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from Ani Difranco - Revelling/ Reckoning (2006)
coming of age during the plague
of reagan and bush watching capitalism gun down democracy it had this funny effect on me I guess I am cancer I am HIV and I am down at the blue jesus blue cross hospital just lookin' up from my pillow feeling blessed and the mighty multinationals have monopolized the oxygen so it's as easy as breathing for us all to participate yes they're buying and selling off shares of air and you know it's all around you but it's hard to point and say "there" so you just sit on your hands and quietly contemplate your next bold move the next thing you're gonna have to prove to yourself what a waste of thumbs that are opposable to make machines that are disposable and sell them to seagulls flying in circles around one big right wing yes, the left wing was broken long ago by the slingshot of cointelpro and now it's so hard to have faith in anything especially your next bold move or the next thing you're gonna need to prove to yourself you want to track each trickle back to its source and then scream up the faucet 'til your face is hoarse cuz you're surrounded by a world's worth of things you just can't excuse but you've got the hard cough of a chain smoker and you're at the arctic circle playing strip poker and it's getting colder and colder everytime you lose so go ahead make your next bold move tell us what's the next thing you're gonna have to prove to yourself |
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from Ani Difranco - Revelling/ Reckoning (2006)
coming of age during the plague
of reagan and bush watching capitalism gun down democracy it had this funny effect on me I guess I am cancer I am HIV and I am down at the blue jesus blue cross hospital just lookin' up from my pillow feeling blessed and the mighty multinationals have monopolized the oxygen so it's as easy as breathing for us all to participate yes they're buying and selling off shares of air and you know it's all around you but it's hard to point and say "there" so you just sit on your hands and quietly contemplate your next bold move the next thing you're gonna have to prove to yourself what a waste of thumbs that are opposable to make machines that are disposable and sell them to seagulls flying in circles around one big right wing yes, the left wing was broken long ago by the slingshot of cointelpro and now it's so hard to have faith in anything especially your next bold move or the next thing you're gonna need to prove to yourself you want to track each trickle back to its source and then scream up the faucet 'til your face is hoarse cuz you're surrounded by a world's worth of things you just can't excuse but you've got the hard cough of a chain smoker and you're at the arctic circle playing strip poker and it's getting colder and colder everytime you lose so go ahead make your next bold move tell us what's the next thing you're gonna have to prove to yourself |
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from Ani Difranco - So Much Shouting/ So Much Laughter (2006)
How can I go home
With nothing to say? I know you're going to look at me that way And say "What did you do out there? And what did you decide?" You said you needed time And you had time You are a china shop And I am a bull You are really good food And I am full I guess everything is timing I guess everything's been said So I am coming home with an empty head You'll say "Did they love you or what?" I'll say "They love what I do The only one who really loves me is you" And you'll say "Girl, did you kick some butt?" And I'll say "I don't really remember But my fingers are sore And my voice is too" You'll say "It's really good to see you" You'll say "I missed you horribly" You'll say "Let me carry that Give that to me" And you will take the heavy stuff And you will drive the car And I'll look out the window and make jokes About the way things are How can I go home With nothing to say? I know you're going to look at me that way And say "What did you do out there? And what did you decide?" You said you needed time and you had time You had time... You had time... You had time... You had time... |
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from Ani Difranco - Out Of Range (2007)
How can I go home
With nothing to say? I know you're going to look at me that way And say "What did you do out there? And what did you decide?" You said you needed time And you had time You are a china shop And I am a bull You are really good food And I am full I guess everything is timing I guess everything's been said So I am coming home with an empty head You'll say "Did they love you or what?" I'll say "They love what I do The only one who really loves me is you" And you'll say "Girl, did you kick some butt?" And I'll say "I don't really remember But my fingers are sore And my voice is too" You'll say "It's really good to see you" You'll say "I missed you horribly" You'll say "Let me carry that Give that to me" And you will take the heavy stuff And you will drive the car And I'll look out the window and make jokes About the way things are How can I go home With nothing to say? I know you're going to look at me that way And say "What did you do out there? And what did you decide?" You said you needed time and you had time You had time... You had time... You had time... You had time... |
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from Ani Difranco - Not A Pretty Girl (2007)
you think you're not worthy
i'd have to say i agree i'm not worthy of you you're not worthy of me which of us is deserving look at the human race the whole planet at arm's length and we don't deserve this place what good is a poker face when you've got an open hand i was supposed to be cool about this yeah i remember cool was the plan tried to keep it all under wraps but the wraps kept going slack i keep turning around i keep coming back give me your vertical your horizontal line i want to take each of them bend them to fit mine the world is too good for me i am such a naughty girl but when we're together we're too good for this world you think you're not worthy i'd have to say i agree i'm not worthy of you you're not worthy of me i'm not worthy of you you aren't worthy of me... |
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from Ani Difranco - Like I Said (2007)
lying on the floor
four stories high in the corridor between the asphalt and the sky i am caught like bottled water the light daughter i wonder what you look like under your t-shirt i wonder what you sound like when you're not wearing words i wonder what we have when we're not pretending it's never-ending, haven't you heard? i don't need to tell you what this is about you just start on the inside and work your way out we are all polylingual but some of us pretend there's virtue in relying on not trying to understand we're all citizens of the womb before we subdivide into sexes and shades this side that side and i don't need to tell you what this is about you just start on the inside and work your way out undressing for the fan like it was a man wondering about all the things that i'll never understand there are some things that you can't know unless you've been there but oh how far we could go if we started to share i don't need to tell you what it is about you just start on the inside you just start on the inside and work your way out |
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from My Best Friend's Wedding (내 남자 친구의 결혼식) by James Newton Howard [omnibus, ost] (1997)
Wishin', and hopin', and thinkin', and prayin',
Plannin' and dreamin' each night of his charms, That won't get you into his arms. So if your're looking for love, you can share, All you gotta to is hold him, and kiss him, and love him, And show him that you care. Show him that you care, just for him. Do the things that he likes to do. Wear your hair just for him, 'Cause you won't get him Thinkin' and a prayin', Wishin' and a hopin', Just wishin', and hopin', and thinkin', and prayin', Planning and dreamin' His kisses will start. That won't get you into his heart. So if you're thinking how great true love is, All you gotta do is hold him, And kiss him, And squeeze him, And love him, Just do it, And after you do, You will be his. Show him that you care just for him. Do the things that he likes to do. Wear your hair just for him, 'Cause, you won't get him, Thinkin' and a prayin', Wishin' and a hopin'. Just wishin', And hopin', And thinkin', And prayin', Planning And dreamin' His kisses will start. That won't get you into his heart. So if you're thinking how great true love is, All you gotta do is hold him, And kiss him, And squeeze him, And love him, Just do it, And after you do, You will be his. You...will...be...his. you will be his! |
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from Ani Difranco - To The Teeth (2001)
i am losing my love for adventure
i'm losing all respect for me and myself tonight i wonder what happens if i get to the end of this tunnel and there isn't a light i've worn down the treads on all of my tires i've worn through the elbows and the knees of my clothing i am stumbling down the gravel driveway of desire trying not to wake up my sleeping self-loathing do you ever have that dream where you open your mouth and you try to scream but you can't make a sound that's every day starting now that's every day starting now don't tell me it's gonna be alright you can't sell me on your optimism tonight it's stiff competition to see who can stay up later the stars or the street lights all they really want is to be alone with the darkness no more wish i may no more wish i might it takes a stiff upper lip just to hold up my face i got to suck it up and savor the taste of my own behavior i am spinning with longing faster than a roulette wheel this is not who i meant to be this is not how i meant to feel i don't think i am strong enough to do this much longer god i wish i was stronger this song could never be long enough to express every longing god i wish it was longer |
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| from Ani Difranco - Like I Said (2007) | |||||
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from Steal This Movie (이 영화를 훔쳐라) by Mader [ost] (2000)
there's no place in this world where i'll belong when i'm gone.
and i won't know the right from the wrong when i'm gone. and you won't find me singin' on this song when i'm gone, so i guess i'll have to do it while i'm here. and i won't feel the flowing of the time when i'm gone. all the pleasures of love will not be mine when i'm gone. my pen won't pour out a lyric line when i'm gone, so i guess i'll have to do it while i'm here. and i won't breathe the bracing air when i'm gone. and i can't even worry 'bout my cares when i'm gone. won't be asked to do my share when i'm gone. so i guess i'll have to do it while i'm here. and i won't be running from the rain when i'm gone. and i can't even suffer from the pain when i'm gone. can't say who's to praise and who's to blame when i'm gone, so i guess i'll have to do it while i'm here. won't see the golden of the sun when i'm gone. and the evenings and the mornings will be one when i'm gone. can't be singing louder than the guns when i'm gone. so i guess i'll have to do it while i'm here. all my days won't be dances of delight when i'm gone. and the sands will be shifting from my sight when i'm gone. can't add my name into the fight while i'm gone, so i guess i'll have to do it while i'm here. and i won't be laughing at the lies when i'm gone. and i can't question how or when or why when i'm gone. can't live proud enough to die when i'm gone, so i guess i'll have to do it while i'm here. |
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from Ani Difranco - Swing Set (2006)
there's no place in this world where i'll belong when i'm gone.
and i won't know the right from the wrong when i'm gone. and you won't find me singin' on this song when i'm gone, so i guess i'll have to do it while i'm here. and i won't feel the flowing of the time when i'm gone. all the pleasures of love will not be mine when i'm gone. my pen won't pour out a lyric line when i'm gone, so i guess i'll have to do it while i'm here. and i won't breathe the bracing air when i'm gone. and i can't even worry 'bout my cares when i'm gone. won't be asked to do my share when i'm gone. so i guess i'll have to do it while i'm here. and i won't be running from the rain when i'm gone. and i can't even suffer from the pain when i'm gone. can't say who's to praise and who's to blame when i'm gone, so i guess i'll have to do it while i'm here. won't see the golden of the sun when i'm gone. and the evenings and the mornings will be one when i'm gone. can't be singing louder than the guns when i'm gone. so i guess i'll have to do it while i'm here. all my days won't be dances of delight when i'm gone. and the sands will be shifting from my sight when i'm gone. can't add my name into the fight while i'm gone, so i guess i'll have to do it while i'm here. and i won't be laughing at the lies when i'm gone. and i can't question how or when or why when i'm gone. can't live proud enough to die when i'm gone, so i guess i'll have to do it while i'm here. |
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from Ani Difranco - Revelling/ Reckoning (2006)
today we are only whatall is nice about us
today we turned on in the blue light of dawn and made love and you were not a dot dot dot waiting for me to complete you and it was like i just forgot to measure everything that i do we woke up with the notion that enough is not enough without more and then we pushed with one motion like the ocean heaves a wave at the shore (*actually sang with push & heave reversed*) and you were not a dot dot dot leaning forward expectantly and i was not in such a rush to insure my autonomy today we are only whatall is nice about us |
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from Ani Difranco - Revelling/ Reckoning (2006)
today we are only whatall is nice about us
today we turned on in the blue light of dawn and made love and you were not a dot dot dot waiting for me to complete you and it was like i just forgot to measure everything that i do we woke up with the notion that enough is not enough without more and then we pushed with one motion like the ocean heaves a wave at the shore (*actually sang with push & heave reversed*) and you were not a dot dot dot leaning forward expectantly and i was not in such a rush to insure my autonomy today we are only whatall is nice about us |
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from Ani Difranco - Imperfectly (2007)
If my life were a movie
there would be a sunset and the camera would pan away but the sky is just a little sister tagging along behind the buildings trying to imitate their grey the little boys are breaking bottles along the sidewalk the big boys, too the girls are hanging out at the candy store pumping quarters into the phone 'cause they don't want to go home and I think, what if no one's watching what it when we're dead, we're just dead what if it's just us down here what if god ain't looking down what if he's looking up instead if my life were a movie I would light a cigarette and the smoke would curl around my face everything I do would be interesting I'd play the good guy in every scene but I always feel I have to take a stand and there's always someone on hand to hate me for standing there I always feel I have to open my mouth and every time I do I offend someone somewhere but what what if no one's watching what if when we're dead, we're just dead what if there's no time to lose what if there's things we gotta do things that need to be said you know I can't apologize for everything I know I mean you don't have to agree with me but once you get me going you better just let me go we have to be able to criticize what we love say what we have to say 'cause if you're not trying to make something better as far as I can tell you're just in the way I mean what what if no one's watching what if when we're dead we're just dead what if it's just us down here what if god is just an idea someone put in your head I mean what what if no one's watching what if no one's watching... |
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| from Ani Difranco - Revelling/ Reckoning (2006) | |||||
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from Ani Difranco - Revelling/ Reckoning (2006)
What what what what what did you think you were doing?
