"I went back to my hotel, where I had a guitar with four strings and a bizarre tuning: all Ds and a B. Like most of what was going on in my life, it was mangled. But I used it to write a song about the joy and pain of being human. It took about four hours."
"When I was looking through the gig guide in LA Weekly, I saw Iris DeMent and thought: That's a beautiful name. I'll call the song Iris. We recorded it in Los Angeles with producer Rob Cavallo, who got composer David Campbell to do a strings arrangement. We had never done anything like that before."
"When Iris came out as a single, the guys at Warners didn't want to work on it, but their subsidiary Reprise, down the hallway, said they would. I'm grateful to Taylor Swift, and others who have covered it, for keeping the song alive."
During a difficult period of personal transition, an opportunity arose to contribute a song to the City of Angels soundtrack alongside established artists. After viewing the film and understanding the scene requirements—an angel choosing humanity for love—the songwriter returned to a hotel room with a damaged guitar tuned unusually with all Ds and a B. This unconventional instrument became the foundation for writing a song exploring human joy and pain. The composition developed through band rehearsals and evolved significantly during professional recording with producer Rob Cavallo, who arranged orchestral strings and brought in session musicians. The final track featured mandolin and elevated slide guitar work, transforming the initial concept into a polished production that resonated widely.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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