Tag Archives: Promised Land

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Song of the Day #1,032: ‘Troubled Times’ – Dar Williams

Starting my second week of women covering songs originally performed by men is Dar Williams with her version of Fountains of Wayne’s ‘Troubled Times.’

Unlike most of the covers I’ve featured so far, this one is slavishly faithful to its source material. Williams recorded this song not because she felt she could bring some new twist to it but simply because she loves it. She’s a fan.

Fountains of Wayne’s original appeared on their 1999 album Utopia Parkway, an excellent collection worth picking up if you don’t own it already.

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Song of the Day #470: ‘Buzzer’ – Dar Williams

promisedlandLast year, Dar Williams released her seventh full-length album, Promised Land, and this one I did buy when I found it on sale recently at a local record shop. I haven’t had a chance to give it more than a few listens just yet, so I can’t give a definitive verdict, but it’s good stuff.

On the whole, it’s poppier than her early material, using more drums than I’ve ever heard in a Dar Williams song. And that’s a good thing… my one complaint about Williams’ music is that sometimes it’s a bit too airy, too at risk of floating away on its own preciousness. These new songs feel a little more earthbound.

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