How how how how how did you think this would go? When when when when when you showed up on my radar Where where where where where did you think you would show? What what what what what do you make of this station How how how how how it pulls away from the train? When when when when when if at all will you realize Where where where where where do and done are the same? What what what what what now you're out in the open How how how how how do you think you can hide? When when when when when will you find some nice soft sand Where where where where where you can bury your pride? What what what what what do you want from this lifetime? How how how how how does your story line flow? When when when when when you finally get to the punch line Where where where where where will the applause sign go? And why why why why why don't you just take your bow 'cause who's gonna love you now? |
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from Ani Difranco - So Much Shouting/ So Much Laughter (2006)
What what what what what did you think you were doing?
How how how how how did you think this would go? When when when when when you showed up on my radar Where where where where where did you think you would show? What what what what what do you make of this station How how how how how it pulls away from the train? When when when when when if at all will you realize Where where where where where do and done are the same? What what what what what now you're out in the open How how how how how do you think you can hide? When when when when when will you find some nice soft sand Where where where where where you can bury your pride? What what what what what do you want from this lifetime? How how how how how does your story line flow? When when when when when you finally get to the punch line Where where where where where will the applause sign go? And why why why why why don't you just take your bow 'cause who's gonna love you now? |
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from Ani Difranco - So Much Shouting/ So Much Laughter (2006)
Welcome to:
No amount of stoned makes you feel ok Welcome to: This year's alone - brought to you by christmas day Welcome to: The darkness into which prayin people pray It's quiet here except for this song Now that everybody's gone But hey Least you don't have to play along today Welcome to: Something like elation when you first open your eyes Just 'cause it means That you musta finally got to sleep last night Welcome to: The precipice between groundlessness and flight It's quiet here except for this song Now that everybody's gone But hey Least you don't have to play along today Besides which Welcome to: Taking the good stuff down off of the shelf And welcome to: The art of conversation with yourself Welcome to: Humming an unbroken tune All day long Yes it's quiet here But hey Least you don't have to play along today |
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| from Ani Difranco - Imperfectly (2007) | |||||
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| from Badlands : A Tribute To Bruce Springsteen's Nebraska [tribute] (2000) | |||||
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from Ani Difranco - Dilate (1996)
think i'm going for a walk now
i feel a little unsteady i don't want nobody to follow me 'cept maybe you i could make you happy you know if you weren't already i could do a lot of things and i do tell you the truth i prefer the worst of you too bad you had to have a better half she's not really my type but i think you two are forever and i hate to say it but you're perfect together so fuck you and your untouchable face and fuck you for existing in the first place and who am i that i should be vying for your touch and who am i i bet you can't even tell me that much two-thirty in the morning and my gas tank will be empty soon neon sign on the horizon rubbing elbows with the moon a safe haven of sleepless where the deep fryer's always on radio is counting down the top 20 country songs and out on the porch the fly strip is waving like a flag in the wind y'know, i don't look forward to seeing you again soon you'll look like a photograph of yourself taken from far far away and i won't know what to do and i won't know what to say except fuck you... i see you and i'm so perplexed what was i thinking what will i think of next where can i hide in the back room there's a lamp that hangs over the pool table and when the fan is on it swings gently side to side there's a changing constellation of balls as we are playing i see orion and say nothing the only thing i can think of saying is fuck you... |
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from Ani Difranco - Little Plastic Castles (1998)
you were fresh off the boat from virginia
i had a year in new york city under my belt we met in a dream we were both 19 i remember where we were standing i remember how it felt 2 little girls growing out of their training bras this little girl breaks furniture, this little girl breaks laws 2 girls together just a little less alone this little girl cries wee wee all the way home you were always half crazy, now look at you baby make about as much sense as a nursery rhyme love is a piano dropped out a four story window and you were in the wrong place at the wrong time i don't like your girlfriend, yeah i don't like her never seen one of your lovers do you so much harm i loved you first and you know i would prefer if she didn't empty her syringes into your arm here comes little naked me padding up to the bathroom door to find little naked you slumped on the bathroom floor so i guess i'll just stand here with my back against the wall while you distilled your whole life down to a 911 call [chorus] so now you bring me your bruises so i can oh and ah at the display maybe i'm supposed to make one of my famous jokes that makes everything ok maybe i'm supposed to be the handsome prince who rides up and unties your hands or maybe i'm supposed to be the furrow-browed friend who thinks she understands here comes little naked me......[etc] |
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from Ani Difranco - To The Teeth (2001)
the sun is setting on the century
and we armed to the teeth we're all working together now to make our lives mercifully brief schoolkids keep trying to teach us what guns are all about confuse liberty with weaponry and watch your kids act it out every year now like christmas some boy gets the milkfed suburban blues reaches for the available arsenal and saunters off to make the news and the women in the middle arelearning what poor women have always known that the edge is closer than you think whe your men bring the guns home look at where the profits are that's how you'll find the source of the big lie that you and i both know so well in the time it take this cultural death wish to run its course they're gonna make a pretty penny and then they're all going to hell he said the chickens all come home to roost yeah malcolm forecasted this flood are we really gonna sleep through another century while the rich profit off our blood? true it may take some doing to see this undoing through but in my humble opinion here's what i suggest we do open fire on hollywood open fire on MTV open fire on NBC and CBS and ABC open fire on the NRA and all the lies they told us along the way open fire on each weapons manufacturer while he's giving head to some republican senator and if i hear one more time about a fool's right to his tools of rage i'm gonna take all my friends and i'm gonna move to canada and we're gonna die of old age |
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from Ani Difranco - Swing Set (2006)
the sun is setting on the century
and we armed to the teeth we're all working together now to make our lives mercifully brief schoolkids keep trying to teach us what guns are all about confuse liberty with weaponry and watch your kids act it out every year now like christmas some boy gets the milkfed suburban blues reaches for the available arsenal and saunters off to make the news and the women in the middle arelearning what poor women have always known that the edge is closer than you think whe your men bring the guns home look at where the profits are that's how you'll find the source of the big lie that you and i both know so well in the time it take this cultural death wish to run its course they're gonna make a pretty penny and then they're all going to hell he said the chickens all come home to roost yeah malcolm forecasted this flood are we really gonna sleep through another century while the rich profit off our blood? true it may take some doing to see this undoing through but in my humble opinion here's what i suggest we do open fire on hollywood open fire on MTV open fire on NBC and CBS and ABC open fire on the NRA and all the lies they told us along the way open fire on each weapons manufacturer while he's giving head to some republican senator and if i hear one more time about a fool's right to his tools of rage i'm gonna take all my friends and i'm gonna move to canada and we're gonna die of old age |
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from Ani Difranco - So Much Shouting/ So Much Laughter (2006)
the sun is setting on the century
and we armed to the teeth we're all working together now to make our lives mercifully brief schoolkids keep trying to teach us what guns are all about confuse liberty with weaponry and watch your kids act it out every year now like christmas some boy gets the milkfed suburban blues reaches for the available arsenal and saunters off to make the news and the women in the middle arelearning what poor women have always known that the edge is closer than you think whe your men bring the guns home look at where the profits are that's how you'll find the source of the big lie that you and i both know so well in the time it take this cultural death wish to run its course they're gonna make a pretty penny and then they're all going to hell he said the chickens all come home to roost yeah malcolm forecasted this flood are we really gonna sleep through another century while the rich profit off our blood? true it may take some doing to see this undoing through but in my humble opinion here's what i suggest we do open fire on hollywood open fire on MTV open fire on NBC and CBS and ABC open fire on the NRA and all the lies they told us along the way open fire on each weapons manufacturer while he's giving head to some republican senator and if i hear one more time about a fool's right to his tools of rage i'm gonna take all my friends and i'm gonna move to canada and we're gonna die of old age |
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from Ani Difranco - Not A Pretty Girl (2007)
tiptoeing through the used condoms
strewn on the piers off the west side highway sunset behind the skyline of jersey walking towards the water with a fetus holding court in my gut my body highjacked my tits swollen and sore the river has more colors at sunset than my sock drawer ever dreamed of i could wake up screaming sometimes but i don't i could step off the end of this pier but i got shit to do and an appointment on tuesday to shed uninvited blood and tissue i'll miss you i say to the river to the water to the son or daughter i thought better of i could fall in love with jersey at sunset but i leave the view to the rats and tiptoe back. |
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| from Steal This Movie (이 영화를 훔쳐라) by Mader [ost] (2000) | |||||
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| from Ani Difranco - Revelling/ Reckoning (2006) | |||||
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| from Ani Difranco - Revelling/ Reckoning (2006) | |||||
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from Ani Difranco - Not A Pretty Girl (2007)
got a garden of songs where i grow all my thoughts
wish i could harvest one or two for some small talk i'm always starving for words when you're around nothing on my tongue so much in my ground half the time i got my gaze trained on your motel door fourth door from the end rest of the time my gaze lays like a stain on the carpeted floor if it weren't for my brain i'd go over and make friends too bad about my brain 'cause i'd like to make friends. see the little song bird unable to make a sound even though she follows her words from town to town we both have gardens of songs and maybe its okay that i am speechless because i picked you this bouquet. |
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from Ani Difranco - Like I Said (2007)
the slant
a building settling around me my figure female framed crookedly in the threshold of the room door scraping floorboards with every opening carving a rough history of bedroom scenes the plot hard to follow the text obscured in the folds of sheets slowly gathering the stains of seasons spent lying there red and brown like leaves fallen the colors of an eternal cycle fading with the wash cycle and the rinse cycle again an unfamiliar smell like my name misspelled or misspoken a cycle broken the sound of them strong stalking talking about their prey like the way hammer meets nail pounding, they say pounding out the rhythms of attraction like a woman was a drum like a body was a weapon like there was something more they wanted than the journey like it was owed to them steel toed they walk and i'm wondering why this fear of men maybe it's because i'm hungry and like a baby i'm dependent on them to feed me i am a work in progress dressed in the fabric of a world unfolding offering me intricte patterns of questions rhythms that never come clean and strengths that you still haven't seen |
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from Ani Difranco - Out Of Range (2007)
I'm calling from the diner
the diner on the corner I ordered two coffees one is for you I was hoping you'd join me 'cause I ain't go no money and I really miss you I should mention that too yes I know what time it is in fact, I just checked I even know the date and the month and the year I know I haven't been sleeping and when I do I just dream of you dear I miss watching you drool on your pillow I miss watching you pull on your clothes I miss listening to you in the bathroom flushing the toilet blowing your nose I'm calling from the diner the diner on the corner I ordered two coffees one is for you the cups are so close the steam is rising in one stream how are you I think you're the least fucked up person I've ever met and that may be as close to the real thing as I'm ever gonna get but my quarter's gonna run out now or so I'm told I guess I'd better go sit down and wait for you til my coffee gets cold |
