Her voice and lyrics are mature and more together than on her previous three solo outings. Williams, who ll be in town Sunday night at the Market Hall Theatre as part of the Folk Under the Clock program, has taken her critically acclaimed songwriting to a new level on this disk. She reflects on the mysteries of the world, digs deep into personal emotions and revelations but always keeps her wit and insightful observation of the human condition. The tunes may be boppy but her sharp-witted, tender and startling honest lyrics remain the integral ingredient in her music. And fans respond to and feel the stories she tells.
People responding to specific lyrics and specific songs is always the most meaningful.
One of the more personal songs on The Green World is After All, which Williams describes as a song about the hinge in my life between depression and sanity, and where things went from there. Someone said this is going to be an important song for anyone who s experienced some form of depression, she said. I thought that would be great. It was uncanny how directly people related to the song in a way that was exactly the way I wrote it. Usually there s a nice loose fit of association between what I wrote and what people read into it and what people come back to me with in terms of how specific their experiences.