 My Better Self (2005) [ larger cover art ] |
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Who's afraid of the sun?
Who'd question the goodness of the mighty?
We who banish the threat,
When your little ones all go nighty-nighty.
Well, there's no time for doubt right now
and less time to explain.
So get back on your horses,
kiss my ring, join our next campaign.
And the empire grows with the news that we're winning.
With more fear to conquer
and more gold thread for spinning.
Bright as the sun, shining on everyone.
Some would say that we forced our words
and we find that ingenuously churlish.
Words are just words.
Don't be so pessimistic, weak and girlish.
We like strong, happy people
who don't think there's something wrong with pride,
Work makes them free
and we spread that freedom far and wide.
And the empire grows,
the seeds of its glory,
For every five tanks,
plant a sentimental story,
till they worship the sun,
even Christ-loving ones.
And we'll kill the terror who rises
and a million of their races.
But when our people torture you
that's a few random cases.
Don't question the sun
It doesn't help anyone.
But the journalist cried out
when it was too late to stop us.
Everyone had awakened
to the dream they could enter our colossus.
And now I'm right,
here you said I'm right,
there's nothing that can harm me.
Cause the sun never sets
on my dungeons or my army.
And the empire fell
on it's own splintered axis.
And the emperor wanes
as the silver moon waxes.
And the farmers will find our coins
In their strawberry fields
while somebody somewhere
twists his ring as someone kneels.
Oh where is the sun, shining for everyone.
Oh where is the sun, shining for everyone.
| GarageDragon | Posted: Mar 29, 2013 - 10:58 This should be followed by Eliza Gilkyson's "Highway 9" |
| lemmoth (NYC) | Posted: Mar 29, 2013 - 10:58 rlr511 wrote: Please play more of Dar Williams!  and less Neil Young! Just a wild guess here, if you suggested to Dar Williams that you'd like to her less Neil Young, I think she's say something like, "Are you freaking nuts, Neil is a freaking genius and his music has been an inspiration to me and pretty much every mucisian I know. Now go home and listen to "Comes a Times" and yeah, follow it up with one of my records, thanks, |
| atthetone | Posted: Feb 10, 2013 - 17:51 rolls along nicely |
| gvan (From inside the house!) | Posted: Nov 08, 2012 - 15:54 This sounded SO good in '06. Still does. |
| Carl (The Summit City) | Posted: Jun 19, 2012 - 18:08 bindi wrote: funny cover shot - she apparently has a great sense of humor . . .on top of being really talented! She sure seems to have a great sense of humor and her songs bear that out—especially on her Mortal City album check out "The Pointless, Yet Poignant, Crisis Of A Co-ed," "The Christians And The Pagans," "As Cool As I Am," and "Southern California Wants To Be Western New York" for some really big smiles. Dar combines poignancy and humor wonderfully. She's one of my all-time favorites! |
| smackiepipe (Western North Carolina) | Posted: May 03, 2012 - 06:09 macbags wrote: Have I grown old, or has paradise? Don't telll me its me. paradise use to be sooooooo good. Really Interesting. You've posted the same line in almost every song played this morning. Maybe it is time to find another station. I'm sorry you feel that way, macbags. |
| ycb661 | Posted: May 03, 2012 - 06:08 Can Dar and Michael Stipe get together to make a concept album about Fox News / Rush Limbaugh? |
| bindi (North Carolina) | Posted: Dec 28, 2011 - 10:13 funny cover shot - she apparently has a great sense of humor . . .on top of being really talented! |
| MiracleDrug (Earth) | Posted: Dec 12, 2011 - 05:21 rlr511 wrote: Please play more of Dar Williams! and less Neil Young!or just less Neil Young...  |
| randyblew (Raleigh, NC) | Posted: Nov 10, 2011 - 12:29 Dar is really a very good artist. Saw her ages ago at Cat's Cradle with a tight backing band, and a very soulful, fun and sweet show. Thanks Bill and RP for the depth and breadth of your programming. |
| rlr511 (Philadelphia) | Posted: Sep 08, 2011 - 13:07 Please play more of Dar Williams! and less Neil Young! |