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| from Ani Difranco - To The Teeth (2001) | |||||
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| from Ani Difranco - Revelling/ Reckoning (2006) | |||||
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from Ani Difranco - Revelling/ Reckoning (2006)
a cold and porcelain lonely
in an old new york hotel a stranger to a city that she used to know so well bathing in a bathroom that is bathed in the first blue light of the beginning of a century at the end of an endless night then she is wet behind the ears and wafting down the avenue pre-rush hour post-rain shower stillness seeping upwards like steam from another molten sewer summer in new york they've been spraying us with chemicals in our sleep us / they something about the mosquitoes having some kind of disease them / me CIA foul play if you ask the guy selling hair dryers out of a gym bag chemical warfare "i'm telling you, lab rat to lab rat," he says, "that's where the truth is at" that's where the truth is at that's where the truth is at and everything seems to have gone terribly wrong that can but one breath at a time is an acceptable plan she tells herself and the air is still there and this morning it's even breathable and for a second the relief is unbelievable and she's a heavy sack of flour sifted her burden lifted she's full of clean wind for one lean moment and then she's trapped again reverted caged and contorted with no way to get free and she's getting plenty of little kisses but nobody's slippin' her the key her whole life is a long list of what ifs and she doesn't even know where to begin and the pageantry of suffering therein rivals television tv is, after all, the modern day roman coliseum human devastation as mass entertainment and now millions sit jeering collectively cheering the bloodthirsty hierarchy of the patriarchal arrangement she is hailing a cab she is sailing down the avenue she's 19 going on 30 or maybe she's really 30 now ... it's hard to say it's hard to keep up with time once it's on its way and, you know, she never had much of a chance born into a family built like an avalanche and somewhere in the 80s between the oat bran and the ozone she started to figure out things like why one eye pointed upwards looking for the holes in the sky one eye on the little flashing red light a picasso face twisted and listing down the canvas of the end of an endless night 10 9 8 seven six 5 4 three 2 one and kerplooey you're done. you're done for. you're done for good. so tell me did you? did you do did you do all you could? |
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from Ani Difranco - Revelling/ Reckoning (2006)
a cold and porcelain lonely
in an old new york hotel a stranger to a city that she used to know so well bathing in a bathroom that is bathed in the first blue light of the beginning of a century at the end of an endless night then she is wet behind the ears and wafting down the avenue pre-rush hour post-rain shower stillness seeping upwards like steam from another molten sewer summer in new york they've been spraying us with chemicals in our sleep us / they something about the mosquitoes having some kind of disease them / me CIA foul play if you ask the guy selling hair dryers out of a gym bag chemical warfare "i'm telling you, lab rat to lab rat," he says, "that's where the truth is at" that's where the truth is at that's where the truth is at and everything seems to have gone terribly wrong that can but one breath at a time is an acceptable plan she tells herself and the air is still there and this morning it's even breathable and for a second the relief is unbelievable and she's a heavy sack of flour sifted her burden lifted she's full of clean wind for one lean moment and then she's trapped again reverted caged and contorted with no way to get free and she's getting plenty of little kisses but nobody's slippin' her the key her whole life is a long list of what ifs and she doesn't even know where to begin and the pageantry of suffering therein rivals television tv is, after all, the modern day roman coliseum human devastation as mass entertainment and now millions sit jeering collectively cheering the bloodthirsty hierarchy of the patriarchal arrangement she is hailing a cab she is sailing down the avenue she's 19 going on 30 or maybe she's really 30 now ... it's hard to say it's hard to keep up with time once it's on its way and, you know, she never had much of a chance born into a family built like an avalanche and somewhere in the 80s between the oat bran and the ozone she started to figure out things like why one eye pointed upwards looking for the holes in the sky one eye on the little flashing red light a picasso face twisted and listing down the canvas of the end of an endless night 10 9 8 seven six 5 4 three 2 one and kerplooey you're done. you're done for. you're done for good. so tell me did you? did you do did you do all you could? |
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from Ani Difranco - Like I Said (2007)
he said ani, you've gotten tough
'cause my tone was curt yeah, and when i'm approached in a dark alley i don't lift my skirt in this city self-preservation is a full time occupation i'm determined to survive on this shore you know i don't avert my eyes anymore in a man's world i am a woman by birth and after nineteen times around i have found they will stop at nothing once they know what you are worth talk to me now i played the powerless in too many dark scenes and i was blessed with a birth and a death and i guess i just want some say in between don't you understand in the day to day and the face to face i have to act just as strong as i can just to preserve a place where i can be who i am so if you still know how talk to me now |
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from Ani Difranco - Swing Set (2006)
are you weary as water
in a faucet left dripping with an incessant sadness like a sad record skipping and an ugly and ornery and shadowy dread lurking like a troll under the bridge between your heart and your head she came to and her whole life was how she remembered it she had a mouth full of fur and she was laughing she parked her hearse across three spaces posted "motorcycles only" and jumped out shouting what the cus could make a nice girl like us feel so lonely? are you weary as water in a faucet left dripping with an incessant sadness like a sad record skipping and an ugly and ornery and shadowy dread lurking like a troll under the bridge between your heart and your head please dumb blind kind sir lend little miss listless just a little bit of christmas she's been a real good girl but now she's stuck here the world is so little and still mysterious and ominous as ever before like an unmarked bottle full of pills on the shelf right next to the thing you were reaching for are you weary as water in a faucet left dripping with an incessant sadness like a sad record skipping and an ugly and ornery and shadowy dread lurking like a troll under the bridge between your heart and your head swing the groove 'round here where i can reach it when i get my ass back on track i'm gonna need it swing shift til i get the money to buy me and my baby a moon full of honey then i'm gonna turn off the nagging voices inside my head that follow me to bed and say (you suck) are you weary as water (what'd you do that for?) in a faucet left dripping with an incessant sadness like a sad record skipping and an ugly and ornery and shadowy dread lurking like a troll under the bridge between your heart and your head (end of radio version rest is only on To the Teeth) if you diggin on the sound (break it down down) no walls up break it down (break it down down) happiness spread it all around (break it down down) racist stomp it in the ground (break it down down) so if you diggin on the sound (break it down down) no walls up break it down (break it down down) ignorance stomp it in the ground (break it down down) then happiness spread it all around (break it down down) tcha who said funk and hip hop can't match put us together on a stage and like a match KABOOM guess who stepped in the room sweepin ya off ya feel like we had a broom with ani difranco and Maceo. add a little freestyle flow and who knows put a little scratchin into the mix and its enough to get you high if you need a fixin if you diggin on the sound (break it down down) no walls up break it down (break it down down) ignorance stomp it in the ground (break it down down) happiness spread it all around (break it down down) if you diggin on the sound (break it down down) no walls up break it down (break it down down) happiness spread it all around (break it down down) racist stomp it in the ground (break it down down) break it down down down down (fades out) |
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from Ani Difranco - To The Teeth (2001)
are you weary as water
in a faucet left dripping with an incessant sadness like a sad record skipping and an ugly and ornery and shadowy dread lurking like a troll under the bridge between your heart and your head she came to and her whole life was how she remembered it she had a mouth full of fur and she was laughing she parked her hearse across three spaces posted "motorcycles only" and jumped out shouting what the cus could make a nice girl like us feel so lonely? are you weary as water in a faucet left dripping with an incessant sadness like a sad record skipping and an ugly and ornery and shadowy dread lurking like a troll under the bridge between your heart and your head please dumb blind kind sir lend little miss listless just a little bit of christmas she's been a real good girl but now she's stuck here the world is so little and still mysterious and ominous as ever before like an unmarked bottle full of pills on the shelf right next to the thing you were reaching for are you weary as water in a faucet left dripping with an incessant sadness like a sad record skipping and an ugly and ornery and shadowy dread lurking like a troll under the bridge between your heart and your head swing the groove 'round here where i can reach it when i get my ass back on track i'm gonna need it swing shift til i get the money to buy me and my baby a moon full of honey then i'm gonna turn off the nagging voices inside my head that follow me to bed and say (you suck) are you weary as water (what'd you do that for?) in a faucet left dripping with an incessant sadness like a sad record skipping and an ugly and ornery and shadowy dread lurking like a troll under the bridge between your heart and your head (end of radio version rest is only on To the Teeth) if you diggin on the sound (break it down down) no walls up break it down (break it down down) happiness spread it all around (break it down down) racist stomp it in the ground (break it down down) so if you diggin on the sound (break it down down) no walls up break it down (break it down down) ignorance stomp it in the ground (break it down down) then happiness spread it all around (break it down down) tcha who said funk and hip hop can't match put us together on a stage and like a match KABOOM guess who stepped in the room sweepin ya off ya feel like we had a broom with ani difranco and Maceo. add a little freestyle flow and who knows put a little scratchin into the mix and its enough to get you high if you need a fixin if you diggin on the sound (break it down down) no walls up break it down (break it down down) ignorance stomp it in the ground (break it down down) happiness spread it all around (break it down down) if you diggin on the sound (break it down down) no walls up break it down (break it down down) happiness spread it all around (break it down down) racist stomp it in the ground (break it down down) break it down down down down (fades out) |
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from Ani Difranco - Swing Set (2006)
are you weary as water
in a faucet left dripping with an incessant sadness like a sad record skipping and an ugly and ornery and shadowy dread lurking like a troll under the bridge between your heart and your head she came to and her whole life was how she remembered it she had a mouth full of fur and she was laughing she parked her hearse across three spaces posted "motorcycles only" and jumped out shouting what the cus could make a nice girl like us feel so lonely? are you weary as water in a faucet left dripping with an incessant sadness like a sad record skipping and an ugly and ornery and shadowy dread lurking like a troll under the bridge between your heart and your head please dumb blind kind sir lend little miss listless just a little bit of christmas she's been a real good girl but now she's stuck here the world is so little and still mysterious and ominous as ever before like an unmarked bottle full of pills on the shelf right next to the thing you were reaching for are you weary as water in a faucet left dripping with an incessant sadness like a sad record skipping and an ugly and ornery and shadowy dread lurking like a troll under the bridge between your heart and your head swing the groove 'round here where i can reach it when i get my ass back on track i'm gonna need it swing shift til i get the money to buy me and my baby a moon full of honey then i'm gonna turn off the nagging voices inside my head that follow me to bed and say (you suck) are you weary as water (what'd you do that for?) in a faucet left dripping with an incessant sadness like a sad record skipping and an ugly and ornery and shadowy dread lurking like a troll under the bridge between your heart and your head (end of radio version rest is only on To the Teeth) if you diggin on the sound (break it down down) no walls up break it down (break it down down) happiness spread it all around (break it down down) racist stomp it in the ground (break it down down) so if you diggin on the sound (break it down down) no walls up break it down (break it down down) ignorance stomp it in the ground (break it down down) then happiness spread it all around (break it down down) tcha who said funk and hip hop can't match put us together on a stage and like a match KABOOM guess who stepped in the room sweepin ya off ya feel like we had a broom with ani difranco and Maceo. add a little freestyle flow and who knows put a little scratchin into the mix and its enough to get you high if you need a fixin if you diggin on the sound (break it down down) no walls up break it down (break it down down) ignorance stomp it in the ground (break it down down) happiness spread it all around (break it down down) if you diggin on the sound (break it down down) no walls up break it down (break it down down) happiness spread it all around (break it down down) racist stomp it in the ground (break it down down) break it down down down down (fades out) |
