My Better Self

I bought a new cd this weekend which is always a big event for me. As much as I love music and feel, as Wim Wenders, Lester Bangs and so many others that rock & roll makes life liveable, I can only afford a music splurge every couple of months or so. So there is pressure to make each purchase count. I went into Rasputin Records to get Aerial, the new Kate Bush cd, for my wife and something for myself. I was thinking maybe Dressy Bessy, an indy pop band Yahoo!Music introduced me to.

Anyway, I walked out of the store with Aerial and My Better Self, the latest cd by Dar Williams. I've been hearing about Dar, Cry Cry Cry, etc. for some time, and My Better Self was set up on the listening station. I listened to the first two cuts, Teen For God and I'll Miss You, and decided to go with the impulse.

I've listed to it about 3 or 4 times and I'm pretty happy with it. I think with the stuff I'm dealing with in my personal life at this moment in time, plus the general f*cked up state of the world, this soulful, somewhat poppy, sometimes sad, and irony-tinged cd is good for me now.

Dar has full, bright and beautiful voice. No screeching or guttural sounds like some of my faves. The songs have good melodies and high quality musicianship. It reminds me a little of Jewel, sound wise, but the lyrics are a lot more sophisticated. Teen For God is a catchy number about a girl at the Peace Branch Horse and Bible Camp. Trying to reconcile her desire to be a good Christian, and the other desires coursing through her teenage frame:

But God made love, God made the river run,
And cowboy boots and bathing suits
and the boys' skin dries in the sun.
Help me God.

Another song that's grabbed me is Empire, a stinging deconstruction of the horrors of the American juggernaut. Random line:

There's nothing that can harm me,
Cause the sun never sets on my dungeons or my army.

There are also covers of Neil Young's Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere, and Pink Floyd's Comfortably Numb. Devotees of Dar would probably say that some earlier classics are where I should start, but I think it supports the artists better to buy what they're doing now. Anyway, I recommend this cd and would probably buy more by Dar.

Take Care Gentle Reader!