[dar-list] SOTW: The easy way and whineyness

[Wood Alexander]

I don't mean to take the undeserved advantage, but I
must comment on the notion that an earlier version of
the lyrics of "The Easy Way" may have been whiney.

What I've always loved about Dar's songs is the
genuineness of the emotion they express. And all of us
feel whiney at times. (In fairness, Vincent said
something very similar in the original post.) It's
easy to imagine getting tired of a singer songwriter
whose songs are consistently whiney, just as it's easy
to get tired of whiney people. But that is decidedly
not true of Dar. I just can't see this as a criticism
of a particular song.

Any male singer songwriter worthy of the name has long
since gotten over macho strictures on the emotions men
can express. Dar, while obviously a feminist, has
never let ideology get in her way. In fact, she's been
courageous about walking into potential feminist
criticism with songs like "When I was a Boy" and "You
Rise and Meet the Day."

"Whiney" is another way of saying that you express
vulnerability, and I don't see how any singer
songwriter that anyone would want to listen to could
avoid doing that. They inevitably make themselves
vulnerable by opening their thoughts and feelings to
us.

I hope neither Vincent nor anyone else takes this as
an attack on him. It's not intended that way. In fact,
it's a credit to him that something he wrote got me
thinking.

Alex

--- BornALittleLate at aol.com wrote:

> Yay Sander! Thanks for posting the lyrics..they came
> a little  jumbled on 
> this end..but I have the audio file so I remember
> them anyhow...lemme  try to see 
> if this makes the post any easier to read?
>  
> 
> The Easy Way:
> I knew a guy; 
> I thought he was my first love
> But he had to decide between me
> and the one before
> And she stacked it all up like a house of cards
> Said if he didn't come back 
> he'd find it flattened on the floor
> And though I went and
> lived in my own hell
> Thought that I could die as well
> I let him go where he
> thought he had to go
> 
> 'Cuz I never took heavy words for granted
> And I never took the undeserved advantage
> No I never took the easy way
> So why don't you take it a little easy on
> me now
> 
> Out on the road I had so many questions
> I thought I would explode just for some attention
> Like an acolyte I found the flames of towering
> tapers
> And was proselytized by the __________ gleaming
> papers
> Yeah I watched their power huddles 
> and their coats draped over puddles
> And their "trust me baby I'm the
> one you need"
> 
> And I never took heavy words for granted
> And I never took the undeserved
> advantage
> No I never took the easy way
> So you can take it a little easy on me now
> 
> 'Cuz we don't want to be the ones 
> who lie and cheat and slander
> So we hold each other up to the higher standard
> But I'll tell you what I'll never try to make
> it hard
> 'Cuz when you're hard just to be hard 
> the only thing that's hard isyou
> 
> So here's what I took 
> I kept the wine and laughter
> Until every path just grew
> up in every after
> Yeah through the peaks and twisty canyons
> I made many great companions
> Best of all's the one that loves me like you do
> 
> 'Cuz I never took heavy words for granted
> And I never took the undeserved
> advantage
> No I never took the easy way
> So you can take a little easy on me now
> I never took heavy words for  granted
> And it's much too late to even want the shortcut
> No I never took the easy way
> So you can take it a little easy on me
> now
> 'Cuz you know that easy's  never easy anyhow
> 
> {hope this works a bit better.}
>  
> I am so happy that Dar is writing again to begin
> with, I miss new  songs. It 
> feels like MBS has been out for so long now, 2 years
> in September?  Anyway, 
> when I first heard this song it was in September of
> 2006, and was  called "I 
> Never Took". It was much different, even the chorus
> was slightly  altered. When I 
> heard it then, I wasn't thrilled..I thought it was
> too short,  and dare I, 
> whiny. BUT, all that changed with this new version.
> Its twice as  long and I 
> think she really went somewhere with it. I guess the
> theme is pretty  easy, the 
> "take it a little easy on me now" part. And no
> matter who denies it,  we all 
> feel that way sometimes. The 'life isnt fair'
> mentality. I listen to this  song 
> whenever I get frustrated or stressed and it really
> calms me down. Nice  song 
> from Dar, and so glad she is keeping it in
> rotation...dont want it to be  the 
> next "The Boats That Brought Us Here". 
>  
> I love the house of cards verse, but my favorite
> lyric is perhaps  the 
> epitome of simplicity but its so perfect.."when
> you're hard just to be hard  the 
> only thing that's hard is you"..love it.
>  
> Any other thoughts fellow Darlisters?
>  
> -v-
>  
> ps- lets keep this up, I've received more emails
> today than I have  all of 
> July!
>  
>  
>  
>  
>  
> but first lets toast 
> to the lists
> that we hold 
> in our  fists
> of the things 
> that we promise to do 
> differently next time (ani  difranco)
> 
> 
> 
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