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from Ani Difranco - Little Plastic Castles (1998)
sleep walking through the all-nite drug store
baptized in fluorescent light i found religion in the greeting card aisle now i know hallmark was right and every pop song on the radio is suddenly speaking to me art may imitate life but life imitates t.v. 'cuz you've been gone exactly two weeks two weeks and three days and let's just say that things look different now different in so many ways i used to be a superhero no one could touch me not even myself you are like a phone booth that i somehow stumbled into and now look at me i am just like everybody else if i was dressed in my best defenses would you agree to meet me for coffee if i did my tricks with smoke and mirrors would you still know which one was me if i was naked and screaming on your front lawn would you turn on the light and come down screaming, there's the asshole who did this to me stripped me of my power stripped me down i used to be a superhero no one could touch me not even myself you are like a phone booth that i somehow stumbled into and now look at me i am just like everybody else yeah you've been gone exactly two weeks two weeks and three days and now i'm a different person different in so many ways tell me what did you like about me and don't say my strength and daring 'cuz now i think i'm at your mercy and it's my first time for this kind of thing i used to be a superhero i would swoop down and save me from myself but you are like a phone booth that i somehow stumbled into and now look at me i am just like everybody else |
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from Ani Difranco - So Much Shouting/ So Much Laughter (2006)
cradling the softest, warmest part of you in my hand
feels like a little baby bird fallen from the nest i think that your body is something i understand i think that i'm happy, i think that i'm blessed i've got a lack of inhibition i've got a loss of perspective i've had a little bit to drink and it's making me think that i can jump ship and swim that the ocean will hold me that there's got to be more than this boat i'm in 'cuz they can call me crazy if i fail all the chance that i need is one-in-a-million and they can call me brilliant if i succeed gravity is nothing to me, moving at the speed of sound i'm just going to get my feet wet until i drown and i teeter between tired and really, really tired im wiped and im wired but i guess its just as well because i built my own empire out of car tires and chicken wire and i'm queen of my own compost heap and i'm getting used to the smell and i've got a lack of information but i got a little revelation and i'm climbing up on the railing trying not to look down i'm going to do my best swan dive in the shark-infested waters i'm gonna pull out my tampon and start splashing around 'cuz i don't care if they eat me alive i've got better things to do than survive i've got a memory of your warm skin in my hand and i've got a vision of blue sky and dry land i'm cradling the hardest, heaviest part of me in my hand the ship is pitching and heaving, my limbs are bobbing and weaving and i think this is what i understand i just need a couple vaccinations for my far-away vacation i'm going to go ahead boldly because a little bird told me that jumping is easy, that falling is fun right up 'til you hit the sidewalk, shivering, stunned and they can call me crazy if i fail all the chance that i need is one-in-a-million and they can call me brilliant if i succeed gravity is nothing to me moving at the speed of sound i'm just gonna get my feet wet until i drown... |
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4:45 |
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from Ani Difranco - Dilate (1996)
sleepwalking through the all-nite drugstore
baptized in flourescent light i found religion in the greeting card aisle now i know hallmark was right and every pop song on the radio is suddenly speaking to me yeah, art may imitate life but life imitates t.v. 'cuz you've been gone exactly two weeks two weeks and three days and let's just say that things look different now different in so many ways i used to be a superhero no one could touch me not even myself you are like a phone booth i somehow stumbled into and now look at me i am just like everybody else if i was dressed in my best defenses would you agree to meet me for coffee if i did my tricks with smoke and mirrors would you still know which one was me if i was naked and screaming on your front lawn would you turn on the light and come down screaming, there's the asshole who did this to me stripped me of my power stripped me down i used to be a superhero no one could touch me not even myself you are like a phone booth i somehow stumbled into and now look at me i am just like everybody else yeah you've been gone exactly two weeks two weeks and three days and now i'm a different person different in so many ways tell me what did you like about me don't say my strength and daring 'cuz now i think i'm at your mercy and it's my first time for this kind of thing i used to be a superhero i would swoop down and save me from myself you are like a phone booth that i somehow stumbled into and now look at me i am just like everybody else i am worse than everybody else |
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from Ani Difranco - Revelling/ Reckoning (2006)
white people are so scared of black people
they bulldoze out to the country and put up houses on little loop-dee-loop streets and while america gets its heart cut right out of its chest the berlin wall still runs down main street separating east side from west and nothing is stirring, not even a mouse in the boarded-up stores and the broken-down houses so they hang colorful banners off all the street lamps just to prove they got no manners no mercy and no sense and i'm wondering what it will take for my city to rise first we admit our mistakes then we open our eyes the ghosts of old buildings are haunting parking lots in the city of good neighbors that history forgot i remember the first time i saw someone lying on the cold street i thought: i can't just walk past here this can't just be true but i learned by example to just keep moving my feet it's amazing the things that we all learn to do so we're led by denial like lambs to the slaughter serving empires of style and carbonated sugar water and the old farm road's a four-lane that leads to the mall and our dreams are all guillotines waiting to fall i'm wondering what it will take for my country to rise first we admit our mistakes and then we open our eyes or nature succumbs to one last dumb decision and america the beautiful is just one big subdivision |
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from Ani Difranco - Revelling/ Reckoning (2006)
white people are so scared of black people
they bulldoze out to the country and put up houses on little loop-dee-loop streets and while america gets its heart cut right out of its chest the berlin wall still runs down main street separating east side from west and nothing is stirring, not even a mouse in the boarded-up stores and the broken-down houses so they hang colorful banners off all the street lamps just to prove they got no manners no mercy and no sense and i'm wondering what it will take for my city to rise first we admit our mistakes then we open our eyes the ghosts of old buildings are haunting parking lots in the city of good neighbors that history forgot i remember the first time i saw someone lying on the cold street i thought: i can't just walk past here this can't just be true but i learned by example to just keep moving my feet it's amazing the things that we all learn to do so we're led by denial like lambs to the slaughter serving empires of style and carbonated sugar water and the old farm road's a four-lane that leads to the mall and our dreams are all guillotines waiting to fall i'm wondering what it will take for my country to rise first we admit our mistakes and then we open our eyes or nature succumbs to one last dumb decision and america the beautiful is just one big subdivision |
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from Ani Difranco - Not A Pretty Girl (2007)
I'm sorry i didn't sound more excited on the phone
I'm sorry that after all these years I've left you feeling unrequited and alone, brought you to tears I guess i never loved you quite as well as the way you loved me I guess that i'll never really be able to tell you how sorry I am I don't know what it is about you I just know it's not what it was I don't know why red fades before blue, it just does And i don't know what it is about me That i just can't keep still I keep thinking someday i will make this all up to you And maybe someday i will I guess i never loved you quite as well As the way you loved me I guess i'll never really be able to tell you how sorry I am Sorry i am Sorry i am Sorry i am |
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from Ani Difranco - To The Teeth (2001)
i don't keep much stuff around
i value my portability but i will say that i have saved every letter you ever wrote to me the one you left on my windshield outside of that little motel is in the pocket of my old gig bag from back when life was more soft shell letters littered with little lewd pictures drawn by the ghost of woody guthrie who would use you big thick hand just to draw one or two for me i think of your letters as love letters which is how i think of songs in that it is the writing of them that tends to carry us along and i danced to one of your old tunes with my true love on our wedding day and you voice sang the way my heart would sing if it finally knew just what to say two people pulled over on the same night to look up at the same stars they both found their wheels were spinning in a soft shoulder when they both got back into their cars and they missed fates appointed rendezvous and then a whole lotta time wnet by and then one day they were done worshipping the landscape and they just put down their hands and moved into the sky they had barely said hello and it was time to say goodbye |
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from Ani Difranco - Revelling/ Reckoning (2006)
Who's gonna give a shit
Who's gonna take the call When you find out that the road ahead is painted on a wall And you're turned up to top volume And you're just sitting there in pause With your feral little secret Scratching at you with its claws And you're trying hard to figure out Just exactly how you feel Before you end up parked and sobbing Forehead on the steering wheel Who are you now And who were you then That you thought somehow You could just pretend That you could figure it all out The mathematics of regret So it takes two beers to remember now And five to forget That I loved you so Yeah, I loved you, so what How many times undone Can one person be As they're careening through the facade Of their favorite fantasy You just close your eyes slowly Like you're waiting for a kiss And hope some lowly little power Will pull you out of this But none comes at first And little comes at all And when inspiration finally hits you It barely even breaks your fall Who were you then And who are you Now that you can pretend That it'll all work out Subtract out the impact And the fall is all you get So here's two beers to remember why And three more to forget That I loved you so Yeah, I loved you, so what I loved you So what |
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from Ani Difranco - Revelling/ Reckoning (2006)
Who's gonna give a shit
Who's gonna take the call When you find out that the road ahead is painted on a wall And you're turned up to top volume And you're just sitting there in pause With your feral little secret Scratching at you with its claws And you're trying hard to figure out Just exactly how you feel Before you end up parked and sobbing Forehead on the steering wheel Who are you now And who were you then That you thought somehow You could just pretend That you could figure it all out The mathematics of regret So it takes two beers to remember now And five to forget That I loved you so Yeah, I loved you, so what How many times undone Can one person be As they're careening through the facade Of their favorite fantasy You just close your eyes slowly Like you're waiting for a kiss And hope some lowly little power Will pull you out of this But none comes at first And little comes at all And when inspiration finally hits you It barely even breaks your fall Who were you then And who are you Now that you can pretend That it'll all work out Subtract out the impact And the fall is all you get So here's two beers to remember why And three more to forget That I loved you so Yeah, I loved you, so what I loved you So what |
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from Cyndi Lauper - The Body Acoustic (2006)
Felt someone calling me into the howling of the wind.
I heard the reflection of a sound echoing through my skin ... And a distant drum rumbling under ground gently guides me on ... Through my wild heart ... Whispering to me the Sisters Of Avalon... Sisters Of Avalon... Sisters Of Avalon... She is awakening in dark swells and mystery. Unbridled night mares powerful and running free. You could still hear her cries reverberating through the trees... For the trampled flowers, the daughters of Eve, the Sisters of Avalon... Sisters Of Avalon... Sisters Of Avalon... They brought her in in a new white dress... But the stain left an ache on her mother's breast... Now all that's left are the ghostly steps from a distant corridor... And a distant drum rumbling under ground gently guides me on ... Through my wild heart ... Whispering to me the Sisters Of Avalon... Sisters Of Avalon... Come on sisters... Come on sister... |
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from Cyndi Lauper - The Body Acoustic (2006)
Felt someone calling me into the howling of the wind.
