Iowa (Traveling III) - Dar Williams (original recorded)

[WriterPal]

this is a beautiful song I love Dar & I love Iowa as well two of my very close friends moved back to their home in Des Moines I miss them very much this video touched my heart because of that to me the pictures don't matter much but I would like to see some pictures of iowa although these pictures were just as beautiful.

[polarbeach]

Ron Paul

[voldemortwillkillu]

personally idc where the damn pics are from. all the other versions on youtube are live songs and covers, which werent what im in the mood for. thank you for uploading <3

[broccolipopper]

I never had a way but the hills of Iowa make it possible that i can (Gay marriage is legal in Iowa

[MultiCull]

This song is my freakin' life story! I love it!

[msdkitty87]

I love this song so much!

[melonlemonade2]

great video



[sp0ttedp0ny330]

got to see Miss Dar some years ago in a lil club in Ashville, NC...OUTSTANDING!!! drivin me crazy, tryin to recall/find the songs she did in "Smoke Signals"..geeesh! and you did a GREAT vid...i've been to Iowa & i think a lot of the pics look like it...;) some folks (the ones complainin) just need a life!! lol

[sweetpeachgurl89]

Can you download the song Roadbuddy from her?

[tsgirl24]

I love this song so much

[penguinsReatingmybra]

this song oddly enough doesn't remind me of iowa, but a beautiful summer camp on the oregon coast.

[teaspoonme]

@penguinsReatingmybra Westwind? Me too!

[RafiwashereUS]

Beautiful!

[NCAAFProductions]

Moved from North Carolina to Iowa. Iowa is better in ever aspect of life. The people, the weather, the sports, and just the way of life. God I love the state

[BlakeRenaud]

I miss home.

[nekyob]

Iowa is the greatest state ever too bad culver closed about 70 schools and high school includeing mine it sucks and I have to drive thirty minuets to get to school now

[qoqo62]

@retroiowagirl86: This year I moved from my parent's home in Iowa City to college in New York City. Both have huge advantages, truly... it boggles the mind! This song is even more refreshing when you're not in Iowa, definitely.

[RatcliffeDavid]

I-uh-wha..??

[myjacobs]

Some are definitely NOT Iowa!

[VadikKMV]

Maybe the most beautiful song I ever heard.

From Russia.

[MartyMartin87]

.... And I want to be there, just to feel how it feels, how it smells. Thank god for this american beautie!

[ehswan]

Interesting, for what I saw of Iowa was that the people had shoved all the rest of life out so that they could grow corn and the hell with every other life form!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[schneid75]

@ehswan Wow, shows how little you know about farming and clearly you never ventured off the Interstate. It costs tax payers a lot of money to pay farmers to stop harvesting the most fertile soil on the planet. We do what we can.

[zuleikabd]

You did a great job at the video. Thanks for the time you put into it. :)

[Gabelovescourtney]

THUMBS UP TO THE IOWA YOUNG WRITERS STUDIO WHO MISS IOWA!!!

[ForLoveLoveLove]

@Gabelovescourtney IYWS ftw!! I never, ever would have thought the state of Iowa would have such a fond place in my thoughts.

[Gabelovescourtney]

@ForLoveLoveLove What year where you in? ^^

[ForLoveLoveLove]

@Gabelovescourtney Second session this year. What about you?

[Gabelovescourtney]

@ForLoveLoveLove Me too!!

[wallish]

I went to college in central Iowa. This was THE theme song of our school! Makes me ache for the hills and the prairies.

[sterlingshiner]

what does obeyed mean?? (in the lower left corner, beginning)

[Cassierockz505]

"What is love, where did it get me? Whoever thought of love is no friend of mine." If you go/went to Camp Westwind, you would know this song by heart <3 <3 <3

[TheMCStevenR]

you have a very nice voice.

[sterlingshiner]

@TheMCStevenR it's not the poster's voice, it's dar william's.

[Clifurd]

I am fairly certain most of these pics are not of Iowa

[schneid75]

Dar performed at 80/35 this month and drew a really nice crowd. She was the alternative to the hip-hop opener for headliner Modest Mouse. So Iowa music lovers, get you tails to 80/35 next year, it is a fantastic festival where you can experience AMAZING music like Dar Williams. 34,000 people can't be wrong.

[Melquiades72]

This song was my Song of the Day today (meet in montauk dot com).

