Kate, this is the first Dar song I heard, too. A local public radio DJ played it on his weekly folk/bluegrass show and I stopped whatever it was I was doing and listened and was crying by the end of the song, "Yes, yes, I was a boy too!! <sniff sniff>" LOL . She played a house concert that week in Lawrence, KS and the host accurately predicted that soon Dar would be too big to play tiny shows like this one. That was almost 10 years ago. Yikes! Two years later I went to a songwriting workshop she taught in Lyons, CO. She spent a great deal of time talking about lyric writing - it's clearly important to her. So I asked her to talk about her choice of chord progressions, and the use of open tunings, her melody lines, etc. And she said, "Hmm, I don't know...I guess I listen to a lot of Joni Mitchell." And that was all she had to say about that! Jenny Kate Bennett <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:>Dar Williams belongs to the Kate Bennett/Jewel school. Hopeful, positive, and sweet; first, last, and always.<
dar is an amazing songwriter...i would not put jewel in the same category (or me, but thanks for including me in there somewhere) & so i must print the lyrics to the first dar song i ever heard: When I Was A Boy Dar Williams I won't forget when Peter Pan came to my house, took my hand I said I was a boy; I'm glad he didn't check. I learned to fly, I learned to fight I lived a whole life in one night We saved each other's lives out on the pirate's deck. And I remember that night When I'm leaving a late night with some friends And I hear somebody tell me it's not safe, someone should help me I need to find a nice man to walk me home. When I was a boy, I scared the pants off of my mom, Climbed what I could climb upon And I don't know how I survived, I guess I knew the tricks that all boys knew. And you can walk me home, but I was a boy, too. I was a kid that you would like, just a small boy on her bike Riding topless, yeah, I never cared who saw. My neighbor come outside to say, "Get your shirt," I said "No way, it's the last time I'm not breaking any law." And now I'm in a clothing store, and the sign says less is more More that's tight means more to see, more for them, not more for me That can't help me climb a tree in ten seconds flat When I was a boy, see that picture? That was me Grass-stained shirt and dusty knees And I know things have gotta change, They got pills to sell, they've got implants to put in, they've got implants to remove But I am not forgetting That I was a boy too And like the woods where I would creep, it's a secret I can keep Except when I'm tired, except when I'm being caught off guard I've had a lonesome awful day, the conversation finds its way To catching fire-flies out in the backyard. And I tell the man I'm with about the other life I lived And I say now you're top gun, I have lost and you have won And he says, "Oh no, no, can't you see When I was a girl, my mom and I we always talked And I picked flowers everywhere that I walked. And I could always cry, now even when I'm alone I seldom do And I have lost some kindness But I was a girl too. And you were just like me, and I was just like you. ******************************************** Kate Bennett: www.katebennett.com Sponsored by Polysonics/Atlantis Sound Labs Over the Moon- "bringing the melancholy world of twilight to life almost like magic" All Music Guide ******************************************** "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed citizens can change the world, indeed it is the only thing that ever has." Margaret Mead Yahoo! Tax Center - forms, calculators, tips, and more
