He gets the answers wrong, I have to up the watts.

I'm a die hard Dar Williams fan. I saw her when she was playing at the library in the town where she grew up. I got there before she did.

She came out with a new album today - "The Promised Land."

I'm still listening but the most notable song right now is "Buzzer"." It's about the Stanley Milgram obedience experiments - work that has both fascinated and disturbed me. The fact of the matter is that as much as I would like to think otherwise, I would press the buzzer, press the buzzer.

I've cut and paste a few of the lyrics.

The tour doesn't come to Durham, or anywhere in the Triangle. She plays in Charlotte early November so I might try to catch that.

A few lyrics.

At the graduate lab, they were doing some tests,
I pressed the buzzer, I pressed the buzzer.

They’ll be waiting at the lab.

I’m feeling sorry for the guy that I press to shock,
He gets the answers wrong, I have to up the watts.
And he begged me to stop, but they told me to go,
I press the buzzer, I press the buzzer,
So get out of my head, just give me my line.
I press the buzzer, I press the buzzer.

They called me back to the lab to discuss the test,
I put my earrings on, found my heels, wore a dress.
Right away I knew, it was like I’d failed a quiz
The man said, “Do you know what a fascist is?”
I said, “Yeah, it’s when you do things you’re not proud of,
But you’re scraping by, taking orders from above.”
I get it now, I’m the face, I’m the cause of war
We don’t have to blame white-coated men anymore.

When I knew it was wrong, I played it just like a game,
I pressed the buzzer, I pressed the buzzer,
Here’s your seventy bucks, now everything’s changed,
I press the buzzer, I press the buzzer

- Dar Williams, “Buzzer,” The Promised Land