should (Audio CD)

If you've never heard Iris DeMent tear through a tune, you're missing the boat. This is where country music should have logically grown, before taking a wrong turn near Hollywood. Her third outing shows more of the biting, sincere lyrics and Ozark rhythms that sets Iris apart from the smarmy formula Nashville spits out all too regularly now.

Tracks like "Walkin' Home" and "Letter To Mom" showcase DeMent's talent for writing about family -- all the good, bad and ugly pieces that make us individuals, but also give us common experiences. In "There's A Wall In Washington" and "Wasteland Of The Free", we hear the raging cynicism and heartfelt anger that is almost absent in country music now.

This album is all about accepting who you are and moving forward. "The Way I Should" and "When My Mornin' Comes Around" are the anthems for this spirit. Iris DeMent seems to be happy with who she is, consequences be damned. We should all be grateful for this.

The presence of artists like Earl Scruggs, Lonnie Mack, Delbert McClinton and Mark Knopfler among other greats, only adds to the credibility of this great songwriter. There's nothing on this album that will be heard in a car commercial. There's nothing on this album that will likely find your local "hot country" station. Be thankful, because these songs will touch you deeply and make you think. They won't be gone after 3 minutes. More likely, they will always be in the back of your mind, waiting for you to deal with them, like Iris has.