[TheBadenBoy]

I am from Germany and I have visited several places in the USA but since 4 years I only visit Iowa because it is the most beautifull place in the USA or even in the whole World !!!!!!!

[hansmartinjames]

@TheBadenBoy Ich bin ein Austauschschüler aus Iowa und bin gerade in Baden-Württemberg bis August. Es freut mich sehr, dass Sie Iowa mögen ;)

[Igby95]

I have lived in Philadelphia for 5 years and after a messy breakup I am moving back to Iowa. This is a song I felt I wanted to write but could never get my thoughts in order. Iowa I am coming home...

[ErieBoy62]

I never heard of this Dar Williams but when I saw the title of the song "Iowa" I was intrigued and thought I would give it a listen. The picking grabbed me immediately and her voice is quite fetching which made me warm to the music and artist directly. The song is rather haunting and mercurial but I like it. It also causes me to want to "Go West Young Man" and check out Iowa. This is what I love about life; you find something new everyday.

[xieqisong]

Thanks for posting this. I understand that some or many of the photos don't match the state, but they go beautifully with the feeling of the music. This feeling you've captured however fleeting, as well as the music, make me want to check Iowa out for myself; see if it is 'god's country', friendly people and fucked up ones, as some of your viewers have remarked. It's the fleet-footed moment that counts and throws up varying impressions of any one place. So, thanks again, for this one.

[lorrarrrt]

Why would you sing a beautiful song about Iowa and not have a picture of the one or two trees that Iowa has. Shameful if you ask me. We also need more pictures of corn.

[123Steaky]

1:53 looks kinda like parts of Oregon.

[xrockangelx]

Hi! This is beautiful. Thanks so much for posting... Any chance you could post "Traveling Again (Traveling I)"? I can't find it anywhere! =)

[lilnasty59]

I dont know if we are all talking about the same Iowa I live here and have my whole life there is nothing to do in Iowa but get fucked up all the time on whatever you can get your hands on and everyone i know does this

[TheFerry91]

oh man tis country and the song is great.

[ScripsDylan]

I am a Northeast Iowa native. Lived here my entire life. You can't even begin describe the warmth and feeling of home Iowa gives. I hear this song for the first time yesterday and was blown away. Thank you, Dar Williams and la petite souris.

[KennieMack]

i LOVE this song! soo many memories!! :( i miss iowa :(

[Jannyfly]

Yea, we don't have mountains and gorges in Iowa. More rolling hills dotted with cattle, and fields of corn and beans as far as the eye can see. Where do I send the authentic "Iowa" photos?

[Talehorn]

A beautiful song by an amazing artist

[thewalking]

"The screen doors of discretion"... good God, she's incredible.

[Chazranman]

Well as a native I can attest that several photos could be of Iowa and several are efinately not would be nice for someone to recreate this with actual pics of Iowa of which I would be more than happy top donate some that i have of Northeast Iowa. Who ever has the time and talent and wants to do a redo drop me a note

[obeyed]

@Chazranman: Send me a message, so you can send me your pictures. I'll be happy to remake a video if it bothers people this much. It's all about the music folks, that's what I'm doing this for..?

[retroiowagirl86]

Last year i moved from New York to Iowa. I've never felt so welcome by people before! The Iowa welcome sign speaks the truth. Iowa is God's country and i've found faith here (unlike New York). Beautiful scenery, clean crisp air, friendly people, it definately beats polluted, congested and expensive NYC!

[raymond837]

@retroiowagirl86 interestingly, nyc is the "greenest" city in america precisely because of its density. Check out the article "Green Manhattan" by David Owen online if you are interested. But I agree that Iowa is beautiful. And the people are super friendly.

[jblundy86]

@retroiowagirl86

Iowa, man, thats the heartland... where the heart is left< i moved to seattle, from iowa and people r just diff and rude.

[iowagirl2007]

Beautiful!! Bravo, obeyed. Bravo Dar Williams.

[musicsonny]

gay or not gay, great song, great video!

[marimbadearco]

It's possible all photos are from Iowa, those several are suspiciously more like California! Here in Iowa it definitely ain't Kansas, or good part of Illinois: flat as a pancake. But few of the hills are like the bigger ones shown here: the softer, rolling hills, like the painting "Bend in the River" featured among the photos.

What doesn't show is the barren windswept cold for half the year and stifling humidity w/ killer heat for half the summer.

That leave about 3 good months on average.

