Crucial Track for January 5, 2026

"The Pointless, yet Poignant, Crisis of a Co-Ed" by Dar Williams

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#365songs (5 / 365)

When I was in high school I got into Dar Williams in a big way, and this was the first song of hers I ever heard. I think it was on the venerable DC-area radio station WHFS, which maybe is most well-known now for being the origin of the "HFStival" music festival, but at the time it was a weird, eclectic station that would play just about anything (their playing this song, which is far from anything that could be called a "single" off its parent album Mortal City, is a case in point). My mental story about WHFS is that it changed owners and then became a typical "alternative" station in the late nineties, but this could just be a constructed memory based on (a) that being the arc of so many weird eclectic independent things these days and (b) other memories, of my dad complaining about it around that time. (My dad, who got into the Wallflowers until they got too popular; my dad, the archetypal hipster of my life.)

But anyway, Dar Williams. I may have actually heard this song with my mom, not my dad, but either way she was the one who ended up becoming a big fan along with me and taking me to several concerts. And continuing to attend them without me after I went to college and got into more college-typical disaffected/cynical/ironic/opaque rock bands and such. Interestingly, this song may have been the most disaffected and ironic that Dar Williams ever got, but at the time it was just the thing to draw me in as I was starting to grow out of Weird Al being the best thing ever. In 2025 it actually sounds a little too "How I Became A Liberal." One thing it — and Dar Williams in general — certainly is not is opaque.

What I remember Dar Williams for now, mostly fondly, is her earnestness, sometimes to the point of being saccharine or twee, but hitting her mark often enough. (Having been utterly charmed by her stage presence on multiple occasions probably helps.) This song wouldn't make my Top 10 Dar Williams Songs list now, but I still have a soft spot for it.