I heard the reflection of a sound echoing through my skin ... And a distant drum rumbling under ground gently guides me on ... Through my wild heart ... Whispering to me the Sisters Of Avalon... Sisters Of Avalon... Sisters Of Avalon... She is awakening in dark swells and mystery. Unbridled night mares powerful and running free. You could still hear her cries reverberating through the trees... For the trampled flowers, the daughters of Eve, the Sisters of Avalon... Sisters Of Avalon... Sisters Of Avalon... They brought her in in a new white dress... But the stain left an ache on her mother's breast... Now all that's left are the ghostly steps from a distant corridor... And a distant drum rumbling under ground gently guides me on ... Through my wild heart ... Whispering to me the Sisters Of Avalon... Sisters Of Avalon... Come on sisters... Come on sister... |
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from Ani Difranco - Revelling/ Reckoning (2006)
how sick of me
must you be by now while you're standing just outside of what your pride will allow always reaching into yourself to find a new way to understand me when i'm sure that there's no one else in the world who could withstand me the first person in your life to ever really matter is saying the last thing that you want to hear and you are listening hard through the splintering shards of your life as it shatters and you're standing firm and you're staying close and you're seeing clear i took to the stage with my outrage in the bad old days when you were the make-me-mad guy but the songs they come out more slowly now that i am the bad guy and i say, i'm sorry i'm so crazy I am astounded by your patience and you say, believe it or not, baby the joy you bring me still outweighs it the first person in your life to ever really matter is saying the last thing that you want to hear and you are listening hard through the splintering shards of your life as it shatters and you're standing firm and you're staying close and you're seeing clear how sick of me must you be by now? |
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from Ani Difranco - Revelling/ Reckoning (2006)
how sick of me
must you be by now while you're standing just outside of what your pride will allow always reaching into yourself to find a new way to understand me when i'm sure that there's no one else in the world who could withstand me the first person in your life to ever really matter is saying the last thing that you want to hear and you are listening hard through the splintering shards of your life as it shatters and you're standing firm and you're staying close and you're seeing clear i took to the stage with my outrage in the bad old days when you were the make-me-mad guy but the songs they come out more slowly now that i am the bad guy and i say, i'm sorry i'm so crazy I am astounded by your patience and you say, believe it or not, baby the joy you bring me still outweighs it the first person in your life to ever really matter is saying the last thing that you want to hear and you are listening hard through the splintering shards of your life as it shatters and you're standing firm and you're staying close and you're seeing clear how sick of me must you be by now? |
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4:45 |
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from Ani Difranco - Little Plastic Castles (1998)
the heat is so great
it plays tricks with the eye it turns the road to water and then from water to sky and there's a crack in the concrete floor and it starts at the sink there's a bathroom in a gas station and i've locked myself in it to think and back in the city the sun bakes the trash on the curb the men are pissing in doorways and the rats run in herds i've got a dream of your face that scares me awake i put too much on my table and now i got too much a stake and i might let you off easy yeah i might lead you on i might wait for you to look for me and then i might be gone where i come from and where i'm going and i'm lost in between i might go up to that phone booth and leave a veiled invitation on you machine and you'll stop me, won't you if you've heard this one before the one where i surprise you by showing up at your front door saying 'let's not ask what's next, or how, or why' i am leaving in the morning so let's not be shy the door opens, the room winces the housekeeper comes in without a warning and i squint at the muscular motel lady says 'hey good morning' and she jumps, her keys jingle and she leaves as quick as she came in and i roll over and taste the pillow with my grin well, the sheets are twisted and tangled and the heat is so great and i swear i can feel the mattress sinking underneath your weight oh sleep is like a fever and I'm glad when it ends and the road flows like a river and pulls me around every bend and you'll stop me, won't you... the heat is so great it plays tricks with the eye it turns road to water and water to sky and there's a crack in the concrete floor and it starts at the sink there's a bathroom in a gas station and i've locked myself in it to think and you'll stop me, won't you... |
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from Ani Difranco - Not A Pretty Girl (2007)
Well the heat is so great
It plays tricks with the eye It turns the road into water Then from water to sky And there's a crack in the concrete floor That starts at the sink Yea, there's a bathroom in the gas station And I've locked myself in it to think Back in the city The sun bakes the trash on the curb The men are pissing in doorways And the rats are running in herds And I've got a dream with your face in it That scares me awake I've put too much on my table Now I've got too much at stake And I might let you off easy Yea I might lead you on I might wait for you to look for me And then I might be gone There's where I've come from and where I'm going And I am lost in between I might go out to that phone booth And leave a veiled invitation on your machine And you'll stop me, won't you? If you've heard this one before Oh the one where I surprise you By showing up at your front door Saying, "Let's not ask what next or how or why I'm leaving in the morning So let's not be shy" Don't be shy The door opens, the room winces The housekeeper comes in without a warning And I squint at the muscular motel lady And say "Hey morning" As she jumps her keys jingle She leaves as quickly as she came in And I roll over and taste the pillow with my grin Well the sheets are twisted and damp But the heat is so great And I swear I can feel the mattress Sinking underneath your weight Boy your sleep is like a fever And I'm glad when it ends Oh the road flows like a river And it pulls me round every bend Stop me, won't you? If you've heard this one before Oh the one where I surprise you By showing up at your front door Saying, "Let's not ask what next or how or why I am leaving in the morning So let's not be shy" Don't be shy Well the heat is so great It plays tricks with the eye It turns the road into water Then from water to sky And there's a crack in the concrete floor It starts at the sink There's a bathroom in the gas station And I have locked myself in it to think And you'll stop me, won't you? If you've heard this one before yeah the one where I surprise you By showing up at your front door Saying, "Let's not ask what next or how or why I am leaving in the morning So let's not be shy" You'll stop me, won't you? If you've heard this one before yeah the one where I surprise you By showing up at your front door Saying, "Let's not ask what next how or why I'm leaving in the morning So let's not be shy" Don't be shy no dont be shy no don't be shy no don't be shy come on fucker don't be shy |
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from Ani Difranco - So Much Shouting/ So Much Laughter (2006)
what's with that halo
hovering above that thick skull spare me if i do say so i think you're covering course there was nothing could have prepared me for the side effect of this dirty drug the way you punish me and then you shrug what's with that phone call baby it's like you're trying just trying to crush me do you feel stronger each time you push me dear did you tell your mom you carpet bombed before you left here and is it just the side effect of this dirty drug or does each apology sound more like a shrug are you at home now with your kitty cats are you just at home now with the way that you act do you split the rent there with all your secrets or do you just pretend to all your friends they're uninvited guests yes and when you want it tidy, tell me, can you still dispell me, sweep me neatly under the rug and does your conscience ever mention the way that you treat me or do you just fend it off with a..... |
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from Ani Difranco - Like I Said (2007)
she says forget what you have to do
pretend there is nothing outside this room and like an idea she came to me but she came too late or maybe too soon i said please try not to love me close your eyes, i'm turning on the light you know i have no vacancy and it's awfully cold outside tonight the rain stains the brick a darker red slowly i'm rolling out of her bed the rain stains the streets a darker black i dress my face in stone because i can't go back i feel her eyes watching me from behind the curtain of her hair and she says i'm sorry i didn't mean to stare i say i think i really have to go now but oh baby, maybe someday maybe somehow. |
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from Ani Difranco - Dilate (1996)
i cannot name this
i cannot explain this and i really don't want to just call me shameless i can't even slow this down let alone stop this and i keep looking around but i cannot top this if i had any sense i guess i'd fear this i guess i'd keep it down so no one would hear this i guess i'd shut my mouth and rethink a minute but i can't shut it now 'cuz there's something in it we're in a room without a door and i am sure without a doubt they're gonna wanna know how we got in here and they're gonna wanna know how we plan to get out we better have a good explanation for all the fun that we had 'cuz they are coming for us, baby they are going to be mad they are going to be mad at us this is my skeleton this is the skin it's in that is, according to light and gravity i'll take off my disguise the mask you met me in 'cuz i got something for you to see just gimme your skeleton give me the skin it's in yeah baby, this is you according to me i never avert my eyes i never compromise so nevermind the poetry we're in a room without a door... i gotta cover my butt 'cuz i covet another man's wife i got to divide my emotions between wrong and right then i get to see how close i can get to it without giving in then i get to rub up against it till i break the skin rub up against it till i break the skin they're gonna be mad at us they're gonna be mad at me and you yeah, they're gonna be mad at us and all the things we wanna do they're gonna be mad at us they're gonna be mad at me and you they're gonna be mad at us and all the things we like do just please don't name this please don't explain this just blame it all on me say i was shameless say i couldn't slow it down let alone stop it and say you just hung around 'cuz you couldn't top it |
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from Ani Difranco - More Joy, Less Shame [ep] (1996)
i cannot name this
i cannot explain this and i really don't want to just call me shameless i can't even slow this down let alone stop this and i keep looking around but i cannot top this if i had any sense i guess i'd fear this i guess i'd keep it down so no one would hear this i guess i'd shut my mouth and rethink a minute but i can't shut it now 'cuz there's something in it we're in a room without a door and i am sure without a doubt they're gonna wanna know how we got in here and they're gonna wanna know how we plan to get out we better have a good explanation for all the fun that we had 'cuz they are coming for us, baby they are going to be mad they are going to be mad at us this is my skeleton this is the skin it's in that is, according to light and gravity i'll take off my disguise the mask you met me in 'cuz i got something for you to see just gimme your skeleton give me the skin it's in yeah baby, this is you according to me i never avert my eyes i never compromise so nevermind the poetry we're in a room without a door... i gotta cover my butt 'cuz i covet another man's wife i got to divide my emotions between wrong and right then i get to see how close i can get to it without giving in then i get to rub up against it till i break the skin rub up against it till i break the skin they're gonna be mad at us they're gonna be mad at me and you yeah, they're gonna be mad at us and all the things we wanna do they're gonna be mad at us they're gonna be mad at me and you they're gonna be mad at us and all the things we like do just please don't name this please don't explain this just blame it all on me say i was shameless say i couldn't slow it down let alone stop it and say you just hung around 'cuz you couldn't top it |
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from Ani Difranco - Imperfectly (2007)
he caresses every bottle
like it's the first one he's had saying it ain't love but it ain't bad it's the only reward bestowed upon me and i have served faithfully i can see he is scarred from doing some hard time but i let alone what is broken 'cause it isn't mine he strikes out at me when i am within reach then he reaches for me when i draw the line sometimes it seems like love is just a fancy word for compromise you gotta read between the years you gotta write between the lines you gotta try to understand the grandness of the man behind the petty crimes and let him off easy sometimes i have only just met an old old friend we've been walking around holding hands i hope some day he can bend as far as it takes to understand and risk breaking open again |
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from Ani Difranco - So Much Shouting/ So Much Laughter (2006)
Yes,