[calebd90]

well i live in iowa and i cant say if the pics are iowa for sure but they definatly look like it iv lived here my whole life and its nice to finally see someone show the world that theres more here then just corn

[starkshift]

Gay marriage or not, this is far and away my favorite Dar song. :)

[teggenkamp]

love this song. a happy coincidence for that i just remembered, Ah, Iowa- Gay Marriage!

[bigbear585]

most iowans are not in favor of the gay marriage, nothing against gays just not in favor of gay marriage

[marimbadearco]

Sorry, but polls in fact have shown that in fact majority of Iowans do NOT object to homosexual marriage -- our state politicians aren't going to stick their neck out too far, they know they have basic, if somewhat shallow, support from their Iowan constituency.

[aidansdad22]

yay for the song (which is one of my favorites ever) and for the state and their ruling today!

[loakleaf]

I've had this song run through my head all day 'cause of today's ruling. :)

[orthodonticjake]

GAY MARRIAGE HOORAY

[Lancealotbob]

@orthodonticjake

I live in California but things like this make me proud to be from Iowa.

[RonaldReaganRocks1]

@orthodonticjake yuck

[xrockangelx]

Anyone know where I can find Part II? That's always been my favorite! =)

[MMAniac76]

PM me your e-mail address and I'll send you the track :)

[madatz2010rox]

I love this song. Is it just me, or does it have a lot of gay references? (that's how I've always interpreted it anyways) It starts out with "I've never had a way with women" and references being in the closet and not loving someone acceptable "we don't like to make our passions other people's concerns" and "how I long to fall just a little bit, to dance out of the lines and stray from the light." does anyone have any other ways of interpreting this song?

[tannsolo]

that's absolutely what it's about -- a woman who does not fall in love with women, but who sometimes feels the tug for that kind of desire, especially when she is moved by seeing the hills of Iowa.

[1LBRTY]

I'm guessing that one woman can feel intimidated by other women in the competition for beauty and power without the tug of sexual desire. Both options are possible. It's easy to be male and to relate to her lyrics. Her lyrics are very human!

[tannsolo]

Certainly true -- all three things you say. I was speaking to her own explanation of the song's lyrics, however. Like all good art, it has the power to mean what people experience it as meaning!

BTW i need to thank you, 1LBRTY. I went to your page and consequently learned about the most hilarious person -- Ms Tran in Sydney. My GOD that woman is funny! Thx. . . . :)

[Bobfromnebraska]

Maybe not what it's absolutely about. First, the narrator's gender is unknown. Maybe narrator 1 is a guy who was with a woman but is now alone (or has always been alone), and the hills of Iowa make him reflect on missing the female relationship. The song may switch narrative voice to the lover he left, then to her "friend", then back to her as she recognizes that, like her friend, she, too, feels alone and abandoned by her lover. But the gay interpretations are equally plausible.

[tannsolo]

Yes. As I said, I was speaking above to Dar Williams' own explanation of the song's lyrics, since she wrote them! However, like all good art, its meaning can shift and grow to accomodate interpretations that others bring to it!

[Bobfromnebraska]

We certainly agree that there's plenty of space here to accommodate many interpretations. Many facets to this diamond. Cheers.

[IndigoJo]

I saw Dar Williams live in London in 1996, and she said the hills of Iowa looked rather "bosomy". However, the narrator's actual gender is undeclared, as the official website makes clera.

[fodsaks]

OMG! I was there too!

The Jazz Cafe, right? One of the best gigs I've ever been to. Just Dar and a guitar.

[IndigoJo]

@fodsaks No, in 1996 at the Purcell Room on the London South Bank complex.

[kevinlovesceri]

@IndigoJo

I remember that now! Lovely concert, but I thought it was a bit later. Dar was in the queue for coffee, just in front of me.

[macychick]

Actually, I heard that Dar wrote the line "I've never had a way with women" to mean that she was a straight woman; yet people misunderstood it to mean she was a lesbian who couldn't find a date. People also misunderstood the line "I will not be afraid of women" in the song "As Cool As I Am" in a similar way.

[teagieweagie]

This is my favourite song of Dar Williams, aside from Echoes

[kevinlovesceri]

Lovely images. She doesn't seem to come to England anymore. Such a shame.

[Antidrugged]

This song is gorgeous. Dar Williams is amazing.

I never found a way to say I love you, but if the chance came by...