Dar Williams (7/07/00)

The Green World (Razor & Tie)

One of the most acclaimed and evocative artists of her generation, Dar Williams crafts tunes that resonate with passion and integrity. On her new Razor & Tie CD, The Green World—her fourth solo outing and first since 1997—the singer/songwriter pushes her art to the next level with a collection of songs that are personal, dynamic, and poignant.

From reflecting on the mysteries of the natural world to reminding herself of the importance of maintaining a playful attitude in the midst of tumultuous times, Williams’ The Green World delivers a remarkable batch of eleven short-stories-in-song that have a transformative power. The rich, vibrant sounds of Williams’s newest work showcase her characteristically thoughtful lyrics with an ambition and reach not yet heard from this artist. The expansive scope of these songs immediately envelops you, inviting you into The Green World.

In explaining the title of the new CD, Williams refers to a key concept she gleaned from an undergrad Shakespeare class at Wesleyan University—that the playwright/bard often centered his plays on the conflict between the “closed world” and the “green world.”

“The closed world represented court life in Elizabethan England which set all the patterns of the day. It was the orderly part of life,” explains Williams. “The green world was different. It was unpredictable and chaotic. It was an unmediated place literally represented by the forest, the wilderness, where you learned things you don’t necessarily want to know about yourself. Then you would bring the lessons you learned back to the closed world, ultimately spurring the process by which civilizations change. In that respect, the closed world can only renew itself and grow with the green world’s influence.”

After college in the early ‘90s, Williams launched her music career on the Boston-Cambridge coffeehouse folk circuit. In 1994 she recorded her first collection of songs, The Honesty Room, on her own homegrown label where it was picked up by Waterbug Records, then re-released in 1995 to a wider audience by Razor & Tie, the Manhattan-based independent record label which continues to be Williams’ home.

With The Honesty Room a bona fide hit (thanks to the popularity of such gems as “You’re Aging Well” and “When I Was a Boy,” it has sold nearly 100,000 copies), Williams followed up in 1996 with her sophomore disc, Mortal City. It not only out-sold her debut, but it also received widespread critical notice. Spin magazine said “Good singer/songwriters know how to tell a story . . . As younger ones go, Dar Williams is perhaps the most promising.” And the Chicago Tribune called her “emotionally present, politically earnest, a born storyteller with a self-effacing humor and armed with a voice that soars and rattles the bones.”

In 1997, Williams upped the ante and recorded her third album, End of the Summer. It too proved to be a hit. People magazine lauded the CD, noting that the artist “challenges herself with a strong back-up band and more complex arrangements, adding a pop-rock feel to many of the tracks.” In support of the disc, Williams took to the road again, this time drawing crowds to larger venues, including Town Hall in New York City. New York Times critic Ben Ratliff hailed her September 1997 concert as a “significant mark in her career,” attributing Williams growing momentum over the last three years to word of mouth, Internet buzz and the “strenuous advocacy” of admiring radio programmers.

Williams has kept her formidable legion of fans happy by touring for a good portion of the time between End of the Summer and the recording of The Green World. A major component of her success, past tours have included stints on the Lilith Fair, the collaborative project Cry Cry Cry and have seen her share the stage with artists like Richard Thompson and Ani DiFranco. Williams also has been actively involved in many environmental and social justice movements, including her non-profit foundation, The Snowden Environmental Trust, which helps preserve wildlife habitats around the world.

For The Green World, Williams enlisted producer Stewart Lerman and recorded the album primarily in Woodstock, New York with some session work done in New York City. The main band features Steuart Smith (Shawn Colvin, Rosanne Cash) on various instruments (including guitar, keyboards, and accordion), Rob Hyman (Joan Osborne, The Hooters) on keyboards, Graham Maby (Joe Jackson, Natalie Merchant) on bass and Steve Holley (Paul McCartney, Joe Cocker) on drums. As in her previous outings, Williams showcases her appealingly complex lyrics but also opts for arrangements that infuse each song with dramatic resonance. “I am so grateful to Stewart,” she says. “He got the right musicians and guided the sessions. While all the songs are thematically unified, they have their own voices. Stewart was able to approach each song like an individual short story that took on its own life.”