Us people are just poems We're 90% metaphor With a leanness of meaning Approaching hyper-distillation And once upon a time We were moonshine Rushing down the throat of a giraffe Yes, rushing down the long hallway Despite what the p.a. announcement says Yes, rushing down the long hall Down the long stairs In a building so tall That it will always be there Yes, it's part of a pair There on the bow of Noah's ark The most prestigious couple Just kickin back parked Against a perfectly blue sky On a morning beatific In its Indian summer breeze On the day that America Fell to its knees After strutting around for a century Without saying thank you Or please And the shock was subsonic And the smoke was deafening Between the setup and the punch line 'Cause we were all on time for work that day We all boarded that plane for to fly And then while the fires were raging We all climbed up on the window sill And then we all held hands And jumped into the sky And every borough looked up when it heard the first blast And then every dumb action movie was summarily surpassed And the exodus uptown by foot and motorcar Looked more like war than anything I've seen so far So far So far So fierce and ingenious A poetic specter so far gone That every jackass newscaster was struck dumb and stumbling Over 'Oh my God' and Tthis is unbelievable' and on and on And I'll tell you what, while we're at it You can keep the Pentagon Keep the propaganda Keep each and every tv That's been trying to convince me To participate In some prep school punk's plan to perpetuate retribution Perpetuate retribution Even as the blue toxic smoke of our lesson in retribution Is still hanging in the air And there's ash on our shoes And there's ash in our hair And there's a fine silt on every mantle From Hell's Kitchen to Brooklyn And the streets are full of stories Sudden twists and near misses And soon every open bar is crammed to the rafters With tales of narrowly averted disasters And the whiskey is flowin Like never before As all over the country Folks just shake their heads And pour So here's a toast to all the folks that live in Palestine, Afghanistan, Iraq, El Salvador Here's a toast to the folks living on the Pine Ridge Reservation Under the stone cold gaze of Mt. Rushmore Here's a toast to all those nurses and doctors Who daily provide women with a choice Who stand down a threat the size of Oklahoma City Just to listen to a young woman's voice Here's a toast to all the folks on death row right now Awaiting the executioner's guillotine Who are shackled there with dread and can only escape into their heads To find peace in the form of a dream, peace in the form of a dream 'Cause take away our Playstations And we are a third world nation Under the thumb of some blue blood royal son Who stole the Oval Office and that phony election I mean It don't take a weatherman To look around and see the weather Jeb said he'd deliver Florida, folks And boy, did he ever And we hold these truths to be self evident: #1 George W. Bush is not President #2 America is not a true democracy #3 The media is not fooling me 'Cause I am a poem heeding hyper-distillation I've got no room for a lie so verbose I'm looking out over my whole human family And I'm raising my glass in a toast Here's to our last drink of fossil fuels May we vow to get off of this sauce Shoo away the swarms of commuter planes And find that train ticket we lost 'Cause once upon a time, the line followed the river And peeked into all the backyards And the laundry was waving The graffiti was teasing us From brick walls and bridges We were rolling over ridges Through valleys Under stars I dream of touring like Duke Ellington In my own railroad car I dream of waiting on the tall blonde wooden benches In a grand station aglow with grace And then standing out on the platform And feeling the air on my face Give back the night its distant whistle Give the darkness back its soul Give the big oil companies the finger, finally And relearn how to rock-n-roll Yes, the lessons are all around us, and the truth is waiting there So it's time to pick through the rubble, clean the streets and clear the air Get our government to pull its big dick out of the sand Of someone else's desert Put it back in its pants And quit the hypocritical chants of Freedom forever 'Cause when one lone phone rang In two thousand and one At ten after nine On nine one one Which is the number we all called When that lone phone rang right off the wall Right off our desk and down the long hall Down the long stairs In a building so tall That the whole world turned Just to watch it fall And while we're at it Remember the first time around? The bomb? The Ryder truck? The parking garage? The princess that didn't even feel the pea? Remember joking around in our apartment on Avenue D? Can you imagine how many paper coffee cups would have to change their design Following a fantastical reversal of the New York skyline?! It was a joke At the time And that was just a few years ago So let the record show That the FBI was all over that case That the plot was obvious and in everybody's face And scoping that scene Religiously The CIA Or is it KGB? Committing countless crimes against humanity With this kind of eventuality As its excuse For abuse after expensive abuse And it didn't have a clue Look, another window to see through Way up here On the 104th floor Look Another key Another door 10% literal 90% metaphor 3000 some poems disguised as people On an almost too perfect day Must be more than pawns In some asshole's passion play So now it's your job And it's my job To make it that way To make sure they didn't die in vain Sshhhhhh.... Baby, listen Hear the train? |
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from Ani Difranco - Revelling/ Reckoning (2006)
she went over to his apartment
clutching her decision and he said, did you come here to tell me goodbye? so she built a skyscraper of procrastination and then she leaned out the twenty-fifth floor window of her reply and she felt like an actress just reading her lines when she finally said yes, it's really goodbye this time and far below was the blacktop and the tiny toy cars and it all fell so fast and it all fell so far and she said: you are a miracle but that is not all you are also a stiff drink and i am on call you are a party and i am a school night and i'm lookin' for my door key but you are my porch light and you'll never know, dear just how much i loved you you'll probably think this was just my big excuse but i stand committed to a love that came before you and the fact that i adore you is just one of my truths and what of the mother whose house is in flames and both of her children are in their beds crying and she loves them both with the whole of her heart but she knows she can only carry one at a time? she's choking on the smoke of unthinkable choices she is haunted by the voices of so many desires she's bent over from the business of begging forgiveness while frantically running around putting out fires but then what kind of scale compares the weight of two beauties the gravity of duties or the ground speed of joy? tell me what kind of gauge can quantify elation? what kind of equation could i possibly employ? and you'll never know, dear just how much i loved you you probably think this was just my big excuse but i stand committed to a love that came before you and the fact that i adore you is just one of my truths so i i'm goin' home to please the one i so love pleasing and i don't expect he'll have much sympathy for my grieving but i guess that this is the price that we pay for the privilege of living for even a day in a world with so many things worth believing in |
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from Ani Difranco - Revelling/ Reckoning (2006)
she went over to his apartment
clutching her decision and he said, did you come here to tell me goodbye? so she built a skyscraper of procrastination and then she leaned out the twenty-fifth floor window of her reply and she felt like an actress just reading her lines when she finally said yes, it's really goodbye this time and far below was the blacktop and the tiny toy cars and it all fell so fast and it all fell so far and she said: you are a miracle but that is not all you are also a stiff drink and i am on call you are a party and i am a school night and i'm lookin' for my door key but you are my porch light and you'll never know, dear just how much i loved you you'll probably think this was just my big excuse but i stand committed to a love that came before you and the fact that i adore you is just one of my truths and what of the mother whose house is in flames and both of her children are in their beds crying and she loves them both with the whole of her heart but she knows she can only carry one at a time? she's choking on the smoke of unthinkable choices she is haunted by the voices of so many desires she's bent over from the business of begging forgiveness while frantically running around putting out fires but then what kind of scale compares the weight of two beauties the gravity of duties or the ground speed of joy? tell me what kind of gauge can quantify elation? what kind of equation could i possibly employ? and you'll never know, dear just how much i loved you you probably think this was just my big excuse but i stand committed to a love that came before you and the fact that i adore you is just one of my truths so i i'm goin' home to please the one i so love pleasing and i don't expect he'll have much sympathy for my grieving but i guess that this is the price that we pay for the privilege of living for even a day in a world with so many things worth believing in |
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from Ani Difranco - Like I Said (2007)
rush hour
and the day's dawning the rain came and pushed me under the awning the puddles grew and threw themselves at me with every passing car i'm shielding my guitar and there were some things that i did not tell him there were certain things he did not need to know and there were some days when i did not love him he didn't understand me and i don't know why i didn't go he said change the channel i've got problems of my own i'm so sick of hearing about drugs and aids and people without homes and i said, well, i'd like to sympathize with that but if you don't understand then how can you act i expected summer to be there in the morning i woke to the alarm but she was out of arms reach sneaking out on silent thighs that were spent and sore from the hot nights that came before he said i looked for you i don't know why i said i was wearing black so you could see me against the sky take your big leather boots and your buckles and your chains put them on a downtown train i expected he would be there in the morning i awoke to the alarm he was still in arm's reach but his body was just a disguise his mind had wandered off long ago you see in his eyes love isn't over when the sheets are stained in my head there remains so much left to be said make me laugh, make me cry, enrage me but just don't try to disengage me |
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from Ani Difranco - Like I Said (2007)
she says my ass hurts
when i sit down she says my feet hurt from just standing around i think my body is as restless as my mind and i don't know if i can roll with it this time packed his uniforms and drove him to the base she was crying all the way the world looked her in the face and said roll with it, baby make it your career keep the home fires burning till america is in the clear the mainstream is so polluted with lies once you get wet, it's so hard to get dry we're all taught how to justify history as it passes by and it's your world that comes crashing down when the big boys decide to throw their weight around but just roll with it baby make it your career keep the home fires burning till america is in the clear what if the enemy isn't in a distant land what if the enemy lies behind the voice of command the sound of war is a child's cry behind tinted windows, they just drive by all i know is that those who are going to be killed aren't those who preside on capitol hill i told him, don't fill the front lines of their war those assholes aren't worth dying for but he said roll with it, baby make it your career keep the home fires burning till america is in the clear she says my ass hurts when i sit down she says my feet hurt from just standing around i think my body is as restless as my mind and i'm not gonna roll with it this time no, i'm not gonna roll with it this time |
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from Ani Difranco - Fire Door (2002)
Tending the garden of noise
where i grow the traffic and the church bells and the neighborhood boys singing to myself when the solitude sets in in tune with the symphony of south brooklyn i sing rockabye, rockabye baby rockabye, the baby that is me rockabye, rockabye baby rockabye till i'm fast asleep the tunnel is train torn the tracks are worn and sore i can feel the rattle riding up through the floor she jumped the turnstile he paid for his ride i am the echo in the station where their footfalls collide i left her at the epicenter we were trembling dutifully i left him too i left parts of me singing... rockabye, rockabye baby rockabye, the baby that is me rockabye, rockabye baby rockabye till i'm fast asleep (repeats) i said today i am leaving in every sense of the word but i'm in love with your memory already everything i've seen and heard and i will go singing as the solitude sets in in time with the rhythm of everywhere i have been it sounds like rockabye, rockabye baby rockabye, the baby that is me rockabye, rockabye baby rockabye till i'm fast asleep (repeats x3) tending the garden of noise where i grow the traffic and the church bells and the neighborhood boys singing to myself when the solitude sets in in tune with the symphony of south brooklyn. |
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from Ani Difranco - Like I Said (2007)
Tending the garden of noise
where i grow the traffic and the church bells and the neighborhood boys singing to myself when the solitude sets in in tune with the symphony of south brooklyn i sing rockabye, rockabye baby rockabye, the baby that is me rockabye, rockabye baby rockabye till i'm fast asleep the tunnel is train torn the tracks are worn and sore i can feel the rattle riding up through the floor she jumped the turnstile he paid for his ride i am the echo in the station where their footfalls collide i left her at the epicenter we were trembling dutifully i left him too i left parts of me singing... rockabye, rockabye baby rockabye, the baby that is me rockabye, rockabye baby rockabye till i'm fast asleep (repeats) i said today i am leaving in every sense of the word but i'm in love with your memory already everything i've seen and heard and i will go singing as the solitude sets in in time with the rhythm of everywhere i have been it sounds like rockabye, rockabye baby rockabye, the baby that is me rockabye, rockabye baby rockabye till i'm fast asleep (repeats x3) tending the garden of noise where i grow the traffic and the church bells and the neighborhood boys singing to myself when the solitude sets in in tune with the symphony of south brooklyn. |
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from Ani Difranco - Revelling/ Reckoning (2006)
it's rock paper scissors as to whether
i will get over you at all it's hand against hand and both hands are mine it's standing in a circular line which is not to say that i'm not also happy a happy meal with a surprise inside surprise surprise here's another bright light in your eyes exposing all the stuff you're not calculating enough to hide this melancholy that i carry makes me feel so grown up at my kitchen table doing shots of resignation i never thought i'd see the day when i would say i give up and break the stallions of my wildest expectations i do not want to know you this way surrounded by so much pain but how am i supposed to let go of you this way like a bird into the sky of my brain? i think i could accept all these dark colors as just part of some bigger color scheme if it wasn't for that drippy string quartet of sadness underscoring each smiling scene desire drags me right out of myself a gas-soaked rope tied to a piece of coal and i'm getting pretty good at looking at the bright side while the flames rip along the sand and swallow me whole |
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from Ani Difranco - So Much Shouting/ So Much Laughter (2006)
it's rock paper scissors as to whether
i will get over you at all it's hand against hand and both hands are mine it's standing in a circular line which is not to say that i'm not also happy a happy meal with a surprise inside surprise surprise here's another bright light in your eyes exposing all the stuff you're not calculating enough to hide this melancholy that i carry makes me feel so grown up at my kitchen table doing shots of resignation i never thought i'd see the day when i would say i give up and break the stallions of my wildest expectations i do not want to know you this way surrounded by so much pain but how am i supposed to let go of you this way like a bird into the sky of my brain? i think i could accept all these dark colors as just part of some bigger color scheme if it wasn't for that drippy string quartet of sadness underscoring each smiling scene desire drags me right out of myself a gas-soaked rope tied to a piece of coal and i'm getting pretty good at looking at the bright side while the flames rip along the sand and swallow me whole |
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from Ani Difranco - Revelling/ Reckoning (2006)
you were so in love
