Ani DiFranco

[fox69]

"Swing"

"Swing"



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 for 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 a 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 ting
You were reaching for

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 the nagging voices
Inside my head

That follow me to bed and say
You suck, blah, blah, blah

 

[fox69]

"Talk To Me Now"

"Talk To Me Now"


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

 

[fox69]

"Tamburitza Lingua"

"Tamburitza Lingua"



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 ?

 

[fox69]

"The Arrivals Gate"

"The Arrivals Gate"



Gonna go out to the arrivals gate at the airport
And sit there all day
Watch people reuniting
Public affection so exciting
It even makes airports OK
Watching children run
With their arms outstretched
Just to throw those arms
Around their grandpa's neck
Watching lovers plant kisses
Old men to their misses
At their arrivals gate

Watching a mother
With a mother's smile
Don't tell me to move
I just wanna sit here for a while
I have determined
It's a sure cure for cancer
Watching excitement turn family dogs into dancers
At the arrivals gate

I got me a white bread sandwich
With some shredded lettuce
And I got me a ringside view
For my quaint little fetish

I just wanna drain my pink little heart of all its malice
And kick back for the afternoon
In this fluorescent palace

Everybody's in a hurry
Here in purgatory
Except for me
I'm where I need to be

At the arrivals gate

 

[fox69]

"The Atom"

"The Atom"



The glory of the atom begs a reverent word
The primary design of the whole universe
Yeah, let us sing its praises, let us bow our heads in prayer
At the magnificent consciousness incarnate there

The smallest unit of matter with its orbiting electrons
Echoing off the solar system like a hawk in the hills at dawn
The smallest unit of matter
Uniting bird and rock and tree and you and me

Oh, holy is the atom, the truly intelligent design
To which all of evolution is graciously aligned
The one single structure to which everything distills
The air, the wood smoke there and the hills

Oh, leave me here surrounded by everything that's real
Far outside the boundaries of the digitized ordeal, yeah
Leave me here awake, leave me here to heal

Human beings are a cross between monkeys and ants
You can see us from your spaceship
Melting the polar ice caps with our arrogance
Summon a congress of angels dressed in riot gear
We've got ourselves a serious situation down here

I have this great, great uncle who worked on the atomic bomb
He got a Nobel Prize in physics and a place in this song
And I bet there were no windows and no women in the room
When they applied themselves to the pure science of boom

Yeah, messin' with the atom is the highest form of blasphemy
Whether you are making weapons or simple electricity
Someone fashion me a pulpit, I have been called to engage
With the maniacal heretics of the nuclear age

Let the religious get religion, let consumers get a clue
Let scientists get perspective, let activists get their due
Let industry get a conscience, let the earth inherit the meek
Let the divinity of nature speak

Oh, the glory of the atom begs a reverent word
The primary design of the whole universe
Yes, let us sing its praises, let us bow our heads in prayer
At the magnificent consciousness incarnate there

 

[fox69]

"The Diner"

"The Diner"



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

 

[fox69]

"The Million You Never Made"

"The Million You Never Made"



the air comes off the ocean
the city smells fishy
the air is full of fish and mystery
whispering who, what, when
I am warning you I am weightless
and the wind is always shifting
so don't hang anything on me
if you ever want to see it again
I am telling you I'm different than you
think I am

and you can dangle your carrot
but I ain't gunna reach for it
cuz I need both my hands
to play my guitar
and life is a sleezy stranger
who looks vaguely familiar
flirting with a bimbo named disaster
at the end of the bar
and I am telling you that I am different
than you are

at night when you're asleep
self-hatred's going to creep in
and try to blame it on the devil
the one who's bed you sleep in
and don't tell me what they did to you
as though you had no choice
tell me, isn't that your picture?
isn't that your voice?
if you don't live what you sing about
your mirror is going to find out
oh yeah

I'd like to go to all the pretty parties
where all the pretty people go
and I ain't really all that pretty
but nobody will know
cuz everybody loves you
when you're a star
and nobody questions
what it takes to go that far
and life is a sleezy stranger
and this is his favorite bar

no I don't prefer obscurity
but I'm an idealistic girl
and I wouldn't work for you
no matter what you paid
and I may not be able
to change the whole fucking world
but I could be the million
that you never made
oh yeah

I could be the million that you never made
I could be the million that you'll never make
You're looking at the million that you'll never make

 

[fox69]

"The Next Big Thing"

"The Next Big Thing"



hello
it's me
I'm returning your call
it's monday wednesday friday
between noon and three
he says I
usually just let the phone ring
but I've always got a minute of time
for the next big thing

and I wonder
how can he see where he's going
with those dollar signs in front of his eyes?
I say thank you
for your interest
but my thing is already
just the right size

hello
it's me
yes I'll play for the door
nothing more
on a tuesday
he says baby
what is your name
I forgot
he says baby
tell me again
are you really hot

and I think
he does not hear what I'm saying
he's just looking at my eight by ten
and wondering about
the part that was left out
does she have a body
that will really draw them in?

how much do you want
how much are you willing to do
baby this is no business
for a sweet little girl like you
can you play the game
act it out
frame for frame
do you know your lines
let's hear them one more time

but I'd rather pay my dues
to the six people
sitting at the bar
than to all those men
in their business suits
who say I'll take you away from this
if you'll just
get in the car

 

[fox69]

"The Slant"

"The Slant"



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 fields 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

 

[fox69]

"The Story"

"The Story"



I would have returned your greeting
if it weren't for the way you were looking at me
this street is not a market
and I am not a commodity
don't you find it sad that we can't even say hello
'cause you're a man
and I'm a woman
and the sun is getting low
there are some places that I can't go
as a woman I can't go there
and as a person I don't care
I don't go for the hey baby what's your name
and I'd alone thank you
just the same

I am up again against
the skin of my guitar
in the window of my life
looking out through the bars
I am sounding out the silence
avoiding all the words
I'm afraid I've said too much
I'm afraid of who has heard me

my father, he told me the story
and it was true
for his time
but now the story's different
maybe I should tell him mine
all the girls line up here
all the boys on the other side
I see your ranks are advancing
I see mine are left behind

I am up again against
the skin of my guitar
in the window of my life
looking out through the bars
I am sounding out the silence
avoiding all the words
I'm afraid I can never say enough
I'm afraid no one has heard me

and despite all the balls that I've been thrown
and forced to drop
on the social totem pole
I'm preciously close to the top
the put you in your place
and they tell you to behave
but no one can be free
until we're all on even grade

and I would have returned your greeting
if it weren't for the way you were looking at me