Why I Love Dar Williams

There are so many blog entries I want to write, but these days I feel like I'm running in place as far as my to do list is concerned. But I did want to take a few minutes and just gush over Dar Williams for a bit.

I've loved Dar since my freshman year in high school, when I first heard "The Ocean" on 89.7 The River. Last night, I saw her in concert for the second time, and as I sat enraptured by her beautiful voice and adorable stories, I could not help but think that I was a pretty intuitive as a teenager. Over the years, her music has so closely reflect my journey into adulthood in ways I could have never imagined.

Last night I also noticed something that is becoming a bit of a trend with me - I was hearing her music in a new way. I recognized this new-hearing earlier this month with some music by Sara Groves (another woman who writes the soundtrack to my life). I've listened to these songs over and over and over, but all of a sudden, it's like they are speaking to me in a way they never did before. Last night, as I was driving home from the concert it dawned on me that maybe it's not just that I'm hearing things in a new way. Maybe it's that, after the events of the past year, I'm finally allowing myself the time and room to indulge in the things I love - to find out, after all, why I love them.

So I wanted to post here the two songs that had the biggest impact on me last night. The first is the song "After All." This is one of those songs I've heard again and again, but last night, I was brought to tears when Dar played it and I cried even more when I listened to it on the ride home. She explained there was a time in college where she came to the end of her rope, and while she doesn't often like to revisit the experience (and thus, she gets criticized for being a folk singer that's "too happy"), she will reflect on that time in her life occasionally. This song is a product of such reflection.



And if that wasn't enough, she followed up "After All" with "Iowa." Really, I don't know if anything could be more moving to me after this summer than sitting in that theatre in Iowa City, singing this song along with everyone else gathered there (even if it might mean we are taking the song out of its original context).



The other great thing about this clip is you get a sense of how freaking cute Dar is when she starts to ramble on during her songs.

So, I know I might be being a bit elusive here about why having "Iowa" follow "After All" on the play list was so meaningful to me. But that's a long story...and one that I hope I might be able to share with you another time and only, as Heather B. Armstrong says, in three second sentences.