Ani DiFranco

[fox69]

"Willing To Fight"

"Willing To Fight"



The windows of my soul
are made of one way glass
don't bother looking into my eyes
if there's something you want to know,
just ask
I got a dead bolt stroll
where I'm going is clear
I won't wait for you to wonder
I'll just tell you why I'm here

'cause I know the biggest crime
is just to throw up your hands
say
this has nothing to do with me
I just want to live as comfortably as I can
you got to look outside your eyes
you got to think outside your brain
you got to walk outside you life
to where the neighborhood changes

tell me who is your boogieman
that's who I will be
you don't have to like me for who I am
but we'll see what you're made of
by what you make of me
I think that it's absurd
that you think I
am the derelict daughter
I fight fire with words
words are hotter than flames
words are wetter than water

I got friends all over this country
I got friends in other countries too
I got friends I haven't met yet
I got friends I never knew
I got lovers whose eyes
I've only seen at a glance
I got strangers for great grandchildren
I got strangers for ancestors

I was a long time coming
I'll be a long time gone
you've got your whole life to do something
and that's not very long
so why don't you give me a call
when you're willing to fight
for what you think is real
for what you think is right

 

[fox69]

"Wish I May"

"Wish I May"



i'm losing my love of 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
ive worn down the treads
on all of my tires
i've worn through the elbows
and the knees of my clothing
and i'm stumbling down
the gravel driveway of desire
trying not to wake up
my sleepy self-loathing

do you ever have that dream
when you open your mouth
and you try to scream
but you can't make a sound
that's everyday starting now
that's everyday starting now

dont tell me it's gonna be alright
you can't sell me on your optimism tonight
it's a stiff competition
to see who can stay up later
the stars or the street lights
and 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 gotta suck it up and savor
the taste of my own behavior
i am spinning with longing
faster then 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...

 

[fox69]

"Woe Be Gone"

"Woe Be Gone"



Woe be gone
The madness and the suffering of the human race
The history of the world is such a losing place
The alphabet took us on a wild goose chase

And still

Still there’s swiftly shifting sands
Beneath our feet
And an unexplored hemisphere
Lying underneath
Enter the goddesses
Fresh from their long sleep

We get so off track sometimes
We get so off track sometimes

I mean what the hell?
Raise your hand if you’re at peace right now
In fact just stand up and take a bow
Everywhere you look just see damaged goods

And still

Still there’s swiftly shifting sands
Beneath our feet
And an unexplored hemisphere
Lying underneath
Enter the goddesses
Fresh from their long sleep

We get so off track sometimes
We get so off track sometimes…

Woe be gone
Madness and suffering I am just like you
The bottoms of my crutches look like old worn shoes
Me and my addictions got a lot to lose

And still

Still there’s swiftly shifting sands
Beneath our feet
And an unexplored hemisphere
Lying underneath
Enter the goddesses
Fresh from their long sleep

We get so off track sometimes
We get so off track sometimes…

Woe be gone
The madness and the suffering of the human race
The history of the world is such a losing place
The alphabet took us on a wild goose chase

 

[fox69]

"Work Your Way Out"

"Work Your Way Out"



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

 

[fox69]

"Worthy"

"Worthy"



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 round
I keep coming back

give me a vertical
your horizontal line
I want to take each of them
bend them to divine
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...

 

[fox69]

"Yeah Yr Right"

"Yeah Yr Right"



Yeah my neck is loose
And my head’s on right
Got my sense of humor
And my appetite
Got my Joie De Vivre
And my yeah yr right

Don’t need a sleep number
To help me sleep
Don’t need to rush on home
To my TV
Don’t need a chocolate bar
Or a new hairdo
I’m so into you
I’m into me too

Yeah we could make the scene
We could spiff and primp
I could be your wife
You could be my pimp
Or we could get up in the daytime
And raise a kid
I know I’d be glad if we did
I so would be glad if we did

 

[fox69]

"You Each Time"

"You Each Time"



There you were day after day
Six feet
Twenty feet
Two feet away
Right in my pocket singin me a song
Makin my heart race all day long

And we talked it out and we talked it down
But your eyes were not listening
And my ears were looking around
For another song to sing
But it was you each time
It was you

The answer to each moment must be yes
And the question... can you live with that?
Becomes the test
So you weigh it against that aching in your chest
And that secretly relentless emptiness

And you talk it out and you talk it down
But your eyes are not listening
And my ears are running around
Looking for another song to sing
But it is you each time
It is you

So my heart finally broke
It was so long bent
And it broke in three places
When it finally went
It wanted only to say what it meant
So it suffered every punishment

Now it lives in a shack outside of town
And only the wolves are out there listening
And in her dreams they chase her down
Their moonlit eyes are glistening
And it is you each time
It is you

 

[fox69]

"You Had Time"

"You Had Time"



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 making 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

 

[fox69]

"Your Next Bold Move"

"Your Next Bold Move"



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'm 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 need 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 need to prove
to yourself

 

[fox69]

"Zoo"

"Zoo"



I can no longer watch TV
Cause that shit really melts my brain
I think I’m what they call sensitive
And easily thrown off my game

All that bloodshed and pettiness
Just makes the world seem so insane
And I just feel drained

When I go to do my food shopping
And all I can see is the packaging
One big mountain of garbage
About to be happening

And I walk past my own self-loathing
Like I walk past animals in the zoo
Trying not to really see them
And the prison they didn’t choose

If I should ever quit your spotlight
I hope you won’t think me wrong
Says the poet to the moonlight
Says the singer to the song

It’s enough just to stay upright
Upright in every single way
Pour your love into your children
Until there’s nothing left to say

Pour your love into your children
Until there’s nothing left to say