that it was all you could talk about and i think i felt a little left out you were on cloud 9 all the time while i was levelling i was wringing my hands and you were revelling but then why shouldn't you? it was such a beautiful thing to do would that i could get me some of your yum yum delirium i could level off the ground that we stand on but with you down on bended knee always looking up at me that feeling of standing up together is gone and though i love you through all time and space my love always seems to take second place you were so in love that it was all you could talk about and i think i felt a little left out you were on cloud 9 all the time while i was levelling i was wringing my hands and you were revelling but then why shouldn't you? it was such a beautiful thing to do |
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from Ani Difranco - So Much Shouting/ So Much Laughter (2006)
you were so in love
that it was all you could talk about and i think i felt a little left out you were on cloud 9 all the time while i was levelling i was wringing my hands and you were revelling but then why shouldn't you? it was such a beautiful thing to do would that i could get me some of your yum yum delirium i could level off the ground that we stand on but with you down on bended knee always looking up at me that feeling of standing up together is gone and though i love you through all time and space my love always seems to take second place you were so in love that it was all you could talk about and i think i felt a little left out you were on cloud 9 all the time while i was levelling i was wringing my hands and you were revelling but then why shouldn't you? it was such a beautiful thing to do |
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from Ani Difranco - Revelling/ Reckoning (2006)
you can doubt anything
if you think about it long enough cuz what happened always adjusts to fit what happened after that and it's hard to feel like you are free when all you seem to do is referee remember when it was just you and me steppin' up to bat? and win or lose just that you choose this little war is what kills you and either/or it's that this war is maybe also what thrills you we thought we left possession behind but truth is i was yours and you were mine and now i've replayed a thousand times exactly what was said cuz nothing is as it appears in the funhouse mirrors of your fears on the roller coaster of all these years with your hands above your head and win or lose just that you choose this little war is what kills you and either/or it's that this war is maybe also what thrills you i don't care how fast you run just tell me, baby, that when you're done with your little marathon you still got cab fare home cuz the finish line is a shifty thing and what is life but reckoning and, you know you are still the song i sing to myself when i'm alone and win or lose just that we choose this little war is what kills us and either/or it's that this war is maybe also what thrills us |
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from Ani Difranco - Revelling/ Reckoning (2006)
you can doubt anything
if you think about it long enough cuz what happened always adjusts to fit what happened after that and it's hard to feel like you are free when all you seem to do is referee remember when it was just you and me steppin' up to bat? and win or lose just that you choose this little war is what kills you and either/or it's that this war is maybe also what thrills you we thought we left possession behind but truth is i was yours and you were mine and now i've replayed a thousand times exactly what was said cuz nothing is as it appears in the funhouse mirrors of your fears on the roller coaster of all these years with your hands above your head and win or lose just that you choose this little war is what kills you and either/or it's that this war is maybe also what thrills you i don't care how fast you run just tell me, baby, that when you're done with your little marathon you still got cab fare home cuz the finish line is a shifty thing and what is life but reckoning and, you know you are still the song i sing to myself when i'm alone and win or lose just that we choose this little war is what kills us and either/or it's that this war is maybe also what thrills us |
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from Ani Difranco - So Much Shouting/ So Much Laughter (2006)
you can doubt anything
if you think about it long enough cuz what happened always adjusts to fit what happened after that and it's hard to feel like you are free when all you seem to do is referee remember when it was just you and me steppin' up to bat? and win or lose just that you choose this little war is what kills you and either/or it's that this war is maybe also what thrills you we thought we left possession behind but truth is i was yours and you were mine and now i've replayed a thousand times exactly what was said cuz nothing is as it appears in the funhouse mirrors of your fears on the roller coaster of all these years with your hands above your head and win or lose just that you choose this little war is what kills you and either/or it's that this war is maybe also what thrills you i don't care how fast you run just tell me, baby, that when you're done with your little marathon you still got cab fare home cuz the finish line is a shifty thing and what is life but reckoning and, you know you are still the song i sing to myself when i'm alone and win or lose just that we choose this little war is what kills us and either/or it's that this war is maybe also what thrills us |
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from Ani Difranco - Little Plastic Castles (1998)
you crawled into my bed that night
like some sort of giant insect and i found myself spellbound at the sight of you there cocooned in my room, beautiful and grotesque and all the rest of that bug stuff bluffing your way into my mouth behind my teeth, reaching for my scars that night we got kicked out of two bars and laughed our way home that night you leaned over and threw up into your hair and i thought i would offer you my pulse if i thought it would be useful i would give you my breath except the problem with death is that you have some hundred years and then they can build building on your only bones 100 years and then your grave is not your own we lie in out beds, and our graves unable to save ourselves from the quaint tragedies we invent and then undo from the stupid circumstances we slalomed through and i realized that night that the hall light which seemed so bright when you turned it on is nothing compared to the dawn which is nothing, compared to the light which seeps from me while you're sleeping cocooned in my room beautiful and grotesque resting that night we got kicked out of two bars and laughed our way home and i held you there thinking i would offer you my pulse i would give you my breath i would offer you my pulse |
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from Ani Difranco - To The Teeth (2001)
who knew
at this party that i would walk in and i'd see you i guess now we could just get drunk yeah, and that could be our excuse you could slip and outta nowhere i could be there to catch your fall and we could laugh at ourselves and the writing that's on the wall it's a narrow margin just room enough for regret in the inch and a half between hey, how ya been? and can i kiss you yet? so we talk like nervous neighbors over a tall fence true love but for the lack of providence but i just got one more thing to tell you cuz words are vitamins and life is short and i know when we get up to the front office we're gonna have to fill out a full report the first question will be what were you thinking? and the next question will be what did you say? and then they're gonna check to see if the answers to one and two matched up much along the way in the interest of poetry and the cowboy movie that's you and me i'm back on the horse now and i am riding i am striding so effortlessly what i mean is it's late much too late for us and i'm fixing to go home with just my conscience and a bitter sense of irony as my chaperone |
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| from Ani Difranco - Revelling/ Reckoning (2006) | |||||
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| from Ani Difranco - Revelling/ Reckoning (2006) | |||||
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from Ani Difranco - Little Plastic Castles (1998)
i'm a pixie
i'm a paperdoll i'm a cartoon i'm a chipper cheerful free for all and i light up a room i'm the color me happy girl miss live and let live and when they're out for blood i always give the man behind the counter looks like he's got a half a dozen places he'd rather be and furthermore it looks like he's preparedd to take it all out on me buddy, i don't really care what your problem is just don't make it mine come on kids, let's all hold hands and pretend we're having a good time maybe you don't like your job maybe you didn't get enough sleep well, nobody likes their job nobody got enough sleep maybe you just had the worst day of your life but, you know, there's no escape and there's no excuse so just suck up and be nice all the privileged white kids on tv playing at death brandishing their cold cuts with their whostly makup and their heroin breath and all the little fishes are flapping wildly on their hooks while all the top critics find great meaning in the telephone book the little emperor he has no clothes so he can't come out to play and besides which life is suffering and he likes it that way and the little guy is not so friendly but you know life has been cruel so wipe that smile off your face baby and try to be cool maybe you don't like your job maybe you didn't get enough sleep well, nobody likes their job nobody got enough sleep maybe you just had the worst day of your life but, you know, there's no escape and there's no excuse so just suck up and be nice yeah, i would like to perfect the art of being studiously aloof like life is just a boring chore and i am living proof i could join forces with an army of ornery hipsters but then i guess i'd be out of a job so i guess that's out of the picture cuz i'm a pixie i'm a paperdoll i'm a cartoon i'm a chipper cheerful free for all and i light up a room i'm the color me happy girl miss live and let live and when they're out for blood i always give |
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from Ani Difranco - Fire Door (2002)
how come i can pick my ears
but not my nose who made up that rule anyway how can you say that's the way it is that's just the way it goes why don't you decide for yourself what you can do and what you can say how come i can pick my friends but not my enemies what is it about me that offends what is it about me 'cause you know i'm only five foot two and i'm giggly wiggly tell me again, what did i do why are you scared of me i fight with love and i laugh with rage you've gotta live light enough to see the humor and long enough to see some change i think shy is boring i think depressed is too i think pretty is nice but i'd rather see something new all these plastic people got their plastic surgery but we got a big big beautiful we got it for free who you gonna be if you can't be yourself you can't get it from t.v. you can't force it on anybody else you know they come to clear cut they come to strip mine they come for some of my big butt my big brain or just a little time they wanna take me out to dinner think i'm a bitch if i don't go seems like the people who actually like me won't allow me to say no your idea of a conversation is the third degree but i don't really know you and i don't really want to talk about me 'cause i'm not going to pretend that i don't pick my nose that's just the way it is, my friends that's just the way it goes this is who i am what i do and what i say if you like it, let it be if you don't, please do the same i fight with love i laugh with rage you gotta live light enough to see the humor and long enough to see some change |
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from Ani Difranco - Out Of Range (2007)
I search your profile
for a translation I study the conversation like a map 'cause I know there is strength in the differences between us and I know there is comfort where we overlap come here stand in front of the light stand still so I can see your silhouette I hope that you have got all night 'cause I'm not done looking, no, I'm not done looking yet each one of us wants a piece of the action you can hear it in what we say you can see it in what we do we negotiate with chaos for some sense of satisfaction if you won't give it to me at least give me a better view come here stand in front of the light stand still so I can see your sillouette I hope that you have got all night 'cause I'm not done looking no, I'm not done looking yet I build each one of my songs out of glass so you can see me inside of them I suppose or you could just leave the image of me in the background, I guess and watch your own reflection superimposed and I build each one of my days out of hope and I give that hope your name and I don't know you that well but it don't take much to tell either you don't have the balls or you don't feel the same come here stand in front of the light stand still so I can see your silhouette I hope that you have got all night 'cause I'm not done looking no, I'm not done looking yet I seach your profile for a translation I study the conversation like a map 'cause I know there is strength in the differences between us and I know there is comfort where we overlap |
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from Ani Difranco - Dilate (1996)
no no no no no no no no no no no no
no more no no no no no no no no no no no no no more no no no no more it's gonna be sudden it's gonna be strange i'm gonna turn on a dime give you five cents change it's gonna be long overdue it's all gonna come out outta me, on to you outta me, onto you... one of these days you're gonna push too hard we'll go on like we've always done 'til you go too far yeah one of these days it's gonna reach the top then it's gonna start to spill and it's not gonna stop outta me, onto you... no more... some people wear their smile like a disguise those people who smile a lot watch the eyes i know it 'cuz i'm like that a lot you think everything's okay and it is 'til it's not outta me, onto you... no more some people wear their heart up on their sleeve i wear mine underneath my right pant leg strapped to my boot don't think cause i'm easy, i'm naive don't think i won't pull it out don't think i won't shoot outta me, onto you... most people like to talk a lot including you you know there isn't much i have to say that i wouldn't rather just shut up and do i'm gonna miss you when you're gone yeah i'm gonna be torn just remember that i love you just remember you were warned outta me, onto you... no more... no more |
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from Ani Difranco - Out Of Range (2007)
just the thought
of our bed makes me crumble like the plaster where you punched the wall beside my head and i try to draw the line but it ends up running down the middle of me most of the time boys get locked up in some prison girls get locked up in some house and it don't matter if it's a warden or a lover or a spouse you just can't talk to 'em you just can't reason you just can't leave and you just can't please 'emi was locked into being my mother's daughter i was just eating bread and water thinking nothing ever changes and i was shocked to see the mistakes of each generation will just fade like a radio station if you drive out of range if you're not angry you're just stupid or you don't care how else can you react when you know something's so unfair the men of the hour can kill half the world in war make them slaves to a super power and let them die poor i was locked into being my mother's daughter i was just eating bread and water thinking nothing ever changes and i was shocked to see the mistakes of each generation will just fade like a radio station if you drive out of range just the thought of our bed makes me crumble like the plaster where you punched the wall beside my bed and i try to draw the line but it ends up running down the middle of me most of the time baby i love you that's why i'm leaving there's no talking to you and there's no pleasing you and i care enough that i'm mad that half the world don't even know what they could have had i was locked into being my mother's daughter i was just eating bread and water thinking nothing ever changes and i was shocked to see the mistakes of each generation will just fade like a radio station if you drive out of range |
