Honesty Room

Honesty Room

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
Dar Williams's success as young '90s folkie isn't hard to discern. She has a consistent lyrical intelligence, an evocative, if sometimes cloying soprano, and a steady, graceful finger-style guitar skill. But, what's more, she has tapped into a yearning for immediacy and sincerity among her college-age (and mostly female) audience. Williams's first record is her sparest, simplest and best. The subject matter ranges from geopolitical fears, family turmoil, and gender angst, and her finest song remains "When I Was a Boy," a story of what it means to become a man or a woman: it should strike any listener with a shock of recognition. --Roy Francis Kasten

Tracks:

When I Was A Boy
Alleluia
The Great Unknown
When Sal's Burned Down
The Babysitter's Here
You're Aging Well
Traveling Again (Traveling I)
In Love But Not At Peace
Mark Rothko Song
This Is Not The House That Pain Built
I Love, I Love (Traveling II)
Flinty Kind Of Woman
Arrival

Amazon.com

Dar Williams's success as young '90s folkie isn't hard to discern. She has a consistent lyrical intelligence, an evocative, if sometimes cloying soprano, and a steady, graceful finger-style guitar skill. But, what's more, she has tapped into a yearning for immediacy and sincerity among her college-age (and mostly female) audience. Williams's first record is her sparest, simplest and best. The subject matter ranges from geopolitical fears, family turmoil, and gender angst, and her finest song remains "When I Was a Boy," a story of what it means to become a man or a woman: it should strike any listener with a shock of recognition. --Roy Francis Kasten

Customer Reviews:

Dar Rocks!.......2007-01-14

"The Honesty Room" was Dar Williams' first commercial CD. She is a hippie folk singer for Generation X. The best song on the CD is "When I Was a Boy" about being a tom boy. "The Babysitter's Here" is about being a child and having a great babysitter who has a lousy boyfriend. "Alleluia" has a great melody. Overall, an impressive first CD.

It's Aging Well.......2006-01-19

Dar's debut is utter perfection. Lyrically and musically, this is why Dar Williams became one of the premier folk singers in the U.S. and U.K. after this emerged in 1993 from a studio in Belchertown in the Pioneer Valley of Western Massachusetts, and the college town of Northampton, where Dar was living when she recorded this little gem. Overlooked, but vastly important to this record's success are the contributions of co-producer Adam Rothberg who adds crucial instrumental accompaniment to nearly every track, including a toy xylophone on "The Baysitter's Here," perhaps the definitive Dar track of all time. One cannot begin to know Dar until one hears this. It's gorgeous, and only gathers more luster with the passing of time.

One of the Great Lyricists.......2004-06-18

To me, some of the highlights of this album were --

Flinty Kind of Woman that is just a hilarious, tough Southern woman song.

When Sal's Burned Down, which had me thinking -- yeah, it IS a shame that not enough of us are really "cowboys anymore" as she puts it. Nothing more boring than obedient folks.

And Traveling which contains the great lyrics, "I'm not running away from myself, it's just myself ran away from me, and I gotta get it back."

Dar Williams is a great lyricist, and has a knack for setting her smart, honest lyrics to catchy tunes.

For myself, I liked MORTAL CITY a little better as a whole. This album almost seemed like a warm-up to that.

But if you're obsessed with Dar Williams' album, MORTAL CITY, and you want a second album -- this is the one I would get next.

Dar Williams' very best.......2003-03-29

This is my very favorite Dar Williams album. It is raw and simple, not over-produced, and that makes it all the more beautiful and moving to me. I truly love every single song on this album and it is in my top ten list of my favorite albums of all time. And that's quite an honor from me, as I'm a very eclectic music-lover with countless favorite songs, albums, and artists. If you like folk music at all, this is a must-have.

The Poet Laureat of the Cusp.......2002-12-03

The thing that makes Dar Williams unique is that we can all identify with what she's singing about. Growing up in the wake of the Baby Boomers, a little too old to really be GenX, her songs about a childhood with a hippy babysitter and cold war fears resonates with a lot of thirty-somethings out there, such as myself. But I'm fairly confident that this accoustical effort will appeal to those outside my demographic as well. And what you get with this album is a first-person confessional, not of pain and sin, but of life in America.

If you're familiar with her later recordings, this album is a nice departure from the full-band folk-rock she's become equally adept at. Most of the music on this album is simple folk guitar and Dar's vocals. The lyrics are nothing short of brilliant; personal and intimate, without ever going over-the-top to hokey. Nearly every song on this album speaks from and to the heart.

Dar has made many more albums since this one, and it's always interesting to see which new direction she's taking with each release. But even as her music gets more complex with the addition of a full band in later albums, she still maintains the pure songwriting gift that this album so spectacularly showcases.