| Carl (The Summit City) | Posted: Jul 07, 2011 - 19:36 lmic wrote: Kittee wrote: Love Dar. Her songs are so thoughtful and deep. And clever, and smart, and sassy, and cutting, and uplifting, and.. and ... and....Agree — enjoyed her music for years. I think that her The Christians and the Pagans is one of the most fun and hopeful songs ever! Also, What Do You Hear In These Sounds, It Happens Every Day, After All, Traveling Again, and many others. She's great! |
| TerryS (Another SW) | Posted: Jul 07, 2011 - 19:27 I like this version of Dar better than her live performances ( which are usually small backing, if any) in my neck o' the woods. |
| fredriley (Nottingham, UK) | Posted: Jun 06, 2011 - 03:57 macbags wrote: Have I grown old, or has paradise? Don't telll me its me. paradise use to be sooooooo good. Really It's you. RP plays a lot of modern (as in, released in recent years) music, and this track is barely 6 years old. I've been with RP for many years and the mix has continually changed during that time, and every day I listen I hear new songs. Your repeated comment is getting a bit old, too. |
| Null (Out there (where the truth is)) | Posted: Jun 06, 2011 - 03:56 macbags wrote: Have I grown old, or has paradise? Don't telll me its me. paradise use to be sooooooo good. Really Its You!! |
| laozilover (Left of Chicago and up) | Posted: Mar 19, 2011 - 08:21  My favorite song of hers.  |
| Stingray (EUROPE) | Posted: Jan 15, 2011 - 17:38 SOOOO LOVELY! |
| macbags (atlanta) | Posted: Jan 15, 2011 - 17:37 Have I grown old, or has paradise? Don't telll me its me. paradise use to be sooooooo good. Really |
| birdlandbill | Posted: Dec 30, 2010 - 20:09 Vega chops and lyrical bite. |
| perikleshokie (Raleigh,NC) | Posted: Aug 25, 2010 - 19:12 Dat Dar song kinda sucks. |
| calypsus_1 | Posted: Jun 28, 2010 - 15:46  the babysitter is here by ~BlackPeregrin ©2009-2010 ~BlackPeregrin Dar Williams at a free concert in the park. Titled because that was the song she was singing at the time. I could tell because her face was a little scrunched up, since she was singing as a kid. |
| lmic (Harmless Little Bunny) | Posted: May 06, 2010 - 16:12 Good riddance, Bush Era!  |
| fredriley (Nottingham, UK) | Posted: Mar 04, 2010 - 07:08 "kiss my ring"? Whatever you say, ma'am :o). With a voice like that, I'd get on my knees anytime  |
| ksua | Posted: Oct 13, 2009 - 11:16 Do you ever listen to a song a bunch of times, but never pay close attention, but then there is one day when you listen to the lyrics, I just had that experience with this song, and I was really surprised... |
| lmic (Narrow Minded Couch Potato) | Posted: Sep 11, 2009 - 22:15 Perfect for September 11. Thanks, Bill. |
| fingerpin (OhiO) | Posted: Aug 11, 2009 - 10:17 FluorideFreeMN wrote: I have to add Dar as one the artists that looks nothing like how I'd imagine based on her voice! She's a fairy in her spare time.  |
| WayUpNorth (Down on the Farm) | Posted: Aug 11, 2009 - 10:16 membeth wrote: It's odd, Dar sounds far more like Suzanne Vega on this song than she normally does. Great song though. Agreed. I never noticed the similarity before I heard this song. |
| lawman (Newcastle upon Tyne, UK) | Posted: Jun 25, 2009 - 04:16 stromdal wrote: This song can be summed up in one word: "meh". Giving it a 4 because it doesn't hur my ears. It doesn't do ANYTHING to my ears. I wish your fecking comments were as positive as the energy that you put into your bleeding sig, mate. |
| stromdal (Just to the left of that store that sells weird imported foods that I have no idea how to prepare. I mean - I can hardly pronounce some of the names, let alone know what to do with the stuff.) | Posted: Jun 25, 2009 - 04:14 This song can be summed up in one word: "meh". Giving it a 4 because it doesn't hurt my ears. It doesn't do ANYTHING to my ears. |
| HonduranRed (Tegucigalpa, Honduras) | Posted: May 24, 2009 - 10:26 HarrO wrote: Outstanding !! YES!! |
| HarrO (Just Down the Hill from Paradise) | Posted: Apr 22, 2009 - 18:32 Outstanding !! |
| lmic (Narrow Minded Couch Potato) | Posted: Apr 22, 2009 - 18:32 Kittee wrote: Love Dar. Her songs are so thoughtful and deep. And clever, and smart, and sassy, and cutting, and uplifting, and.. and ... and.... 10+++++++ |