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from Ani Difranco - Out Of Range (2007)
just the thought
of our bed makes me crumble like the plaster where you punched the wall beside my head and i try to draw the line but it ends up running down the middle of me most of the time boys get locked up in some prison girls get locked up in some house and it don't matter if it's a warden or a lover or a spouse you just can't talk to 'em you just can't reason you just can't leave and you just can't please 'emi was locked into being my mother's daughter i was just eating bread and water thinking nothing ever changes and i was shocked to see the mistakes of each generation will just fade like a radio station if you drive out of range if you're not angry you're just stupid or you don't care how else can you react when you know something's so unfair the men of the hour can kill half the world in war make them slaves to a super power and let them die poor i was locked into being my mother's daughter i was just eating bread and water thinking nothing ever changes and i was shocked to see the mistakes of each generation will just fade like a radio station if you drive out of range just the thought of our bed makes me crumble like the plaster where you punched the wall beside my bed and i try to draw the line but it ends up running down the middle of me most of the time baby i love you that's why i'm leaving there's no talking to you and there's no pleasing you and i care enough that i'm mad that half the world don't even know what they could have had i was locked into being my mother's daughter i was just eating bread and water thinking nothing ever changes and i was shocked to see the mistakes of each generation will just fade like a radio station if you drive out of range |
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from Ani Difranco - Like I Said (2007)
the butter melts out of habit
the toast isn't even warm the waitress and the man in the plaid shirt play out a scene they've played so many times before I am watching the sun stumble home in the morning from a bar on the east side of town and the coffee is just water dressed in brown beautiful but boring he visited me yesterday he noticed my fingers and asked me if I would play I didn't really care a lot but I couldn't think of a reason why not I said if you don't come any closer I don't mind if you stay my thighs have been involved in many accidents and now I can't get insured and I don't need to be lured by you my cunt is built like a wound that won't heal and now you don't have to ask because you know how I feel you know how I feel art is why I get up in the morning but my definition ends there and it doesn't seem fair that I'm living for something I can't even define there you are right there in the meantime I don't want to play for you anymore show me what you can do tell me what are you here for I want my old friends I want my old face I want my old mind fuck this time and place the butter melts out of habit you know, the toast isn't even warm |
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from Ani Difranco - Revelling/ Reckoning (2006)
i'll sing you a song that starts out descriptive
and locates a time and a place like a dinner table where a whole family is just sitting down to say grace an old old song that moves into action taking its sweet sweet time and waits until we all say amen again and again in rhyme it's the story of a father and a mother who battle each other over nothin' with a couple of kids trying to figure which way the plot's spinning who's winning and who is bluffing it's a story as common as a penny, son it ain't really worth anything to anyone poor little sore little song that aches like a muscle each time that it moves sad little song that you play and you play and you play and you play 'til you lose while history is outside writing a recipe book for every earthly pain this song is inside finger painting dark swirls again and again and they all look the same cuz what if you come home from school one day and you find your whole family's at war and there's this ominous silence just waiting to be broken and there's secret places for hiding underneath the floorboards and everyone seems to be bracing for the subharmonic thunder of the next bomb and everyone seems to be waiting for the cops to bust in with their guns drawn at the bleak light of dawn it's a story as common as a penny, son i don't think it's worth anything to anyone |
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from Ani Difranco - Revelling/ Reckoning (2006)
i'll sing you a song that starts out descriptive
and locates a time and a place like a dinner table where a whole family is just sitting down to say grace an old old song that moves into action taking its sweet sweet time and waits until we all say amen again and again in rhyme it's the story of a father and a mother who battle each other over nothin' with a couple of kids trying to figure which way the plot's spinning who's winning and who is bluffing it's a story as common as a penny, son it ain't really worth anything to anyone poor little sore little song that aches like a muscle each time that it moves sad little song that you play and you play and you play and you play 'til you lose while history is outside writing a recipe book for every earthly pain this song is inside finger painting dark swirls again and again and they all look the same cuz what if you come home from school one day and you find your whole family's at war and there's this ominous silence just waiting to be broken and there's secret places for hiding underneath the floorboards and everyone seems to be bracing for the subharmonic thunder of the next bomb and everyone seems to be waiting for the cops to bust in with their guns drawn at the bleak light of dawn it's a story as common as a penny, son i don't think it's worth anything to anyone |
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from Ani Difranco - Revelling/ Reckoning (2006)
*O.K. - Ani Difranco
If you ask me I'll say Yes, please To you today So don't ask me Cus I'm weak that way Just don't ask me O.K . I'm so glad we got that straightened away (x2) If you see me Walk by You better just let me Walk by You better not Bat your pretty eyes You better not Stop me to say, Hi I got a sweet tooth today So you better not cut that pie (x2) If you ask me I'll say Yes, please To you today So don't ask me Cus I'm weak that way Just don't ask me O.K . |
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from Ani Difranco - Revelling/ Reckoning (2006)
If you ask me
I'll say yes please to you today So don't ask me 'cause I'm weak that way Just don't ask me o.k. I'm so glad we got that straightened away If you see me walk by You better just let me walk by You better not bat your pretty eyes You better not stop me to say hi I got a sweet tooth today So you better not cut that pie If you ask me I'll say yes please to you today So don't ask me 'cause I'm weak that way Just don't ask me o.k. |
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from Ani Difranco - Like I Said (2007)
in a forest of stone underneath a corporate canopy
where the sun rarely filters down the ground is not so soft it is not so soft they build buildings to house people making money or they build buildings to make money housing people it's true, like a lot of things are true foraging from a phone booth on the forest floor that is not so soft i look up, it looks like the builidings are burning but it's just the sun, setting in the windows the solar system calling an end to another business day eternally circling, signalling the rythmic clicking on and off of computers the pulse .. of the american machine the pulse .. that draws death dancing out of anonymous side streets you know, the ones that always get dumped on but never get ploughed it draws death dancing out of little countries with funny languages where the ground is getting harder and it was not that soft before but those who call the shots are never in the line of fire why when there's life for hire out there if the flag of truth were raised we could watch every liar rise to wave it here we learn america like a script playright, birthright - same thing we bring ourselves to the role we're all rehearsing for the presidency i always wanted to be commander in chief of my own one woman army but i can envision the mediocrity of my finest hour it's the failed america in me it's the fear that lives in a forest of stone, underneath the corporate canopy where the sun rarely filters down and the ground is not so soft...... |
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from Ani Difranco - So Much Shouting/ So Much Laughter (2006)
I am not a pretty girl
That is not what I do I ain't no damsel in distress And I don't need to be rescued So put me down, punk Wouldn't you prefer a maiden fair? Isn't there a kitten stuck up a tree somewhere? I am not an angry girl But it seems like I've got everyone fooled Every time I say something they find hard to hear They chalk it up to my anger And never to their own fear Imagine you're a girl Just trying to finally come clean Knowing full well they'd prefer you were dirty And smiling And I am sorry But I am not a maiden fair And I am not a kitten stuck up a tree somewhere And generally, my generation Wouldn't be caught dead working for the man And generally I agree with them Trouble is you gotta have youself An alternate plan And I have earned my disillusionment I have been working all of my life And I am a patriot I have been fighting the good fight And what if there are no damsels in distress What if I knew that and I called your bluff? Don't you think every kitten figures out how to get down, Whether or not you ever show up? I am not a pretty girl I don't really want to be a pretty girl No, I want to be more than a pretty girl. |
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from Ani Difranco - Not A Pretty Girl (2007)
I am not a pretty girl
That is not what I do I ain't no damsel in distress And I don't need to be rescued So put me down, punk Wouldn't you prefer a maiden fair? Isn't there a kitten stuck up a tree somewhere? I am not an angry girl But it seems like I've got everyone fooled Every time I say something they find hard to hear They chalk it up to my anger And never to their own fear Imagine you're a girl Just trying to finally come clean Knowing full well they'd prefer you were dirty And smiling And I am sorry But I am not a maiden fair And I am not a kitten stuck up a tree somewhere And generally, my generation Wouldn't be caught dead working for the man And generally I agree with them Trouble is you gotta have youself An alternate plan And I have earned my disillusionment I have been working all of my life And I am a patriot I have been fighting the good fight And what if there are no damsels in distress What if I knew that and I called your bluff? Don't you think every kitten figures out how to get down, Whether or not you ever show up? I am not a pretty girl I don't really want to be a pretty girl No, I want to be more than a pretty girl. |
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from Ani Difranco - Dilate (1996)
they told you your music
could reach millions that the choice was up to you you told me they always pay for lunch and they believe in what i do and i wonder if you miss your old friends once you've proven what you're worth yeah i wonder when you're a big star will you miss the earth and i know you would always want more i know you would never be done 'cuz everyone is a fucking napoleon yeah everyone is a fucking napoleon and the next time that i saw you you were larger than life you came and you conquered you were doing alright you had an army of suits behind you and all you had to be was willing and i said i still make a pretty good living you must make a killing a killing and i hope that you are happy i hope at least you are having fun 'cuz but everyone is a fucking napoleon yeah everyone is a fucking napoleon now you think, so that is the way it's gonna be that's what this is all about i think that that is the way it always was you chose not to notice until now yeah now that there's a problem you call me up to confide and you go on for over an hour 'bout each one that took you for a ride and i guess that you dialed my number 'cuz you thought for sure that i'd agree i said baby, you know i still love you but how dare you complain to me everyone is a fucking napoleon yeah everyone is a fucking napoleon |
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from Ani Difranco - So Much Shouting/ So Much Laughter (2006)
they told you your music
could reach millions that the choice was up to you you told me they always pay for lunch and they believe in what i do and i wonder will you miss your old friends once you've proven what you're worth yeah i wonder when you're a big star will you miss the earth and i know you would always want more i know you would never be done 'cuz everyone is a fucking napoleon yeah everyone is a fucking napoleon and the next time that i saw you you were larger than life you came and you conquered you were doing alright you had an army of suits behind you and all you had to be was willing and i said i still make a pretty good living but you must make a killing a killing and i hope that you are happy i hope at least you are having fun 'cuz but everyone is a fucking napoleon yeah everyone is a fucking napoleon now you think, so that is the way it's gonna be that's what this is all about i think that that is the way it always was you chose not to notice until now yeah now that there's a problem you call me up to confide and you go on for over an hour 'bout each one that took you for a ride and i guess that you dialed my number 'cuz you thought for sure that i'd agree i said baby, you know i still love you but how dare you complain to me everyone is a fucking napoleon yeah everyone is a fucking napoleon |
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from Ani Difranco - So Much Shouting/ So Much Laughter (2006)
when i was four years old
they tried to test my i.q. they showed me a picture of 3 oranges and a pear they said, which one is different? it does not belong they taught me different is wrong but when i was 13 years old i woke up one morning thighs covered in blood like a war like a warning that i live in a breakable takeable body an ever increasingly valuable body that a woman had come in the night to replace me deface me see, my body is borrowed yeah, i got it on loan for the time in between my mom and some maggots i don't need anyone to hold me i can hold my own i got highways for stretchmarks see where i've grown i sing sometimes like my life is at stake 'cause you're only as loud as the noises you make i'm learning to laugh as hard as i can listen 'cause silence is violence in women and poor people if more people were screaming then i could relax but a good brain ain't diddley if you don't have the facts we live in a breakable takeable world an ever available possible world and we can make music like we can make do genius is in a back beat backseat to nothing if you're dancing especially something stupid like i.q. for every lie i unlearn i learn something new i sing sometimes for the war that i fight 'cause every tool is a weapon - if you hold it right. |
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