song used in final episode of northern expo?

Subject: song used in final episode of northern expo?
From:
Date: 29 Jul 98 - 09:47 AM

i'm searching for the title of the song used to close the final episode of the tv program 'northern exposure.' also the artist, if known.

Subject: RE: song used in final episode of northern expo?
From:
Date: 29 Jul 98 - 07:21 PM

Missed it, since I don't have a TV.:) What are the lyrics you can remember?

Subject: RE: song used in final episode of northern expo?
From: dulcimer
Date: 29 Jul 98 - 08:04 PM

Stan Rogers's song about The Hand of (?), explorer looking for the northwest passage. There is a website which have info on all his songs.

Subject: RE: song used in final episode of northern expo?
From: dulcimer
Date: 29 Jul 98 - 08:37 PM

My apologies! I just rechecked the page. I too was taken by the song. The Stan Rogers page has many lyrics. The song is the title from the album of the same name--The Northwest Passage. This is the site--http://www.summerfolk.org/songs/nwp-sng.html

Subject: RE: song used in final episode of northern expo?
From:
Date: 29 Jul 98 - 08:57 PM

Great song, and a great CD. Was it his version, or Modabo's, I wonder?

Subject: RE: song used in final episode of northern expo?
From:
Date: 30 Jul 98 - 09:20 AM

checked out the stan rogers song. that wasn't it. the singer sounded a bit like buffy st. marie. can't remember many lyrics but 'in our town' was repeated often.

Subject: RE: song used in final episode of northern expo?
From: Joe Offer
Date: 30 Jul 98 - 02:21 PM

Click here for a guide to all 110 episodes of the show. the guide says the last episode concluded with Iris Dement's wonderful song, "Our Town." Click here for a RealAudio sample of the song.
-Joe Offer-

Subject: RE: song used in final episode of northern expo?
From: judy
Date: 31 Jul 98 - 12:19 AM

We were very interested in a song in Northern Exposure and called the TV station. Sorry, I don't remember if it was the last episode. We thought it must be an Alaskan Indian song but it turned out to be Enya.

enjoy! judy

Subject: RE: song used in final episode of northern expo?
From: Earl
Date: 31 Jul 98 - 09:13 AM

Judging by the music always playing in the background, Cicily, Alaska had the coolest radio station in North America.

Subject: RE: song used in final episode of northern expo?
From: bethann
Date: 31 Jul 98 - 09:35 AM

joe,

you had the correct song and artist. thanks. i couldn't locate that northern exposure page which you found.

Subject: RE: song used in final episode of northern expo?
From: dulcimer
Date: 01 Aug 98 - 12:29 AM

Wow! When I got it wrong, I really got it wrong. In my mind I thought bethann asked about the final episode of Due South (which I had just watched). Iris DeMent has a very distinctive voice and style which would be hard to misidentify once you've listen to her. Since it was asked in another thread, in my opinion, she is an artist who is keeping the folk tradition alive, does have elements of protest and biting social commentary and does get exposure. Iris DeMent is from my neck of the world, Kansas City. She says that she got the idea for Our Town from traveling through a small town while taking a trip to Oklahoma. She saw everything but the people and wrote the song from the imaged viewpoint of a lady who might have lived there. In our neck of the world we say of many small rural towns that they "roll up the street" at sundown. About the only thing open is the convenience store on the main highway, sometimes. Sorry again about the mix-up and thanks Joe for setting the record straight.

Subject: RE: song used in final episode of northern expo?
From: Joe Offer
Date: 01 Aug 98 - 02:06 AM

Our Town
by Iris Dement

Chorus:
And ya know the sun's settin' fast
And just like they say, nothing good ever lasts
Go on now and kiss it goodbye
But hold onto 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

Up the street by 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

Chorus

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

Chorus

I've buried my Ma and I've buried my Pa
They sleep up the strret beside that pretty brick wall
I bring 'em flowers about everyday
But I just gotta cry when I think what they'd say

Chorus
If they could see how the sun's setting fast ...

Now I sit on the porch and watch the lightnin' bugs fly
But I can't see too good, I got tears in my eyes
I'm leavin' tomorrow but I don't wanna go
I love you, my town, you'll always live in my soul

But I can see the sun's settin' fast
And just like they say, nothing good ever lasts
Go on, I gotta kiss you goodbye
But I'll hold onto my lover 'cause my heart's 'bout to die
Go on now and say goodbye to my town, to my town
I can see the sun has gone down on my town, on my town
Goodnight, Goodnight

---

Subject: RE: song used in final episode of northern expo?
From: KickyC
Date: 02 Aug 98 - 12:35 AM

This isn't about the last song, but in the site mentioned above about Northern Exposure, episode #4.15 titled "Learning Curve" was about the time Marilyn went off to Seattle. It is my father's favorite episode because they play a Native American song in the background that he says is "Old Dan Tucker". I think it is "Turkey in the Straw." He got really mad at me when I told him that and he said that both my brother and sister (neither of whom know that much old time music) agreed with him. Has anyone else seen it and do you know which one it is? It really is a neat version of one of those songs.

KickyC

Subject: RE: song used in final episode of northern expo?
From: KickyC
Date: 02 Aug 98 - 09:48 PM

Sorry about the repeats. I was having trouble with the computer. It kept telling me I was out of memory and could not send the message.

KickyC

Subject: RE: song used in final episode of northern expo?
From: Bert
Date: 03 Aug 98 - 03:42 PM

KickyC,

It was "Turkey in the Straw".

There used to be lot of trading of music between Natives and Settlers in the early days.

I have always thought that "Turkey in the Straw" didn't fit into the general scheme of hoedown music and wondered about its origins.

Could it be that this was one tune that we borrowed from the natives? It sounded much more at home in that episode of Northern Exposure than in any Square Dance.

Bert.