Watch the video.
Play this on the jukebox and listen to a lot of other versions too.
You can also download all the different musical versions, in the order they went up.
Check Duke’s website, Facebook page and YouTube channel for more info.
CREDITS:
Performed by Duke Levine
Video Edited by Joan Hathaway
From Janis: Shortly after this project began, I started getting emails and Facebook posts saying “Why isn’t Duke Levine part of this?” and later, “Have you heard Duke Levine’s version yet?” I finally contacted my friend Don Dixon, who seems to know every musician in the country, and he put us in touch. One of the loveliest renditions I’ve heard, I’m so happy to have Duke join us!
By the way, like most musicians, Duke is a generous soul, so when I asked him if he was playing the wind instrument toward the end. Here’s what he said, for you players out there: “That other sound is a loop, from the ugly green pedal. I made a kinda ambient loop of guitar, mostly volume pedal swell kinda things, and that high figure is a layer that’s double speed. I make the (10 or 12 seconds) loop independent of playing with the tune, kinda in the tonality, then let it roll, and I like the random musical accidents that can happen. In this one, that little high thing really happened in some cool spots.”
As if that’s not enough, Duke’s made 5 albums of his own, plus touring with the likes of Peter Wolf, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Slaid Cleaves, and Cheryl Wheeler, just to name-drop a few. Now you know what I know!
BETTER TIMES WILL COME
(Janis Ian)
Better times, better times will come.
Better times, better times will come.
When this world learns to live as one,
oh, better times will come
When we greet each dawn without fear
knowing loved ones soon will be near
When the winds of war
cannot blow any more
Oh, better times will come
CHORUS
Though we live each day as our last
we know someday soon it will pass
We will dance, we will sing
in that never-ending spring
Oh, better times will come
CHORUS
“Better Times Will Come” words & music by Janis Ian; © Janis Ian 2020. All rights reserved; international copyrights secured. Used by permission