Williams grew up in Santa Cruz, CA. At 17, she signed a recording contract with PLG/SonyBMG and moved to the friendly, muggy town of Nashville, TN. She co-wrote and recorded several albums and realized after 7 years of being on the road full time that it was song-writing that kept tugging at her heart. Williams is now signed as a full-time writer with Judy Stakee at Warner/Chappell in LA and is with ASCAP. She writes for various projects daily with a team of very talented people from around the globe. She has the chance to work with American Idol finalists, rock bands, pop acts, indie artists, tv/film projects, CCM, country and more. Williams has also recently formed a new record label with her husband Nate Yetton, called Sensibility Music LLC, to facilitate recording and releasing new Joy Williams music in the future.
Since starting Sensibility Music Williams has had several of her songs featured prominently in hit TV shows. "Charmed Life", "Speaking a Dead Language" and "Sunny Day" have been in episodes of the hit ABC drama Grey's Anatomy; "If You Wanna Go" and "One of Those Days" in Lifetime's breakout drama Drop Dead Diva; "Sunny Day" in the CW's 90210, and "tightrope" was featured on The WB's "One Tree Hill".
In 2010 Oscar Mayer settled on Doesn't Get Better Than This from Joy to be their new add campaign song. According to Mayers "[Joy] wrote what ended up being the tag line for the whole campaign, “It doesn’t get better than this.”
In May of 2010, Williams recorded and released two brand new songs whose profits went towards Nashville's flood relief efforts. The first song was called "We Are" and was avalible for download via NoiseTrade's download widget. The second flood relief song was titled "Let's Jump" and was released on Ten Out of Tenn's Nashville benefit compilation, "We Are All In This Together".
In addition to her solo endeavors, Williams has recently begun a new band with fellow singer and songwriter, John Paul White, called The Civil Wars. "Poison & Wine", The Civil Wars' debut studio single, has been featured in Grey's Anatomy, episode 609, "New History".
Say Goodbye
Joy Williams Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
My familiar stranger
Everything's changed
You have come so far
You're different now
Would you go back, would you want to anyhow
[Chorus]
To the you I knew before
Say hello, say hello to a new beginning
Say goodbye, say goodbye
To the you I knew before
This is your genesis
Face to face
The present and past collide
And it's no mistake
I see the future is in your eyes
You seem so free
Like nothing's ever gonna keep you down
[Chorus]
You're different now
You're different somehow
You're different now
[Chorus]
Say goodbye, say goodbye
Joy Williams's song Say Goodbye portrays the universal theme of change and self-discovery. The lyrics suggest the story of one person witnessing another's transformation, and subsequently bidding farewell to their old self. The opening line, "I saw you today, my familiar stranger," describes the moment where the singer comes across someone they recognize but cannot relate to anymore. The lines "Everything's changed, you have come so far" and "You're different now" indicate that the person in question has undergone a significant transformation. The questions, "Would you go back, would you want to anyhow," reflect the uncertainty that sometimes comes with a major life change.
The chorus, "Say goodbye, say goodbye to the you I knew before. Say hello, say hello to a new beginning. This is your genesis," reinforces the notion that the past has been left behind, and the future holds new opportunities. The line "face to face, the present and past collide, and it's no mistake" conveys the message that the transformation was significant and inevitable.
Overall, Joys Williams's "Say Goodbye" is a beautiful and uplifting song that encourages us to let go of the past, embrace the present, and look forward to the future.
Line by Line Meaning
I saw you today
I encountered you today
My familiar stranger
You still carry a semblance of familiarity with you, but at the same time, you appear distant and unfamiliar
Everything's changed
Everything appears different
You have come so far
You have progressed significantly
You're different now
You have changed quite a bit from how you used to be
Would you go back, would you want to anyhow
Do you have a desire to return to the way things were before, or to relive past experiences?
Say goodbye, say goodbye
Bid farewell to what once was
To the you I knew before
The person you used to be
Say hello, say hello to a new beginning
Welcome a fresh start
This is your genesis
This is the beginning of something for you
Face to face
In close proximity
The present and past collide
The current moment and the past are intersecting
And it's no mistake
This wasn't a coincidence
I see the future is in your eyes
I can sense a future unfolding in front of you
You seem so free
You appear to be unburdened and liberated
Like nothing's ever gonna keep you down
It appears as though no obstacle could hinder your progress or drag you down
Lyrics © MUSIC SERVICES, INC., Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: JOY ELIZABETH WILLIAMS, BEN GLOVER, JASON INGRAM
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
KarissyS
i sang this song at my graduation!!! it was amazing!
Jonny Meyers
Amazing
blackhawk1491
1: She's only like 25 or something like that 2: She is beautiful just like all the creatures God made.
tomorrowistoday7
Melody, lyrics, and a melody/lyric combination are both covered under copyright. Under current copyright law, this is pretty much a slam dunk case - same scale degrees happening on the same beats, with mostly the same words on the same notes. If people aren't suing, they may have other reasons. It's possible they're both ghostwritten by the same writer, or that Interscope just has too many lawyers. Or maybe something got solved under the table.
April Beup
OMG! IT IS! But Joy Williams wrote this song a while ago! OMG! Tamarmusic took it! Maybe unintentionally but whoa!
emily mate
i heard this on the hills today good song :)
RTGT317
To add to my previous comment, there are several songs out there that have similar tunes in at least a part of their song. For example: High School Musical 2 - Everyday (in the first verse) & Lion King - Can You Feel The Love Tonight. Just because a small part of their song sounds similar does not mean that Tamar stole the song.
blackhawk1491
What the- ? Why did someone say my comment was bad? I said she was beautiful just like everyone and everything God made and my comment is called bad? Wow... But still I <3 JOY!
ALD
i can't believe that tamar would steal a song. Maybe she heard this song somewhere, and then she just remembered the melody without realizing that it was already in a song. I don't think we should jump to conclusions - after all, we've all seen that tamar can write songs, it's not like she scams all her songs off of people. :)
MrHarmonicminor
Great song but why am I singing 'Hands Clean' by Alanis to it? Oh, hang on, there is a new chord in the chorus :-)