Throughout her career Williams has eschewed clichéd and superficial expression in favor of digging deeper. She aspires to an artistry that not only entertains but also informs and inspires—where the personal intersects with the political, where beauty blooms from the darkness, where journeys through discord lead to clarity. “I’m just holding up mirrors at interesting places,” she says. “I’m trying to capture life at strange angles.”

And as for what category of music she sees herself in these days, Williams says, “Sixties folk rock was my original muse and the folk audience—people who listen to music off the beaten track—fostered my career. I definitely don’t want to abandon the genre but I also need to make sure I’m Dar Williams first.”

The Green World : Track-by-track

PLAYING TO THE FIRMAMENT-This gently rocking number with the Dylan-esque organ riffs (circa Highway 61 Revisited) is a profound statement about not succumbing to seriousness. It was written at a time when two of Williams' friends were dying-one of cancer, one from anorexia. "I was with a friend and his daughter at one of those paint-your-own-pottery studios and I saw how the kids were calling the shots, and the parents were being sort of shy and obedient. It seemed like a good order of things."

AND A GOD DESCENDED-Inspired by writer Isaac Bashevis Singer's book, Satan in

Goray, about a 17th century failed Messianic movement, this powerful number laments faith gone awry. Williams says, "I'm strangely sympathetic to people who join cults. They're obviously searching for more than your average mall rat.”

AFTER ALL-"This song came in on a subtle frequency. I finally went back and wrote about the hinge in my life between depression and sanity, and where things went from there."

WHAT DO YOU LOVE MORE THAN LOVE-"As far as most of my songs go, this one is a happy one," says Williams, who wrote the tune as a result of a trip to the Buddhist kingdom of Bhutan, east of Nepal. "As I was spinning the prayer wheels and visiting ancient temples, I asked myself a lot of questions about how to love without needing to be loved so much. The trip was an antidote to thinking about my touring life and career in general".

SPRING STREET-Williams wrote "Spring Street" when she was contemplating a move from the Western Massachusetts college town of Northampton to New York City while simultaneously pondering the side effects of career success. "I was just getting a bunch of royalty checks from my albums and I was feeling like maybe I could move to a little apartment on Spring Street in New York," says Williams. "There's a tug in the song between the chaotic green world of springtime the season, and Spring Street the commodity". (Footnote: Williams has moved from Northampton to a town in upstate New York.)

WE LEARNED THE SEA-"This is about a seasoned old ship captain who happens to be eight years old.”

I WON'T BE YOUR YOKO ONO-"Yoko Ono was a big hero at Wesleyan for her performance art," says Williams. "Most people only think of her as the person responsible for breaking up the Beatles."

CALLING THE MOON-Of late, Williams has been opening her live sets with this quiet ballad which the songwriter began working on in 1995. "I discovered I couldn't just will my life to slow down, and that earthy-crunchy thing of getting back to nature wasn't going to just happen." On nights when there were full moons, Williams would park her car and watch the moon through the trees. "I kept saying 'This isn't working, this isn't working', but days later those experiences were still in my mind, and I finished the song."

I HAD NO RIGHT-A poignant number about civil disobedience in the face of unjust governmental actions, this song takes its inspiration from the poetry and protests of activists Daniel and Philip Berrigan. Williams says, "They were putting the Vietnam War on trial. I was interested in how they alienated both sides – the mainstream right wing and the left-leaning Catholic workers - by challenging the war, and destroying property to do it."

IT HAPPENS EVERY DAY-This day-in-the-life song starts out quietly with the full band entering in stages. "It's about just hanging out in Northampton", Williams says. "It's a reflection of the little details involved in getting through a day."

ANOTHER MYSTERY-"I have a friend who talks about the cult of fascination, where everyone aspires to attract oohs and ahs," Williams explains. "I don't want to be fascinating; I want to be fascinated."