| laozilover (Left of Chicago and up) | Posted: Apr 22, 2009 - 18:31 conglif wrote: Tasty... ...and relevant.  Amen!  Why do I not have any of her albums?!?  |
| conglif | Posted: Mar 22, 2009 - 05:41 Tasty... ...and relevant. |
| membeth (san diego (but missing austin)) | Posted: Feb 02, 2009 - 14:34 Shimmer wrote: K-BILLY wrote: I came to see if this was "Suzanne Vega" Me too. Sure sounds like Ms. Vega, all the way down to her style of enunciation. Quite the homage, although perhaps not an intentional one.  It's odd, Dar sounds far more like Suzanne Vega on this song than she normally does. Great song though. |
| greyfin10 (Panama City, FL) | Posted: Dec 17, 2008 - 09:01 Ah, the Neocon Anthem. Spot on imho. |
| catsoup (Euclid, OH) | Posted: Dec 01, 2008 - 08:43 Looking forward to hearing this on January 20th. |
| Shimmer (Bethesda, MD) | Posted: Dec 01, 2008 - 08:42 K-BILLY wrote: I came to see if this was "Suzanne Vega" Me too. Sure sounds like Ms. Vega, all the way down to her style of enunciation. Quite the homage, although perhaps not an intentional one. |
| vit | Posted: Dec 01, 2008 - 08:39 hey if you want some real music there's some Sonny Landreth Dengue Fever on the LRC. |
| MediaGrrl (Yank in London) | Posted: Oct 15, 2008 - 07:34 thanks Bill, I love this song! |
| vandal (arriving somewhere, but not here. . .) | Posted: Sep 29, 2008 - 08:22 bitbanger wrote: Silly syllogism More like a specious syllogism. . . |
| keller1 (In A Gadda Da Vida, Baby) | Posted: Sep 29, 2008 - 08:08 Gednabb wrote: No melody at all. Dull dull dull. Man ... am I listening to the same song? |
| sub-arctic (63°50' N) | Posted: Sep 26, 2008 - 07:37 laozilover wrote: Often wrongly attributed - more likely to have come from Churchill. SmilinJimmy wrote: Nope. Orwell. And here's what wikiquote has to say about it. |
| Kittee (NC) | Posted: Sep 26, 2008 - 07:26 Love Dar. Her songs are so thoughtful and deep. |
| gekkosan (Ithaca, NY) | Posted: Aug 25, 2008 - 18:31 crockydile wrote: Tangential Thought: It is not possible to wage a war on terror(ism). The phrase betrays a fundamental lack of understanding of terrorism. Terrorists are humans (not demons) who have lost hope in changing their world through "normal channels." We could wage war on hopelessness...  The thing is, you assume that terrorist leaders are true idealists fighting for what they consider to be a good cause. I believe that might hold true for some of the faithful followers, but don't think that terrorist leaders are really that honest in their convictions. Lest I be misunderstood, and pegged as sympathizing for any one given cause, my definition of "terrorist" includes leaders from all continents, and most political flags. Anyone who seeks to impose and ideal -or an idea - through force, war and killing (coercion through terror) is, in my books, a terrorist. And thus I can think of quite a few that have no sustainable reason to have" lost hope" about anything. On the other hand, perhaps (*perhaps*) some guerrilla fighters might be granted some understanding of their actions, under your general premise. |
| reindeer (The Constitution State) | Posted: Jul 28, 2008 - 03:14 "Work makes them free", ah yes, well said Dar. "Arbeit Macht Frei" for English speakers. A great protest song. We need more people like you speaking out against this great evil and injustice. |
| Ntropy (Cleveland, OH) | Posted: Jun 26, 2008 - 13:49 IMGoph wrote: the empire continues to grow...bush has decided that torture must be one of the weapons in the american arsenal....
"when our people torture you, that's a few random cases" turns out to be a lie. it ain't random. The brilliance in this song is it's use of imagery and sarcasm. Where's that 11 button?!?!? |
| lmic (Sacramento, CA) | Posted: Jun 23, 2008 - 13:33 But the journalist cried out when it was too late to stop us. Too late indeed. The New York Times is truly complicit in the messes we're in in Iraq and Afghanistan. |
| Gednabb (New York City) | Posted: Jun 23, 2008 - 13:32 No melody at all. Dull dull dull. |
| SquatterMadras (UK) | Posted: May 10, 2008 - 12:17 K-BILLY wrote: So get back on your horses,
kiss my ring, join our next campaign. Thanks for the lyrics - I just had to check that she really DID just sing "Kiss my ring" !!  |