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Dar Williams — The Ocean
Album: Mortal City
Avg rating:
5.4

Your rating:
Total ratings: 268









Released: 1996
Length: 5:12
Plays (last 30 days): 0
When I went to your town
On the wide open shore,
Oh I must confess, I was drawn
I was drawn to the ocean,
I thought it spoke to me, it said, "Look at us,
We're not churches, not schools,
not skating ponds, swimming pools,
And we have lost people, haven't we though?"
Oh, that's what the ocean can know of a body,
And that's when I came back to town,

This town is a song about you.
You don't know how lucky you are,
you don't know how much I adore you,
You are the welcoming back from the ocean.

I went back to the ocean today,
With my books and my papers
I went to the rocks by the ocean,
But the weather changed quickly.
Oh the ocean said, "What are you trying to find?
I don't care, I'm not kind,
I've bludgeoned your sailors,
I've spat out their keepsakes."
Oh, it's ashes to ashes, but always the ocean.
But the ocean can't come to this town.

This town is a song about you.
You don't know how lucky you are,
You don't know how much I adore you,
You are the welcoming back from the ocean.

And the ones that can know you so well,
Are the ones that can swallow you whole.
I have a good, and I have an evil,
I thought the ocean, the ocean thought nothing,
You are the welcoming back from the ocean.

I didn't go back today. I wanted to show you,
That I was more land than water.
I went to pick flowers.
I brought them to you,
Look at me, look at them,
With their salt up the stem,
But you frowned when I smiled
And I tried to arrange them,

You said, "Let me tell you the song of this town,"
You said, "Everything closes at five.
After that, well, you just got the bars.

You don't know how precious you are,
Walking around with your little shoes dangling,
I am the one who lives with the ocean,

It's where we came from, you know,
And sometimes I just want to go back,
After a day, we drink 'til we're drowning,
Walk to the ocean, wade in with our workboots,
Wade in our workboots, try to finish the job.

You don't know how precious you are,
Walking around with your little shoes dangling,
You don't know how I am the one.
You don't know how I am the one."
Comments (37)add comment
Omg, never again 
Interesting to note that John Prine sings vocals on this tune.
I really like this. There's a naivety and simplicity in her voice here. It's really quite a good song- I don't understand the lower ratings!
I have this album. This song is pretty good, although there are probably 4-5 tunes that I like more/much more.
As Cool As I Am (the song that initially piqued my interest)
The Christians and The Pagans
The Pointless, Yet Poignant, Crisis Of A Co-Ed
Mortal City
I'm with Bill on this one.  I can understand how listeners might not love this song, but I'm perplexed by the large percentage who rated it a "3" or lower.  

Being a "math guy", however, I noticed that only 168 listeners had given the song a rating, so I realized that most listeners just didn't bother to rate the song.  

I was one of this silent majority, until Bill's remarks prompted me to give the song a rating.  I hope you keep it in the rotation, Bill.

  
At first glance, she looks a little like Gilda Radner.
 lizardking wrote:

I'll go +2 to 6 after hearing this one with a slightly different mood.  Plus BillG's comments made me feel a bit bad, so yeah...Long Live RP!! 



Yeah, I came here to defend Bill's taste after hearing his comments. Trust in Bill and RP! 
I'll go +2 to 6 after hearing this one with a slightly different mood.  Plus BillG's comments made me feel a bit bad, so yeah...Long Live RP!! 
 Antigone wrote:

This listing shows that it was Prine.

 
'Twas he.
 heeb wrote:
Very unsecure voice... This is someone who should be doing something else, whatever, just not singing!
 
Maybe you should have told her that before she started performing music and releasing records over 25 years ago.
Love it! Is this what Theresa May and her husband did before she entered politics? She should do more!
No, no, no. So bad I had to comment.{#No}
 tompoll wrote:
Anyone know who's singing backup? Sounds like John Prine.

 
This listing shows that it was Prine.
The Ocean. . .wrong title.  Tsunami is more appropriate.  A colossal cataclysm of sound.
 tompoll wrote:
Anyone know who's singing backup? Sounds like John Prine.
 
exactly my question and why I jumped on hoping to find out...  Anybody?

Not one of her best.
The two voices don't really go well together, do they?
hole-eee shit. where's the icepick?
Its dat der Dar Williams again, I like.
this song keeps getting worse and worse...

This one should be tossed INTO the ocean. {#Frustrated}


Anyone know who's singing backup? Sounds like John Prine.
 heeb wrote:
Very unsecure voice... This is someone who should be doing something else, whatever, just not singing!
 


She is very secure! Just because she hasn't had years of training doesn't mean that she is insecure.
It has good energy, and I hope she keeps singing!
I liked this album. I think Dar has a nice voice. The lyrics are kind of dark in this particular song, but overall if you give the album a couple listens you may "get" her quirky style.
I was OK with it until the LAH LAHs
hmm.. I didn\'t find it *that* bad...
If we were indulging her on her birthday, for example, I would clap politely, maybe even tell her -It was great! You should do more! And hope she didn\'t, just kept on with her day job. :(
La la la-la-la la-la-la la-la-la. La la la-la-la la-la-la la-la-la. La la la-la-la la-la-la la-la-la. La la la-la-la la-la-la la-la-la... Arghhhhhhhhh! Thank god for the ol\' mute button.
Very unsecure voice... This is someone who should be doing something else, whatever, just not singing!
I liked it. HMMM.
Wow. Really bad! Almost sounds like it\'s meant to be a joke.
God awful. It never ends!