Iron & Wine – “Tomorrow On The Runway” (The Innocence Mission Cover)
For director Stephanie Laing’s Netflix original movie Irreplaceable You, Iron & Wine’s Sam Beam recorded a cover of “Tomorrow On The Runway,” the stunning opener from the Innocence Mission’s 2003 album Befriended. The movie premiered last month, and the cover might have slipped by unnoticed if not for a lovely new video that emerged today featuring Beam performing it at the Wilco Loft in Chicago.
Whenever Beam covers a song he makes it sound many decades old, so it’s weird to think the original Innocence Mission track came out after Iron & Wine’s classic 2002 debut album The Creek Drank The Cradle. Anyone who prefers that style to Iron & Wine’s more ornate latter-day sound will be pleased to learn Beam executes this performance in the stripped-down solo acoustic mode that defined his early discography.
At NPR, Beam explained how the cover came to be:
Stephanie approached me about a particular scene in the film and asked if I could write an original song. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to commit to that, but when “Tomorrow On The Runway” came to mind, it seemed like a wonderful match. The song feels like an elegy, which was appropriate for the tone of the movie, and it’s long been a favorite of mine because the melody is so beautiful. Working with Stephanie was a pleasure, and I’ve been an Innocence Mission fan for a long time, so getting a chance to record one of their songs was a real treat, as well.
Watch the Jamie Fleischel-directed footage below.
Lomelda recently covered the Innocence Mission’s “You Are The Light,” and that was cool too.