Dar Williams at Record Archive in Rochester

[artsyg33k]

Reminds me a lot of my fundamentalist teenage years. But I won't be self-righteous about the fact that I'm no longer like that (which would defeat the whole point of criticizing such self-righteousness); I just wised up to what it was doing to me. I think Dar meant the same thing.

[BoyGenteel]

A lot more mean-spirited than Dar's earlier work...

[singingcera]

Not really; I would say this has just about the same spirit as "When I Was a Boy." It's not mean-spirited, it's angry. Sometimes it's right to be angry.

[BoyGenteel]

It doesn't have the same spirit as "When I Was a Boy." The earlier song is about challenging gender stereotypes and lamenting how everything is about sex when you're an adult. The newer work is about the exact opposite: Dar figures that everyone must be horny as a teenager, simply because she was.

[atlant80]

Uhm... Dar was a teen for god. She was religious as a teen. This is from personal experiance. And I think it is just as good as When I Was a Boy, with very similar passion. And you can challenge gender stereotypes and still be human. These fundamentalists try to do away with what makes them human, and here she is singing against it.

[BoyGenteel]

I'm not a fundamentalist, by any stretch, but I don't agree that they "try to take away what makes them human."

And there are plenty of teens who really did have something better to do than to have sex. It's not all a Christian scam...

[atlant80]

Yes, I'm not saying be a whore, but live life. Don't fight so hard to avoid having sex when you really want to with someone you love. Stay safe, and live. If that living includes sex, then more power to you.

[greengirl8810]

I do not know even that this song is angry...something about is wistful...longing for simplicity. "Then I'll laugh that I fell for the lure of the pain of desire to feel so pure."

The pain of apostasy is real...

Even after leaving a fundamentalist religion, even realizing that it is all completely false, there is still something about the memory of belief...

[musicguard08]

I love this entire song, especially the first couple of lines, becasue I've been to a church camp, and it reminded me of my experience

[greengirl8810]

This song is wonderful. It sums up my entire early life somehow. It's deeply stirring.

[82jp]

I wasn't a teenage girl, but I was really wrapped up in the whole conservative Christian scene. There's a lot from it that I've kept, but a lot I also was able to let go of (thank goodness!).

[specialk1988]

Of course it's not Christian rock - it's actually well written and sounds far more complicated musically than Christian rock does, in general. Love this song!

[arwcheek]

hey, i was there! i didn't see you taping it!